Learn how EAC (Estimate at Completion), ETC (Estimate to Complete), and actual fees are calculated.
Overview
Kantata uses three different calculations for estimating project completion:
- EAC (Estimate at Completion)—This is what has already been spent and is expected to be spent by the time the project is complete.
- ETC (Estimate to Complete)—This is the amount of money left to spend on a project—from the day of the week specified in the Project Estimate Calculation Options until the end of the project.
- Actual Fees—By default, this includes the hours that have been tracked towards the project to date. Actual fees may also include billable expenses and additional invoice items depending on the selections in the Financials section of Project Settings.
The EAC, ETC, and Actual Fees calculations also apply to the Fees per Month and Revenue Management features that are currently available in Early Access. Account Administrators can modify which hour types are used for these calculations from the Time & Expense Settings page.
If you do not have access to the Time & Expense Settings page and are unsure which hours are being used for your EAC and ETC calculations, you can reference the Financials tab in the Project side panel.
Additionally, a Time progress meter is available on tasks that compares the number of hours tracked so far to the number of hours estimated for that task.
Estimate at Completion (EAC)
The Estimate at Completion (EAC) is what has already been spent in addition to what is expected to be spent by the time a project is completed, as task is completed, or a financial period has ended. EAC is calculated by adding the actual fees to future hours to show you an estimate of what the total hours and fees will be once the work is complete.
The basic formula for EAC calculations is Actual Fees + Fees from Future Hours. The exact calculation may vary slightly based on a few different settings:
- The hour type selected for Project Estimate Calculation Options in time and expense account settings
- If Activate Expense Budgets is selected in the project settings
- If Include Billable Expenses in Actual Fees Calculation is selected in the project settings
- If Include Additional Line Items in Actual Fees Calculation is selected in the project settings
For more detailed information on what your EAC formula may look like, expand your EAC hour type below.
Hard Allocations Only
All formulas below use Hard Allocations Only for future hours.
When the Expense Budgets feature is activated for a project:
- The Estimated Remaining Expenses part of the EAC calculation formula is calculated as Fees from Future Expense Budgets - Billable Expenses Logged to Expense Budgets, Marked Up.
- Future Expense Budgets are based on future and undated Expected By dates.
- Estimated Remaining Expenses does not include expense budgets that are Fixed Fee or that have associated expenses that exceed the Est. Fees amount. For information on how Billable Expenses Logged to Expense Budgets, Marked Up is calculated, see Actual Fees.
| Expense Budgets Activated | Include Billable Expenses | Include Additional Items | EAC Calculation Formula |
|---|---|---|---|
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(Billable Time Entries * Bill Rates) + Future Hard Allocated Hours Fees |
|
✔ |
✔ |
(Billable Time Entries * Bill Rates) + Fees from Future Hard Allocated Hours + Billable Expenses + Additional Items |
|
✔ |
|
(Billable Time Entries * Bill Rates) + Fees from Future Hard Allocated Hours + Billable Expenses |
|
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✔ |
(Billable Time Entries * Bill Rates) + Fees from Future Hard Allocated Hours + Additional Items |
✔ |
(Billable Time Entries * Bill Rates) + Fees from Future Hard Allocated Hours + Estimated Remaining Expenses | ||
✔ |
✔ | ✔ | (Billable Time Entries * Bill Rates) + Fees from Future Hard Allocated Hours + Marked-up Expenses + Additional Items + Estimated Remaining Expenses |
✔ |
✔ | (Billable Time Entries * Bill Rates) + Fees from Future Hard Allocated Hours + Marked-up Expenses + Estimated Remaining Expenses | |
✔ |
✔ | (Billable Time Entries * Bill Rates) + Fees from Future Hard Allocated Hours + Additional Items + Estimated Remaining Expenses |
Soft and Hard Allocations
All formulas below use Soft and Hard Allocations for future hours.
When the Expense Budgets feature is activated for a project:
- The Estimated Remaining Expenses part of the EAC calculation formula is calculated as Fees from Future Expense Budgets - Billable Expenses Logged to Expense Budgets, Marked Up.
- Future Expense Budgets are based on future and undated Expected By dates.
- Estimated Remaining Expenses does not include expense budgets that are Fixed Fee or that have associated expenses that exceed the Est. Fees amount. For information on how Billable Expenses Logged to Expense Budgets, Marked Up is calculated, see Actual Fees.
| Expense Budgets Activated | Include Billable Expenses | Include Additional Items | EAC Calculation Formula |
|---|---|---|---|
|
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(Billable Time Entries * Bill Rates) + Fees from Future Soft & Hard Allocated Hours |
|
✔ |
✔ |
(Billable Time Entries * Bill Rates) + Fees from Future Soft & Hard Allocated Hours + Billable Expenses + Additional Items |
|
✔ |
|
(Billable Time Entries * Bill Rates) + Fees from Future Soft & Hard Allocated Hours + Billable Expenses |
|
|
✔ |
(Billable Time Entries * Bill Rates) + Fees from Future Soft & Hard Allocated Hours + Additional Items |
✔ |
(Billable Time Entries * Bill Rates) + Fees from Future Soft & Hard Allocated Hours + Estimated Remaining Expenses | ||
✔ |
✔ | ✔ | Billable Time Entries * Bill Rates) + Fees from Future Soft & Hard Allocated Hours + Marked-up Expenses + Additional Items + Estimated Remaining Expenses |
✔ |
✔ | (Billable Time Entries * Bill Rates) + Fees from Future Soft & Hard Allocated Hours + Marked-up Expenses + Estimated Remaining Expenses | |
✔ |
✔ | (Billable Time Entries * Bill Rates) + Fees from Future Soft & Hard Allocated Hours + Additional Items + Estimated Remaining Expenses |
Scheduled Hours
All formulas below use Scheduled Hours for future hours.
When the Expense Budgets feature is activated for a project:
- The Estimated Remaining Expenses part of the EAC calculation formula is calculated as Fees from Future Expense Budgets - Billable Expenses Logged to Expense Budgets, Marked Up.
- Future Expense Budgets are based on future and undated Expected By dates.
- Estimated Remaining Expenses does not include expense budgets that are Fixed Fee or that have associated expenses that exceed the Est. Fees amount. For information on how Billable Expenses Logged to Expense Budgets, Marked Up is calculated, see Actual Fees.
| Expense Budgets Activated | Include Billable Expenses | Include Additional Items | EAC Calculation Formula |
|---|---|---|---|
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(Billable Time Entries * Bill Rates) + Fees from Future Scheduled Hours |
|
✔ |
✔ |
(Billable Time Entries * Bill Rates) + Fees from Future Scheduled Hours + Billable Expenses + Additional Items |
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✔ |
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(Billable Time Entries * Bill Rates) + Fees from Future Scheduled Hours + Billable Expenses |
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✔ |
(Billable Time Entries * Bill Rates) + Fees from Future Scheduled Hours + Additional Items |
✔ |
(Billable Time Entries * Bill Rates) + Fees from Future Scheduled Hours + Estimated Remaining Expenses | ||
✔ |
✔ | ✔ | (Billable Time Entries * Bill Rates) + Fees from Future Scheduled Hours + Marked-up Expenses + Additional Items + Estimated Remaining Expenses |
✔ |
✔ | (Billable Time Entries * Bill Rates) + Fees from Future Scheduled Hours + Marked-up Expenses + Estimated Remaining Expenses | |
✔ |
✔ | (Billable Time Entries * Bill Rates) + Fees from Future Scheduled Hours + Additional Items + Estimated Remaining Expenses |
IMPORTANT
The EAC calculations may vary in Resourcing areas based on a number of different factors. For more information, expand the Resourcing areas section below.
EAC is shown in the following areas:
Project side panel
My inner content
In addition to EAC, the Project side panel also displays the following information for members with View Financials (or higher) Project Permissions:
- Project's total budget
- Actual Fees
- ETC
- The variance between the ETC and the EAC
This allows you to visualize how you’re tracking against your task budget and original hours estimate.
Resourcing Areas
In Resourcing areas, EAC amounts appear in the following places:
- EAC column in the Projects tab of the Resource Center
- Timeline of a project’s Resourcing tab in a project
- Timeline of the Projects tab of the Resource Center
The EAC column in the Resource Center exactly matches EAC calculations in all other areas of Kantata OX. The EAC amount on the timeline may differ, as it:
- Is always calculated based on future hard allocations
- Does not consider expense budgets and expenses in calculations
- Does not consider bill rates for future effective dated rate cards.
- Can change based on display preferences selections
For more information on display preferences and how EAC behaves in Resourcing areas, see Resourcing Timeline.
Task side panel
EAC for a single task is available in the Scheduling section of the Task side panel. EAC for a single task is calculated by adding time that has already been tracked and future scheduled hours: (Billable Time Entries * Bill Rates) + (Future Scheduled Hours * Bill Rates).
The Variance column shows what is budgeted for the task minus the EAC, giving you insight into the current performance of the task. If the variance is positive, it means that the task is healthy (i.e., the task is scheduled and/or budgeted correctly).
Fees per Month Tab
Available only when the early access feature Fees per Month is activated, the Actual and Forecast amounts in the Fees per Month tab of the project workspace are calculated based on the Project Estimate Calculation Options in the Time & Expense Settings page.
Revenue Management
Available only when the early access feature Revenue Management is activated, the forecasted and calculated revenue amounts in charts and tables for the Project Revenue page and the Account Financials page are calculated based on the Project Estimate Calculation Options in the Time & Expense Settings page.
Estimate to Complete (ETC)
Estimate to Complete (ETC) is the amount of money left to spend on a project. ETC is calculated based on your selected hour type (hard allocations only, soft and hard allocations, or scheduled hours) multiplied by the bill rate from yesterday (or, depending on your settings, a previous day of the week indicated, such as Sunday) forward.
The basic formula for ETC calculations is Future Hours * Bill Rates. The exact calculation may vary slightly based on a few different settings:
- The hour type selected for Project Estimate Calculation Options in time and expense account settings
- If Activate Expense Budgets is selected in the project settings
When the Expense Budgets feature is activated for a project:
- The Estimated Remaining Expenses part of the ETC calculation formula is calculated as Fees from Future Expense Budgets - Billable Expenses Logged to Expense Budgets, Marked Up.
- Future Expense Budgets are based on future and undated Expected By dates.
- Estimated Remaining Expenses does not include expense budgets that are Fixed Fee or that have associated expenses that exceed the Est. Fees amount. For information on how Billable Expenses Logged to Expense Budgets, Marked Up is calculated, see Actual Fees.
| Expense Budgets Activated | Calculated Using | ETC Calculation Formula |
|---|---|---|
|
Hard Allocations Only |
Future Hard Allocated Hours * Bill Rates |
|
Soft and Hard Allocations |
(Future Hard Allocated Hours + Future Soft Allocated Hours) * Bill Rates |
|
Scheduled Hours |
Future Scheduled Hours * Bill Rates |
✔ |
Hard Allocations Only |
Future Hard Allocated Hours * Bill Rates + Estimated Remaining Expenses |
✔ |
Soft and Hard Allocations | (Future Hard Allocated Hours + Future Soft Allocated Hours) * Bill Rates + Estimated Remaining Expenses |
✔ |
Scheduled Hours | Future Scheduled Hours * Bill Rates + Estimated Remaining Expenses |
ETC is shown in the Project side panel:
Actual Fees
By default, Actual Fees includes the hours that have been tracked towards the project to date. Depending on project settings, actual fees may also include billable expenses and additional items in invoices. Actual fees are calculated up to and including the selected day in Project Estimate Calculation Options on the Time & Expense Settings page.
The basic formula for Actual Fees calculations is Billable Time * Bill Rates. The exact calculation may vary slightly based on a few different settings:
- If Activate Expense Budgets is selected in the project settings
- If Include Billable Expenses in Actual Fees Calculation is selected in the project settings
- If Include Additional Line Items in Actual Fees Calculation is selected in the project settings
When the Expense Budgets feature is activated for a project and billable expenses are included in the calculation:
- The Billable Expenses Logged to Expense Budgets, Marked Up part of the Actual Fees calculation formula is calculated as Logged Expense Amount + ([Expense Budget Est. Fees - Expense Budget Est. Cost] ÷ Expense Budget Est. Cost) * Logged Expense Amount.
- This value is only calculated and added to actual fees for expenses associated to billable, margin-impacting expense budgets.
- Expenses associated to pass-through or cost-only expense budgets are not added to actual fees.
- If an expense budget is fixed fee and the marked-up expenses subtotal exceeds its estimated fees, the estimated fees will be used instead of the marked-up value.
| Expense Budgets Activated | Include Billable Expenses | Include Additional Items | Actual Fees Calculation Formula |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
(Billable Time Entries * Bill Rates) |
|
✔ |
✔ |
(Billable Time Entries * Bill Rates) + Billable Expenses + Additional Invoice Items |
|
✔ |
|
Billable Time Entries * Bill Rates) + Billable Expenses |
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|
✔ |
(Billable Time Entries * Bill Rates) + Additional Invoice Items |
✔ |
|
|
Billable Time Entries * Bill Rates |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
(Billable Time Entries * Bill Rates) + Billable Expenses Logged to Expense Budgets, Marked Up + Unassociated Billable Expenses + Additional Invoice Items |
✔ |
✔ |
|
(Billable Time Entries * Bill Rates) + Billable Expenses Logged to Expense Budgets, Marked Up + Unassociated Billable Expenses |
✔ |
|
✔ |
(Billable Time Entries * Bill Rates) + Additional Invoice Items |
The Actual Fees progress meter takes the billable time, multiplied by the bill rate (plus any tracked expenses), and compares it to the estimated budget of the project or task. Actual fees are calculated to date for both fixed fee and time and materials tasks. You'll be able to instantly see how you’re tracking against your budget—a green bar means that the project or task is under (or at) budget and a red bar means that it is over budget.
The Actual Fees progress meter is available in the following places in Kantata OX:
- Groups side panel—Displays the actual fees compared to the estimated budget for each project in which the selected group is participating.
- Analytics Reports—See a comparison of the project’s actual fees and budget in the Work in Progress and Project Details reports.
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Project Admin Box—The Budget tab gives you an even more detailed view into how you are tracking against your estimated budget. You'll see your Total Budget, Actual Fees to Date, and the amount of budget Remaining. In addition, the banners below the progress meter give you information on the current number of work hours remaining in the project, the cost-to-date for your budgeted tasks, and the total amount of expenses that have been tracked to the project.
Tip: Hours of work remaining in the Budget tab of the Project Admin Box is calculated as Remaining Budget ÷ (Actual Fees to Date ÷ Total Billable Hours). - Project side panel—In the Financial section of the Project side panel, you can see the project’s total budget, the actual fees used, the EAC (Estimate at Completion), and the ETC (Estimate to Completion). This allows you to see how you’re tracking against your task budget and original hours estimate.
The Actual Fees progress meter for tasks is available in the following places:
- Global Tasks List—Select Financial from the View drop-down menu to see how actual fees compare to your estimated budget across all of your tasks.
- Task side panel—The Time & Fees section displays actual fees compared to estimated budget, including the amount remaining/over and the total amount invoiced to date.
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Task Tracker—Configure a Task Finances Saved View to see a comparison between the actual fees and the estimated budget for each task in the project.
- Analytics Reports—See a comparison of actual fees and budgets for tasks in the Project Details report.
Time Progress Meter
The Time progress meter compares the number of hours tracked so far to the number of hours estimated for that task. Similar to the Actual Fees progress meter, the bar advances as more hours are tracked and changes from green to red once you've exceeded your estimated hours.
The Time progress meter can be viewed from the following areas in Kantata OX:
- Global Tasks List—Select Progress from the View drop-down menu to compare your tracked hours to estimated hours across all of your tasks.
- Task side panel—The Time & Fees section displays tracked hours compared to estimated hours, including the number remaining/over and the total billable and non-billable hours-to-date.
- Task Tracker—Configure a Task Progress Saved View to see a comparison between the actual hours and the estimated hours for each task in the project.
Comments
2 comments
This article has been updated to include a video.
This article has been updated to include information on the new soft and hard allocations option for Project Estimate Calculation Options on the time and expense account settings. New tables now appear that explain the different possible calculations based on this setting and project settings.
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