Duration - split

[Chris McComas]

I am trying to calculate cost based on 8 hrs a day regardless of actual hours
worked per day. This is to gauge the real costs to the business from salary
resources who may work more than 8 hrs a day but only cost 8 hrs a day.

I have come up with this formula to calculate this in a custom field
IIf([Actual Cost]>0,(([Actual Cost]/([Actual Work]/60))*([Actual
Duration]/60)),0)
The problem is if the task gets split the calculation does not know to
account for this. I have looked for a function that will tell me the value of
the Split but cannot seem to find one. Here is what I am thinking would work.

IIf([Actual Cost]>0,(([Actual Cost]/([Actual Work]/60))*(([Actual Duration]
– SPLIT)/60)),0)

If anyone has a completely different way to do this please let me know

 

[John]

I am trying to calculate cost based on 8 hrs a day regardless of actual hours
worked per day. This is to gauge the real costs to the business from salary
resources who may work more than 8 hrs a day but only cost 8 hrs a day.

I have come up with this formula to calculate this in a custom field
IIf([Actual Cost]>0,(([Actual Cost]/([Actual Work]/60))*([Actual
Duration]/60)),0)
The problem is if the task gets split the calculation does not know to
account for this. I have looked for a function that will tell me the value of
the Split but cannot seem to find one. Here is what I am thinking would work.

IIf([Actual Cost]>0,(([Actual Cost]/([Actual Work]/60))*(([Actual Duration]
– SPLIT)/60)),0)

If anyone has a completely different way to do this please let me know

Chris,
Your proposed formula may or may not give what you want except for the
fact that "SPLIT" is not a function or field that can entered in a
formula. But, let me make an observation. If you are only considering
cost based on 8 hours per day, why not simply multiply the duration
[hours] by the resource rate? You said it doesn't matter how many hours
the resource actually works on the task because he is non-exempt salary
and it costs the company 8 hours per day equivalent pay. I might even
take that a step further and say, so what if the tasks is split, unless
the resource is on vacation or some other fringe benefit type leave, the
company still has to pay his salary during the split. In that case, the
split time should be added to the duration to calculate the cost.

Obviously there are multiple scenarios here.

John
Project MVP

 

[Chris McComas]

Yes, unfortunately there are multiple scenarios…

• (Duration x Rate) gets tough when I have multiple resources assigned to a
task with different rates
• (Duration x Rate) inflates with Split durations, which as you mentioned
would be ok if this only occurred due to vacations or bench time but that is
not the case. The most often cause for a split is a change in priority and a
shift of task, which would result, given this calculation, in accounting for
the resource cost twice as they would be assigned to a different task while
they are in the split of another task.

What I need is a way to calculate (([Actual Cost]/([Actual Work]/60)) x # of
Days Worked). Is there any way to define “ # of Days Worked†outside of
duration?

Thanks,
--Chris

I am trying to calculate cost based on 8 hrs a day regardless of actual hours
worked per day. This is to gauge the real costs to the business from salary
resources who may work more than 8 hrs a day but only cost 8 hrs a day.

I have come up with this formula to calculate this in a custom field
IIf([Actual Cost]>0,(([Actual Cost]/([Actual Work]/60))*([Actual
Duration]/60)),0)
The problem is if the task gets split the calculation does not know to
account for this. I have looked for a function that will tell me the value of
the Split but cannot seem to find one. Here is what I am thinking would work.

IIf([Actual Cost]>0,(([Actual Cost]/([Actual Work]/60))*(([Actual Duration]
– SPLIT)/60)),0)

If anyone has a completely different way to do this please let me know

Chris,
Your proposed formula may or may not give what you want except for the
fact that "SPLIT" is not a function or field that can entered in a
formula. But, let me make an observation. If you are only considering
cost based on 8 hours per day, why not simply multiply the duration
[hours] by the resource rate? You said it doesn't matter how many hours
the resource actually works on the task because he is non-exempt salary
and it costs the company 8 hours per day equivalent pay. I might even
take that a step further and say, so what if the tasks is split, unless
the resource is on vacation or some other fringe benefit type leave, the
company still has to pay his salary during the split. In that case, the
split time should be added to the duration to calculate the cost.

Obviously there are multiple scenarios here.

John
Project MVP

 

[John]

Yes, unfortunately there are multiple scenarios…

• (Duration x Rate) gets tough when I have multiple resources assigned to a
task with different rates
• (Duration x Rate) inflates with Split durations, which as you mentioned
would be ok if this only occurred due to vacations or bench time but that is
not the case. The most often cause for a split is a change in priority and a
shift of task, which would result, given this calculation, in accounting for
the resource cost twice as they would be assigned to a different task while
they are in the split of another task.

What I need is a way to calculate (([Actual Cost]/([Actual Work]/60)) x # of
Days Worked). Is there any way to define “ # of Days Worked†outside of
duration?

Thanks,
--Chris

Chris,
I was all set to create a little macro for you that would calculate the
splits. However, as I was going though the code and working out your
formula, either I'm missing something or this is really a trivial
calculation. First, I assume you unchecked the option
(Tools/Options/Calculation) for Project to calculate actual cost (i.e.
you are entering actual cost values yourself). Second, the Actual Work
field says how many hours were worked based on the entry in the %
Complete field. Note that the value of actual work is independent of how
many hours a non-exempt salary worker actually works since no overtime
is involved. Given those parameters, the cost value you want is simply:
Actual Cost/Actual Work/60

As far as split parts are concerned, the split is automatically taken
into account when Project calculates the Actual Work field.

Am I missing something in my analysis?

John
Project MVP

I am trying to calculate cost based on 8 hrs a day regardless of actual
hours
worked per day. This is to gauge the real costs to the business from
salary
resources who may work more than 8 hrs a day but only cost 8 hrs a day.

I have come up with this formula to calculate this in a custom field
IIf([Actual Cost]>0,(([Actual Cost]/([Actual Work]/60))*([Actual
Duration]/60)),0)
The problem is if the task gets split the calculation does not know to
account for this. I have looked for a function that will tell me the
value of
the Split but cannot seem to find one. Here is what I am thinking would
work.

IIf([Actual Cost]>0,(([Actual Cost]/([Actual Work]/60))*(([Actual
Duration]
– SPLIT)/60)),0)

If anyone has a completely different way to do this please let me know

Chris,
Your proposed formula may or may not give what you want except for the
fact that "SPLIT" is not a function or field that can entered in a
formula. But, let me make an observation. If you are only considering
cost based on 8 hours per day, why not simply multiply the duration
[hours] by the resource rate? You said it doesn't matter how many hours
the resource actually works on the task because he is non-exempt salary
and it costs the company 8 hours per day equivalent pay. I might even
take that a step further and say, so what if the tasks is split, unless
the resource is on vacation or some other fringe benefit type leave, the
company still has to pay his salary during the split. In that case, the
split time should be added to the duration to calculate the cost.

Obviously there are multiple scenarios here.

John
Project MVP

 

[Steve House]

You've said you want to cost the project at 8 hours pay even if the resource
works more than that. What if it's less than 8 hours on some days - should
it be costed at 8 hours or just the hours worked? You might want to
reconsider approach because either way, in fact what you are proposing is
NOT the real cost to the business of the project. Even though you don't pay
an exempt resource by the hour or for overtime, an hour's worth of his work
time has value regardless of when it occurs. The hour from 7 to 8 pm is
worth just as much as the hour between 2 and 3 pm. And even though you
don't pay him directly for hours worked beyond 8 a day, those extra hours
represent just as much a real cost to the firm as does overtime work done by
a non-exempt employee. It occurs as opportunity costs - the fact he's
working on your project means he's not working on something else
economically productive and that lost opportunity is just as much a real
cost as is the regular paycheque you cut for him or the overtime cheque
issued to a regular non-exempt employee when he works beyond his regular
shift. Consider the extreme condition - you are near the end of the fiscal
year and there's no money left in the budget yet you want to get a project
done - does assigning all the work to exempt employees and asking them to do
their tasks after business hours mean you'll get the project done for free?
I don't think so. You are equating direct salary cost with real cost but in
fact they are not the same thing at all.

Project is not an accounting or payroll package and you shouldn't try to
make it so. The cost of doing a project is an economic cost, not just the
direct salary cost or even the marginal payroll cost of the people involved.