Budget Upload

Introduction

Objective:

Establish a basic understanding and procedure for uploading budget from Estimate Template to Viewpoint.

Agenda

• Process diagram
• Step by Step Tutorial
• Buyout and adjust detail estimate
• Consolidate detail estimate, fine tune code, units, descriptions
• Export CSV file
• Import CSV file to Viewpoint
• Set up Billing

Tutorial

What happens after a win?

From operation standpoint we focus on the Estimate Review

• Cost Code Clean Up
• Consolidate Units
• Review Cost and Bid
• Buyout scopes
• Identify contingency vs cash allowance
• Any special agreement or alignment of trades
• Etc.

<sequencediagram style="modern-blue"> Customer->Estimator: Award Project\nto Synergy Note over Estimator, Estimate\nTemplate : Reconcile Bids\nOrganize Bid Binder Estimator->Operation Team: Control Estimate (the Book) Estimator->Operation Team: Bid Binder Note over Estimator, Operation Team: Review Bid Strategy, Bids, Schedule\n(Turn Over Meeting) Note over Estimate\nTemplate, Operation Team:Review Estimate\nClean up Cost Code\nConsolidate Units\nReview Cost Estimate\nTemplate->Operation Team:Budget .CSV file Operation Team-> Viewpoint: Upload Budget </sequencediagram>

Then,

1. The entire estimate data after cleanup get poured into Viewpoint using a .CSV file.
2. The CSV file is structured specifically in a format Viewpoint can read using Import Estimate Module.

Ste-by-Step

Within Estimate Work Book, you will need to do the following

Step 1: Locate the "Tab"

File:Budget Upload - Worksheets.png

sample estimate workbook

1. Open the Estimate File received from Estimate Turn Over Meeting
2. Locate “Summary” and Division pages, drag and position those sheets to the front of all other sheets.
3. Locate “Est To VP” Tab, there are 6 buttons on this tab, each have their own corresponded functions. We will go through them in later pages.

Step 2: Buy Out, Estimate Adjustment

1. Do your contract buy out.
2. During the buy out, modify the estimate file to match the scope that was bought into the trade’s scope.

sample buyout process

1. For the example that was shown here, the access panel and a few other scopes were estimated with own forces. During buy out, the drywaller agreed to take on those scopes for an additional cost. The number has been adjusted and moved to Subcontract Cost accordingly.
2. During buy out, if agreement were made for trades to take on certain additional scope for no or any cost, modify the estimate file to match the agreements.
3. Repeat this for all scopes pertains to the project.
4. In case any offsets from original contract value, we can add those after all the buy out to contingency, or book fee – pending on each project case.

Step 3: Pull All Estimate Data To One Page

1. Locate the button called “Consolidate”. Click on it, will open a dialog allow you to select which page to include on pulling the Estimate Data Over.

File:Budget Upload - Consolidation Button.png

consolidation button

1. In most cases, all pages from 1 to 16 will be selected.
2. However, if only a portion of the budget is getting uploaded, such as a change order, select only the page you want to upload.

In the "Consolidation" worksheet, we can fine tune the cost codes, units, descriptions.

An example is shown here. This page allows you to

File:Budget Update - Consolidation.PNG

sample consolidation page

• view which lines share the same cost code
• Group or ungroup the cost lines by cost code
• Adjusting unit of measure, quantities as needed.
• This page does not allow modification to costs per se.

Do

• A quick check on each Division line and make sure the cost matches.
• Remind yourself that any additional cost located on the summary page will not shown here – such as Insurance and Fee.

Don’t

• Try to change the format
• Try to change the cost

You can modify the description, unit of measure, quantity of the first line of the duplicated code so that the description make sense in your future forecast. In the example that’s shown, I have changed the description from “Orientation and Labour” to “Safety Equipment, Orientation and Labour” as this code contains both costlines.

The upload result of this example will be

• Quantity of 20 with units of weeks
• 140 hours of labour, $2,720+$5,600 for labour cost
• $7,800 for material cost.
• Repeat this for all cost lines.

You can also combine or separate cost code for costlines. in this example, I have separated the cost code for flooring protection from the flooring subtrade. Doing so allows me to forecast easier during project execution phase. Do this as needed for all cost lines.

Once you have gone thru all the cost lines, review with CM or OM if required. If you are comfortable with the consolidation and the PM has completed the above checks, you can begin to export to Viewpoint phase

• Locate the “CSV Export” button, a dialog will show to let you save the CSV file generated for this estimate.
• Modify the file name as needed, click “Save”.
• It is recommended saving this file to the project folder, under “4 – Estimating”

Import Estimate

Do this using Viewpoint Import Estimate Program.

Log into Viewpoint, Locate Module “PM Import Estimate” in Project Management – Program folder. Double Click to open the module.

This module contains a few different buttons.

• Template Master lists all template that can be used to read the CSV file. We will not be touching this button.
• Import Data lets you import the CSB file that was exported
• Edit Work Tables lets you edit any imported budget table.
• Upload into PM lets you pour the data into PM module, either as Original Estimate or as a Change Order to Existing Estimate.

Click the Import Data, a window will pop open as the example shows.

Import Estimate Button

• For template, use SYN, this is the template made for Synergy to read a specific CSV format.
• For “Import File 1:” field, click “Browse” button to the right, and select the CSV file that was exported.
• For “Import ID” field, make a new Import ID, for example, you can use your initial + a number.
• For Default Holdback Percentage, use 10%.
• Click “Import” Button

Viewpoint will be doing some work, if the project is big, in regards to amount of cost codes, it may take a minute or two. Once the file is imported, Viewpoint will prompt you a Message Box, sometimes it will say there are some errors. These errors are caused by non-standard cost code, or unit of measures that was used during estimating stage, or during consolidation stage.

Click on the “Edit Work Tables” button, Viewpoint will open up a window, by default it will open the most recent import made by you. We will only be using the “Items”, “Phase”, “Cost Types” tabs.

Some of the tab name is probably not familiar to you, translation:

• Items – Contract Items, these are the items shows up on your billing.
• Phases – Cost Codes, this tab allows you to adjust how the codes are linked with Contract Items. (you don’t have to change the links, the contract items and their amount are much easier to adjust in Job Cost – JC Contract Master module).
• Cost Types – Cost Types of each cost code. This tab shows, for example the cost allocated in each cost type for each cost code.

On the contract items tab, you can edit the contract Item descriptions here. I recommend to do it in JC – Contract Master module once the import is completed however.

On the cost code tab, any error will be high lighted with red. Error on this tab typically is caused by the Cost Code does not existing in Master Cost Code list. Select the line with Error, double click the phase field to edit. Click F4 key on your keyboard to call out the cost code look up list, pick an appropriate code from the list. Once the code is picked, you can also add .xx.xx to it to make it more customized. For example, 12010.01. Click “Save” button, or Ctrl+S to save the change. Viewpoint will prompt you a dialog ask if it should create a phase cross reference record, make sure to select “NO”. If you accidentally clicked yes, let Siyuan know, the cross reference can be deleted from the template.

Similar procedure for Cost Types tab. Viewpoint has a bug that even if you changed cost code on Phase tab, the Cost Types tab will still show the error (although the cost code is correct). To clear up the error, you will need to double click the cost code and type in the same code again. Similar procedure for Unit of Measure Error as well. Annoying I know, hopefully they fix that in the future.

Once all errors are cleared up, you can click the “Upload into PM” button. Viewpoint will open a window for this. Defaulted to the most recent Data Table that you edited. In the Project field, put in the project number that this budget is going into. The Start Month – this is the effective month of your budget, not your project schedule start. For example, if you set the start month to 02/21, the budget you upload today will not shown in forecast till the February batch in 2021. Doesn’t matter if you interfaced to December 2020. The red text here is a warning, telling me there are existing cost code and cost ($0 count as well) in the project already. Uploading will have the budget accumulated. If this is the first time budget uploading to this project, it typically because some codes were opened up by accounting for insurance purposes.

Always a good habit to check!! Locate in Job Cost – Programs, the JC Original Estimate module. Open it, you will see what's existing in your project, for both cost code, and budget. If you already have budget in the project, uploading will accumulate, instead of overwrite.

Another Option is to upload the budget as COQ (Change Order). This is useful for project that budget get approved in phases. PCO type is always COQ. The PCO field, is correspond to Pending Change Order module, pick one that you intent to use. Make a good (consistent) name for your COQ. Starting PCO item field, correspond to the PCO item in Pending Change Order. Typically you want this to start with 1, unless you are adding to an existing PCO. Increment by: Typically you want set this to 1. I can’t think of anything that would make you to change this to anything else. Note that the each Contract Item will be a new PCO item, when you are adding the budget as a change order.

Then hit the Upload button. Once the budget uploaded, it will prompt you that the budget is uploaded, and if you want to delete the data table. You can go ahead and delete it. If the data table have errors that’s not cleared up. You will not be able to upload the budget, instead, Viewpoint will prompt you a message box and tell you this. Since I have already uploaded my budget, I will not try to upload again. Just pretend the picture on the left is what you see once clicked the upload button.

Locate the “Interface” module in Project Management – Program Folder. Double Click to open this program. Hit Validate, then Interface.

Now go back to the Job Cost – Program, open module JC Original Estimate program. Remember that the items entered on the Summary sheet in Estimate Template will not be pulled? This is where we enter those a few items. Bond, Insurance, Fee.

Once all these item added, your project total should matches up the contract amount.

Import Estimate – Billing Schedule

Locate in Job Cost – Program folder, JC Contract Master module. Double click to open.

1. Go to your project, then select “Items” tab.
2. Adjust the description, add/delete the lines as needed.
3. Adjust the $ value in the Orig Amount.
4. The total amount should match the contract value.
5. Essentially this is the billing structure that accounting will get you to complete every month.

Do:

• Review tender documents and see if certain billing structure is required.
• Check with CM or OM see if there are certain billing structure should be used
• Check with Client and see if they want any particular item broken out
• Double check the total mount of Billing, matches total amount of Estimate, Matches total amount of Contract Value.