Working with Cost Accounts and Project Expenses 247
Working with Cost Accounts and Project Expenses
In this chapter
Cost Account and Expense
Overview
Setting Up a Cost Account
Structure
Adding Expenses and Entering
Cost Information
Defining Expense Details
Analyzing Costs
Cost accounts enable you to track activity costs and earned value throughout the project life cycle. Set the default cost account at the project level so that it is automatically assigned to the project’s activities. Cost accounts are established in a hierarchy available to all projects in the enterprise project structure (EPS).
Expenses are nonresource costs associated with a project and assigned to a project’s activities. They are typically one-time expenditures for nonreusable items. Examples of expenses include facilities, travel, consulting, and training.
Read this chapter to learn how to set up cost accounts and add expenses.
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Cost Account and Expense Overview
You can create cost accounts that you can assign to activities in any project. Cost accounts are hierarchical and they enable you to track activity costs and earned value according to your organization’s specific cost account codes.
You can assign a default parent cost account for each project in the Projects window, then assign the child cost accounts when associating expenses with activities.
You can also add expenses, assign expense categories to them, and specify whether an expense accrues at the start or end of an activity or uniformly over its duration. Each expense has a budgeted actual, remaining, and at completion value for both cost and units.
Expenses are not the same as resources. Resources can be time-based and generally extend across multiple activities and/ or multiple projects. Examples of resources are personnel and equipment. Unlike resources, expenses are project-specific and they are not time-based. The module does not include expenses when leveling resources.
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Setting Up a Cost Account Structure
When you indent, or create a lowerlevel cost account, the module automatically prefixes the new account with the higher level’s ID.
Set up a cost account structure and assign codes to activities and/or resources. Use the cost account structure to track the amount of work accomplished against the amount of money spent.
Create a cost account hierarchy Choose Enterprise, Cost Accounts. Click the Cost Account ID column label to display the cost accounts hierarchy. An outline symbol in the Cost Account ID column label indicates a hierarchy display.
Select the cost account immediately above and at the same level as the cost account you want to add, then click Add. Type the cost account’s ID and name. The cost account ID and name should identify a project component, such as engineering, hardware, or research. Create cost accounts beneath each main component to delineate the component’s parts, such as coding and installation for hardware.
In the Cost Account Description area provide an optional, brief summary of the cost account. You can use HTML editing features, which include formatting text, inserting pictures, copying and pasting information from other document files (while retaining formatting), and adding hyperlinks.
Use these arrows to indent/ outdent a value in the cost account hierarchy and to move a selected value up or down in the list.
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Set the project default cost account Specify a default cost account that will be used for resources assigned to activities and project expenses in the selected project. Choose Enterprise, Projects, to open the Projects window. Display Project Details by clicking the Display Options bar and choosing Show on Bottom, Project Details. Click the Defaults tab, select a project in the upper layout, then click the Browse button in the Cost Account field. Select the default cost account, then click the Select button.
The module only uses your default cost account for new resource assignments to activities and new project expenses. Changing this setting does not affect existing resource assignments to activities or existing project expenses.
Edit a cost account Choose Enterprise, Cost Accounts. Make sure the cost accounts hierarchy is displayed; an outline symbol in the Cost Account ID column label indicates a hierarchy display. Select the cost account you want to edit. Type a new cost account ID and name. To change the cost account’s position in the cost accounts hierarchy, click the appropriate arrow buttons.
If you change a cost account’s ID or name, the change applies to all activity assignments.
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Delete a cost account Choose Enterprise, Cost Accounts. Select the cost account you want to delete, then click Del./Merge. If the cost account is assigned to activities or projects, the Cost Account in Use dialog box is displayed.
To delete the cost account and specify a replacement cost account, choose Select Replacement Account, click OK, then select a replacement account. To delete the cost account without specifying a replacement cost account, choose Delete Account(s), then click OK.
Copy and paste cost accounts Choose Enterprise, Cost Accounts. Make sure the cost accounts hierarchy is displayed; an outline symbol in the Cost Account ID column label indicates a hierarchy display. Select the cost account you want to copy, then click Copy. Select the cost account to which you want to paste the copied account, then click Paste.
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The copied cost account displays below the selected cost account in the hierarchy, and includes any lower-level cost accounts in the copied cost account.
You cannot copy a cost account’s activity and project assignments.
Cut and paste cost accounts Choose Enterprise, Cost Accounts. Make sure the cost accounts hierarchy is displayed; an outline symbol in the Cost Account ID column label indicates a hierarchy display. Select the cost account you want to cut and paste, then click Cut. Select the cost account to which you want to move the cut account, then click Paste.
When you cut and paste a cost account, the module maintains the account’s activity and project assignments.
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