You can allocate resources on the Project-Line level (i.e. the deliverable - see details) or on the Project level. You can use Project Allocations to control Sharing and/or to plan/manage resource allocation on the Project level.
The Project Allocation is available from
- Projects - listing all the Resources for the project
- Resources - listing all the Projects for the resource
By default, the Project Allocation is only visible to users with an "Accorto Administrator" permission set.
Sharing
Both options give resources (users) access to the project when using the Sharing Setting of "Private" for Projects. This enabled that resources to only see the projects they are assigned to. This works for any user (including community users).
| Project Allocation | Project Line Allocation | |
| General | broad access | fine level access for each deliverable |
| Project Setting (typical) | Share All Lines: selected | Share All Lines: Not selected |
| Project Lines global access (all) | Share All Lines with: (not necessary) | Share All Lines with: (used) |
| Project Line Setting (typical) | Share All: Not necessary | Share All: (used) |
| Project Line global access | Share With: Not necessary | Share With: (used) |
When creating either Project Allocation or Project Line Allocation, a sharing reason for the Project is created and the resource/user can see/select the Project with the lines.
Note that you can use Project Allocation without giving users access to all lines. It is just an option. You can still (when de-selecting "Share All Lines" control the access to lines
Manage Resources
To create a Project Allocation, go to a
- Project record and click New on the "Project Allocation" related list
- Resource record and click New on the "Project Allocation" related list
(1) select project and resource
(2) optionally select a recurring type (default: One Time") - currently, Monthly is fully supported
(3) optionally enter the planned effort (usually for One Time) or Allocation Percent (usually for Monthly)
(4) optionally enter the start and end date
The Allocation Percent is based on the Capacity of the Resource (by default 8h for 5 days = 40h week).
For monthly allocations, the standard 20 days per month is used.
After the record is saved, you can see in
(5) the total Planned Effort - in this case, 50% of 40h weekly for 8 months (0.5 * 20 * 8 = 640h)
After some time (or expenses) are entered, the current information is updated (i.e. immediately after saving the record, before submission or approval, etc.).
- Current Effort (time allocated to the project)
- Current Billable and Non-Billable time (based on the setting in the project/line and optionally overwritten when entered)
- Est. Billing Amount based on Effort - if the resource has a price (rate) - it will show the Billable Effort with the rate for the project. Note that this might not be the actual billable amount, e.g. for fixed price project deliverables.
- Est. Cost Amount - the effort multiplied with the resource cost rate.
- Current Expenses - the total expenses entered for the project (reimbursable or billable - or not)
Based on that information, you can easily create custom dashboards and reports.
Project Allocation Update
To update the current and planned information if the project allocation
- Run "Update Allocations" (link in Project)
- Schedule the Apex class "ProjectAllocationBatch"
You cannot add links to the layout if you use dynamic forms. As a workaround, you need to add a text formula field to the Project object
HYPERLINK('/apex/accorto.ProjectAllocationUpdate?id=' + Id, 'Update Allocations')