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.
Each allocation in CORE must have a unique combination of Project, Activity, Resource, and Time Period(P-A-R-T rule).CORE does not allow duplicate or overlapping allocations with the same project, activity, resource, and date range. If an allocation already exists with the same combination, CORE prevents you from creating another one. This rule ensures accurate forecasting, prevents scheduling conflicts, and maintains consistency across Allocation, Forecasting, and Project Planner.
You can sync resource allocation with project budget to keep planned hours, costs, and assigned resources aligned automatically. When sync is enabled on a project, any change made in resource allocation is reflected in the budget and the other way around. Check out Budget and Resource Allocation Sync article for details.
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.
You can check the Allocation & Forecasting FAQs here.
How To
Enable Sync with Project Budget
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. CORE allows you to select multiple resources and resource groups from the list. Note: You can choose to see only active projects by selecting that option from More > Show Active Projects Only. |
| Resource Group | Displays the resource group associated with the resource selected on a task. This column appears by default next to the Resource column. When a resource is selected, CORE automatically populates this field with the employee's or vendor's default resource group. If a resource group is selected instead of an individual resource, the Resource field is cleared on save. This field is always required and cannot be left empty. It is available in the column chooser and is included in CSV exports and PDF downloads. |
| 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. Note: Any changes you make to allocated hours are automatically synced between the Forecasting and associated Resource Schedules tabs. |
| 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. |
| Enable Sync with Project Budget |
Allows sync between resource allocation and project budget so that changes in either area are reflected in the other. After sync is enabled, the button label changes to Disable Sync with Project Budget. Enabling sync on any project or phase applies it across the entire project hierarchy. |
| Sync status indicator |
A visual indicator displayed in the Resource Allocation and Project Planner screens that shows the current sync status of the selected project and its allocations. When sync is enabled, the indicator reflects whether allocations are aligned with the project budget. The indicator updates automatically across the project hierarchy. |
| 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. |
| Start Date | When selecting a Start Date, CORE automatically adjusts the date to the first Monday of that week to ensure allocations begin with a full workweek. This prevents partial weeks from appearing in your forecast view and helps maintain consistency in scheduling. In the date picker, all non-Monday dates are grayed out to guide you visually that allocation begins only from Mondays. |
| 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. |
| Contract Billed |
Displays unallocated portion of the contract amount after accounting for all billed and unbilled amounts. It is calculated as: Contract Amount - Contract Billed Amount - Contract Unbilled Amount |
| Contract Billed Remaining |
Amount of contract services and expenses that are flagged as billable and have been billed, including WUD and markup. It is calculated as: Billed Expenses Contract + Billed Services Contract |
| Sched in View + Future Periods | Displays the total scheduled amount from the project’s start date through the future, combining values from the Scheduled in View and Future Periods columns. This provides a complete view of all upcoming scheduled work. |
| Used in View |
Displays the actual hours worked or actual amount earned by the employees on projects, depending on what parameters you have selected. The actual amount includes both billable as well as non-billable time entries with write-up/write-down, if any. Actual Amount = Client Hours x Bill Rate x WUD |
| Scheduled in View |
Displays the scheduled work hours or expected earnings by the employees on projects, depending on what parameters you have selected. The scheduled amount includes billable as well as non-billable time entries. 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. |
| Used all Periods |
Displays the total hours worked or the actual amount earned by employees on projects, depending on what parameters you have selected. The total amount includes billable as well as non-billable time entries, along with write-up/ write-down, if any. Note that this column is visible in Manual View only. Total = Actual Amount + Prior Periods + Future Periods |
| Scheduled all Periods |
Displays the sum of the amounts or hours listed in the period column, along with those from prior and future periods. This column is visible in Manual View only. Total = Scheduled in View + Prior Periods + Future Periods |
| Prior Periods |
This field displays the sum of the allocated hours or amounts for the task during the timeframe preceding the periods column. It reflects the total hours or amounts used in the past that are not included in the current period columns. This column is visible in Manual View only. Total = Sum of Allocated Hours/Amount for the timeframe before the periods column. |
| Future Periods |
Displays the sum of the allocated hours or amounts for the task during the timeframe after the periods column. It indicates the total hours or amounts that are projected to be used in the future, which are not included in the current period columns. This field is visible in Manual View only. Total = Sum of Allocated Hours/Amount for the timeframe after the periods column. |
| Allocation & Forecasting > Project Planner > | |
| Used Hours |
Displays the actual hours recorded by the resource against a specific activity during the defined allocation period. These hours are pulled from the time entries logged by the employee. It provides visibility into how much of the allocated time has been used, allowing project managers to compare it against the planned hours and assess the accuracy of forecasting. Used Hours include all time entries within the allocation date range and is not limited by the selected date range in Project Planner. For example, if a resource is allocated 20 hours over two weeks and they submit 12 hours of time entries during that time, the Used Hours column will display 12 hours. |
| Other Allocations | Displays a single-row rollup summarizing all allocations assigned to the resource that are not included in the current view due to filters or permission restrictions. This row is not expandable and displays, for each period, the cumulative hours scheduled across those hidden allocations. |
| Other Time Entries |
Displays time entries recorded against the project or phase within the selected date range that are not part of the planned allocations. These entries can include work logged by different resources or activities. The values are included in the Used Hours totals, roll up from phases to the project level, and contribute to the Used % calculation. They are also reflected in the Gantt bar, providing a more accurate view of project utilization. |
| Unscheduled Hours | Displays the remaining time that still needs to be scheduled for an allocation, helping you manage resources more effectively. |
| All Used |
Displays the total hours from all time entries associated with the project or phase, regardless of the selected date range. Unlike Used Hours, this value ignores the date filter and provides a complete view of all recorded effort. This helps you understand the full historical usage of resources on a project. This column does not affect the Used % calculation, which continues to be based on the selected date range. The All Used value rolls up from phases to the project level. It is available in the Column Chooser and is enabled by default. |
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.
- 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.
Note: CORE does not allow you to add multiple entries with the same date range to prevent conflicts and overlaps.
- Click Save. 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.
When Budget-Allocation sync is enabled for a project 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 because they are controlled by the project or phase dates.
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.
Note: CORE does not allow you to add multiple entries with the same date range to prevent conflicts and overlaps.
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.
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
- Periods in View
- 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
- Also, select all the parameters for the forecast. Check Field Descriptions above for details
- Start Date
- Periods in View
- 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).
Plan Projects
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:
- Open the Allocation & Forecasting screen from the side menu > Projects > Plan > Project Planner.
- 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.
-
Select relevant projects and project groups. When you select a parent project, all of its phases will automatically be included. Select Show Selected Only toggle to display only the currently selected resources or projects in the drop-down list. You can refine your results using filters like Activity, Project Group, Resource, Client, Manager, and Resource Group. The Select All option is disabled when there are more than 250 parent projects in the list, however, you can search and select individual projects.
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. It is important to note that if you use a project filter to view projects without allocations and then apply an allocation filter, no results will be displayed. This is expected behavior because allocation filters cannot return results for projects that do not have allocation data. The Project Stage filter enables you to focus on projects with or without allocations. If you click Apply Filter without selecting a project, CORE displays a red border around the Project field to indicate that it is required. The Apply Filter button is also disabled until a project is selected. This ensures that filters are applied only when all required selections are made, helping you avoid blank or incomplete results in your planner view. Additionally, CORE provides Warnings as an advanced filter to help you quickly identify potential planning and scheduling issues across projects and resources. Using this filter, you can focus on allocations and schedules that require attention, making it easier to address risks before they affect delivery or capacity. 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.
You can apply one or more warning types to narrow down results and focus only on items that match the selected conditions. These warnings work alongside existing filters and respect your configured planning thresholds, helping you proactively manage workload balance, allocation accuracy, and scheduling alignment.
Project Planner supports search within all key dropdown fields, making it easier to find and select values when working with large data. Instead of scrolling through long lists, you can type to quickly search and filter options directly within drop-downs, such as Resources, Activities, and Resource Groups. This improves navigation speed and efficiency when selecting projects, resources, and planning criteria. To further refine the resource schedule view and reduce visual clutter, you can use Focus Mode. Focus Mode allows you to temporarily narrow down the resource schedule to a single project, helping you review and adjust allocations more efficiently. When enabled, selecting a project in the top section displays only the allocations related to that project in the bottom (Resource Schedule) section, while keeping your existing filters and view settings unchanged.
- When enabled, selecting a project in the top section displays only the allocations related to that project in the bottom (Resource Schedule) section, while keeping your existing filters and view settings unchanged.
- Select the Dates and Weekly/Monthly scale to view the relevant allocations. The Period field includes a Date Range Picker that allows you to define exactly which dates you want to display. You can choose from predefined ranges (Next 3 months, Next 6 months, Next 12 months, or Custom Period) or manually select specific dates from the calendar. After a range is selected, it appears in the Period field and updates the allocation data displayed in Project Planner. CORE automatically aligns the view to start from the nearest Monday, and you can view up to 12 months of data without needing to split it into separate periods. Changing the scale does not affect your selected date range.
- 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.
- You can ed it key project details directly from Project Planner, without navigating to the Project Details screen. From the project row, click
and select Edit Project. This opens the Edit Project screen, which displays the client, project name, contract, and other details in read-only mode, and allows you to update the project information, such as status, percent complete, start and end dates, etc.
In addition to editing project details, the project row-menu provides quick access to planning actions that help you manage work more efficiently. When you select Add Allocation from the project row-menu, CORE opens a dialog that allows you to create new allocations without navigating to the Allocations screen. You can select the Activity, Resource Group, and Start and End dates. When Budget-Allocation Sync is enabled for a project, 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 because they are controlled by the project or phase dates. Allocations can be added for both parent and child projects; however, allocations are not allowed for main type projects. If you attempt to add an allocation to a main project, CORE displays a message indicating that allocations are not permitted. Within the Add Allocation dialog, you can enter either Hours/Week or Total Hours, and CORE automatically keeps both values in sync based on the selected date range. Allocated hours are distributed across the schedules and increase both allocated and scheduled hours. You can also create allocations for unassigned resources by selecting only a resource group. If no end date is specified, CORE displays a warning and schedules the total hours in the first period. When allocation dates or hours are updated, CORE redistributes hours based on the Allocation Spreading setting unless hours are manually adjusted.
Note: The Edit Project option is available only if the user has the Projects > Allow Update permission enabled.
- A blue task bar on the Gantt chart indicates the duration and status of each assigned task for a project or resource. You can view your Gantt chart across many or all projects and see % Hours Used on each activity bar. On hover, it displays a panel with the important task information.
Note: In Project Planner, visual indicators help you quickly identify over-utilization and scheduling issues. When the Used % exceeds 100%, the Gantt bar turns red, providing a clear alert on overallocation. Hovering over the bar also highlights the Used and Used % values in red for easy reference. In addition, the Unscheduled field displays as plain text when its value is zero or positive, removing the orange triangle icon and colored text to avoid unnecessary alerts. - You can view the start and end dates of allocations while scheduling resources. This allows you to see when the work is scheduled to be done and identify any tasks that fall outside the allocation window. This ensures better scheduling, helping you avoid conflicts and ensuring that resources are properly allocated within the planned time frame. You can update resource allocations by clicking
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. - You can see when a resource is overloaded or underloaded during a specific period, making it easier to balance workloads. You can also view the resource schedule totals at the bottom to assess whether resource demands are increasing or decreasing over time.
Note: The height of the blue fill in the Resource Schedule view represents the percentage of allocated hours relative to the resource’s standard available hours for the selected period. This percentage is calculated as:
(Total Hours Allocated / Standard Hours) × 100
For example, if a resource has 40 standard hours and is allocated 20 hours, the bar will appear 50% full. If allocated 10 hours, it will appear 25% full. This visual helps quickly assess how fully a resource is allocated. - You can view the Resource Schedule in two ways:
- By Resources
- By Projects
The Projects view groups allocations under each project, showing child projects, the resources assigned to them, their allocations, and any unplanned time entries. Only resources that match the applied filters appear in this view. When you hover over an activity, CORE displays details such as Activity, Resource, Project, etc. Totals are based only on the data visible in the current view. - Click Resource Schedule Entry > Menu > Spread Hours to distribute allocated or unscheduled hours evenly across future periods. This ensures that resource schedules remain balanced and aligned with project timelines, eliminating the need for manual adjustments every week. In addition, you can use the Clear Scheduled Hours option to reset or clear scheduled hours when needed. This helps create a clean slate before re-spreading forecasted hours.
- 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.
- You can expand and collapse sections using
icon.
- Use + and - icons to expand and collapse project phases, if any.
- You can use the vertical and horizontal scroll bars on the screen to view different areas of the project planner.
- You can use navigation shortcuts in Project Planner to quickly open related records such as Project, Resource, Resource Group, and Allocation screens directly from the grid. These shortcuts are available across both the top (Gantt) and bottom (Resource Schedule) sections and help you access relevant details without leaving context. Check Navigation shortcuts in Project Planner for details.
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:
- Open the Allocation & Forecasting screen from the side menu > Projects > Plan > Project Planner.
- Click Resource Schedule Entry > Menu > Spread Hours.
- 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.
- 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.
- Review the To Be Spread details to see the total hours to be distributed and how they will be allocated per period.
- Click Spread Hours to apply the changes.
Batch Update Tasks
You can update task allocations 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.
Note: During batch update, required fields such as Project, Resource Group, and Item must contain a value. If left blank, CORE prevents the update and prompts you to enter the missing information. For optional fields like Resource, End Date, and Memo (when Overwrite is checked), leaving them blank clears the existing values upon saving. - 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.
Duplicate Tasks
You can duplicate allocations and tasks individually or in a batch. Duplicating allows you to select an existing task allocation and create a copy of that with the same project, resource, item, etc. using the Duplicate functionality. You must adjust dates to ensure accuracy and prevent any overlap with the existing allocations.
To duplicate 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 duplicate. You can select multiple records, if needed.
- Click Actions > Duplicate to make a copy of the selected task. The entries are copied to the clipboard or system memory.
- On the Duplicate 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 duplicate resource allocations on the Gantt Chart screen also in the same way.
Note: CORE does not allow you to add multiple entries with the same date range to prevent conflicts and overlaps.
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 unselect 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.
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:
-
Open the Allocation & Forecasting screen from the side menu > Projects > Plan > Project Planner.
- Click
- On the Import Allocations from CSV dialog, choose the CSV file to be imported.
- 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.
- 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.
- Click Continue.
- On the Import Summary tab, review the selected records and their mappings.
- Valid Records: Records with no issues
- Date Overwritten: Allocation dates adjusted based on project or phase dates
- Allocation Overlaps: Records that violate P-A-R-T (Project, Activity, Resource, Time) rules
- Other Conflicts: Missing or mismatched data
- Click Review & Fix and correct Allocation Overlaps or Other Conflicts. You can download a CSV file of overwritten or excluded records for review.
- 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. - Click Finalize Review to apply the changes.
Note: When importing allocations, hours are distributed based on the Allocation Spreading setting in Settings > Projects > Planning.- If both Start Date and End Date are specified, hours are distributed based on the selected setting.
- If no End Date is specified, all hours are scheduled in the first period.
- If Total Hours and Hours/Week values conflict, CORE flags the record during the review so you can correct it before import.
- 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.
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.
Note: When copying budgets from a parent project that includes child project budgets, CORE prompts you to choose from the following options:
- Copy only to the selected project: Copies allocations from the budget of the selected project only.
- Copy to the selected project as well as the child phase: Copies allocations from the budgets of both the selected project and all its associated child phases. - The budgeted time and expenses get copied to the allocation grid. You can review or edit them, as required.
Note: When copying from a budget, allocation dates are based on the dates defined on the budget items. If budget items do not have dates, CORE sets the allocation start and end dates based on the associated project or phase dates. If the phase does not have an end date, the allocation end date remains empty. Also, when copying allocations from the budget, assignment, and P-A-R-T validation rules are applied to ensure that allocations do not overlap, and only valid resource and activity combinations are used. Allocation hours are distributed based on the Allocation Spreading setting. This ensures consistent distribution of allocation hours when budget items are converted into allocations.
Enable Sync with Project Budget
You can sync resource allocation with the project budget so that any addition, update, or deletion in either area is automatically reflected in the other. This eliminates the need to maintain both areas separately and ensures that resource scheduling and financial planning always reflect the same data. Sync is optional and can be enabled per project.
To enable sync with the project budget, watch this explainer video or follow these steps:
- Open the Allocation & Forecasting screen from the side menu > Projects > Plan > Resource Allocation.
Select the relevant project from the list. - Click More > Enable Sync with Project Budget.
- CORE scans the project for existing budget and resource allocation data and displays an activation screen based on its findings. If no data exists in either area, sync is enabled directly after your confirmation. If data exists in only one area, it is used to populate the other. If data exists in both areas, review the current state of both areas, download a backup of your data, and select a primary data source.
- When Resource Allocation is selected as the primary data source, existing budget items are replaced with allocation data.
- Click Activate Sync to complete the process.
Important Notes
- After sync is enabled, all updates between budget and resource allocation happen automatically in real time, including batch updates. Sync applies across the entire project hierarchy, and sync indicators update accordingly. Allocation updates follow the Allocation Spreading setting for hour distribution.
- When sync is enabled, Project Planner displays visual sync status indicators to help you quickly identify which allocations are aligned with the project budget. Check Budget Sync Status in Project Planner for details.
- When sync is enabled, only assigned resources, activities, and resource groups are available for selection in budget entries. P-A-R-T rules are enforced in both allocation and budget to prevent overlapping entries.
- If a sync operation fails, CORE displays a message so you can review and resolve the issue.
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.
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 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.
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.