Enter costs for resources

Microsoft Office Project 2007 calculates the costs for resources based upon a number of factors and resource types.

What do you want to do?

Introduction to entering costs for resources

Enter cost rates for a work resource

Enter a per-use cost for a work resource

Enter a fixed cost for a task or for the project

Enter costs for a cost resource

Enter a rate for a material resource

Enter a per-use cost for a material resource

Introduction to entering costs for resources

Microsoft Office Project calculates the costs for resources based on regular and overtime rates, on per-use costs, on fixed costs, or on costs for cost resources (such as airfare or dining) that are assigned to tasks.Before you can save changes to cost information for an enterprise resource, the resource must be opened for editing.

The various cost types operate in differing ways, depending upon whether the resource is a work resource (a person), a material resource (such as cement or rebar), or a cost resource (such as airfare or dining). For work resources, the rate is applied per unit of time. For material resources and cost resources, the rate is applied per other specified units (such as tons, yards, or the units of a selected currency).

Note: This article does not discuss how to create a budget for your project by using budget resources. Find links to more information about budget resources in the See Also section.

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Enter cost rates for a work resource

1. On the View menu, click Resource Sheet.

2. In the Resource Name field, select a resource or type a new resource name.

3. In the Std. Rate and Ovt. Rate fields, type the resource rates.

   If these fields are not visible, press TAB to move to them.

You can enter more than one standard rate and one overtime rate for each resource:

1. Select the resource, click Resource Information , and then click the Costs tab.

2. In the Cost rate tables, click the A (Default) tab.

3. In the Effective Date column, enter the date when the rate change takes effect.

4. In the Standard Rate and Overtime Rate columns, type the resource rates.

5. To enter a rate change that takes place on another date, in the additional rows of the cost rate tables, type or select the new date, and the new standard rates and overtime rates.

6. To enter additional sets of pay rates for the same resource, click the B tab, and then repeat steps 3-5.

Note: 

• Microsoft Office Project calculates cost totals as soon as rate-based resources, resources that have per-use costs, and cost resources are assigned to tasks.

• Changing the standard rate for a resource also affects the cost of any tasks that are 100 percent complete and that still have the same resource assigned to them.

• When you have entered multiple rates for a single resource by using the cost rate tables, you can change the resource rates for that resource for any assignment by using a different cost rate table. To change the cost rate table for a specific assignment, in the Task Usage view, select the resource that is assigned to the task, and then click Assignment Information . In the Cost rate table list, click the cost rate table that you want to use.

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Enter a per-use cost for a work resource

1. On the View menu, click Resource Sheet.

2. On the View menu, point to Table, and then click Entry.

3. In the Cost/Use field, type a cost value.

   If this field is not visible, press TAB to move to it.

You can enter more than one per-use cost for each resource:

1. Select the resource, click Resource Information , and then click the Costs tab.

2. In the Cost rate tables, click the A (Default) tab.

3. In the Effective Date column, enter the date when the rate change takes effect.

4. In the Per Use Cost column, type the per-use cost.

5. To enter a per-use cost that takes place on another date, in the additional rows of the cost rate tables, type or select the new date and the new per-use cost.

6. To enter additional sets of costs for the same resource, click the B tab, and then repeat steps 3-5.

Microsoft Office Project can calculate cost totals as soon as rate-based resources, resources that have per-use costs, and cost resources are assigned to tasks.

Note: When you have entered multiple costs for a single resource by using the cost rate tables, you can change the resource costs for any assignment by using a different cost rate table. To change the cost rate table for a specific assignment, in the Task Usage view, select the resource that is assigned to the task, and then click Assignment Information . In the Cost rate table list, click the cost rate table that you want to use.

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Enter a fixed cost for a task or for the project

Fixed costs are applied to a task, and not to a resource.

1. On the View menu, click Gantt Chart.

2. On the View menu, point to Table, and then click Cost.

3. In the Task Name field, select the task for which you want to enter a fixed cost.

4. In the Fixed Cost field, type a cost value.

You can also enter fixed costs for the entire project, which you might choose to do if you are interested only in overall project costs (and not in task-level costs), or if you want to add project overhead costs (such as the cost of utilities).

1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the View tab.

2. Under Outline options, select the Project summary task check box, and then click OK.

3. In the Task Name field, select the project summary task.

4. In the Fixed Cost field, type a cost for the project.

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Enter costs for a cost resource

A cost resource lets you apply a cost to a task by assigning a cost item (like airfare or lodging) to that task. Unlike fixed costs, you can apply any number of cost resources to a task. Cost resources give you more control when you apply various types of costs to tasks.

Before you enter a cost for a cost resource, you must create the cost resource:

1. On the View menu, click Resource Sheet.

2. In the Resource Name field, type a name for the cost resource (such as Lodging), and then click Resource Information .

3. In the Resource Information dialog box, on the General tab, click Cost in the Type list.

After the cost resource is created, you can assign the cost resource to a task. After the cost resource is assigned to a task, you can enter costs for the resource assignment by using the Task Usage view.

1. On the View menu, click Task Usage.

2. Select the task that the cost resource is assigned to, and then click Assignment Information .

3. In the Assignment Information dialog box, click the General tab, and then enter a cost value in the Cost box.

4. Click OK.

When a cost is applied by using a cost resource that is assigned to a task, the amount of the cost resource can vary depending on how the cost resource is used.

Notes: 

• Unlike fixed costs, cost resources are created as a type of resource and then assigned to a task.

• Unlike work resources, cost resources cannot have a calendar applied to them. However, if you assign a cost resource to a task and add a currency value on a specific date that falls outside of the task's current start or end date, Project 2007 adjusts the date to include the date of the cost resource assignment. For example, if you have a task that begins on August 1 and ends on August 15, and you assign a cost resource with a value of $500 on August 21, the end date of the task is adjusted to August 21, to reflect the cost resource assignment. This feature is included in the Infrastructure Update for Project 2007.

• If you have estimated multiple values for a cost resource over a period of time, and the actual values differ from the estimates, Project 2007 replaces the estimates with the actuals. This cost resource behavior differs from other resource types because cost resources are not tied to actual work. This feature is included in the Infrastructure Update for Project 2007.

• The currency value of cost resources doesn't depend on the amount of work done on the task that they are assigned to.

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Enter a rate for a material resource

1. On the View menu, click Resource Sheet.

2. On the View menu, point to Table, and then click Entry.

3. In the Resource Namefield, select a material resource or type a new material resource name.

4. If this is a new material resource, do the following:

   1. Select Material in the Typefield.

   2. Type a measurement unit name in the Material Label field, such as lit (for "liters"), cu. m (for "cubic meters"), or ea (for "each").

5. In the Std. Rate field, type a rate.

   If this field is not visible, press TAB to move to it.

You can enter more than one rate per material resource:

1. Click Resource Information , and then click the Costs tab.

2. In the Cost rate tables, click the A (Default) tab.

3. In the Standard Rate column, type a rate.

4. In the next row, type a value or percentage change from the previous rate in the Standard Rate column. For example, type +10% to indicate that the rate has increased 10% from the previous rate.

5. In the Effective Date column, enter the date when the rate change takes effect.

6. To enter additional sets of rates, click the B tab, and then repeat steps 3-5.

Note: 

• Enter material resource rates if you want Microsoft Office Project to calculate material resource costs based on material resource rates. For example, to assign to a task a material resource named cement that has a unit price of $100 per ton, select the resource type Material, and then type or select the resource name Cement, the label Ton, and the standard rate of $100.

• Enter multiple rates for a material resource if you work with multiple grades of material or if you need to incorporate material rate changes on specific dates. For example, you can use the Cost rate table tabs to enter rates for various grades of carpet and to include cost increases or discounts that you expect at specific times during the project.

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Enter a per-use cost for a material resource

1. On the View menu, click Resource Sheet.

2. On the View menu, point to Table, and then click Entry.

3. In the Resource Name field, select a material resource or type a new material resource name.

4. If this is a new material resource, select Material in the Typefield.

5. If this is a new material resource, type a measurement unit name in the Material Label field, such as lit (for "liters"), cu. m (for "cubic meters"), or ea (for "each")

6. In the Cost/Use field, type a cost value.

   If this field is not visible, press TAB to move to it.

You can enter more than one per-use cost for each resource:

1. Click Resource Information , and then click the Costs tab.

2. If this is a new material resource, select Material in the Type box.

3. If this is a new material resource, type a measurement unit name in the Material label box.

4. Click the Costs tab, and then click the A (Default) tab in the Cost rate tables.

5. In the Per Use Cost column, type a cost value.

6. In the next row, type a value or percentage change from the previous cost in the Per Use Cost column.

7. In the Effective Date column, enter the date when the cost change takes effect.

8. To enter additional sets of per-use costs, click the B tab, and then repeat steps 5-7.

Note: 

• Enter one per-use cost for a material resource if you want to enter only one per-use cost for that material resource and you don't want to incorporate future cost changes.

• Enter multiple per-use costs for a material resource if you want to enter more than one per-use cost for that resource or to incorporate future material cost per-use changes.

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