Launch an estimate to a budget

You can launch an estimate to a project when:

  • The work can start.
  • The bid is accepted.
  • Long-lead-time items must be ordered.

You launch an estimate to create project budget lines from the estimate line.

You can either launch:

  • A complete project structure with all the estimate lines or a selection of estimate lines.
  • Part of the structure. If the selected structure is hierarchical, you must specify a node. As a result, all structural elements and estimate lines linked to this node’s structural element are launched. If the hierarchy is not defined, a flat structure evolves and you can specify a range of elements and/or estimate-line sequence numbers. All estimate lines within the range are launched.
  • If the structural element has the Bottom Up estimate type and the activity types is either a WBS element or a planning package, the structural element cannot be launched to a budget. For the Top Down estimate type the same rule applies, in case you use an activity structure as the primary structure.
  • Estimate lines that are launched. In this case, you must delete the estimate/budget lines launched earlier, else the duplicate budget lines appear.
Note
  • There is no relation between the estimate lines and the budget lines, after the estimate is launched to the budget.
  • When you use the indirect cost/surcharges in an estimate version, you must either change the value of the surcharge amount on your budget lines to zero or change the estimate lines with indirect cost to direct costs, when you launch an estimate. Else, the surcharge is calculated and added to the indirect cost of the actual project, which generates an inaccurate budget. For better estimating, use sundry costs to update the budget with surcharges. In the Launch as Sundry Lines group box, select the check boxes to balance the total value of the estimate and the budget.

To launch an estimate to a budget, you can use the following budget types:

Note

The launched top-down budget and the bottom-up budget are not related. You can also copy or generate lines to a top-down budget after the launch.

Note on sequence numbers

If you selected one of the Cost Object check boxes in the Launch Estimate to Budget (tpest2200m000) session, the corresponding values entered in the Sequence Number group box of the Project Parameters (tppdm0100s000) session are used.

If a control code is linked to an estimate line, a new cost object code is generated by adding a sequence number to the control code.

The length of the sequence number depends on the value that indicates the maximum length in the Project Parameters (tppdm0100s000) session, and the length of the cost object code that is defined in the data dictionary. If the range of the sequence numbers has already been used, a new series is generated starting with ZZZ00001.

For example, Control code 20 appears twice and the length of the sequence is 2. As a result, the codes 2001 and 2002 are generated. For the equipment code, the maximum number of positions is 10. To assign a sequence number, the original code that is entered in the Estimate Lines (tpest2100m000) session must be less than 10 characters. Infor LN assigns the next free sequence number to the control code.

To launch an estimate to a top-down budget or bottom-up budget, see: