resource cost

L

lynne baker

Hi all
Many thanks to all of you (mainly Dale and Gary!) who answer my
questions so readily - it is extremely highly appreciated.

We have a marketing communciation department who don't particularly
want to be part of the projects in which they have an input (yes, I
know...)
What we would like to do is allocate a charge to them for the entire
length of the project, so we can properly cost it.
Is there a "proper" way to do this?
Should I just create a dummy resource called marketing comms, or do I
group the individual resource into a group called marketing comms - if
the latter does it work out the cost based on the average cost of the
team?

Am I asking a daft question here?
I need a lie down I think....

Many thanks - as always

lynne
 
D

Dale Howard

Lynne --

It sounds like you want to assign a "flat fee" for the Communications
Department to a project to account for their share of the financial burden
of the project. If this is the case, you can add a fixed cost to the
project on the Project Summary Task (Row 0). To do this, complete the
following steps:

1. Open the project in question
2. Click Tools - Options - View
3. Select the "Show project summary task" option and then click OK
4. Click View - Table - Cost
5. Apply the Communication Department cost in the Fixed Cost column for the
Project Summary Task (Row 0)

Just an idea. Let me know if this helps.
 
J

John Beamish

Dale Howard inferred that you want to apply a fixed fee for the Comm dept
costs.

I disagree with his suggestion to use the Project Summary Task (in fact, I
don't like putting anything in a summary task). You have several other
approaches (all of which I prefer since it leads to easier tracking of the
costs).

You could create a task or a milestone task. You could create a resource or
leave the resource blank. Here are the combinations.

1. Create a milestone task; do not assign a resource; put the cost for the
Comms group in the Cost column on the Gantt view. On the Gantt view you
would put the milestone at a particular date. The cash flow report will
show the entire amount appearing in total on that date.

2. Create a task with a start date and a duration; do not assign a
resource; put the cost for the Comms group in the Cost column. The cash
flow report will show the amount spread evenly across the duration.

3. Create a milestone task; assign a resource; put the cost on the Resource
sheet in the Cost Per Use column. Again, the cash flow report will show the
entire amount appearing on the milestone date.

4. Create a task with a start date, a duration and work hours; assign a
resource; put the cost for the Comms group in Std. Rate. The cash flow
report will show the costs being incurred at the rate you assign work.
 
M

Mike Glen

Hi Lynne,

Welcome to this Microsoft Project newsgroup :)

Another suggestion is to create a hammock task and assign the resource to
that. This will have the advantage of expanding or contracting as the
project changes. Please see FAQ Item: 19. Hammock Tasks.

Next time, try posting on the project newsgroup, as this one is closing
down! Please see FAQ Item: 24. Project Newsgroups. FAQs, companion
products and other useful Project information can be seen at this web
address: http://www.mvps.org/project/..
..
Hope this helps - please let us know how you get on:)

Mike Glen
Project MVP
 
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