Resources & Cost
Expenses and Accrual (PROJCOST) — Not Resource Units
PROJCOST expenses + accrual; not resource units; not a resource curve
What a planner means
An expense is a non-resource cost on an activity (permit, mobilization, vendor invoice). It is not a labor/nonlabor/material assignment and it does not take a resource curve. Oracle: “Resource curves do not support expenses. The Accrual Type will continue to spread the expenses.”
XER: PROJCOST
| Column | Oracle label |
|---|---|
cost_item_id | Unique ID |
cost_name | Expense Item |
cost_descr | Expense Description |
task_id | Activity |
proj_id | Project |
cost_load_type | Accrual Type |
cost_type_id | Expense Category |
acct_id | Cost Account |
target_cost / act_cost / remain_cost | Budgeted/Planned, Actual, Remaining Cost |
target_qty / cost_per_qty / qty_name | Planned units, price/unit, UOM |
vendor_name | Vendor |
po_number | Document Number |
auto_compute_act_flag | Auto Compute Actuals |
Accrual type (Oracle UI / API)
| Accrual | What happens |
|---|---|
| Start of Activity | Entire expense on the activity start date |
| End of Activity | Entire expense on the activity finish date |
| Uniform Over Activity | Evenly over the activity duration |
API strings: 'Start of Activity', 'End of Activity', 'Uniform Over Activity'. XER stored tokens for cost_load_type are not listed. Do not invent CL_* codes.
Microsoft Project
Fixed Cost is one number on the task, not a vendor/category table. Fixed Cost Accrual: Start (all at start), End (all when 100% complete), Prorated (spread; Microsoft: based on % complete). Resource costs have their own accrual.
Same idea as P6 Start / End / Uniform. Not the same table. One Project Fixed Cost cannot hold several P6 PROJCOST rows (two vendors on one activity).
Do not treat PROJCOST as TASKRSRC, apply a resource curve to an expense, or collapse many expenses into one Fixed Cost without saying rows were lost. Do not map cost_load_type integers you have not seen.