As a part of this feature, we have provided functionality for project forecasting based on the project tasks, resources assigned, and the duration estimated for each task. When the forecasting version is created, periods will be generated for each task as Day, Weekly, Month, and Yearly. The summary of task status is displayed based on current forecasting version date which includes details like Effort estimated, Effort completed, EEAPC, PEAPC, Effort overrun details etc.
Forecasting parameter on project
New fields are added at project details which enables the forecasting feature only for the specific project. When this parameter is set to Yes, forecasting related tabs, fields and buttons will be made visible.
Projects > Projects > Summary (tab):
| Fields | Description |
| Enable effort forecasting | Parameter to control Forecasting on the project. |
| Forecasting version | Indicates the current forecasting version |
| Forecasting date | Indicates the current forecasting date |
| EEAPC percent checkpoint | Indicates the EEAPC check point % for checking task effort overrun |
| Forecasting version notes | Specifies the note for the generated version and notes updates to version and version history tables |
| Forecasting version valid | Indicates if the current version is valid. If set to No, new forecasting version needs to be created. If there is any change in the task or in the estimated start/end date of the project/tasks, add/remove tasks, this field will be set to No automatically |
| Day effort variance | This field will be calculated where the Effort Completed value is more than EEPAC Day and Overrun is set to Yes |
| Week effort variance | This field will be calculated where the Effort Completed value is more than EEPAC Week and Overrun is set to Yes |
| Month effort variance | This field will be calculated where the Effort Completed value is more than EEPAC Month and Overrun is set to Yes |
| Year effort variance | This field will be calculated where the Effort Completed value is more than EEPAC Year and Overrun is set to Yes |
| Enable Effort completed history | If this field is set to Yes, data will be populated in the Period table and Per-day table which stores task effort data for each period type |
| Disable day forecasting | If this field is set to Yes, data will not be Generated/populated in the Forecasting to date table and Period table for Day period type |
| Disable week forecasting | If this field is set to Yes, data will not be Generated/populated in the Forecasting to date table and Period table for Week period type |
| Disable month forecasting | If this field is set to Yes, data will not be Generated/populated in the Forecasting to date table and Period table for Month period type |
| Disable year forecasting | If this field is set to Yes, data will not be Generated/populated in the Forecasting to date table and Period table for Year period type |
| Disable summary tasks period forecasting | If this field is set to Yes, data will not be created for parent task in the period table |
Forecasting buttons on project
New buttons are added at project details which creates new version and updates the current version with latest effort completed details.
- Generate new version
- Update effort completed
Generate new version
When this button is clicked, a new forecasting version is created for each project task with details like Total effort estimated, EEAPC, PEAPC, Effort completed so far and percent effort completed, overrun details. The details can be viewed for each period type like Day-wise, Week-wise, Month-wise, Year-wise separately.
Projects > Projects > Forecasting (button group) > Generate new version
Task-wise, records are created for various period types. By default, day-forecasting view will be displayed as shown in the below image. A different view can be selected from the drop-down to view data from different period types.
Update effort completed
When this button is clicked, the completed efforts and % completed efforts will be updated in the version table and the period table. The updates will be made as part of the current forecasting version if the version is valid.
Projects > Projects > Forecasting (button group) > Update effort completed
Forecasting to date tab on project
A new tab is introduced on the project details which displays all the details related to the project forecasting. This tab will only be visible if Enable effort forecasting is set to Yes on the project. Whenever a new version is generated, data in this tab will be populated for each task (parent and child tasks) with effort forecasting details like Total estimate, EEAPC, PEAPC, Effort Adjustments, Overrun details etc.
Projects > Projects > Project (details) > Forecasting to date (tab)
| Fields | Description |
| No | Indicates the serial number of the tasks |
| Name | Indicates the task name |
| Project task start date | Defaulted start date from task |
| Project task end date | Defaulted end date from task |
| Task effort | Indicates the total estimated effort of the task |
| EEAPC day | Indicates the estimated effort at period complete for Day period. This can be viewed for different period types in the respective views selected in the forecasting to date tab |
| Calculation formula for Day Ex. | (Total effort/working days), same for Weekly, Monthly and Yearly. |
| EEAPC day adjustment | This is an editable field. EEAPC can be adjusted for Day period to override the system calculated EEAPC Day. This can be viewed/edited for different period types in the respective views selected in the forecasting to date tab |
| Task effort completed | Indicates the actual effort completed. It also includes any efforts posted for future dates |
| PEAPC day | Indicates the Percent effort at period complete for Day period. This can be viewed for different period types in the respective views selected in the forecasting to date tab |
| PEAPC day adjustment | This is an auto calculated field based on the input from field EEAPC day adjustment. This can be viewed for different period types in the respective views selected in the forecasting to date tab |
| Task % complete | Indicates the actual effort completed in percentage. It also includes any efforts posted for future dates |
| Overrun day | Indicates if the task efforts are overrun. This field will be set to Yes if EEAPC day > Task effort completed & Task % complete > EEAPC percent checkpoint on project summary. If EEAPC day adjustment has value, then it checks if EEAPC day adjustment > Task effort completed & Task % complete > EEAPC percent checkpoint. This can be viewed for different period type in the respective views selected in the forecasting to date tab |
| Summary task | Indicates if the task is parent task. Sets the field to Yes if it has leaf tasks, else it will be set to No. |
Task forecasting details on project
The forecasting details of each task for each period type can be viewed in the Task forecasting details form.
Projects > Projects > Project (details) > Forecasting to date (tab) > Task details
The forecasting period details tab contains same set of fields as Forecasting to date tab along with an additional field ‘Active’. This tab also has a green indicator which indicates the current active period. Whenever the Active field is set to Yes, the green indicator will be made visible for the respective period.
| Fields | Description |
| Active | Indicates the current active period as per the current Forecasting date. Value is set to Yes if the Forecasting date is between the Period start date and Period end date (including the start and end dates) |
Project forecasting version history
Whenever new versions are created, the data of the current version is moved to the Project forecasting version history table. It enables users to view historical versions of the project forecasting.
Projects > Projects > Project (details) > Related (tab) > Project forecasting version history
Forecasting effort completed per day
Whenever the time entries are approved, an entry is made in the ‘Forecasting effort completed per day’ table. The entries are created per task and per day. If the entry exists for a specific task and day, then for any additional time entry approvals, it will sum up with the existing efforts for that task and day.
Projects > Projects > Project (details) > Related (tab) > Forecasting effort completed per day
| Fields | Description |
| Project | Indicates the name of the project |
| Project task | Indicates the task name |
| Date | Indicates the date for which the effort is completed |
| Effort completed | Indicates the total effort completed of the task |
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