Setting accurate resource utilization in Project Planner

Project Planner uses color-coded capacity indicators to show whether a resource is overallocated, optimally loaded, or underutilized. These indicators are calculated based on each employee’s standard working hours and the thresholds defined in Settings.

However, not all employees operate at the same billable utilization level. For example, one employee may have a 90% billable target while another may have a 70% target. Applying the same capacity thresholds to both can result in misleading indicators, where a resource appears underutilized even when they are fully booked based on their expected billable workload.

To address this, you can account for non-billable time using an overhead project. This ensures that Project Planner reflects each employee’s true billable capacity and that the color indicators accurately represent their availability.

How It Works

The recommended approach is to create an internal overhead project and allocate the non-billable portion of each employee’s time to it as recurring allocations.

When these allocations are in place, Project Planner adjusts each employee’s remaining capacity to reflect only their billable availability. The capacity indicators then respond to this adjusted availability instead of total standard hours.

For example, consider employees working 40 hours per week:

With overhead allocations applied:

• Sally’s available billable capacity becomes 36 hours per week
• Jill’s available billable capacity becomes 28 hours per week

As a result, Project Planner displays capacity indicators based on actual billable availability, improving accuracy in planning and decision-making.

Set Up an Overhead Project

To configure accurate utilization targets in Project Planner, follow these steps:

1. Open the Projects screen from the side menu > Projects.
   
   
    
2. Create a new internal project. Use a clear and recognizable name such as Company Overhead or Internal Non-Billable Time.
3. Set the Contract Type to Overhead. 
   • This ensures that all time and expenses recorded against the project are non-billable.
   • The project will not appear in invoices or billing reports.
   • Alternatively, you can use the Marketing contract type, which also marks entries as non-billable.

4. Open the Project Planner screen from Projects > Plan.

   

5. Add the overhead project to your Planner view.
6. For each employee with a utilization target below 100%, create a recurring allocation:
   • Select the resource as the individual employee (not a resource group).
   • Enter the hours per week based on their non-billable portion.
   • Set recurring dates that match your planning horizon.
7. Click Save.

When saved, Project Planner updates each employee’s available capacity, and the color indicators reflect their actual billable workload.

Note: This approach works independently of the CORE HR module. It can be used whether non-billable time is tracked manually or through CORE HR features.