Understand the Category and Focus Controls
Summary
This article provides an overview of the Category and Focus controls on the Financial Planning Detail Screen.
Sign in to access this How-to topic.
The hierarchy can be adjusted to see only the data you need in the order you need it by using the Category and Focus Control buttons.
Financial Data is organized by accounts and lines (groups of attributes), which are created by the administrator and are different for each organization. When accounts are created, they are tagged with an account type (Labor, Benefit, Capital, Expense, or Depreciation). The Category dropdown allows you to view accounts by these account types. If no accounts are added for a type, such as benefits or depreciation, then that account type will not be available to select. In this example, Labor is selected.
The Focus Control button and Focus Control row allow you to change the order of the attributes displayed, as well as which attributes display concatenated on the lowest row in each branch (Figure 1), or as rows in the hierarchy (Figure 2). Attributes (blue) before the splitter bar display as rows, while attributes after the splitter bar (white) display concatenated on the lowest row in each branch.
Figure 1: Example with attributes concatenated onto one row
Figure 1: Example with attributes concatenated onto one row
Figure 2: Example of Fully Expanded Line Attributes under the Labor Account
Figure 2: Example of Fully Expanded Line Attributes under the Labor Account
Selecting Add a Line under the Labor account will also let you see the line attributes required to create a line under that type of account (Figure 3). For example, in this database configuration if you wanted to manually add a labor line you would be required to specify the attribute of Account Structure. Some organizations have more required attributes. For labor accounts this information is often loaded in and these details come from the project details and/or the resource details.
Figure 3: Line Attributes Required on Labor Lines
When an account is created, the administrator sets it up so data is either added directly onto the account, or needs to be further specified with additional attributes (these attributes joined together make lines). For example, a labor account is added into the system to track labor spend for projects. Generally, other attributes about the labor are needed, such as the resource role, the cost center, and on shore/off shore information. These items are attributes, which are used to further define the account. Attributes can be different for each account, and can be adjusted using the Focus Control button.