Clarity

Hi All,

I am doing research on 3 different values available on the Rate Matrix. 

The values are -

1. Actual Cost

2. Standard Cost

3. Rate

I have created a dummy project (and a cost plan within the project) and posted time. On the cost plan I see results that - from what I can tell - are calculated using the Actual Cost and Rate numbers on the Rate Matrix. I cannot find any instance where the Standard Cost is used to calculate results. Does anyone have any guidance on how Standard Cost relates to Cost Plans in a project? For some background - I was given this research item because a customer would like to manage financials in Clarity, but they utilize three different cost values (I was trying to determine if the three different cost/rate values listed above might be utilized as a potential solution); however I cannot find an example of the cost plan using the Standard Cost from Rate Matrix. Any thoughts/feedback are appreciated.

Check this -

https://comm.support.ca.com/?legacyid=TEC444466

Rate
Defines the billing rate to apply to a transaction for the row. A value of at least 0.00 is required.
For equipment, materials, and expenses, rate is equal to the quantity. For example, if the cost of a single server is $1,000.00, then the rate set to 1.

Standard Cost
Defines the standard cost that is associated with any transaction matching the criteria established in the matrix.
Standard cost is used in all cost fields. For example, in cost plans, planned cost is calculated as quantity * standard cost.

Actual Cost
Defines the actual cost that is associated with any transaction matching the criteria established in the matrix. Actual Cost can be used in custom reporting.

NJ

Thanks for the reply navzjoshi00 

Regarding the definitions you provided, I must question the validity of the statement "Standard cost is used in all cost fields." In my test project, all of my projected cost values are calculated off "Actual Cost." For instance, on the test resource in question the Rate = $1, Standard Cost = $50, and Actual Cost = $100. On the Cost Plan for my project, I have 40 hours of work for the week of June 1 - June 7 listed, but all of the cost fields are reporting 4,000. If the Cost fields were using Standard Cost, shouldn't the value be 2,000 (40 units x Standard Cost of $50)?

harvard114,

The same, unanswered discussion exists at CA Clarity PPM :: Project: Test for CA - Financial Plans - Cost Plans.

I just commented, there, asking again for help.

Dale

I have checked this again in 14.2 and it is still wrong.....

14.2 Help indicates Standard Cost is used for all cost fields, including Planned Cost:

Standard cost is set to $50 (all figures in screens are fake - just for testing purposes!):

My test project has 38.4 hours in 3rd Quarter.  Therefore, Planned Cost should be $1920.00:

Value displayed is $2880 - the result of 38.4x the Actual rate of $75!!!!

Standard Cost should be used for planning purpose, as described in Help documentation.  Instead, Actual Cost is being used for both planning and actual transactions.

If I'm doing something wrong, would like to understand what and fix it.  Right now, its not working as described nor as expected.

This has been going on for a long, long time.  I would be happy to find myself wrong, that I could flip a switch/value some place to have this work as described.  If there is such a thing, its not easy/obvious/intuitive/searchable to find - if it were, I expect someone would have responded with the answer by now.

Please, remove the "assumed answered" status of this discussion!

Hi Dale,

In June 2015, we were alerted to the discrepancy in the field description for Standard Cost. Working with CA Support, the field description was changed to the following:

Standard Cost: The standard cost associated with any transaction matching the criteria established in the rate matrix. This attribute is generally not used elsewhere in the product but may be used in developing user-defined cost reporting.

The latest documentation for all CA products can be found by release at wiki.ca.com. Please accept my apologies for any inconvenience. We were limited in our ability to update the online help and online documentation in the previous bookshelf-model. You'll be pleased to learn that the latest CA PPM 14.2 documentation as seen at wiki.ca.com benefits from user comments and feedback, and is updated on a monthly basis (subject to change) since April of this year.

Damon Logiudice

CA PPM Principal Information Services Engineer

Damon,

Thanks for the reply.

Please, look at this from customer perspective:

• CA told us that we could use the app to build forecasts using standard costs
• CA documentation described what we were told
• We bought the app, based on what CA told and showed us
• Product doesn't work as we were told/described
• Rather than fixing the problem, the documentation has been changed, and we've been told to "Just go do it yourself."

Put yourself in my place, would you be pleased with getting updated documentation online?  Or would you want the problem fixed so that the app worked as promised?

Resolving this, on the user side, will take more than just writing some reports.  The "Planned Cost-Standard" data must be calculated and stored such that it can be seen on Cost Plan Detail view, rolled up in Hierarchy views and available for reporting\portlets.  Calculating the data at report run time is insufficient - it doesn't supply these other needs and performance will be unacceptable.

Planning, based on Standard Cost, is not a strange thing - it is, after all, a standard method still widely used.  This problem is a big reason for our continued use of Excel for producing project labor cost forecasts.  Please, return the documentation to its original content and fix the problem.

Dale

CA-TECH-INFO-DAMON

If you are still at it you might consider also making the documentation to cover Target billing rate. Currently that is just mentioned

in

https://wiki.ca.com/display/CCPPMOP142/How+to+Create+Resources+and+Roles

See

https://communities.ca.com/message/241788311#241788311

Urmas - here's the idea I just created - you are welcomed to add your input.  Use Standard Cost for Cost Plans