This document will continue to evolve as existing sections change and new information is added. All updates appear in the following table:
| Date | Product | Feature | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 04 DEC 2020 | Created initial document. |
This guide outlines the information you need to know about new or improved functionality in this update.
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Common Technology and User Experience
Common Project Management Features
Refined User Experience for Key Lists of Values Search for Project Management
This update introduces an enhanced user experience for select lists of values. The change increases performance and expands the use of type ahead suggestions. See the What's New document for 21A for the complete list of changes.
Service Excellence Continuing Investments
In this update, our on-going investment in service excellence includes improvements in performance, messages, usability, and documentation. Refer to the What's New for more information.
REST APIs for Project Management
Project Budget Version Additional Actions Using a REST API
Refresh resource and conversion rates for a budget version using the Project Budgets REST API. Specify a percentage to adjust planning amounts.
Project Rate Schedules REST API
View, create, and update rate schedules using the Project Rate Schedules REST API. Use rate schedule rates and mark-ups to calculate your project cost, revenue, and billing amounts.
Manage labor and expense resources for a project using Project Resources REST API. For example, add planned resources to a project, or delete a resource from a project.
Work Plan Template Tasks Retrieval Using a REST API
View tasks in a work plan template using the Work Plan Templates REST API. A work plan template is a set of project tasks and resource assignments that's used to create project plans and add tasks to existing project plans.
Nomination and Fulfillment of Multiple Resources Using a REST API
Nominate and fulfill requests where a single request can process the requirement for multiple resources using Project Resource Request REST API. Update the individual resource status to fulfill requests for more than one requested resource. Resource managers or project managers perform final approvals depending on your business process.
Workflow for Project Management
Project Status Approval History
Track the status of your projects that are undergoing approval or those that are finally approved. Using this feature, you can view the approval hierarchy and the actions pending or taken by the approvers on your projects. Viewing the current and future assignees of the project status approval workflow helps you to monitor the project status and follow up with the approvers if the workflow isn't progressing as expected.
Workflow Transaction Console for Plan Approval and Invoice Approval
Using a single console, administrators can now proactively monitor workflow tasks and resolve any exceptions for Project Contract Invoice Approval and Budget and Forecast Plan Approval workflows. Project administrators can research workflow exceptions and either restart the task after making a correction to the underlying roles or withdraw the task in progress. The Transaction Access Console provides details for the invoice approval and plan approval workflow in this release, with expanded coverage planned for upcoming releases.
Award Creation with Additional Invoicing and Revenue Options
Create award contracts with additional invoicing and revenue options from all creation methods.
Labor distribution capabilities allows for the distribution of payroll amounts to project or general ledger accounts using labor schedules. These labor schedules specify the duration and percentage to track a person's effort spent on award or project related work or any other work. Project and grant administrators can use the distributed labor cost information to satisfy audit, effort, or other reporting requirements.
For additional information about labor distribution see 20B What's New: Distribute Payroll Amounts Using Labor Schedules
Pay Element Level Labor Schedule
Define labor schedules for payroll elements that will apply to any payroll costs distributed through labor distribution. If a person-assignment payroll element labor schedule exists for the same element, it will take precedence.
Bill-to Contact Email Displayed in Contract Pages
Display bill-to contact email address in the bill-to contact list of values and bill plans region when editing a project contract. Contract administrators can select the appropriate email addresses for sending the invoices.
Invoice Billing Events Calculated and Created Using the Project Process Configurator
Define business-specific calculations for progress and fees using the Project Process Configurator. This allows customers additional flexibility to support advanced invoicing needs.
Current Actual Amounts Refresh for Project Forecast Working Version
Refresh actual costs without having to regenerate the forecast working version. Estimate to Complete and Estimate At Completion for the version will be determined based on the current actual cost amounts.
Planning Rate Derivation for Borrowed Resources
Save time and effort by not having to maintain multiple rate schedules for borrowed resources. The application automatically derives the rates for planning costs from the primary assignment business unit or organization for these resources.
Additional Accounting Sources for Creating Project Accounting
Additional sources are available for project costs and revenue to allow greater flexibility when creating account rules, mapping sets, and description rules.
Asset Line Grouping Configuration
Configure additional grouping criteria to group asset lines and perform asset assignments using the Project Process Configurator. Group asset lines using attributes including expenditure category, expenditure type, expenditure organization, billable indicator, work type, supplier, person, inventory item, contract, funding source, transaction source, document and document entry. Values from descriptive flexfields are available for you to use for grouping. For example, create a project process configurator to define that asset line costs that are grouped by inventory item, funding source or a user defined descriptive. Grouping can be done for a combination of these values as well, for example expenditure category and expenditure organization.
Editable Unprocessed Project Costs for Third-Party Transaction Sources
Edit unprocessed project cost transactions that belong to third-party application transaction sources. These unprocessed costs are editable until they are picked up by the Import Costs process and converted into project costs.
Project-Driven Supply Chain is an end-to-end, integrated solution across the Oracle Supply Chain Management and Project Management Cloud applications. This solution is designed to support various business processes of manufacturing and asset-intensive companies.
Use the Project-Driven Supply Chain solution to manage your supply chain processes in the context of projects without creating separate organizations for each project. You can also capture supply chain costs as project expenditures.
For additional information about project-driven supply chain see 20A What's New: Project-Driven Supply Chain
Project Material Return Authorization
Streamline the return of project materials shipped against a sales order. Order managers and order entry specialists enter project information on the return material authorization, so that project accountants and project managers can track related supply chain costs for the project. You must opt-in to the Accept Project-Specific Customer Returns feature in the Manufacturing and Supply Chain Materials Management offering to leverage these capabilities.
Microsoft Project 2019 Integration
The Project Execution Management and Project Financial Management integrations with Microsoft Project desktop versions are expanded to include Microsoft Project 2019. As Microsoft no longer supports Microsoft Project 2007, the integrations to such versions are retired.
Project Rate Schedule Security
Secure project rate schedules to ensure access is limited to a user's specific area of responsibility. Assign data security policies to custom roles that limit view, edit, and creation of project rate schedules based on an assigned business unit or reference data set.
Financial Actual Effort and Cost Tracking from the Project Work Plan
View financial actual efforts and actual costs for tasks in the Manage Project Plan page. For example, project managers can view the total actual hour effort that team members have charged to a project and compare that with planned effort estimates. These new columns enable project managers to get a complete view of the detailed project schedule, task status, and financial activity in one location. You must opt in to the Expedite Your Project Planning with a New User Experience feature to leverage these capabilities.
Project Plan Export to Excel and Task Prioritization Using the New Project Planning User Experience
Specify task priority in your work plans to facilitate collaboration and common understanding across the project team. Optionally, associate requirements driving a task to balance priorities across tasks. At any point, export plans to Microsoft Excel to share them with stakeholders or customers. You must opt in to the Expedite Your Project Planning with a New User Experience feature to leverage these capabilities.
Association of Projects to Key Performance Indicators Using File-Based Data Import
Attach KPIs to existing projects using the Import Project Key Performance Indicators file-based data import feature.
Assignment Type Default Based on Project Type
Assignment type for project resource requests and assignments default from the project type. Resource managers and project managers minimize data entry and ensure accuracy of their billable and non-billable requests and assignments.
Expanded View of Projected Utilization
Resource managers can view projected utilization for one or more pools or an individual resource in an expanded table view. Previously, resource managers could view projected utilization for all resources or resource pools for the current week and cumulative intervals. Now they get enhanced viewing ability with different data display ranges for individual resource or group of resources on Manage Resources page.
Resource Assignment Search Using Assignment Name and Project Number
Resource managers can enter a name for an assignment as a way to easily identify and locate individual assignments. Resource managers who often track projects by their project number can quickly locate all assignments for a project by entering the project number when conducting a search.
Utilizable Time Calculations Driven by Work Type
Track the utilizable hours from time cards to determine the actual utilization for resources. When a resource charges time to projects, the associated work type determines whether or not the time is utilizable. For example a project is created to track activity for internal training. The work type selected for this project and its tasks is set as non-utilizable. Hours logged by a resource to tasks on this project will not count in the resource's actual utilization. A different project that has tasks for external customer work has a work type that is set as utilizable. Hours logged by the resource to tasks on this project are counted in the resource's actual utilization.