P6 Professional User Guide
Copy and paste cost accounts
1)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.
2)Select the cost account you want to copy, then click Copy.
3)Select the cost account to which you want to add the copy, then click Paste.
Note
When you copy and paste a cost account, the cost account's activity and project assignments are not copied.
Cut and paste cost accounts
1)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.
2)Select the cost account you want to cut and paste, then click Cut.
3)Select the cost account to which you want to add the cut account, then click Paste.
Note
When you cut and paste a cost account, the account's activity and project assignments are also pasted.
Set the project default cost account
You can specify a project's default cost account. This cost account will be used for resource assignments to activities and project expenses in the open project.
1)Choose Enterprise, Projects and display Project Details.
2)Select the project to which you want to assign a default cost account.
3)Click the Defaults tab.
4)In the Defaults for New Activities section, click 
in the Cost Account field.
5)Select the cost account you want to assign as the default, then click the Select button.
Note
The default cost account is only used 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.
Performing Top-down Estimation (P6 Professional Only)
Top-Down Estimation enables you to apply labor, nonlabor, and/or material resource units to activities in a top-down manner using assigned weights.
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To perform top-down estimations, you must first assign estimation weights to WBS elements and activities. You can limit the scope of your estimate according to WBS element and resource. After you develop a top-down estimate, save the estimate for later reference or use, or apply the estimate to the project. If you apply an estimate, remaining labor/nonlabor units are updated for activities that are not started or are in progress and activity resource assignments within the estimation scope. Completed activities, that is activities with remaining units equal to zero, are not affected by top-down estimation. Top-down estimations do not affect project expenses.
When performing a top-down estimation, you should first determine the total number of labor or nonlabor resource units to apply. You can determine this number using prior experience on similar projects. You can also use the Function Point option if you are estimating an information technology project.
You must select material resources individually because their units of measure may differ.
Performing top-down estimations using prior experience (P6 Professional Only)
1)Choose Tools, Top Down Estimation.
2)Choose to estimate labor or nonlabor resource units.
3)In the WBS field, click the Browse button to select the WBS element whose activities you want to estimate. Click Select.
4)In the Resource field, select the resource to estimate activities assigned to a specific resource within the specified WBS element. Click Select.
5)Choose Prior Experience.
6)Enter the estimate in the Estimated Units field.
7)Mark the Apply adjustment checkbox to apply an adjusted percentage to the estimate. Type the adjustment percentage. For example, if the estimated units are 400.00h and you apply an adjustment of 50%, P6 Professional will add 200.00h (50% of 400) to the estimated units. The Adjusted Units field will display 600.00h.
8)Click Save As to save the estimate without applying it. Type a name and any assumptions and notes about the estimate, then click Save.
9)Click apply to perform top-down estimation. Click Yes when prompted to confirm that you want to apply a top-down estimate to the project, then Click OK.
Performing top-down estimations using function points (P6 Professional Only)
1)Choose Tools, Top Down Estimation.
2)Choose to estimate labor or nonlabor resource units, or select a material resource in the Resource field.
3)In the WBS field, click the Browse button to select the WBS element whose activities you want to estimate. Click Select.
4)Choose Function Point, then click Function Points.
5)In the Function Point Estimation dialog box, enter the Unadjusted Function Point Count (UFP) value you want to use, or click Calculate to calculate the UFP. If you choose to calculate the UFP, the Function Point Estimation - Data and Transactions dialog box will appear.
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6)In the Function Point Estimation - Data and Transactions dialog box, enter the number of low, average, and high complexity files and transactions to be developed under the WBS element and resource, if any, you are estimating.
7)Click Close. In the Function Point Estimation dialog box, the UFP value is listed in the Unadjusted Function Point Count (UFP) field.
8)Enter the Total Degree of Influence (TDI) value you want to use, or click Characteristics to calculate the TDI. If you choose to calculate the TDI, the Function Point Estimation - System Characteristics dialog box will appear.
9)In the Function Point Estimation - System Characteristics dialog box, select a system characteristic, then choose the numeric value that indicates the characteristic's degree of influence on the WBS element you are estimating.
Zero (0) indicates no influence while 5 indicates the strongest influence.
When you select a value, the Value Description box displays text describing the value for the selected characteristics. Select a value for all system characteristics, then click Close.
10)In the Function Point Estimation dialog box, the TDI value is listed in the Total Degree of Influence (TDI) field.
11)Type the average productive value (function points/person month), then click Close.
12)Mark the Apply adjustment checkbox to apply an adjusted percentage to the estimate. Type the adjustment percentage. For example, if the estimated units are 400.00h and you apply an adjustment of 50%, P6 Professional will 200.00h (50% of 400) to the estimated units. The Adjusted Units field will display 600.00h.
13)Click Save As to save the estimate without applying it. Type a name and any assumptions and notes about the estimate, then click Save.
14)Click apply to perform top-estimation. Click Yes when prompted to confirm that you want to apply a top-down estimate to the project, then Click OK.
Applying Saved Top-Down Estimations To a Project (P6 Professional Only)
After you specify the number of units you want to apply, P6 Professional distributes the total units to the selected activities, using the estimated weights assigned to the project's WBS elements and activities. P6 Professional uses these weights to calculate the proportion of resource units that each WBS element and activity should receive in relation to other WBS elements. P6 Professional also maintains a history of saved top-down estimations.
Apply saved top-down estimations
1)Choose Tools, Top Down Estimation.
2)Click History.
3)In the Estimation History dialog box, select the estimate you want to apply, then click Apply.
View a project's top-down estimations
1)Choose Tools, Top Down Estimation.
2)Click History.
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