Choosing where to manage project costs
Altus supports two pathways for getting project cost data into Altus Financials. This article explains why both pathways exist, which one to use, and what to expect from each. It is intended for partners, administrators, and project managers who are planning a migration or deciding how to govern project costs.
The two pathways
| Pathway | Where costs are maintained | How costs reach Altus Financials |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Project | Work, cost, and material resources, and fixed costs, are maintained in the .mpp schedule. |
Published directly from Altus for Project as part of the standard publish process. See MPP Cost to Altus Financials Publish Behaviour. |
| Native Altus | Work resources are maintained in the Altus resource plan and schedule. Actuals are recorded in Altus Timesheets. | Imported by the project manager from the resource plan and Altus Timesheets. |
Why the Microsoft Project pathway exists
Altus resource management and scheduling currently support work resources. Microsoft Project also supports cost and material resource types.
The Microsoft Project cost pathway was introduced as migration tooling. It allows organisations moving from Project Online to continue managing cost and material resources in Microsoft Project, rather than losing that capability at the point of migration.
Important
Altus is not designed to provide a like-for-like replacement for Project Online. Plan for change as part of any migration, and set expectations with stakeholders accordingly.
Current guidance
Use the following guidance when deciding which pathway to adopt.
Projects migrated from Project Online
Work, cost, and material resources can continue to be managed in Microsoft Project and published to Altus Financials.
Understand the trade-off before you choose this pathway:
- There is limited governance and traceability over the published cost values.
- Project managers can change costs at will, or choose not to import timesheet actuals at all.
- The result is broadly equivalent to the default Project Online experience when protected actuals are not enabled.
Native Altus projects
This is the recommended approach when cost and material resource types are not required.
- The project manager still controls the timing of importing resource costs from Altus Timesheets.
- Imported costs retain full traceability back to Altus Timesheets.