Project Task & Cost Efficiencies
Prism Projects introduces several new tools focused on streamlining task management and optimizing cost tracking. These include Allocated Cost, a task cloning feature, and the ability to convert fulfilled bids into project tasks, serving to enhance your project execution and improve financial oversight.
Video tutorial: “Project Task Cloning, Allocated Costs, and Bid to Task Conversions.”
Clone Project Tasks
The Project Task cloning feature streamlines task creation and enhances productivity by enabling quick and accurate replication of repetitive tasks. For example, when a Project Manager has a multi-property Project and needs to assign the same task to different people at each property, the clone feature makes it easy for her to simply copy the task and then reassign it the user. Cloning a Project Task may be done either from the Project Task mini-grid (for each task row) or in the task itself in the “Actions” menu.
To clone a Project Task:
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Navigate to the Project Tasks tab of any project
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Select the ellipses to the right of task’s row
Figure 1: Cloning a task in the Project Tasks min-grid
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As an alternative method, the user may also navigate to the details of the task and use the “Actions” menu to clone the task
Figure 2: Cloning a Project Task from the Actions menu of the task to be cloned.
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All details of the cloned task will be copied to the new task, including the budget amount which will be added to the Allocated Cost (see feature below), if the cloned task is incomplete.
Allocated Costs: Planned vs. Completed
Tracking allocated cost provides real-time visibility into current and future financial commitments for a project. Used effectively, it enhances budget control, enabling users to see what costs are planned but not yet paid.
Prism Projects uses this concept to add the cost, or predicted cost, of any incomplete task item (Bid, Work Order, or Project Task), to the “Allocated Cost” KPI until that task is completed. After the task is completed, its cost is removed from the Allocated Cost KPI and added to the “Total Cost to Date”.
As you will see in the following examples, there are some special conditions for bid tasks since they are completed when the bid reaches the “fulfilled” state, but the work represented by the bid has not yet begun and therefore there is no actual cost associated with it at this point.
Figure 3: Allocated cost KPI showing the amount allocated towards costs but not yet spent.
Accounting for Bid costs by Converting them to Project Tasks
Improving the integration between Prism’s Bid Management and Projects modules, bid tasks are now tracked in the Allocated Cost KPI until fulfilled, when they may be easily converted into Project Tasks.
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Navigate to the “Bid Management” tab of Projects
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When the Bid has reached a “Fulfilled” state, the ellipses menu on the bid task’s row will offer the option to create a “New Project Task from Bid” where the user will be prompted through the process
Figure 4: Fulfilled Bids may be converted to Project Tasks.
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Once created a new Project Task ID will be added to the Bid tasks row
Figure 5: Once created the new Project Task is saved to the Bid min-grid and may be referenced directly.
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Now, navigate to the Project Tasks tab of the project and observe that the “Winning Bid” amount has been added to both the Project Task’s budget line item and the “Allocated Cost” KPI, while the original Bid amount (i.e., the bid user’s original estimate for the bid) is removed from allocated cost and recorded in the details.
Figure 6: Creation of the new task from the bid will add the winning bid amount to Allocated cost.
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When the Project Task created from the bid has been completed the cost will be moved into the Total Cost to Date KPI.
Taken together, these efficiency features work seamlessly together to reduce administrative overhead, improve financial accuracy, and allow your team to focus on the task at hand.