Define Budget Control Rules

Explanation

Budget control rules define how the project transactions are validated against the budget and will work only from the budget consumption point onwards. The project specific budget control rules have to be defined for a cost element or a cost/revenue breakdown structure (if used) and can be defined together for selected code parts.

If a budget is defined on a very detailed level it might become cumbersome to define all rules manually. It is then possible to define budget rules by fetching details from a given budget version to create a new set of control rules using the Define Budget Control Rules Assistant. If the user plans to adopt this approach in creating rules, it is assumed that a fully defined budget is available to fetch information.

Control total for each budget line will be calculated based on the actual budget of the selected budget. If there are no budget lines defined for the rules that are defined here, control total against those rules will be equal to zero. The Control Total for each control rule can be viewed on the Project Budget Control Summary window.

Control as budgeted is used to control project costs strictly at the same level of its active budget, thereby eliminating the need for the definition of explicit budget control rules.

Control on total budget is used to allow you to decide whether the project should be controlled against the total budget or not. If this check box is selected, total cost consumed in the project in all project cost elements will be considered with the total budget when controlling further consumptions. If not, only the cost consumed against the budget controlled project cost elements will be considered with the budget based on the budget control rules.

Prerequisites

• An active budget should exist.
• Only the code parts selected on the Cost Element Code Part window can be used against each cost element in creating budget rules.
• If the control as budgeted function is to be used the Budget Control On check box must be selected in order to select the Control As Budgeted check box.
• A consumption point must be defined for the company in Budget Control window for the rules to be enforced.

System Effects

• Project budget control rules will be enforced for all active project budgets having Budget Control enabled.
• If the Control As Budgeted check box is selected on a project it will not be possible to change control rules manually on that project.

Window

Project Budget Control Rules List
Project Budget Control Rules
Define Budget Control Rules Assistant - Step 1
Projects
Project

Related Window Descriptions

Project Budget Control Rules List
Project Budget Control Rules
Define Budget Control Rules Assistant - Step 1
Projects
Project/General

Procedure

Use the following procedure to define budget control rules manually:

1. Open the Project Budget Control Rules List window.
2. Click New to create a new record.
3. In the Project ID, Sub Project ID and Activity ID field, use the List of Values to select a project, sub project or an activity for which you want to define budget control rules. Alternatively you can leave the fields for sub project ID and activity ID blank to create a general rule for the project.
4. In the Cost Element field, use the List of Values to select a cost element or node on which you want to enforce budget control rules.
5. Use the List of Values in the desired Code Part fields to select code parts for which you want to enforce budget control rules.
6. Use the List of Values in the Currency Code field to select the currency for which you want to enforce budget control rules.
7. Click Save.

Use the following procedure to define budget control rules using the Define Project Budget Control Rules Assistant:

1. Open the Define Project Budget Control Rules Assistant.
2. In the Company field, use the List button to select the company for which you want to define control rules.
3. In the Project field, use the List button to select the project for which you want to define control rules. The Project Budget Version field then automatically inherits the forecast version that has been set as the Active Budget.
4. In the Existing Rules group of fields, you can choose one of the following options based on your requirement:
   Override Existing Rules: Select this option to generate rules which will replace any existing budget control rules defined on the selected project
   Append Existing Rules: Select this option to generate rules which will be added to any existing budget control rules defined on the selected project.
5. Click Next.
6. Select all unique levels in the WBS (Project/Sub Project/Activity) on which you want to enforce the control rules. If you want to select the whole project or e.g. all activities under a Sub Project, right click on the desired level and RMB Select All.
7. Click Next.
8. Select all levels in the CBS or the cost elements on which you want to enforce the control rules. If you want to select the whole structure or e.g. all levels under a CBS Node, right click on the desired level and click Select All.
9. Click Next.
10. Select the currency codes on which you want to enforce the control rules. If you want to select all currencies, right click Select All in the Select Currency Code column.
11. Click Finish.
12. You can modify the created control rules if required.
13. Click Save.

Use the following procedure to control a project as budgeted:

1. Open either the Projects or Project window and query for the required project.
2. Right click and then click Enable/Disable Budget Control to enable budget control.
3. Right click and then click Control As Budgeted.

To enforce the control on the total budget:

1. Right click and select Control on Total Budget.