Task-Based Resourcing in BigTime Foresight

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Updated November 13, 2024 13:23

Project’s Planning Tab Overview
Understanding Tasks in Foresight
Managing Tasks in BigTime
Required User Rights
Foresight Permissions
BigTime Permissions
Permissions Use Cases
Navigating to the Tasks in Foresight
Assigning Team Members to Tasks in Foresight
Tasks Flow in Foresight. Creating Assignments in Tasks
Tasks Flow in Foresight. Creating Demand for Roles
Setting Up Planning View Step-By-Step
Main Indicators in Project Planning Tab
Planning
Budget (Hours)
Budget ($)
Exporting Data
Glossary
Viewing Tasks in Calendars
Grouping by Tasks in Projects Calendar
Grouping by Tasks in Demand Calendar

Project’s Planning Tab Overview

In BigTime Foresight, the Planning tab in the Project’s profile provides a comprehensive view of project metrics, giving you insights into task-related data. Tasks are added to BigTime’s Task Editor, while Foresight focuses on displaying critical metrics such as budget and burndown data. The Planning tab is divided into three sub-tabs: Planning, which allows you to view task-level assignments and assess their impact on budgets; Budget (Hours), which tracks how time is being utilized across the project; and Budget ($), which shows financial burndown, including revenue and cost metrics. This functionality is particularly useful for firms that monitor project performance and resource usage in real time, ensuring better decision-making without managing tasks in multiple systems.

Understanding Tasks in Foresight

In BigTime and Foresight, tasks are work units within a project. Your firm may call them something entirely different: “budget items,” “phases,” “work items,” “engagements,” or whatever you’ve decided to call them in your system’s vocabulary settings. Learn more about BigTime’s Lexicon Settings: Your Company’s Lexicon

TASKS = PHASES = MILESTONES

Tasks In BigTime
Managing, Creating, Editing, Removing	Create Staff And Demand Assignments For Tasks And Subtasks	Monitoring Financial Data
BigTime	Foresight	Foresight

If you want to learn more about managing tasks, adding them, editing them, and creating subtasks and task groups, go to the articles section Tracking Tasks And Budgets.

Managing Tasks in BigTime

You have already added tasks in BigTime, so the table below explains how you can manage and view project information across BigTime and Foresight:

Adding Tasks	BigTime
Editing Tasks	BigTime
Removing Tasks	BigTime
Viewing Tasks	BigTime & Foresight
Reports Access	Foresight
Create Staff Assignments For Tasks	Foresight
Create Demand Assignments For Tasks	Foresight

In the image below, you can see the Task Editor in BigTime. You can add, edit, and remove tasks here:

In the image below, you can see the task view in Foresight. As you can see, the task hierarchy is preserved. All task groups, tasks, and subtasks that you add in BigTime are preserved in Foresight and organized in the same way:

Required User Rights

Below is a description of User Rights to see the planning tab in Foresight with complete data.

Foresight Permissions

To use the Planning tab, you will need to have the following permissions in Foresight:

Required Foresight Permissions	BigTime Foresight For Managers
	Financial Access For Managers
	View All Staffers’ Costs

BigTime Permissions

In addition to full visibility of data related to tasks in Foresight and to be able to manage tasks in Bigtime, you will need the following permissions in BigTime:

Required BigTime Permissions	View Project Tasks
	Edit Details On My Task
	View Manage Any Project
	Access Task Budget Data
	Hide Task Financial Data (Disabled)

Permissions Use Cases

Permissions Troubleshooting
User Rights Set	Report Visibility
✅ BigTime Foresight for Managers permission enabled ❌ No financial permissions	When allocating people to a task in the Search for Team Members modal, I cannot see the costs and revenues of the task Managing basic details Can manage Hour Budget only Cost and Revenue metrics are hidden in the Planning Tab Full access to the entire Budget (Hours) tab and its data Budget ($) tab is entirely hidden
✅ Hide Task Financial Data Enabled	Cost and Revenue metrics are hidden in the Planning Tab Full access to entire Budget Hours tab and its data Budget ($) tab is entirely hidden
✅ BigTime Foresight for Managers permission enabled ❌ View all staffers' cost/ Finance Managers for specific Staffer Disabled	When allocating people to a task in the Search for Team Members modal, I cannot see the costs of people whose costs I do not have permission to
✅ BigTime Foresight for Managers permission enabled ✅ View Project Tasks permission enabled ✅ Access Task Budget Data enabled ✅ View Manage any Project Permission enabled or being assigned as Project Manager/Project Manager (Read-Only)	Limited access to the Planning Tab No access to Planning subtabs
✅ View Manage any Project permission enabled or being assigned as Project Manager ✅ Financial Access for Managers permission enabled ❌ Hide Task Financial Data permission disabled	Limited access to the Planning Tab and Planning subtab No access to other subtabs Ability to assign staffers to tasks Access to financial data
✅ BigTime Foresight for Managers permission enabled ✅ View Project Tasks permission enabled ✅ Access Task Budget Data enabled ✅ View Manage any Project permission enabled or being assigned as Project Manager/Project Manager (Read-Only)	Limited access to the Planning Tab, Planning subtab, and Budget Hours No access to the Budget ($) tab
✅ BigTime Foresight for Managers permission enabled ✅ View Project Tasks permission enabled ✅ Access Task Budget Data enabled ✅ View Manage any Project permission enabled or being assigned as Project Manager/Project Manager (Read-Only) ✅ Financial Access for Managers enabled ❌ Hide Task Financial Data permission disabled	Full access to the Planning Tab, Planning subtab, Budget Hours, and Budget ($)

Navigating To The Tasks In Foresight

To reach the dashboard and monitor financial data related to the planning of tasks/phases in the project, follow the path below:

Log in to the Manager Role Account ➡ Go to the Projects tab ➡ Find the right project and click on it to open its profile ➡ Go to the Planning Tab

Assigning Team Members to Tasks in Foresight

There are three ways to create task assignments in Foresight:

Add Staffer button in the Planning Tab
Edit Assignment form
Bulk Assignments edit

Below in the Task Flow sections, you will learn how to create task assignments in the Planning Tab.

Learn more about Bulk Edit and Edit Assignment from the articles:

🔵 Bulk Editing Assignments in BigTime Foresight

🔵 Manage Assignments in BigTime Foresight

Tasks Flow In Foresight. Creating Assignments In Tasks

1. Open the Planning Tab in the project in Foresight.

2. After clicking the Open BigTime button, you’re taken directly to task editing in the same project in BigTime.

3. Add Tasks in the Task Editor. Click the Arrow button next to save to expand an additional option. Then, quickly return to Foresight by clicking the Save and Open Foresight button.

4. You can notice that the added tasks are now in Foresight’s Planning Tab. To assign staffers, click the Add Staffer button now.

5. After clicking the button, you’ll be presented with a list of staffers. Click the green +Assign button.

6. You’ll see the Edit Assignment modal popping up. Set assignment details.

7. After configuring the new assignment for the newly assigned staffer, the staffer appears in the table, affecting the metrics and data.

Tasks Flow in Foresight. Creating Demand for Roles

If you can create assignments for tasks planned in a project in BigTime, you can assign tasks to a specific demand created in a project in Foresight.

You can create a new demand assignment and select a task or a subtask in the Edit Demand modal:

Once you connect the demand with an assignment, tasks are automatically synchronized.

Setting Up Planning View Step-By-Step

1. Set the types of assignments to be counted in the Planning Tab:

2. Press the Gear button to set which column indicators are visible in the table:

3. Set the Number of Results per Page:

4. You can also decide whether planning should consider only completed or uncompleted tasks. Use the toggle to set it up:

5. Select the view type: Assignments/Unfilled Demand:

* The two-view option is only available in the Planning subtab. One view shows assignments, and the other shows unfilled demand. The Budget (Hours) and Budget ($) subtabs do not have this option because the metrics in these views cannot be calculated based on the demand itself.

Main Indicators in Project Planning Tab

We want you to have all the information possible about how we calculate the metrics available in the Planning view. In this section, you will see in the tables how we calculate all of the data available in the top summary cards on the Planning Tab.

Planning

The table below describes the formulas for calculating indicators in the Planning subtab.

Unscheduled Hours: Total unscheduled hours for the Project. [Total Budget Hours - Total Scheduled Hours]	Unscheduled Cost: Total unscheduled cost for the project. [Total Budgeted Cost - Total Scheduled Costs]	Unscheduled Revenue: Sum of the unscheduled revenue from all Tasks on the Project. [Total Budget Revenue - Scheduled Hours]	Scheduled Margin ($) For the whole project: [Scheduled Revenue - Scheduled Cost]
Scheduled Hours: The sum of hours scheduled for the Project	Scheduled Cost: Sum of scheduled costs for the Project [Scheduled Hours*Cost Rate]	Scheduled Revenue: The sum of revenue scheduled for the Project [Scheduled Hours*Bill Rate]	Scheduled Margin (%) For the whole project: ([Scheduled Revenue - Scheduled Cost]/Scheduled Revenue)*100
Budget Hours: Sum of the Budget Hours from all Tasks on the Project. This field is managed in BigTime on the Task Budget/Date screen called Hours Budget	Budget Cost: For the whole project [(Fee Budget) × (1 − Margin %)]	Budget Revenue: Sum of the Budget Fees from all Tasks on the Project. This field is managed in BigTime on the Task Budget/Dates screen called Fee Budget	Budget Margin ($) For the whole project: [Budget Revenue - Budget Cost]
			Budget Margin (%) For the whole project: [Budget Revenue - ([Budget Cost]/Budget]*100)

Budget (Hours)

The table below describes the formulas used to calculate indicators in the Budget (Hours) subtab.

Budget Hours: The sum of the Budget Hours from all Tasks on the Project. This field is managed in BigTime on the Task Budget/Date screen called Hours Budget	Projected Hours: [Actual Hours to Date + Future Scheduled Hours]
Actual Hours: Sum of actual hours for the Project	Under/Over Budget: [Budget Hours - Projected Hours]
Burn: [Actual Hours / Budget Hours] *100	Actual Hours: The sum of actual hours for the Project
Remaining Hours: [Budget Hours - Actual Hours]	Future Scheduled Hours: Scheduled hours for the project as of TODAY

Budget ($)

The table below describes the formulas for calculating indicators in the Budget ($) subtab.

Budget Cost: For the whole project [(Fee Budget) × (1 − Margin %)]	Budget Revenue: Total budget revenue from all Tasks on the Project. This field is managed in BigTime on the Task Budget/Date screen called Fee Budget	Budget Margin ($): [Budget Revenue - Budget Cost]
Budget Burn: [Actual Cost / Budget Cost] *100	Budget Burn: [Actual Revenue / Budget Revenue] *100	Budget Margin (%): ([Budget Revenue - Budget Cost] / Budget)*100
Actual Budget: Sum of actual costs for the Project [Actual Hours*Cost Rate]	Actual Revenue: Sum of actual revenue for the project. [Actual Hours*Bill Rate]	Projected Margin ($): (Projected Revenue - Projected Cost)
Remaining Budget: For the whole project. [Budget Cost - Actual Cost]	Remaining Revenue: For the whole project. [Budget Revenue - Actual Revenue]	Projected Margin (%): [(Projecte Revenue - Projected Cost) / Projected Revenue] x 100
Future Cost: As of today, future scheduled cost (scheduled hours*cost rate)	Future Revenue: As of today, future scheduled revenue (scheduled hours*bill rate)
Projected Cost: [Actual Cost to Date + Future Scheduled Cost]	Projected Revenue: [Actual Revenue to Date + Future Scheduled Fees]
Under/Over Budget: [Budget Costs - Projected Costs]	Under/Over Budget: Budget Revenue - Projected Revenue
Future Scheduled Cost: Projected Cost - Actual Costs	Actual Revenue: Sum of actual revenue for the project. [Actual Hours*Bill Rate]
Future Cost: As of today, future scheduled cost (scheduled hours*cost rate)	Future Revenue: As of today, future scheduled revenue (scheduled hours*bill rate)

Exporting Data

Press the Export Data button to download the file with the data available in the Planning Tab. You can download the XLS or CSV file according to your needs.

The project’s Planning Tab has one option for exporting data. In the table below, you can check what data is exported in each of the three sections of the Planning Tab.

Planning Tab Export	Budget (Hours) Export	Budget ($) Export
Task Group Task Name Project Name Client Name Start Date End Date Task Budget Hours Staff Member Scheduled Hours Unscheduled Hours Task Budget Cost Scheduled Cost Unscheduled Cost Task Budget Revenue Scheduled Revenue Unscheduled Revenue Budget Margin $ Budget Margin %	Task Group Task Name Project Name Client Name Start Date End Date Task Budget Hours Staff Member Scheduled Hours Actual Hours Budget Remaining Projected % Complete	Task Group Task Name Project Name Client Name Start Date End Date Staff Member Task Budget Cost Scheduled Cost Actual Cost Cost Remaining Cost % Complete Task Budget Revenue Scheduled Revenue Actual Revenue Revenue Remaining Revenue % Complete Scheduled Margin $ Scheduled Margin % Actual Margin $ Actual Margin %

Glossary

A Glossary module explains how the data is counted in the Planning view to make reading the data easier. Press the Glossary button to check how the indicator you are interested in is calculated.

Viewing Tasks in Calendars

BigTime Foresight allows you to view various calendars in the Calendar tab. You will find the Team Members Calendar, Projects Calendar, and Demand Calendar there. To make managing tasks/project phases easier, you can group them by task in the project and demand calendar.

Grouping by Tasks in Projects Calendar

To enable grouping by tasks, go to the project calendar. In your calendar settings, press the Grouping Disabled button.

This will expand the ribbon with additional options. Select Grouping: Tasks

Grouping by Tasks in Demand Calendar

Grouping by tasks in the Demand Calendar is enabled automatically. You don't have to do anything: