General Tab of Project Planning

Use the General tab to enter or review basic information about the current plan, including its name and number, and the project manager responsible for the plan.

Contents

Field	Description
Plan Name	Enter a plan name. You can establish a standard naming convention for plan records. This makes it easier for you to search through plan records in the database so that you can copy historical plans or share template plans. For example, you can have all plan numbers start with the responsible project manager's initials.
Plan Number	Enter a plan number. You can establish a standard numbering convention for plan records, to make it easier to retrieve plans for copying and modifying. This number is separate from the project number of any project that may be related to the plan.
Start Date	By default, the start date for the plan is set to Monday of the week in which you are creating the plan. You can enter a different start date for the plan or click Calendar to select a date.
End Date	By default, the end date for the plan is set to the last day of the month, one year from when you are creating the plan. You can enter a different end date or click Calendar to select a date.
Top Project	If the current plan is mapped to one or more project records, this field shows the project name and number of the first mapped project. This field automatically updates whenever a change is made to the plan's mapping on the Labor tab.
Opportunity	You can specify an opportunity in one of the following ways: If you clicked New > New Plan from Existing Project to create the plan, Vision automatically enters the opportunity associated with the project. You may click the lookup icon beside the field to display the Opportunity Lookup dialog box and select a different opportunity for this plan. If you are creating a new plan from scratch, you can select the name of an opportunity. To search for an opportunity, click Search to display the Opportunity Lookup dialog box.
Probability	Use this field to enter an estimation of the probability that this plan will win a contract and become a project. If you create the plan from an opportunity record, Vision populates the probability with the initial value from the opportunity.
Client	There are three methods for entering a client in this field: If you specify an opportunity record in the Opportunity field, and that opportunity has a related client, Vision automatically enters the associated client in the Client field as the default value. You may click the lookup icon beside the field to display the Client Lookup dialog box and select a different client for this plan. If there is no client associated with the opportunity record, you can select the name of a client associated with the plan. To search for an existing client, click Search to display the Client Lookup dialog box. To create a new client record from this tab, click New. Vision displays the New Client dialog box, where you can specify the client number and name.
Project Manager	Enter the name of the Project Manager associated with the plan. To search for a Project Manager, click Search to display the Employee lookup.
Principal-in-Charge	Enter the name of the Principal associated with the plan. To search for a Principal, click Search to display the Employee look8up.
Supervisor	Enter the name of the Supervisor associated with the plan. To search for a Supervisor, click Search to display the Employee lookup.
Organization	If your firm uses the Organization application, then you can specify an organization for the current plan. To search for an organization, click Search to display the Organization lookup.
% Complete Formula	The % Complete Formula determines how the values are calculated on the Cost Analysis and Billing Analysis tabs in Planning. Select the formula for percent complete that will be used for the current plan: User-Entered Percent Complete — This is the manual method of percent complete entry, and is good for planning at a minute level of detail. It helps you keep track of when each individual piece is complete. The calculation is: Weighted Average Amount for Labor, Expense, Consultant, and Unit divided by the Planned Amount for Labor, Expense, Consultant, and Unit. (Planned - Estimate to Complete)/Planned — This is the Plan Schedule based percent complete. It displays your progress according to your schedule on the job and ignores any actual time spent. The calculation is: Planned amount minus the Total amount for the Estimate to Complete (from the Analysis tab) divided by the Planned amount. Job to Date /(Job to Date + Estimate to Complete) — The Job to Date is the work effort based percent complete. It tells you how far along you are based on effort expended, how much of the work you have completed, and how much you should do in the future. The calculation is: Job to Date amount divided by (Job to Date amount plus the Estimate to Complete from the Analysis tab). (Baseline - Estimate to Complete)/Baseline — The baseline is the client schedule based percent complete that represents where the client thinks you are on the project. The Baseline is frozen as the original schedule and budget. You can modify this percent complete to compare to where you feel you really are on the job. The calculation is: (Total Baseline amount from the Summary tab minus the Estimate to Complete from the Summary tab or from the Total on the Analysis tab) divided by the Total Baseline. This option displays if the proper configuration settings are in place.
Target Multiplier - Cost	Enter the target multiplier for the plan cost. This multiplier is used as the basis for evaluation against the actual multiplier, the Estimate at Completion multiplier, and the planned multiplier. The multiplier represents how much revenue is anticipated for each labor cost dollar spent on a project. This entry is strictly your organization's target multiplier and does not impact plan calculations or summaries. This field displays when you set the budget method to Cost or Cost and Billing.
Target Multiplier - Billing	Enter the target multiplier for the plan bill. This multiplier is used as the basis for evaluation against the actual multiplier, the Estimate at Completion multiplier, and the planned ratio. The multiplier represents how much revenue is anticipated for each labor cost dollar spent on a project. This entry is strictly your organization's target multiplier and does not impact plan calculations or summaries. This field displays when you set the budget method to Billing or Cost and Billing.
Currencies - Cost	If you use the Multicurrency feature, this field displays the cost currency information.
Currencies - Billing	If you use the Multicurrency feature, you can report project amounts in the billing currency instead of the project currency. For example, you can make it easier to match invoice amounts to the corresponding amounts on project reports. If so, select the Report amounts in billing currency, rather than project currency option on the General Tab of Accounting System Settings. Planning displays the billing currency information associated with the project. You cannot modify this field when a Plan is mapped to a Project.
Company	If you use the Multicompany feature, this field displays the company for the Plan.
Include in Utilization and Project Reports	Select this option to include the current plan when you run Planning reports and Resource Management searches. Selecting this option will also include the plan when you choose the Display Probability option for the utilization count. Do not select this option if you are using this plan as a "what-if?" scenario and do not want the resource assignments you are experimenting with to be included in Utilization calculations. Vision does not select this option if you create a plan from a project or import a file from Microsoft Project.
Show Unposted Actual Labor	When you open a plan that is mapped to a project record, actual values from posted transactions are displayed on the Labor, Expenses, and Consultants tabs. If you want to include actual values from unposted labor transactions as well, select the Show Unposted Actual Labor option. When you select this option, you can see actual hours on the Labor Planning grid as soon as timesheet entries are saved. The timesheet entries are made through either Vision's Time and Expense application or the Vision Transaction Center. On the Labor planning grid, any unposted actuals — and summary values that are in part unposted — display with a text color of dark teal.
Show Committed PO Expenses	This option displays if you use Vision Purchasing. Select this option to include actual values from committed purchase order expenses on the plan's Expenses and Consultants tabs. When you select this option, you can see actual expenses on the Expenses and Consultants tabs as soon as purchase order entries are saved. These entries display with a text color of dark teal.
Available to Other Users	Select this option to allow viewing and revision rights of this plan by users with the same security access as the author. The plan's author is the only person who can select this option.
Status	Use this drop-down list to select the plan status. The settings are: Active — The plan is still active and in use. Dormant — The plan is still active but not in use. Inactive — The plan is not active and not in use. Purged — The plan is no longer in the database.
Created By	This field displays the name of the person responsible for creating the plan.
On	This field displays the creation date of the plan.
Modified By	This field displays the name of the person responsible for the most recent changes to the plan. You cannot modify this field.
On	This field displays the most recent date on which the plan was changed. You cannot modify this field.
Planned Revenue	Use these fields to calculate revenue based on planned labor, expense, and consultant information.
Labor Multiplier Type	The options for this field depend on the Budget Type entry on the Rates tab. If the Budget Type is set to Cost and Billing, the Labor Multiplier Type defaults to User Entered (Cost) and the options list displays: User Entered (Cost) Planned Multiplier User Entered (Billing) Planned Ratio If the Budget Type is set to Cost: The Labor Multiplier Type defaults to User Entered (Cost), which is the planned labor cost multiplier, and the options list displays User Entered (Cost) and Planned Multiplier. Vision calculates the Planned Multiplier that displays on the Cost Analysis tab and the Billing Analysis tab as follows: Planned Total Compensation (Compensation + Consultant Fee + Reimbursable Allowance) - Direct and Reimbursable Expenses/Planned Labor Cost. If the Budget Type is set to Billing: The multiplier defaults to User Entered (Billing), which is the planned labor multiplier at billing value, and the options list displays User Entered (Billing) and Planned Ratio. Vision calculates the Planned Ratio that displays on the Cost Analysis tab and the Billing Analysis tab as follows: Planned Total Compensation (Compensation + Consultant Fee + Reimbursable Allowance) - Direct and Reimbursable Expenses/Planned Labor Billing.
Multiplier	If the Labor Multiplier Type is set to User Entered (Cost) or User Entered (Billing), you can enter a value in this field to specify the multiplier. If the Labor Multiplier Type is set to Planned Ratio or Planned Multiplier, this field displays the Planned Ratio or Planned Multiplier as calculated on the Analysis tab.
Reimbursable Method	Select one of the following settings: Cost — Projects revenue for reimbursable expenses and consultants at planned cost amounts. Billing — Projects revenue for reimbursable expenses and consultants at planned billing amounts. If you use the Multicurrency feature, this field displays for both the project currency and the billing currency.
Refresh	Click this button to refresh the revenue calculated on the Labor, Expenses, Consultants, and Summary tabs. If the planned multiplier or planned ratio are being used for the multiplier, and those numbers have been updated on the Cost Analysis tab and the Billing Analysis tab, you should refresh the General tab before reviewing the revenue numbers. You should also refresh whenever the user entered multiplier is changed.