Set up resources for projects

To correctly manage resource activities, you must set up your resources and the related costs and prices. The project-related prices, discounts, and cost factor rules are set up on the project card. You can specify the costs and prices for individual resources, resource groups, or all available resources of the company.

You specify the default amount per hour when you set up a resource. The price and cost amounts apply when you use or sell resources in a project. For example, if you use a specific machine for five hours, the calculation is based on the amount per hour.

Note

You can't purchase external resources for a specific project. We recommend that you use items of the type Service instead.

To set up a resource

Create a card for each resource that you want to use in projects.

1. Choose the icon, enter Resources, and then choose the related link.
2. Choose the New action.
3. Fill in the fields as necessary. Hover over a field to read a short description.

To set up a resource group

You can combine several resources in one resource group. All capacities and budgets of resource groups are accumulated from the individual resources. You can also enter capacities for resource groups either independently of the accumulated values or in addition to them.

1. Choose the icon, enter Resource groups, and then choose the related link.
2. Choose the New action.
3. Fill in the fields as necessary.

To set capacity for a resource

To calculate how much time a resource can spend on projects, you must set their capacity. Capacity represents a resource's available time for a period on the work calendar. This setup is used when you fill in project planning lines that contain the resource. For more information, see Create Projects.

1. Choose the icon, enter Resources, and then choose the related link.

2. Open the relevant resource card, and then choose the Resource Capacity action.

3. On the Resource Capacity page, in the View By field, specify the length of the period, such as Day, that is shown on columns on the Resource Capacity Matrix FastTab.

4. For each resource on a line, specify for each period on the columns the number of hours that the resource is available.

5. Alternatively, to detail the resource's capacity for a specific period, choose the Set Capacity action.

   Tip

   If you're setting capacity for a group of people who typically work the same hours, you can save a little time and ensure consistency by choosing a work hour template. For example, you might have one work hour template for full time technicians, and another for technicians that work part time. To learn more about work hour templates, go to To set up work hour templates.

6. On the Resource Capacity Settings page, fill in the fields as necessary.

7. Choose the Update Capacity action. The Resource Capacity page is updated with the entered capacity.

8. Close the page.

To set up alternate resource costs

In addition to the cost specified on the resource card, you can set up alternate costs for each resource. For example, if you pay an employee a higher hourly rate for overtime, you can set up a resource cost for the overtime rate. The alternate cost that you set up for the resource overrides the cost on the resource card when you use the resource in the resource journal.

1. Choose the icon, enter Resources, and then choose the related link.
2. Select the resource for that you want to set up one or more alternate costs for, and then choose the Costs action.
3. On the Resource Costs page, fill in the fields on a line as necessary.
4. Repeat step 3 for each alternate resource cost that you want to set up.

Note

To set up resource costs that apply to all resources and resource groups, open the Resource Costs page and fill in the fields.

To set up alternate resource prices

In addition to price specified on the resource card, you can set up alternate prices for each resource. These alternate prices can be conditional. They can depend on whether the resource is used with a specific project or work type.

1. Choose the icon, enter Resources, and then choose the related link.
2. Select the resource for that you want to set up one or more alternate prices for, and then choose the Prices action.
3. On the Resource Prices page, fill in the fields on a line as necessary.
4. Repeat step 3 for each alternate resource price that you want to set up.

To adjust resource prices

If you want to change costs or prices for a large number of resources, you can use a batch job.

1. Choose the icon, enter Adjust Resource Costs/Prices, and then choose the related link.
2. Fill in the fields on a line as necessary, and then choose the OK button.

Note

This batch job doesn't create or adjust alternate costs or prices for resources. It only changes the contents of the field on the resource card for the Adjust Field field that you selected in the batch job. The adjustment takes effect immediately for resources, so check your adjustment factors before you run the batch job.

To get resource price change suggestions based on existing alternate prices

If you already set up alternate resource prices for some resources, you can use a batch job to set up multiple alternate resource prices.

1. Choose the icon, enter Resource Price Changes, and then choose the related link.
2. Choose the Suggest Res. Price Chg. (Price) action, and then fill in the fields as necessary.
3. Choose the OK button.
4. When the batch job is finished, the Resource Price Changes page shows the results of the batch job.

To get resource price change suggestions based on standard prices

If you want to set up multiple alternate resource prices based on the standard prices on the resource cards, you can use a batch job.

1. Choose the icon, enter Resource Price Changes, and then choose the related link.
2. Choose the Suggest Res. Price Chg. (Res.) action, and then fill in the fields as necessary.
3. Choose the OK button.
4. When the batch job is finished, open the Resource Price Changes page to see the results of the batch job.

See also

Setting Up Project Management
Project Management
Finance
Purchasing
Sales
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