Varying Fixed Costs over Multiple Years

[Sid1962]

I have a project where fixed costs for certain summary tasks will vary from
year to year. Is there a trick to assigning these so that I can see the 2006
fixed costs and the 2007 fixed costs? As an alternative, I have created
separate tasks under the summary task called Fixed 2006 and Fixed 2007, and
have assigned the different costs to each of these. I then manipulated the
start dates and durations to make sure they were in the correct years, then
made the fixed costs effective at the start of the project.

Any advice is welcome.

Thanks in advance...

 

[John]

I have a project where fixed costs for certain summary tasks will vary from
year to year. Is there a trick to assigning these so that I can see the 2006
fixed costs and the 2007 fixed costs? As an alternative, I have created
separate tasks under the summary task called Fixed 2006 and Fixed 2007, and
have assigned the different costs to each of these. I then manipulated the
start dates and durations to make sure they were in the correct years, then
made the fixed costs effective at the start of the project.

Any advice is welcome.

Thanks in advance...

Sid1962,
I'm not sure I fully understand what you have and what you are seeing.
Are you assigning fixed costs at the summary level? If so, this is not
recommended. You might want to read FAQ 49 - Summary Task Resources on
our MVP website at: http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm

When you say the fixed cost varies year to year, what do you mean? Are
you setting fixed cost accrual at the start, finish or prorated?

A little more information would help us help you.

John
Project MVP

 

[Sid1962]

John,

I have a situation where I have different customer areas, each of which has
several different projects associated with them, lasting at least 2 years.

Each customer area has an overhead cost associated with it that applies to
every project within it. The customer areas are Summary tasks, with the
individual projects as sub tasks.

The entire project consists of several (9) customer areas.

The overhead costs will vary from year to year.

What I need to do s to be able to assign an overhead cost to each customer
area (Summary Task) for say 2006, a separate one for 2007, and so on.

I am using this approach to be able to see all of my work for each customer
area in my department at a very high level. Ultimately, each project will
have it's own WBS at a much more detailed level.

Hopefully this explains it somewhat better, but if not, let me know.

Thanks, Sid1962

 

[John]

John,

I have a situation where I have different customer areas, each of which has
several different projects associated with them, lasting at least 2 years.

Each customer area has an overhead cost associated with it that applies to
every project within it. The customer areas are Summary tasks, with the
individual projects as sub tasks.

The entire project consists of several (9) customer areas.

The overhead costs will vary from year to year.

What I need to do s to be able to assign an overhead cost to each customer
area (Summary Task) for say 2006, a separate one for 2007, and so on.

I am using this approach to be able to see all of my work for each customer
area in my department at a very high level. Ultimately, each project will
have it's own WBS at a much more detailed level.

Hopefully this explains it somewhat better, but if not, let me know.

Thanks, Sid1962

Sid1962,
Yes, that is a much better explanation. I don't know if you read the FAQ
or not, but I do NOT recommend assigning fixed cost (or any other cost)
at summary level. And the fact that you need to have different overhead
costs for each year means that you will NOT be able to do it at the
summary level. I suggest you create separate subtasks for the overhead
cost for 2006 and 2007. If those same overhead costs apply to all 9
customer areas, you may also want to create another summary level for
the two overhead subtasks. It kind of depends on how you want to split
them out and whether they are accrued at start, end or prorated.

John
Project MVP

 

[Sid1962]

John,

As a matter of fact, I did create a Summary Task called Overhead for each
customer area, and created subtaks for each year I need fixed costs for under
those. I just wanted to know if there was a better, more prefeered meathod,
and based on your response, there is not.

I thank you for your response(s), and I will proceed along those lines.

Again, thanks.

Sid1962

 

[John]

John,

As a matter of fact, I did create a Summary Task called Overhead for each
customer area, and created subtaks for each year I need fixed costs for under
those. I just wanted to know if there was a better, more prefeered meathod,
and based on your response, there is not.

I thank you for your response(s), and I will proceed along those lines.

Again, thanks.

Sid1962

Sid1962,
You're welcome. But you are right for asking - sometimes there is a way
to do the seemingly impossible.

John