Overview
Allocation is a powerful project management and resource-scheduling feature in BQE CORE. It allows you to allocate tasks (activities) and expenses to your employees for various projects with a stated duration of time. The main cause of low profits is project overruns and, in turn, its main cause is the fact that employees are unaware of the expectations you have of them. They work with no clue about project budgets and deadlines. Give them a certain budget, allocate tasks to them and they will finish on time. The budget data can be inherited by resource allocation, which gets inherited further by time and expenses.
Although BQE CORE does not stop you from exceeding allocated hours or units, but this information does help employees police themselves. You can see your allocated and remaining hours/units on the screen while entering time/expenses for the dates and projects included in the allocation. In other words, project managers do not have to micro-manage their employees and tasks. Employees know what is expected of them. Project managers can benefit further by creating dependent tasks that ensure automatic rescheduling of tasks if the parent task is delayed. You can set notifications for the tasks to stay on top of things. Click to watch this video on allocating resources in CORE.
When allocating hours/units to a group of activities/expenses, the value is applied to all the items in the group combined. Example: If the CAD activity group contains 7 activity items and you allocate 10 hours to that group for a project, then the entire group is allocated 10 hours, not 10 hours per item. In case of employees/vendors who have been allocated hours or units individually as well in groups, their individual allocation takes precedence over the group allocation. Also, CORE allows you to create automatic resource allocation based on approved PTO requests for the default PTO project specified in Settings. This helps in avoiding scheduling issues. Updating the PTO simultaneously updates the corresponding resource allocation.
You can view the resource allocations and work breakdown graphically in the form of a Gantt chart. The Gantt chart is very helpful when monitoring a project's progress. As the hours and tasks are allocated, the related Gantt chart reflects the changes instantly. It is interactive and so allows you to add and edit tasks on the grid itself. The horizontal bars display the duration (start and finish dates) per task and summarize it per project.
Forecasting allows you to predict the workload and revenue for the projects based on the resource allocations of the employees. As you view the workload distribution, you can plan the future work assignments accordingly. Using the forecasting parameters, you can view the scheduled and actual hours or amounts in a calendar view on a weekly or monthly basis. As employees might be scheduled to work on tasks where the start and end dates span multiple weeks or months, CORE intelligently distributes the assigned work into weekly and monthly segments, depending on the mode and interval you choose. It displays intuitive color-coding to alert you for allocations that are over the assigned values. Click to watch this video on forecasting in CORE.
Note: The revenue forecasting is based on the fee schedule rates, if available. When using an employee group or activity group in the resource allocation, the fee schedule should have an exact match. Otherwise, for employee group, CORE uses the average rate of the employees in the group. If the 'Use rates from Activity Items screen' rule is checked for a project, CORE uses the average rate of the activities in the group. Also, the Forecasting view computes the allocated and used value for allocations that are based on individual employee-activity combinations as well as their groups.
How To
Copy Allocations from Projects
Field Descriptions
| Field Name | Field Description |
| Allocation & Forecasting > Resource Allocation > Tasks > | |
| Show: Resource or Project |
You can allocate tasks by resource or by project, depending on the view you select here. The Resource list includes employees and vendors (outside consultants and contract employees only), or their groups. You can allocate tasks to any of them. Note: You can choose to see only active projects by selecting that option from More > Show Active Projects Only. |
| Units |
Number of hours or units you expect a resource to spend on the selected activity or expense. When allocating hours or units for a group of activities or expenses, the value is applied to all the items in the group combined. Example: If the CAD activity group contains 7 items and you allocate 10 hours for that group to a project, then the entire group is allocated a total of 10 hours, not 10 hours each. In case of employees (and vendors) who have been allocated certain hours or units individually as well in groups, their individual allocation takes precedence over group allocation. |
| Start/End |
These are the dates when an employee is expected to start and end work on the assigned task and project. When calculating hours or units spent, CORE looks for the time or expense entry dates to be greater than or equal to the start date. It also looks for the time or expense entry date to be less than or equal to the end date. If the start or end date is blank, then this condition is ignored. The Delay and Push Tasks by Days options push the start date and extend the end date of the tasks, respectively. |
| Task Follows | Allows you to specify a predecessor task for the current task, thus creating a dependency between the two (parent-child). If the predecessor task gets delayed, the current task will be accordingly delayed. Similarly, if you change the start date of a predecessor task, you are warned that it will affect the dependent tasks. Tasks with no start and end dates do not appear here. |
| % Complete | Reported percentage of completion of the allocated task that tells us how far the task has been done. This percentage can be entered and updated by the employee or project manager, depending on their security permissions. |
| Delay |
Number of days an assigned task is delayed. It helps to keep a gap between tasks by pushing the start date of the task. This is useful in future allocations because it gives an idea as to how many days are actually needed to complete a task. Note: The Push Tasks by Days option available via Batch Update extends the end date of the tasks. |
|
Notification Recipients: Who |
This represents the settings for the resource allocation notifications. Person who needs to be notified about the allocated task. |
| When |
Time when a recipient should receive the notifications: upon updating a task or completion of a task. |
| How |
How the recipient should receive the notifications: via email or notification message. |
| Allocation & Forecasting > Forecasting > | |
| Distributive View |
Forecasting view where CORE distributes the resource allocation (hours or amount) equally into weekly or monthly segments, depending upon the interval chosen. It considers both the start and end dates of the task. However, it ignores the workload of the employee and might result in overbooking. Allocated Units Per Day = Total Number of Allocated Units / Total Number of Working Days Column distribution = Allocated Units Per Day x Number of Working Days in the column date range The last column accommodates all the units that are left. Example: If you allocate 100 hours to an employee with Start Date as November 7 and End Date as November 18 of a year, it amounts to 8 working days in two weeks. Let us assume that the standard working hours for the employee are 40 per week. In the weekly interval view, the following calculations will apply: |
| Smart View |
Forecasting view where CORE distributes the resource allocation (service units) into weekly or monthly segments, depending upon the interval chosen. It considers the standard working hours set in Settings as well as the current workload of an employee, resulting in a balanced workload. However, it ignores the start and end dates of a task, and might go beyond that. Its intelligent algorithm displays the schedule in such a way that each task completes at its earliest. Example: If you allocate 100 hours to an employee with Start Date as November 7 and End Date as November 18, it amounts to ten working days in two weeks. Let us assume that the standard working hours for the employee are 40 per week. The Smart View breaks 100 allocated hours into three weeks instead of two: 40 hours each distributed in the first two weeks and the remaining 20 hours in the third week. If you have two or more tasks assigned in the same date range, smart view distributes the task based on some criteria like task priority. |
| Manual View |
Forecasting view where CORE distributes all the assigned tasks to the first week from the Start Date, irrespective of the End Date or interval you choose. This allocation also ignores the employee's standard working hours and, therefore, usually results in overbooking and imbalanced workload. However, CORE allows in-line editing of the scheduled hours in the grid, making it easy for managers to assign work. Example: If we allocate 100 hours to an employee with Start Date as November 7 and End Date as November 18, it amounts to 10 working days in two weeks. In this view, CORE takes into account just the start date of the allocated task and adjusts all the assigned hours in that first week starting from November 7. |
| View By: Project | Provides a workload or revenue forecast for projects on a weekly/monthly basis. It displays the tasks assigned to employees for the next 10 weeks/months. You can see the total scheduled and actual hours/amounts for each project. |
| Resource | Provides a workload or revenue forecast for resources on a weekly/monthly basis. It displays their task assignments on various projects for the next 10 weeks/months. You can see the total scheduled and actual hours/amounts by each employee or vendor (outside consultants and contract employees only). |
| Units: Hours | Provides a workload forecast for employees/projects on a weekly/monthly basis. It displays the task assignments for employees/projects for the next 10 weeks/months. You can see the total scheduled hours and actual hours worked. If needed, you can edit the hours. Any changes to the amount will automatically recalculate the corresponding hours, while changes to the hours will adjust the amount. |
| Amount | Provides a revenue forecast for employees/projects on a weekly/monthly basis. It displays the task assignments for employees/projects for the next 10 weeks/months. You can see the total scheduled amount and actual amount earned. If needed, you can edit the amount. Any changes to the amount will automatically recalculate the corresponding hours, while changes to the hours will adjust the amount. |
| Actual Hours/ Amount |
Displays the actual hours worked or actual amount earned by the employees on projects, depending on what parameters you selected. The actual amount includes both billable as well as non-billable time entries with write-up/write-down, if any. The calculations involved are: Actual Amount = Client Hours x Bill Rate x WUD |
| Scheduled Hours/ Amount |
Displays the scheduled work hours or expected earnings by the employees on projects, depending on what parameters you selected. The scheduled amount includes billable as well as non-billable time entries. The calculations involved are: Scheduled Amount = Scheduled Hours x Bill Rate Revenue forecasting is based on the fee schedule rates. When using a group in the resource allocation, the fee schedule should have an exact match. Otherwise, CORE uses the average rate of the employees or activities in the group. |
Allocate Tasks by Resource
To allocate a task to an employee or a vendor, watch this video or follow these steps:
- Open the Allocation & Forecasting screen from the side menu > Projects > Plan > Resource Allocation.
- On the Resource Allocation > Tasks tab, select Show: Resource and select an employee or a vendor (outside consultants and contract employees only) from the drop-down.
- Click Add and enter the required data in the top row of the grid. Check Field Descriptions above for details.
- Project: You cannot allocate units directly under the 'Main' projects’.
- Item: activity or expense
- Units: Number of hours or units you expect a resource to spend on the selected activity or expense.
- Start/End dates
-
Click Done. Repeat the same steps to assign more tasks to this resource.
Note: If an employee or a vendor profile is deleted, the associated tasks are also deleted.
Allocate Tasks by Project
To allocate a task by project, watch this video or follow these steps:
- Open the Allocation & Forecasting screen from the side menu > Projects > Plan > Resource Allocation.
- On the Resource Allocation > Tasks tab, select Show: Project and select a project from the drop-down. Selecting a parent project displays all the tasks belonging to that project as well as any of its phases.
Note: You cannot allocate units directly under the 'Main' status projects. - Click Add and enter the required data in the top row of the grid. Check Field Descriptions above for details.
- Resource (employee, outside consultant or contract employee)
- Item: activity or expense
- Units: Number of hours or units you expect a resource to spend on the selected activity or expense.
- Start/End dates
-
Click Done.
Edit Allocated Tasks
You can view, enter and edit task details in the Detail mode.
To edit a task, watch this video or follow these steps:
- Open the Allocation & Forecasting screen from the side menu > Projects > Plan > Resource Allocation.
- On the Resource Allocation > Tasks tab, select the relevant Show option.
- In the list view, click Detail on the task row you want to edit. You can delete all tasks by selecting them in the list and clicking Actions > Delete or by clicking the row-action menu
to delete individual tasks.
- On the Task Details screen, enter more details or make the desired changes.
- Click Update.
Set Task Notifications
At times, your tasks are dependent on other people’s tasks. Unless they complete their tasks and inform you about it, you keep on checking the status. Instead of waiting for others to remember to notify you, CORE enables you to subscribe to these notifications via email or messages. You can set task notifications for yourself or your employees, especially for the predecessor tasks.
To set a task notification, watch this video or follow these steps:
- Open the Allocation & Forecasting screen from the side menu > Projects > Plan > Resource Allocation.
- On the Resource Allocation > Tasks tab, select the relevant Show option.
- In the list view, click Detail on the task row for which you want to set notifications.
- On the Task Details screen under Notification Recipients, click Add Recipient.
- Enter the required information in the top row of the grid. Check Field Descriptions above for details.
- Who
- When
- How
- Click Done and then Update.
Show/Hide Columns in Grid
You can configure the fields or columns that appear on the grid in the list view. You can hide or show columns, and sort the order of columns according to your requirements.
To do so, watch this video or follow these steps:
- Open the Allocation & Forecasting screen from the side menu > Projects > Plan > Resource Allocation.
- On the Resource Allocation > Tasks tab, click More > Show/Hide Columns on the action bar.
- Select or un-select the column names in the drop-down list, say % Complete.
- Next, click the column name you want to sort the data by, say Start date.
- Click once for ascending order (A-Z) and twice for descending order (Z-A).
Note: You can resize the column widths on the grid and then reset them, if needed (More > Reset Column Widths).
You can also check the detailed video on navigation and customizing grids in CORE.
Export Resource Allocations
In CORE, you can export task allocations to the Comma Separated Values file format. CORE exports data from all available columns and not just the columns visible in the grid.
To export a task to a .CSV file, watch this video or follow these steps:
- Open the Allocation & Forecasting screen from the side menu > Projects > Plan > Resource Allocation.
- On the Resource Allocation tab, click More > Export as CSV.
- A .csv export file is created and saved on your system at the default download location, say your desktop. Click to open the spreadsheet.
You can also check the detailed video on exporting data in CORE.
Copy Allocations from Budgets
You can use the budget data to allocate tasks quickly by importing the time and expense data from there. The allocation gets populated with the budget details, which you can then edit.
To copy time and expense line items from a budget, watch this video or follow these steps:
- Open the Allocation & Forecasting screen from the side menu > Projects > Plan > Resource Allocation.
- On the Resource Allocation > Tasks tab, select the Show option: Project.
- In the list view, click More > Copy from Budget.
- You are prompted to confirm importing budgeted time and expenses. Click Yes.
- The budgeted time and expenses get copied to the allocation grid. You can review or edit them, as required.
Copy Allocations from Projects
You can use the task allocations on a project for another project by copying that data. The allocation gets populated with the project details, which you can then edit.
To copy allocations from one project to another, watch this video or follow these steps:
- Open the Allocation & Forecasting screen from the side menu > Projects > Plan > Resource Allocation.
- On the Resource Allocation > Tasks tab, choose to show the Project for which you want to set up task allocations. Then click More > Copy from Project.
- On the Copy from Project dialog, select the project whose tasks you want to copy.
- Click Continue.
- The records get copied to the allocation grid. You can review or edit them, as required.
Check Conflicts
In case there are multiple and overlapping task allocations, say when the start date of a new task falls between other assigned tasks, CORE can detect such conflicts and notify you. You can enable or disable the option of conflict checking. You are also notified when a PTO request is in conflict with an already scheduled allocation, if you or the employee is scheduled for a task in the same period.
To enable conflict checking, watch this video or follow these steps:
- Open the Allocation & Forecasting screen from the side menu > Projects > Plan > Resource Allocation.
- On the Resource Allocation > Tasks tab, select the Show option: Project or Resource.
- In the list view, click More > Enable Conflict Checking.
This allows CORE to notify you whenever there is a conflict in your task allocations. You can disable this feature anytime from the same More menu.
Note: You can also enable/disable conflict checking on the Resource Allocation > Gantt Chart screen by clicking the More menu on the left panel.
Batch Update Tasks
You can update allocations and tasks individually or in a batch. Batch update also allows you to reset the values to none if the field is not required.
To batch change any task allocation, watch this video or follow these steps:
- Open the Allocation & Forecasting screen from the side menu > Projects > Plan > Resource Allocation.
- On the Resource Allocation > Tasks tab, select the Project or Resource from the Show drop-down whose task allocations you want to view.
- On the grid, select all the tasks that you want to update. Using the
menu, you can select the total number of records without scrolling all the way to the end of the list, total number of records in view or none of the records.
- Click Actions > Batch Update to make batch changes to the selected tasks.
- On the Batch Update dialog, select the relevant fields and enter new values for them.
- Check the disclaimer at the bottom and click Update.
Note: You can also update the tasks in a batch on the Resource Allocation > Gantt Chart screen by clicking Actions > Batch Update on the left panel.
You can also check the detailed video on batch updating records in CORE.
Copy and Paste Tasks
You can copy and paste allocations and tasks individually or in a batch. Copying allows you to select an existing task allocation and create a direct copy of that with the same project, resource, item, units, etc. using the paste functionality. By default, the notification recipients are not inherited by the new task allocations. Some of the information can be adjusted using Paste Special.
To copy any task allocation, watch this video or follow these steps:
- Open the Allocation & Forecasting screen from the side menu > Projects > Plan > Resource Allocation.
- On the Resource Allocation > Tasks tab, select the Project or Resource from the Show drop-down whose task allocations you want to view.
- On the grid, select a task that you want to copy. You can select multiple records, if needed.
- Click Actions > Copy to make a duplicate of the selected task. The entries are copied to the clipboard or system memory.
- Then click Actions > Paste to paste the copied record on the grid. To edit the record before pasting it, click Paste Special instead.
- On the Paste Project Allocation dialog, select the relevant fields and enter new values for them. You can also choose whether to copy predecessor tasks, memos and notifications.
- Click Continue. All records are pasted on the grid.
You can copy and paste resource allocations on the Gantt Chart screen also in the same way.
Apply Filters to Tasks
To view selective data on the Tasks grid, watch this video or follow these steps:
- Open the Allocation & Forecasting screen from the side menu > Projects > Plan > Resource Allocation.
- On the Resource Allocation > Tasks tab, click
on the right.
- On the Filters panel, select a filter from the drop-down and specify individual records or range.
- Click Add Filters to specify more filters.
- When you have finished, click Apply Filter . You can see selective data now.
- In the list view, you can remove the individual filters by clicking
on each. To disable applied filters temporarily or remove all filters, click
You can also check the detailed video on applying filters in CORE.
Use the Gantt Chart
To use the Gantt chart, watch this video or follow these steps:
- Open the Allocation & Forecasting screen from the side menu > Projects > Plan > Resource Allocation.
- On the Resource Allocation > Gantt Chart tab, select the relevant Show option. The Show mode on the Tasks tab carries forward to the Gantt Chart view, but can be changed here. You can view the task allocations for a resource (employee or vendor) or a project.
- The task information is listed on the left panel while the chart is displayed on the right. You can add new tasks on the left panel by clicking Add and entering the activity and hours for it. The tasks are listed under the respective project or phase.
- You can delete any task by selecting it in the list and clicking Actions > Delete. You can also select and update multiple tasks in one go using the Batch Update option from the Actions menu or Copy/Paste task allocations in the grid.
- Click More > Show/Hide Columns to show more columns in the task panel, say % Complete, or hide any column. You can also choose Export As to export the Gantt chart to an Excel or a PDF file. It gets saved to the default download location on your system.
- Click
to hide the task panel on the left and view only the Gantt chart to focus on it. You can also click Full Screen to view the Gantt chart in a big full-screen mode.
- Select the Period and Daily/Weekly/Monthly view for the Gantt chart to view the relevant allocations.
- You can use the vertical and horizontal scroll bars on the screen to view different areas of the chart. Besides that, you can zoom in and out of the chart using the + and - icons, or selecting the zoom percentage from the drop-down.
- The entire task allocation for a project or a resource (top level) is shown by the gray bar on the Gantt chart (overview bar). It can be moved (drag and drop) to change the entire task allocation or timeline of a project or employee by a period, say a week or month. Moving the top-level project or underlying phases automatically adjusts the start and end dates for all underlying tasks.
- A blue task bar indicates the duration and status of each assigned task for a project or resource. When you click a task bar on the Gantt chart, it highlights the entire row on the left panel for easy reference.
- On hover, it displays a panel with the important task information. The % Used for tasks is based on the time entries recorded by a resource and so represents the actual used percentage. However, CORE does not update this percentage in case of entries having activity group or any activity within a group.
- Clicking on a task (activity) opens the Edit Task dialog where you can edit the task details and set up notifications.
- You can drag a task to change its start and end dates or stretch it to change the end date.
- The relationship between the predecessor and dependent tasks is reflected on the Gantt chart by black arrows. You can click on the x icon to remove the predecessor task link between the associated tasks and detach them.
Forecast Workload
To forecast workload, watch this video or follow these steps:
- Open the Allocation & Forecasting screen from the side menu > Projects > Plan > Forecasting.
- On the Forecasting tab, select your preferred view. Check Field Descriptions above for details.
- Distributive View
- Smart View
- Manual View
- Also, select all the parameters for the forecast. Check Field Descriptions above for details
- Start Date
- View By: Project or Resource, depending on whether you want to view the workload by project or employee/vendor.
- Interval: Month or Week
- Units: In this case, select Hours as the units.
- You can also choose the number of columns to display in the grid, say 7, to see the forecast for the next 7 weeks or months.
CORE displays the scheduled and actual hours for the employees on various projects and also the distribution of tasks in the grid. There is a section called Other Tasks on the grid, which displays values if you have time entries that are not against the allocations, but in addition to them. Depending on the View By chosen, these tasks are shown for the projects or for employees. In general, CORE displays the values in intuitive pink color-coding to alert you for allocations that are over the assigned values (overload).
Forecast Revenue
To forecast revenue, watch this video or follow these steps:
- Open the Allocation & Forecasting screen from the side menu > Projects > Plan > Forecasting.
- On the Forecasting tab, select your preferred view. Check Field Descriptions above for details
-
Distributive View
- Smart View
- Manual View
-
Distributive View
- Also, select all the parameters for the forecast. Check Field Descriptions above for details
- Start Date
- View By: Project or Resource, depending on whether you want to view the revenue for the project or employee/vendor.
- Interval: Month or Week
- Units: In this case, select Amount as the units.
- You can also choose the number of columns to display in the grid, say 7, to see the forecast for the next 7 weeks or months.
CORE displays the estimated and actual revenue amount by the employees on various projects and also the distribution of revenue in the grid. There is a section called Other Tasks on the grid, which displays values if you have time entries that are not against the allocations, but in addition to them. Depending on the View By, these tasks are shown for the projects or for employees. In general, CORE also displays the values in intuitive pink color-coding to alert you for allocations that are over the assigned values (overload).
View Reports
To view a report, watch this video or follow these steps:
- Open the Allocation & Forecasting screen from the side menu > Projects > Plan > Resource Allocation.
- On the Resource Allocation > Tasks tab, click More > View Reports.
- Select a report from the Report List dialog. It opens in the viewer.
- Preview the report and then choose to export or print it.
You can also check the detailed video on running and managing reports in CORE.
Apply Filters to Forecasting
To view selective data on the Forecasting grid, watch this video or follow these steps:
- Open the Allocation & Forecasting screen from the side menu > Projects > Plan > Forecasting.
- On the Forecasting tab, click
- On the Filters panel, select a filter from the drop-down and specify individual records or range.
- Click Add Filters to specify more filters.
- When you have finished, click Apply Filter. You can see selective data now.
- In the list view, you can remove the individual filters by clicking
You can also check the detailed video on applying filters in CORE.
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:
- Open the Allocation & Forecasting screen from the side menu > Projects > Plan > Resource Allocation or Forecasting tab.
- In the list view, click
on the top-right.
- 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.