Project Planner

Overview

Project Planner is a powerful planning tool in BQE CORE that allows you to allocate resources, manage tasks, and track schedules within a single unified view. It is designed to help project managers streamline resource management across multiple projects and ensure optimal allocation at every stage of a project lifecycle.
With Project Planner, you can view all project allocations on an interactive Gantt chart alongside a resource scheduling grid at the bottom. This dual-panel layout gives you an at-a-glance picture of both project timelines and individual resource workloads, enabling faster and more informed decisions. Click here to watch a video on using Project Planner.

Project Planner supports the following key capabilities:

• Allocate resources to projects and phases directly from the planner, without navigating to the Allocation screen.
• View and edit resource schedules by resource or by project to understand how work is distributed over time.
• Identify overloaded and underloaded resources using visual indicators and workload totals.
• Spread allocated or unscheduled hours evenly across future periods using the Spread Hours feature.
  Import allocations from a CSV file for bulk data entry.
• Sync resource allocations with the project budget to keep planned hours, costs, and resources aligned automatically.
• Apply advanced filters, including Warnings, to quickly surface scheduling issues such as overbooked resources or unscheduled hours.
• Save custom views and return to them easily at any time.

The Gantt chart in Project Planner provides a visual representation of task durations, start and end dates, and the percentage of hours used per activity. When the Used % exceeds 100%, the Gantt bar turns red, giving you an immediate alert on overallocation. The Resource Schedule section at the bottom shows a proportional fill bar that represents each resource’s allocated hours relative to their standard available hours, making it easy to assess capacity at a glance.

Note: Project Planner does not allow negative allocated hours. If you attempt to enter a negative value, CORE displays a warning and prevents the allocation from being saved.

Key Benefits of Project Planner

Field Descriptions

How To

Plan Projects

Update Resource Allocations

Spread Allocation Hours

Import Allocations as CSV

Mark Screen as Favorite

Key Benefits of Project Planner

Unified View of Resource Allocations

With Project Planner in BQE CORE, you no longer have to limit your view to a single project hierarchy. The new layout allows you to view resource allocations across all your projects, providing a comprehensive overview of your staff's assignments and availability. This makes it much easier to manage resources at a global level, ensuring you are making the most of your available workforce.

Streamlined Scheduling with Split-Screen View

The split-screen view on the Project Planner screen offers a significant improvement to the scheduling process. You can see tasks allocated to projects alongside the corresponding resource schedules on a weekly or monthly basis. This eliminates the need to switch between tabs and allows for better coordination of resources and tasks.

The enhanced structure and rules for how allocated tasks and resource scheduling interact help reduce the number of tasks to manage and improve your reporting capabilities.

Combined Editing of Allocations and Gantt Chart

Project Planner integrates the Gantt chart with allocation data, allowing you to view both at once. You can see the percentage of hours used directly on each activity bar, and hover over tasks for detailed insights. This streamlined approach reduces the need to toggle between different views and simplifies project management.

Enhanced Control with Saved Views

The View feature offers a powerful way to save, update, and manage multiple sets of filters as reusable views. This functionality enables you to create customized views that are specifically tailored to meet various planning requirements. For instance, you can design views based on different project types, departments, or resource groups. When these views are saved, you can effortlessly switch between them without the need to reapply filters each time, streamlining your workflow and enhancing efficiency.

Flexible Date Selection with the Date Range Picker

The Period field features an advanced Date Range Picker, a versatile tool designed to give you precise control over the dates you wish to display. Whether you want to focus on a single day, an entire month, or a custom range spanning multiple weeks or months, the Date Range Picker makes it easy and intuitive to set these parameters.

Better Alignment of Allocation and Scheduling

One of the significant advantages of Project Planner is the ability to see allocation start and end dates alongside the resource schedules. This gives you a clearer understanding of when the work is supposed to be done and highlights when tasks fall outside of the allocated time window.

Multi-Resource Allocation and Editing

The Edit Resource Allocation supports multiple resources within the same allocation. You can add or remove resources, reassign work, split existing allocations, and adjust scheduled hours, all in one place. It inherits project, activity, and date details automatically, ensuring accuracy and reducing data entry time. You can also view allocated, scheduled, and unscheduled hours per resource, along with total usage.

Note: Each allocation must have a unique combination of Project, Activity, Resource, and Time Period (P-A-R-T rule). CORE prevents duplicate or overlapping allocations with the same details.

Spread Allocation Hours for Better Scheduling

The Spread Hours feature allows you to distribute allocated or unscheduled hours evenly across future periods, such as weeks or months. You can choose to spread only unscheduled hours or redistribute all allocated hours. The tool respects your company's minimum time entry increments and automatically protects active periods where work has already been logged.

Smarter Filtering for Accurate Results

Filters in Project Planner are now divided into Project filters (e.g., Client, Project Status) and Allocation filters (e.g., Activity, Resource Group) to make their behavior clearer. Project filters refine the list of projects, while allocation filters apply only to projects with allocation data. The Project Stage filter allows you to focus specifically on projects with or without allocations.

Enhanced Resource Scheduling

The Project Planner feature makes it easier to identify when a resource is overloaded or underutilized. If more hours are scheduled than the available allocation, the planner flags this imbalance and the Unscheduled Hours column shows the remaining time to be scheduled, helping you balance workloads effectively.

Refined Allocation and Forecast Data

With Project Planner, allocations can be used as a broader umbrella for resource scheduling. This reduces data entry and noise in your planning, making it easier to track and manage resource usage.

Field Descriptions

Plan Project

Project planner allows you to easily allocate resources, manage tasks, and track schedules within a unified view. With the project planner, you can streamline how you manage resources across multiple projects and ensure optimal allocation.

To use the Project Planner, watch this video or follow these steps:

1. Open the Allocation & Forecasting screen from the side menu > Projects > Plan > Project Planner.
   
   
2. Click View > Create New to save the current set of filters as a view that you can easily return to later. You can also duplicate, rename, or delete views as needed, or update an existing view when filters change. The Default View is created automatically and cannot be renamed or deleted. If you make changes to the applied filters while viewing a saved view, an orange dot appears next to the view name to indicate unsaved changes. The orange dot remains visible until the changes are either saved or reverted.
3. Select the relevant projects and project groups. When you select a parent project, all of its phases are automatically included. Use the Show Selected Only toggle to display only the currently selected resources or projects in the drop-down list. You can also refine your results using filters such as Activity, Project Group, Resource, Client, Manager, and Resource Group.
   Note: You can use the + Add Filter option to apply advanced filters. Project filters (such as Client or Project Status) narrow down the list of projects, while allocation filters (such as Activity or Resource Group) apply only within those projects. If you click Apply Filter without selecting a project, CORE displays a red border around the Project field to indicate it is required.
4. Use the Warnings as an advanced filter to identify potential planning and scheduling issues. The Warnings filter includes the following options:

• Allocation overscheduled: Displays allocations where scheduled hours exceed the allocated hours.
• Resource overloaded: Displays resources whose scheduled hours exceed their capacity, based on the Over Allocated (%) threshold defined in Settings > Projects > Planning.
• Scheduled outside of allocation dates: Displays scheduled hours that fall outside the allocation start and end dates.
• Unscheduled allocation hours: Displays allocated hours that have not yet been scheduled.

5. Select the Dates and Weekly/Monthly scale to view the relevant allocations. The Period field includes a Date Range Picker that lets you define exactly which dates to display. CORE automatically aligns the view to start from the nearest Monday, and you can view up to 12 months of data without splitting into separate periods.
6. Enable Focus Mode to narrow the Resource Schedule section to display only allocations for the project you select in the top section. This helps reduce visual clutter when working across many projects.
7. The task information is listed on the left panel while the Gantt chart is displayed on the right. The bottom section shows the resource scheduling. Use the vertical and horizontal scroll bars to navigate different areas of the planner. Use the + and – icons to expand and collapse project phases.
8. To edit a project directly from Project Planner, click the row menu on the project row and select Edit Project. This opens the Edit Project screen, where you can update the project status, percent complete, start and end dates, and other details.
   Note: The Edit Project option is available only if you have the Projects > Allow Update permission enabled.
9. You can review the time entries associated with an allocation directly from the row action menu in both the top and bottom sections of Project Planner. To review time entries for an allocation, click the row action menu and select Review Time Entries. CORE opens the Review Time and Expenses screen with filters automatically applied based on the selected allocation and planner date range.
10. You can add allocations directly from the bottom Resource Schedule section in all Project Planner views, including By Project, By Resource, and Simplified views. This allows you to create allocations while reviewing schedules without switching to the top Gantt panel. To add an allocation from the bottom section, click the row action menu for the relevant project or resource and select Add Allocation. Enter the allocation details and click Save. CORE automatically syncs Hours/Week and Total Hours values and distributes allocation hours evenly across the selected schedule period.
    Note: Allocations must follow the P-A-R-T rule (Project, Activity, Resource, and Time Period combination). Duplicate or overlapping allocations with the same details are not allowed.
11. Click > Show/Hide Columns to show more columns in the task panel, say % Complete, or hide any column. You can also select Export to export the Project Planner data in any format: CSV, Excel, or PDF. It gets saved to the default download location on your system. The exported PDF includes both the allocation showing activities, allocated hours, and assigned resources, as well as the Gantt chart.

Update Resource Allocations

You can update resource allocations directly from the Gantt chart in Project Planner without leaving the screen.

To update a resource allocation, follow these steps:

1. Open the Allocation & Forecasting screen from the side menu > Projects > Plan > Project Planner.
   
   
    
2. On the Gantt chart, click an activity bar and select Edit Resource Allocation. This opens a focused view for managing multiple resources within the same allocation.
3. From this view, you can change assigned resources, update the Start Date and End Date, and edit allocation details for each resource. You can also split or swap existing allocations with other resources, allocate additional hours to the group, and view or update allocated, scheduled, and unscheduled hours.
4. You can create allocations for unassigned resources by selecting only a resource group. If no end date is specified, CORE displays a warning and schedules all the total hours in the first period.
5. Click Update. 

Note: Allocations can be added for both parent and child projects. Allocations are not permitted for Main type projects. When Budget-Allocation Sync is enabled, and the project rule “Updates to project start and end dates should apply to all budget items is turned on, the Start Date and End Date fields cannot be edited as they are controlled by the project or phase dates.

Spread Allocation Hours

Project Planner allows you to evenly distribute allocated or unscheduled hours across future periods, such as weeks or months. It helps you automate scheduling, balance workloads, and align resource usage with project timelines without manually adjusting each period.

To spread allocation hours, follow these steps:

1. Open the Allocation & Forecasting screen from the side menu > Projects > Plan > Project Planner.
   
   
    
2. Click Resource Schedule Entry > Menu > Spread Hours.
3. On the Spread Hours dialog, choose one of the following:
   • Spread only unscheduled hours: Distributes only hours that have not yet been scheduled.
   • Spread all allocated hours: Clears existing schedules and distributes the total allocated hours evenly across the selected periods.
     
     
4. Review or adjust the Start Date and End Date fields.
   • The start date defaults to the later of the current period or the allocation start date.
   • The end date defaults to the later of the allocation end date or the current period.
   • If the allocation does not have an end date, you must define one before continuing.
5. Review the To Be Spread details to see the total hours to be distributed and how they will be allocated per period.
6. Click Spread Hours to apply the changes.

Import Allocations as CSV

In CORE, you can import resource allocations directly from a Comma Separated Values (.csv) file into Project Planner. CORE does not create new items or resources if there are no matches. You can map the relevant fields between CORE and the CSV file and review the data before completing the import.

Note: You can download a sample import file to see how your file should be structured and what data it should include.

To import allocations from a .CSV file, follow these steps:

1. Open the Allocation & Forecasting screen from the side menu > Projects > Plan > Project Planner.
   
   
2. Click  menu > Import from CSV.
3. On the Import Allocations from CSV dialog, choose the CSV file to be imported. 
4. Drag and drop the CSV file into the upload area or click Select Files to browse and select the file. Click Continue. You can click Download Sample File to view the required format. 
5. On the Field Mapping tab, you can match the relevant CORE fields with CSV fields. Each record requires a project, resource group, resource, activity, activity description, and start date to be mapped.
   
   
    
6. Click Continue. 
7. On the Import Summary tab, review the selected records and their mappings. 
   1. Valid Records: Records with no issues
   2. Date Overwritten: Allocation dates adjusted based on project or phase dates
   3. Allocation Overlaps: Records that violate P-A-R-T (Project, Activity, Resource, Time) rules
   4. Other Conflicts: Missing or mismatched data
      
      
8. Click Review & Fix and correct Allocation Overlaps or Other Conflicts. You can download a CSV file of overwritten or excluded records for review. 
9. Click Import Records to import the valid records. Check the drop-down arrow to view additional import options.
   Note: When sync between budget and resource allocation is enabled, any allocations successfully imported from CSV are automatically reflected in the project budget as new or updated budget items.
10. Click Finalize Review to apply the changes. 
    Note: When importing allocations, hours are distributed based on the Allocation Spreading setting in Settings > Projects > Planning.
    1. If both Start Date and End Date are specified, hours are distributed based on the selected setting.
    2. If no End Date is specified, all hours are scheduled in the first period.
    3. If Total Hours and Hours/Week values conflict, CORE flags the record during the review so you can correct it before import.
       
       

11. Next, on the Import Mapping Name dialog, enter a name to save the mapping for future use and click Save Import Mapping.
    
    

    The allocations are imported. You can review the imported data and make changes, as needed.

Mark Screen as Favorite

You can mark or flag the most-often used and important screens in CORE as your favorites up to a maximum of ten. These favorite screens then display separately on the side menu under the Favorites list. You can manage all your favorite screens in CORE from User Settings.

To mark this screen as your favorite, watch this video or follow these steps:

1. Open the Allocation & Forecasting screen from the side menu > Projects > Plan > Resource Allocation or Forecasting tab.
   
   
    
2. In the list view, click  on the top-right.
3. You can access the Allocation or the Forecasting screen from the side menu under Favorites.

You can also check the detailed video on marking screens as favorite in CORE.