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Recording Direct Actuals

Direct Actuals are costs that are incurred by the project but usually aren't linked to a contract or purchase order. These are often internal costs like payroll for employees, travel expenses, and so on.

Required permissions
Direct Actuals: Read, Create, Update, Delete
Project Settings: Read, Create, Update, Delete

Direct actuals are made up of three main elements: Actuals, Accruals, and Incurred Amounts. 

  • Actuals are the costs you've actually paid. 
  • Accruals are costs you expect to have in the future but haven’t paid yet. 
  • Incurred Amounts combine both Actuals and Accruals, giving you a complete view of all project costs, whether they've been paid or are still expected.

Direct Actuals can be added to your project in four different ways: Manual, Imported, Accrual Reversal, and Calculated Accrual. 

  • Manual Direct Actuals are costs that you enter yourself.
  • Imported Direct Actuals are added through a custom file. 
  • Accrual Reversals remove any estimated costs when a reporting period ends. 
  • Calculated Accruals are generated automatically by the system based on your settings

Adding Direct Actuals

  1. Navigate to the direct actuals page.
  2. Click the + icon on the toolbar.
  3. Fill in relevant information and click Add Direct Actual.

    Note: Direct actuals can also be created in closed reporting periods.

Tip!

Direct actuals can be added to the direct actuals page directly, or using the detailed worksheet view on the cost worksheet. Current, past, and all direct actuals can be selected from the drop-down menu on the toolbar.

Editing Direct Actuals

Use the edit direct actual dialog to modify a direct actual’s details after it has been created. This includes all the direct actual fields that are available in the add direct actual dialog. Note: direct actuals from past reporting periods are also able to be viewed and edited. To do this, select Past as your period when looking at direct actuals.

  1. Select the period of the record you wish to edit by clicking the drop-down option directly to the right of the edit icon and select Current, Past or All. 
  2. Select the direct actual you wish to edit on the grid.
  3. Click the edit icon on the toolbar.
  4. After editing the relevant information, click Save.

Importing Direct Actuals

Direct Actuals can be imported into any reporting period and are either Cost, Quantity, or Hours, depending on the Control Element type. 

  1. Ensure that a direct actual period is selected. You can verify this by looking at the drop-down list directly to the right of the edit icon.
  2. Click the import icon on the toolbar.
  3. Click Download Template. Complete the template with desired data, and save it as a CSV to your computer.
  4. Navigate back to the import dialog and click Browse.
  5. Select the saved file and click Import.
    After importing you will see either a successful or failed import message. If your import was successful, verify that the correct data was used and is as expected. If you see a failed import message, check the process notifications to see why your import is failing.

Tip!

The direct actuals template allows you to import records that map to different reporting periods in one import.

Understanding Accruals

Deleting Direct Actuals from Closed and Past Reporting Periods
Direct actuals from past reporting periods can be edited and deleted, however, these changes may not affect the accrual or accrual reversals for the existing records.

Accrual Reversals
Accrual reversals are calculated automatically when a reporting period is closed. The reversal amounts are calculated based on the accruals from direct actuals for the month. 

Accruals will be reversed and show a negative value in the new reporting period to offset the actual cost coming in after the reporting period is closed. This reversal process avoids double counting of costs and allows you to show actual costs in the reporting period the work was completed in.

Accrual reversals can be viewed, edited, and deleted. To edit accrual reversals, follow the steps in the Editing Direct Actuals section above, and to delete, click the delete icon in the toolbar.  

Note: if direct actuals are created or edited in past reporting periods, an accrued reversal will not be created automatically.

Calculated Accruals
Under cost administration and organization or project settings, there is a setting under the direct actuals section that allows the system to automatically create accruals for you. 

When checked, it will create a system accrual record so that incurred equals Estimate to Complete x Percent Complete. This accrual and value will adjust based on any additional data that is entered into the system. 

You can find this entry by navigating to the direct actuals grid. You'll find Calculated Accrual under the data source column. This entry cannot be deleted or edited.

Note: this setting must be unchecked to see and interact with past reporting period accruals,

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