Monitor Cost Variance - Estimated vs. Actual Costs – Help Center

Learn how to add project costs to a sales quote and evaluate project costs or cost variance in Heeros PSA.

Content

Cost variance or cost targeting in Heeros PSA
Types of costs in Heeros PSA
Monitoring the different costs incurred for a project

Description

Cost variance is the difference between planned costs vs. the actual costs incurred. The cost variance also known as cost targeting in Heeros PSA, gives you a comparison of the costs that were budgeted initially for the project versus the actual costs incurred upon project completion.

Permissions: Sales quotes access

How to access the cost targeting or cost variance table

Navigate to Projects from the sidebar
Click on a project from the list
Click on Quotes from the header
To create a new quote, click on Options and select New Quote. Visit how to create a sales quote to learn more.
Once you add the costs to your sales quote, navigate to Cost Targeting on the right to view the budgeted costs vs. actual costs. To learn how to add different types of costs to the quote, visit the next section below.

What are costs in Heeros PSA?

In Heeros PSA, you can estimate various costs:

Internal costs for tracked hours- You can provide an estimate of the costs for work hours in the sales quote and get a comparison of the budgeted/target costs vs. the actual costs for tracked hours depending on the users' internal hourly costs mentioned in the profile settings.
Expenses- You can provide an estimate of the costs for expenses in the sales quote and get a comparison of the budgeted costs vs. the actual costs when an expense is created and assigned to this sales quote.
Travel expenses- You can provide an estimate of the costs for travel expenses in the sales quote and get a comparison of the budgeted costs vs. the actual costs when a travel expense is created and assigned to this sales quote.
Bills- You can provide an estimate of the costs for other bills in the sales quote and get a comparison of the budgeted costs vs. the actual costs when a bill is created and assigned to this sales quote.

Adding hours to a sales quote and evaluating internal costs

To add estimated costs for hours to a sales quote:

Navigate to Won Deals/Projects
Click on the project
Navigate to Quotes from the header
Click on Edit
Add the quantity, unit cost, selling price, and VAT for the hours
Select Hours in the Type of work field. Click on Save
Navigate to the Cost Targeting table on the right
The budgeted/target costs will give you the estimated cost for the hours based on what is added in the quote.
When a user tracks hours for this project in the time tracker, the cost targeting table in the quote will automatically reflect the actual costs for the tracked hours. The actual costs are calculated based on the users' internal hourly costs mentioned in the user profile settings.

In order to view the actual internal costs in the cost targeting table, you need to define the user's internal hourly cost and create a time entry as explained here:

Navigate to Settings from the top right corner
Click on User Management. Select Users
Click the ellipsis symbol to the left of the user
Click open. Navigate to Users Internal Hourly Cost
Choose a date and add the internal cost
Click on the green check mark to save the entry
When a time entry is created for this project by this user, you can get a comparison of the budgeted costs vs. actual costs for the tracked hours from the Cost Targeting table in the Quote.

Adding expenses to a sales quote and evaluating actual costs

To add estimated costs for expenses to a sales quote:

Navigate to Won Deals/Projects
Click on the project
Navigate to Quotes from the header
Click on Edit
Add the quantity, unit cost, selling price, and VAT for expenses that can be incurred
Select 'Expenses' in the 'Type of work' field. Click on Save
Navigate to the Cost Targeting table on the right
The budgeted costs will give you the estimated cost for the expenses based on the expenses added in the sales quote.
When you create an expense for a project from the expenses page and target the expense to this specific quote item, the actual costs in the Cost Variance section of the sales quote will be automatically updated with the actual expenses incurred.

In order to view the actual costs for the expenses made, you need to create the expense and target it to the sales quote as explained below:

Navigate to Expenses from the sidebar
Create a new expense
Select account for which the expense needs to be claimed
Select the specific project for which the expense was made
Choose the sales quote to which the expense needs to be added to
Target to the expenses specific row in the sales quote
Add the items in the expense rows and upload the receipt
Save and send for approval
Once the expense is approved, you can get a comparison of the budgeted costs vs. actual costs for the expenses made from the Cost Targeting table in the Quote.

Adding travel expenses to a sales quote and evaluating actual costs

To add estimated costs for travel expenses to a sales quote::

Navigate to Won Deals/Projects
Click on the project
Navigate to Quotes from the header
Click on Edit
Add the quantity, unit cost, selling price, and VAT for travel expenses that can be incurred
Select Expenses in the Type of work field. Click on Save
Navigate to the Cost Targeting table on the right
The budgeted costs will give you the estimated cost for the travel expenses based on the costs added in the sales quote.
When you create a travel expense for a project from the expenses page and target the expense to this specific quote item, the actual costs in the Cost Variance section of the sales quote will be automatically updated with the actual expenses incurred.

In order to view the actual costs for the travel expenses made, you need to create the travel expense and target it to the sales quote as explained below:

Navigate to Travel Expenses from the sidebar
Create a new travel expense
Select the specific project for which the expense was made
Choose the sales quote to which the expense needs to be added to
Target to the expenses specific row in the sales quote
Add the route, time range and date range
Add the mileage and other details in the dialog box on the right
Save and send for approval
Once the travel expense is approved, you can get a comparison of the budgeted costs vs. actual costs for the travel expenses from the Cost Targeting table in the Quote.

Adding bills to a sales quote and evaluating actual costs

To add other estimated costs or bills to a sales quote:

Navigate to Won Deals/Projects
Click on the project
Navigate to Quotes from the header
Click on Edit
Add the quantity, unit cost, selling price, and VAT for other costs that may be incurred
Select Sub-contracting in the Type of work field. Click on Save
Navigate to the Cost Targeting table on the right
The budgeted costs will give you the estimated cost for the bills based on the costs added in the sales quote.
When you create a bill for a project from the bills page and target the bill to this specific quote item, the actual costs in the Cost Variance section of the sales quote will be automatically updated with the actual costs incurred.

In order to view the actual costs for bills paid, you need to create the bill and target it to the sales quote as explained below:

Navigate to Bills in the sidebar.
Select or create a new bill.
Click on the green + symbol.
Choose the customer & project
Assign the bill to the specific row in the sales quote
Add cost details to the bill
Save and send for approval
Once the bill is approved, you can get a comparison of the budgeted costs vs. actual costs for the bills uploaded from the Cost Targeting table in the Quote.