DPC - 06.01.01 The Budget Tab Grid in Detail (including Grouping options)

The Budget Grid shows you each LCC used in a Project and its individual production (Estimated, Actual, and Projected). When you "Break on UOM", you will see the quantity of takeoff (per UOM) associated with each LCC.

Budget Grid, not Broken on UOM

This is the simplest view of the Budget Tab - it shows total Estimated Hours, Percent Complete, Earned Hours, etc. rolled up (bid-level) and for each Labor Cost Code.

Notice - in our example, we are 'over budget', and we know it is LCC 01001, however we could see even more details...

Budget Grid, Broken on UOM

Many Labor Cost Codes may be used with multiple Units of Measure (some LF, some SF, all in same bid, for example). If you 'break on UOM', DPC shows you a separate row for each UOM.

Now we can see that our labor for SF is where the problem really lies - we only "Earned" 3 hours of Labor (based on the takeoff objects 'percent complete') but we "Used" 6 hours of Labor. We can see that LF is performing within Budget (exactly 'on budget', actually... we "Earned" 6 hours and "Used" 6 hours). We can also see that labor for "EA" is a little behind - we "Earned" 10 hours but "Used" 11. We can use "Group by Areas" to see dig even deeper...

Budget Grid, Broken on UOM and Grouped by Area

Provided the Estimator assigned takeoff to Bid Areas and the Foremen/Project Manager have applied labor (Time) to the correct Bid Areas (see Related articles), we can group the Budget Tab "by Area" to see even more details about our project.

Now can see that our big problem is with labor on Floor 1. We are significantly over-budget. We'd want to review the Pages that have takeoff allocated to Floor 1 (which is why it is so important to go through the trouble to name your Pages logically).

Budget Grid Columns

The information on the Budget Tab is driven by what you percent (Image Tab) and the amount of hours your enter (Timecard Tab). 

Let us take a look at what each column shows. Columns that are shown only when the grid is "Broken" by UOM are identified with "(UOM)" next to the Column Name/Header. The information in the table below is based on the screen shots above.

Column Name/Header	What it shows/How it is calculated	Notes
Cost Code	The Labor Cost Code, from Quick Bid
Description	The Labor Cost Code Description	Useful if you use numeric Cost Codes, gives you a text description of each LCC.
Total Qty (UOM)	The total Quantity for all Conditions for this UOM for each LCC	Let us say we have two 10' long sections of takeoff. In Quick Bid, the Item calculates with the following details: DPC uses that information on the Budget Tab - you will see Total Qty of 150 LF (and 15 Est. hours)
Installed Qty (UOM)	The total amount of 'percented' takeoff for all Conditions that use this LCC.	Continuing with the example from the row above, let us say you set one of those 10' objects to 100% complete, and leave the other at 0% complete. You have instructed DPC that you 'installed' (built, completed, finished) 75 LF of this Labor Cost Code's work. ***Notice - if you've allocated the takeoff to Bid Areas, the 'installed' quantity can be grouped 'by Area'.
Actual
Est. Hrs.	The estimated total Hrs required, from Quick Bid
% Comp.	Percent of the project/LCC completed. Calculated using the 'percent complete' as set on the Image Tab.	Percent complete is one piece of managing your project. To get the most benefit from DPC, you need to track Time (Labor used) as well. As you set percent complete, you 'earn' hours against your budget. As you track Time, you 'use' hours.
Earned Hrs.	Based on Production (Qty/Hrs) and the percent complete as set on the Image Tab, how many hours of Labor DPC calculates that you should have used.
Used Hrs.	Based on the hours you've entered on the Timecard Tab for each LCC	If your takeoff is allocated to Bid Areas, and you've properly allocated Time to Work Areas, you can 'Break' by Area to get a more granular view of your production/progress.
+(-)	Hours variance - how many hours (earned v. used) you are ahead/behind for the percent complete, on the current date.	When you first start using DPC, you are 'real' production rates may not be precise, so it is not uncommon to have a variance in hours earned v. used. The idea is that, with time, your estimated production will be closer to 'real' production and this variance will be less.  Also, if you use DPC to "Line out" daily work, and your 'real' production exceeds the estimate, you can see how many hours 'ahead' of your estimate you are (and using Projections, how much ahead you will be...)
Remaining Hrs.	Based on your original estimate, how many hours are left to complete the work.	This does not take into account your current production - this is the remaining hours left of the total estimated hours. To see remaining hours to complete the project, based on  actual production, see "Projected - Hours" below.  "Remaining Hrs." simply subtracts the ""Used Hours" from "Estimated Hours".
Projected
% +(-)	How close your current percent complete meets expectations, based on the amount of Labor (Time) you've used.	Calculated by determining your current production by the amount of work left to percent.
Hours	Based on your current production (percent complete and hours used), how many hours it will take to complete the work.	This is why it is important to allocate Time to the same Work Area as the takeoff, if you are "Breaking" on UOM or Areas.  If you are not using Bid Areas or have chosen to "ignore" them, you will not be able to break the Budget Tab on Areas but you will still see overall project-level projections.
+(-)	Hours variance - based on current production, how many hours you will be ahead/behind when the project is complete.
Production (UOM)
Est. P/Hr. (UOM)	For each UOM, you can see the estimated production (UOM/hour).	As you can see in the screenshot above, our estimated production is 10LF/hour.
Act. P/Hr. (UOM)	Based on what is been percented and the time (Labor) used, what the 'real' UOM/hour production is.	If you are breaking by UOM or Grouping by Area, you will see Actual Production for each Row. If you do not apply time to the correct Bid Area, your Actual (and Projected) production will not be accurate.
+(-) (UOM)	Based on actual production, the variance in production (UOM/hour).	This is why it is important to allocate Time to the same Work Area as the takeoff, if you are "Grouping by Area".  If you are not using Bid Areas or have chosen to "ignore" them, you will not be able to break the Budget Tab on Areas but you will still see overall project-level projections.
Notes	The Foremen and Project Manager can add whatever Notes necessary for each Labor Cost Code	If you've "Broken" by Areas or UOM, there could be multiple Rows for the same Cost Code, however there is one "Note" for the Cost Code.

Tracking the Budget (Project Analysis)

Lining Out Daily Crew Work