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.
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 and is expected to be spent by the time the project is complete. 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 task work is completed. If expense budgets are activated, the estimated remaining expenses are also added to EAC.
| Throughout Kantata | Resourcing areas | |
|---|---|---|
| Without expense budgets |
EAC = Actual Fees + Fees from Future Scheduled Hours or EAC = Actual Fees + Fees from Future Hard Allocated Hours |
EAC = Actual Fees + Fees from Future Hard Allocated Hours for Named Resources Only or EAC = Actual Fees + Fees from Future Hard Allocated Hours for Named Resources + Fees from Future Soft Allocated Hours for Named Resources + Fees from Future Soft Allocated Hours for Unnamed Resources |
| With expense budgets |
EAC = Actual Fees + Fees from Future Scheduled Hours + Estimated Remaining Expenses or EAC = Actual Fees + Fees from Future Hard Allocated Hours + Estimated Remaining Expenses |
EAC = Actual Fees + Fees from Future Hard Allocated Hours for Named Resources Only + Estimated Remaining Expenses or EAC = Actual Fees + Fees from Future Hard Allocated Hours for Named Resources + Fees from Future Soft Allocated Hours for Named Resources + Fees from Future Soft Allocated Hours for Unnamed Resources + Estimated Remaining Expenses |
NOTE
- Account Administrators can modify whether scheduled hours or hard allocations are used to calculate the EAC from the Time & Expense Settings page.
- For Resourcing areas, you can choose how EAC is calculated in Resourcing areas by modifying the Display Preferences.
- Additionally, in Resourcing areas, EAC calculations do not consider bill rates for future effective dated rate cards.
-
Estimated Remaining Expenses is calculated as Expense Budget’s Fees - Billable Expenses Logged to Expense Budgets, Marked Up (see the Actual Fees section below for how Billable Expenses Logged to Expense Budgets, Marked Up).
- Estimated Remaining Expenses are only added if the expense budget’s Expected By date is in the future or blank.
- If an expense budget is fixed fee and the logged expenses exceed the expense budget’s estimated fees, Estimated Remaining Expenses are not added to the EAC.
EAC is shown in the following areas:
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Project side panel: In addition to EAC, you'll also see the project's total budget and the actual fees. This allows you to visualize how you’re tracking against your task budget and original hours estimate. This is only visible to members with View Financials project permissions (or higher).
- In the timeline of the Resourcing tab in a project and the Projects tab of the Resource Center.
-
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).Note: The task EAC does not include any associated expense budgets.
- 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).
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 (scheduled hours or hard allocations) multiplied by the bill rate from yesterday (or, depending on your settings, a previous day of the week indicated, such as Sunday) forward.
These Project Estimate Calculation Options selections can be modified by an Account Administrator on the Time & Expense Settings page.
| Without expense budgets | With expense budgets |
|---|---|
|
ETC = Future Scheduled Hours * Bill Rates or ETC = Future Hard Allocated Hours * Bill Rates |
ETC = Future Scheduled Hours * Bill Rates + Estimated Remaining Expenses or ETC = Future Hard Allocated 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. Actual fees may also include billable expenses and additional invoice items depending on the selections in the Financials section of Project Settings. Actual fees are calculated up to and including the selected day in Project Estimate Calculation Options on the Time & Expense Settings page.
| Include Billable Expenses option is false | Include Billable Expenses option is true | |
|---|---|---|
| Without expense budgets | Actual Fees = (Billable Time Entries * Bill Rates) | Actual Fees = (Billable Time Entries * Bill Rates) + Billable Expenses + Additional Invoice Items |
| With expense budgets | Actual Fees = (Billable Time Entries * Bill Rates) | Actual Fees = (Billable Time Entries * Bill Rates) + Billable Expenses Logged to Expense Budgets, Marked Up + Unassociated Billable Expenses + Additional Invoice Items |
NOTE
Note: Billable Expenses Logged to Expense Budgets, Marked Up is calculated as Logged Expense Amount + Logged Expense Amount * ([Expense Budget Est. Fees - Expense Budget Est. Cost] ÷ Expense Budget Est. Cost). This value is only calculated and added to actual fees for expenses logged to billable, margin-impacting expense budgets. Expense logged to pass-through or cost-only expense budgets are not added to actual fees.
Additionally, 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.
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 see how your tracked hours compare 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.
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