Resource Types Editor

Resource Types enable an organization to classify resources. For example, to distinguish amongst salaried employees, hourly employees, and external contractors. The type determines default settings for a new resource of that type, resource direct cost rates, and available time-off reasons. You apply a type through the Resource Editor.

The resource type editor is reached by choosing Administration | Users & Resources | Resource Types.

Permissions and Settings

Updating Resource Types requires the global permission System Settings set to Update.

If you are using our Enterprise Configuration module, you may limit which resource types are available to each cost center.

Resource Type Browser

The main screen shows all the active resource types in your installation. Here you can create, edit, delete, or inactivate resource types.


Show Inactive

Tick the Include Inactive checkbox to see these. They will appear as partially grayed out.

Make Active/Inactive

Double click on a resource type to open the editor. Here there will be a checkbox to toggle the activity state.

Add New

Click the Create New Resource Type button.

Delete

Right click on any resource type choose Delete. If any resources are currently assigned to the type, or have been assigned to the type in their history, then you will not be able to delete it. You can either clear the history on all applicable resources and delete, or make it inactive instead.

Resource Type Editor

When you edit an existing resource type or add a new one, you presented with the following form. It is comprised of four sections. A general area at the top and three subtabs. Each section is described below.

General Settings

The upper section contains some general settings that describe the resource type.

Control

Description

Resource Type Name

This is the 'nice name' that you will see when running reports and choosing from dropdown lists within Projector.

Resource Type Code

Short codes are useful for organizations that create customized interfaces for Projector. Generally, you will try to always keep the short code the same so that web services and customized reports don't break even if someone changes the 'nice name'

DescriptionEnter a useful description to help people decide where to categorize resources

Inactive

Inactivate a resource type when you no longer need to use it. Any resource that currently has this resource type, or has had it in the past, will be unaffected by the change. But you will be unable to assign the inactive resource type to all new resources or when editing an existing resource.

Resource Defaults Tab

The Resource Defaults tab deals with applying common settings to anyone who becomes part of the group. For example, all your hourly contractors need the Billable flag set. These settings are a recommendation, not a requirement, and can be ignored or overridden as needed. In general, you should be trying to accurately model your organization so that most of the default settings make sense for the group. Changes made on this tab do not have any affect to existing resources, only for new resources or resources that are switched to be this type.

Setting

Description

Billable resource

Check this box if the resource normally performs billable project work, as opposed to a resource whose work hours are not directly billed to a client. This is used for reporting purposes only. It doesn't affect whether or not a resource can report billable time.

Temporary resource

This is a legacy field from before Resource Types existed. It was previously used to categorize a resource as non-permanent - such as a freelancer, temp, or contractor. Now we recommend using this very dialog, resource types, to categorize. The temporary flag is used for reporting purposes only.

Track missing time for this resource

Tick this box if you wish Projector to track missing time for this particular resource. When missing time is tracked we look at the resource's work schedule to see how many hours they are supposed to submit either per-day or per-week. Reminder emails can then be optionally sent.

This checkbox does not apply to resources that are categorized as Hourly, as by definition, an hourly resource only works as many hours as they need to.

Send this resource e-mails for missing, draft, or rejected time

Tick this box if you wish Projector to send missing time e-mail reminders. E-mails are sent for the previous eight weeks. After eight weeks we assume time will never be entered and the emails stop. To configure when emails are sent, please see the system settings for time.

Resource may approve their own time

This resource will be able to approve their own time. See the Configure Time Approval how-to for more information on when this setting is necessary.

Automatically block off holidays in the future (not typically set for freelancers)

Automatically add holidays to actuals in the past (typically set to the same as above)

These settings control whether a holiday is considered a paid holiday. They only impact reports. Other places that show holidays like the Resourcing Dashboard, Topics | Resources, and Time Entry will not see any differences. For our UK clients please note that Holidays is in reference to things like bank holidays rather than time off like vacation or sick days.

These settings are only useful if BOTH the following are true:

  • your RDC Basis Hours is set to Normal Working Hours. This is because these settings affect RDC calculations on holidays and if you subtract away holidays then they do nothing
  • your resource's pay category is Hourly. This is because salaried resources always incur a cost on normal working days whereas hourly resources are assumed to be zero unless scheduled

For example, Sally is paid Hourly. When there is a company holiday next week, do I expect her to cost nothing or something? The flags are split into future/past in order to model the following two scenarios:

  • Automatically block off holidays in the future - UNtick this when an hourly resource is expected to be paid for future holidays
  • Automatically add holidays to actuals in the past - UNtick this when an hourly resource

The two flags prevent a situation where RDC for resources is overestimated. For example, they cost you $100 on a bank holiday when they'll actually cost you nothing. The reason they are split in two is because XXX.

If they do work on the holiday though, what happens?

Note- Please note that these settings do not impact resource scheduling on the holiday. A resource who belongs to a location where a holiday is scheduled will show as unavailable on that day, regardless of the setting here. In order for the resource to show as available to work on that day, he/she needs to belong to a location where the holiday is not scheduled as such.


This setting is only useful when your RDC Basis Hours is set to Normal Working Hours. This is because it affects RDC calculations on holidays. If you subtract away holidays with one of the other two basis hour options, then this flag does nothing.

Override standard RDC rate

By default, a resource's RDC is determined by their department and title. Some resource types may always have a specific hourly rate though. For example, contractors. When this checkbox is ticked, whoever creates or edits the resource is expected to enter an hourly rate at that time.

Pay Category

Select how this resource type is paid – Salaried, Salaried with Overtime, or Hourly. This field is for reporting purposes only. Choosing "salaried with overtime" does not automatically cause the resource to bill overtime OR for the calculations about their RDC  to change.

Pay via subcontractor invoiceTick if this resource is a subcontractor who enters their time in Projector. You then reimburse the subcontactor or the subcontractor's company via subcontractor invoices.
Pay expense reports directly to vendorWhen ticked, a resource can only enter expenses that were paid by a vendor. Typically a company issued credit card. When enabled, a resource cannot enter expenses that they have paid out of their own pocket, but must ask an expenses manager to do it for them.

RDC by Rate Type Tab

This tab shows a grid with one row for each Standard Rate Type in your installation. You can vary a resource type's RDC (resource direct cost) calculation based on the type of work they are doing. The most common example is overtime. When a resource works overtime, are they reimbursed at their normal rate, their overtime rate, or not at all? The following is an example for a fictitious hourly employee. Your business needs and settings may vary from these choices.

Time-off Reasons Tab

Determine which time-off reasons resources can choose from. Tick the checkbox for each relevant reason.

When your resource are in their time entry screens, they are only presented with the ticked options.

Utilization Targets

Utilization targets are an extremely powerful feature in Projector. They allow you to track the billable, chargeable, productive, and total hours a resource enters. This targeting isn't just a single number though. You can set a minimum and maximum target to encourage your resources to stay within a certain range. Once you've defined your targets and ranges, you can pull this information into Projector reports, view it on scheduling screens, and even display it on each resource's dashboard. Now they will have real time feedback throughout the year on their performance.

Utilization in these calculations is based on the Capacity method. The capacity method compares a group of hours against your Utilization Basis Hours. For example, in a given week you are expected to log 40 hours. Your UBH is 40. During that week you work 30 hours on billable projects. Your Billable Utilization is 30/40 or 75%.

But what exactly is UBH? Where does it come from? UBH is your normal working hours. By default, your normal working hours are determined by your location. However, they can be overridden on a per resource basis (useful if someone works half-time). The final bit to this puzzle is your UBH calculation method. This is determined by a system setting that allows you to take holiday and timeoff into account. The method you choose depends on how you track your resources. Rather than try to type out an explanation, the table below provides a visual example of the different methods.

This table is for a 40 hour work week. You have one holiday and take one vacation day. The rest of your time is normal project work.

MethodUBHHours WorkedTotal Utilization
Normal Working Hours402460%
Normal Working Hours - Holidays322475%
Normal Working Hours - Holidays - Timeoff2424100%

For a detailed explanation of Capacity utilization and UBH calculations, please see our Utilization Report documentation.

SettingDescription
Target

Set your minimum and maximum targets for each column. By setting a range you let your resources know their goal. Billable consultants may always have a goal of 100% billable time, but project managers may have a cap of 50% billable time, with their remaining hours targeted towards administrative tasks. How you map these fields is highly dependent on your organizational structure. The bullet list below explains each category of utilization.

  • Billable - Hours on billable engagement types. Whether the hours are actually charged to a client is irrelevant
  • Chargeable - Hours that were charged to a client. They have positive Billing Adjusted Revenue. For Fixed Price engagement types, chargeable is a bit of a non-sequitur because you aren't charging for individual time cards. However, Projector still tracks the BAR on FP time cards so that you can see how profitable it would have been if you had gone for a T&M vs. FP contract. So that often unused BAR value still counts towards chargeable hours. If you primarily run FP projects you might want to dispense with tracking Chargeable. If you run a mixture of T&M and FP, then you may want to make sure that your default BAR rates are positive so that your chargeable targets calculate correctly.
  • Productive - Hours on productive engagement types. Projector automatically sets all billable engagements as productive. Non-billable engagements can optionally be made productive. You may choose to do this for something like Sales work, which does not generate billable revenue, but is a productive use of resource time. You can check whether an engagement type is productive by editing it and looking at the general tab.
  • Total - The total hours a resource enters against all projects.
Show On DashboardTick the checkbox for each type of utilization you want displayed on your resource's dashboard.
Show on Resource Scheduling ScreensWhen ticked, you can optionally show resource scheduling data on the Resource Browser and Resourcing Dashboard.
FlagsYou can optionally present colored dots that represent current performance. If you don't want to display a colored dot, then choose Clear from the color dropdown list.


Reports

Utilization target data is available in the Ginsu, Utilization, and Variance reports. You can bring in their min/max targets, min/max hours, and an indicator symbol of whether they fell above, below, or within their target range. 

Resource Browser

The resource browser shows you your supply of labor. You can optionally show utilization targets on this screen. This is useful for matching your supply of labor with your demand for labor. If I see someone is short on billable work, and there are requests for billable work out there, I can match my worker's needs with my scheduling needs.

Resourcing Dashboard

The resourcing dashboard can also display utilization targets when viewed by resource. To add it, click the Customize Dashboard button. Then under the Column Fields section tick Utilization vs. Targets.

Projector Web Dashboard

This is perhaps one of the most useful areas for resource targets. Your individual resources can review their personal performance and work to keep themselves reporting the appropriate amount of billable, productive, and chargeable work. Values are shown on their dashboards.