Costpoint Online Help

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Projects Tab

Use this tab to establish general settings for your Costpoint projects.

Contents

Field Description
Require Incurred Cost Submission Code for all Projects This checkbox is cleared by default, which assumes that you have no government contracts, and that an Incurred Cost Submission Report is not required. In this case, the ICS codes on the Manage Government Contract Information screen are not required for any project. If you select this checkbox, an ICS code is required for every project, regardless of type. These codes represent the categories specified on the Incurred Cost Submission Reports. Some examples of incurred cost submission codes are:
  • Comm (Commercial)
  • Cost
  • Flex (Flexible)
  • IR&D (Internal Research and Development)
  • TM/F (Time and Materials/Fixed)
  • B&P (Bid and Proposal)

This checkbox is for use by companies that contract with the federal government.

Track Owning Organization History Select this check box to track modifications to the owning organization by project. You must select this check box to enable the Org History subtask of the Manage Project User Flow screen. This check box is selected by default.
Validate Project Charging by Organizations Select this check box to control which validation method is available on the Basic Info tab of the Manage Project User Flow screen. This checkbox is selected by default. If you leave this check box selected, the Limit Which Orgs Can Charge Specific Accts check box is available on the Basic Info tab of the Manage Project User Flow screen. If you do not select this check box, only the Limit Accounts to P/O/A check box is available. These options represent two ways of using the PROJ_ORG_ACCT table for transaction validation. Selecting this check box does not automatically activate a validation method, but allows you to make the selection on the Basic Info tab.

The Limit Which Orgs Can Charge Specific Accts option is considered the detail method of transaction validation in the PROJ_ORG_ACCT table. When you use this method, the project, account, and org must be in the PROJ_ORG_ACCT table for the transaction to pass validation. This is the most restrictive method of project transaction validation. This setting applies to all transaction entry screens. 

The Limit Accounts to P/O/A option is considered the summary method of transaction validation in the PROJ_ORG_ACCT table. When you use this method, the account and project must be in the PROJ_ORG_ACCT table, but you can use any org. This less restrictive method allows easier initialization and maintenance. This option applies to all transaction screens. 

Several other options for transaction validation are available on the Basic Info tab of the Manage Project User Flow screen. The following is a brief summary of those options. For more information on these options, see the screen documentation for the Basic Info tab. 

  • You can use the Limit Accounts and/or Limit Organizations options, which are also found on the Basic Info tab of the Manage Project User Flow screen. For these methods, you must enter records on the Link Projects/Accounts screen or the Link Projects/Organizations screen, respectively.
  • Optionally, you can choose the least restrictive transaction validation method, which means that an account need only exist in the project account group before it can be charged by a project.
Use Goal Multipliers for Billable Value Calculations Select this check box to calculate and report the billable value of your projects. If you select this check box, the Labor and Non-Labor fields in the Goal Multiplier group box on the Manage Revenue Information screen are required for all projects. (These goal multipliers are used by the Compute Billing Value of Cost Incurred process.) Billable value reporting is available for any project type and any revenue formula. This checkbox is cleared by default, which assumes that billable value is not calculated.
  • Billable value calculations include allowable costs and allowable hours.
  • Billable value calculations apply goal multipliers (entered on the Manage Revenue Information screen) and override multipliers to labor and non-labor amounts. No multipliers are applied to units.
  • Labor multipliers are applied only to labor history lines with rate types of actual or ceiling, never billing.
  • Billable value is always calculated on a Year-to-Date (YTD) basis.
  • Prior year billable value amounts are stored on the Manage Prior Year Billable Value (PY_GOAL) screen. If you are using the billable value calculation on projects that have prior year incurred costs, you must initialize the Manage Prior Year Billable Value screen. The calculated billable value is inaccurate without this data.
  • No fees or burdens are included in the calculation; only direct costs and units are included.
  • Non-labor and unit detail is stored at the account level.
Show Period of Performance Warning Message Select this check box to enable period of performance validation. Enter period of performance data on the Manage Modifications screen. The period of performance validation produces a soft warning every time a transaction is entered that falls outside of the project's period of performance. Because this warning is invoked at the line level, it can greatly reduce the speed of data entry. If you are not concerned with period of performance validation, leave this check box cleared.
Modifications Effective Date Use this drop-down list to select whether to have the system date default into the project modification effective dates or leave the effective date blank to require users to enter it. Valid options are:
  • Default System Date: Select this option to have Costpoint use the system date as a default for the effective date of new project modifications. The date that defaults can still be changed when you select this option.
  • User Must Enter Date: Select this option to require the user to enter the effective date when entering new project modifications. No date defaults when you select this option, and the user must enter a date before he/she can save the modification record.

The selection you make in this drop-down list determines the setting of the Effective Date field on the following screens:

  • Manage Modifications
  • Manage Project User Flow
  • Manage Contracts
  • Manage Subcontracts
  • Manage Alternate Project Revenue Profiles
  • Manage Project Revenue Calculation Value History
Note: If Default System Date is selected on the Configure Project Settings screen, check that the date that defaults is applicable to new project modifications to avoid revenue ceilings being released incorrectly.

If User Must Enter Date is selected, the Effective Date field on these screens becomes required. Make sure to enter a value in Effective Date before saving the record to avoid an error.

The Import Project Master Data application also considers the option you select in this drop-down list, and follows this logic:

  • If Default System Date is selected and there is no Effective Date value (EFFECT_DT column in the PROJ_MOD table) in the input file, the system date defaults into the modification effective date when project modifications are imported.
  • If Default System Date is selected and an Effective Date value has been entered in the input file, Costpoint uses the input file effective date when project modifications are imported. The system does not overwrite this date with the current date.
  • If User Must Enter Date is selected, the input file must have an Effective Date value before it can be imported. If Effective Date is left blank, an error will be indicated in the Import Project Information Error Report.
Validate Modification Descriptions Select this check box to enforce validation of project modification descriptions.

Project modification descriptions are set up on the Manage Modification Descriptions screen. You can define modification descriptions on this screen whether or not the Validate Modification Descriptions check box is selected. Once you select this check box, however, you must set up modification descriptions on the Manage Modification Descriptions screen, and only those descriptions can be used for new modifications or as replacement descriptions for existing modifications. You will also not be able to delete descriptions that have already been used on a modification if this check box is selected.

Period of Performance Start and End Dates

Use this group box to select the method for updating the period of performance (POP) start and end dates.

Field Description
Update POP Start Date based on earliest Start Date From Select the POP update method for the start date. Valid options are:
  • All Modifications: Select this option to update the POP start date using the earliest start date out of all applicable projects' modification starting dates. The application looks at modifications for all applicable projects and their lower-level projects, and selects the earliest starting date from all of these modifications.
  • Only mods with latest effective dates: Select this option to update the POP start date using the earliest starting date out of the modifications with the most recent effective dates for each applicable project. The application does not look at all modifications. Instead, it looks at a result set consisting of only the latest modification for each project ID at or below the level of the specific project being updated, and selects the earliest starting date from that group of modifications.

The default is All Modifications.

Update POP End Date based on latest End Date From Select the POP update method for the end date. Valid options are:
  • All Modifications: Select this option to update the POP end date using the latest ending date out of all applicable projects' modification ending dates. The application looks at modifications for all applicable projects and their lower-level projects, and selects the latest ending date from all of these modifications.
  • Only mods with latest effective dates: Select this option to update the POP end date using the latest ending date out of the modifications with the most recent effective dates for each applicable project. The application does not look at all modifications. Instead, it looks at a result set consisting of only the latest modification for each project ID at or below the level of the specific project being updated, and selects the latest ending date from that group of modifications.

The default is Only mods with latest effective dates.

Quick Project Defaults

Use this optional group box to create defaults for the Manage Project Master Data from Templates process.

Field Description
Owning Organization Enter, or click to select, a default owning organization for use during the Manage Project Master Data from Templates process. This default is used only for templates.
Account Group Enter, or click to select, a default account group for use during the Manage Project Master Data from Templates process. This default is used only for templates.
Use Quick Project Templates If you select this check box, you must enter a template ID when initiating a project in the Manage Project Master Data from Templates process. Project templates determine which fields are required, whether a default value or method is being used, and which role is responsible for completing a particular field.