| # To launch an estimate to a budget To launch an estimate to a project means either of the following: The work can start. The bid is accepted. Long-lead-time items must be ordered. Technically, launching the estimate means you create project budget lines from the estimate line. You can either launch: A complete project structure with all the estimate lines or a selection of estimate lines. Part of the structure. If the selected structure is a hierarchical structure, you must specify a node. As a result, all structural elements and estimate lines linked to this node’s structural element are launched. If the hierarchy is absent, a so-called flat structure, you can specify a range of elements and/or estimate-line sequence numbers. All estimate lines within the range are launched. Estimate lines that were launched earlier. In this case, you can delete the earlier launched estimate/budget lines, otherwise duplicate budget lines appear. Note that there is no relation between the estimate lines and the budget lines. Budget types You can have one of the following budget types: Top-down budget and/or a generated top-down budget. bottom-up budget (activity budget). Bottom-up budget (element budget). Note The launched top-down budget and the bottom-up budget are not related, but you can copy or generate lines to a top-down budget. To launch a top-down budget If you launch a top-down budget, bear in mind the following remarks: You can launch a top-down estimate to a top-down budget if the primary structure is activities. The top down budget version status must be Free. If you use a version for the project budget, you can launch an estimate to a new top-down budget version. The project status must be Free or Active. If the project has the Active status, the project plan must be the project’s leading plan. Verify the consistency of the structure. If the estimate-version structure deviates from the project activity structure, you will receive an error message in the Message Log (tpest0505m000) session. If the leading plan does not exist for the actual project, the project is updated with the launch plan, which is the target plan in the Launch Estimate to Budget (tpest2200m000) session. If an activity structure does not exist for the launch plan, the estimate-version structure for the plan is copied to the budget. To launch a bottom-up budget For each selected estimate line, the information on the budget line is filled according to the following rules: If the estimate-version structure is copied to the budget, make sure the element or activity structure is linked to the estimate version. If, during the launch to an element budget, element codes are not used on an estimate line, the default element is used. Consequently, an estimate line is launched with this default element. The same goes for activities. If the activity is a WBS element activity or a planning package activity, it can be used for estimating but it cannot be launched to the budget. A bottom-up estimate line with the Total level type (level types are determined in the Structural Elements (tpest1120m000) session) can have a cost amount although it does not have a cost type. In this case, to launch the estimate line, a default cost type and the corresponding default cost object are used from the Launch Estimate to Budget (tpest2200m000) session. If the cost object used on the estimate line is of the Control Code type, and if under Cost Object of the Type Control Code, all check boxes are selected, a new cost object is generated and is used on the budget line. Otherwise, the estimate line’s cost object is used on the budget line. The cost object description that is used on the budget line is not the description used on the estimate line. The description is the standard cost object description. If the cost object is not filled on the estimate line, and if under Cost Object Not Filled, all check boxes are selected, a generated code is used on the budget line. Otherwise, the cost type’s default cost object is used on the budget line. If one of the Cost Control Levels for Cost Component check boxes in the Project - Cost Control Levels (tppdm6102m000) session is selected for the project, and if a cost component is present as one of the structural elements, the cost component is used on the budget line. Otherwise, the cost object’s cost component is used on the budget line. If an extension is present as one of the structural elements, it is used on the budget line. If the Target Extension field is entered, this target extension overwrites the structural-element extension and is used in the budget. If the extension type is Quantities-to-be-Settled and the invoicing method is Budgeted Costs, only the sales price is entered on the budget line. You can launch surcharge-, contingency-, and/or escalation amounts as sundry cost lines. Note on sequence numbers If you selected one of the Cost Object check boxes in the Launch Estimate to Budget (tpest2200m000) session, the corresponding values entered in the Sequence Number group box of the General Parameters (tppdm0100s000) session are used. If a control code is linked to an estimate line, a new cost object code is generated by adding a sequence number to the control code. The length of the sequence number depends on the value that indicates the maximum length in the General Parameters (tppdm0100s000) session, and the length of the cost object code that is defined in the data dictionary. If the range of the sequence numbers is consumed, a new series is generated starting with ZZZ00001. For example Control code 20 appears twice and the length of the sequence is 2. As a result, the codes 2001 and 2002 are generated. For the equipment code, the maximum number of positions is 10. To assign a sequence number, the original code that is entered in the Estimate Lines (tpest2100m000) session must be less than 10 characters. LN assigns the next free sequence number to the control code. Related topics To use estimate line levels To use a bid |