Documentation on Cost Rate Tables

[Skip Purdy]

I'm trying to set up a project that has internal rates and customer rates for
a project. I believe Cost Rate Tables are the way to go, but I can't find
adequate documentation on them in order to use them.

For example - for a given project, how do I create an Internal Cost view and
a Customer Cost view, given the resources have different Rate Tables
established?

Thanks!

 

[Brian K - Project MVP]

I'm trying to set up a project that has internal rates and customer rates
for
a project. I believe Cost Rate Tables are the way to go, but I can't find
adequate documentation on them in order to use them.

For example - for a given project, how do I create an Internal Cost view
and
a Customer Cost view, given the resources have different Rate Tables
established?

Thanks!

Rate tables will not do what you are asking. A rate table lets you specify
a certain rate or set of rates for a resource for a given task. It does
not let you have different views showing the same task but with cost
calculated from different tables. Using tables you would need to print a
view with one table used, then change all the assignments over to a
different tableand then run the report or view the view again with the new
table.

What yo want could be done with VBA pretty quickly though.

 

[Brian K - Project MVP]

Rate tables will not do what you are asking. A rate table lets you specify
a certain rate or set of rates for a resource for a given task. It does
not let you have different views showing the same task but with cost
calculated from different tables. Using tables you would need to print a
view with one table used, then change all the assignments over to a
different tableand then run the report or view the view again with the new
table.

What yo want could be done with VBA pretty quickly though.

Actually, This VBA does it in a very basic way. It loops through the
assignments of every task and looks at the Resource Cost1 field and
calculates an assignment "Cost" based on this alternate rate and puts it
in the Assignment Cost1 field and then takes the sum of the Assignment
Cost1 fields and puts the total in the Task Cost1 field. It is basic, it
has no error handling and it comes with no promises or warranties...but
here it is:

Sub NewRates()
Dim T As Task
Dim A As Assignment
Dim SumAssignmentCosts As Currency

For Each T In ActiveProject.Tasks
If Not (T Is Nothing) Then
For Each A In T.Assignments
A.Cost1 = (A.Work / 60) * T.Resources(A.ResourceName).Cost1
SumAssignmentCosts = SumAssignmentCosts + A.Cost1
Next A
End If
T.Cost1 = SumAssignmentCosts
SumAssignmentCosts = 0
Next T
End Sub

 

[Steve House [Project MVP]]

Others have answered your immediate question but adding my 2 cents, I'd
suggest you be extremely cautious about trying to track revenues in MS
Project. It's not an accounting or a time and billing application and
attemtping to use it as such is likely to be highly misleading, potentially
with disasterous results for your business. The costs it's tracking are
intended to be an estimate of your costs of doing the actual project work
and to monitor progress against that budget. What you bill your clients to
do the project for them also needs to include other overheads, rents, costs
of capital, depreciation, and profit margins - all factors that Project
essentially doesn't even know exist. If you try to track revenues in the
project through the use of custom fields, Project will post the cost of the
task against your budget when the task is worked and will assume the
revenues have been received as the work was performed, being paid instantly
as the customer's obligation is accrued. This is obviously not realistic.
Use Project for planning the schedule and estimating the project's costs -
it does a great job of that - but don't try to get it to do double duty as a
project accounting application as well. It just isn't the right tool for
that job.