In Project Control Suite, you can budget and plan with resource groups. However, time posting must be per resource. There are two places from which you can break down a resource group into resources:
The project budget line, using the Breakdown action.
The project planning line, using the Resource Group: Expand and Collapse actions.
Steps - Break down a resource group budget line
Use the Breakdown action to split the quantity for a resource into individual resources:
Select a project budget line with type Resource Group and a quantity > 0.
From the Process group, select the Breakdown action.
A new page opens where you can select resources and assign a quantity.
The Requested Quantity in the footer shows the quantity from the project budget line.
The Remaining Quantity in the footer shows the quantity from the project budget line minus the quantity specified for the selected resource.
Use the drill-down in the No. field to select a resource from the list.
Use the assist edit in the No. field to select resources from the resource group.
When the breakdown is complete, click Process to apply the lines. Close discards the updates.
The Breakdown action sets the quantity for the resource group to 0.
Steps - Expand a resource group planning line
Use the Expand Group action to expand a resource group into its members:
Select a project planning line with type Resource Group and a quantity > 0.
From the Resource Group menu, select Expand Group and confirm the action.
A new page opens showing the members of the team.
In the Select column, check or uncheck the resources to include when expanding.
When the selection is complete, click OK.
The quantity on the resource group (parent) line is set to 0.
The quantity from the resource group line is split evenly over the selected resources.
In the background, the Quantity Before Explosion and "expanded from system-id" are stored to support the Collapse action.
Steps - Collapse a resource group planning line
Use the Collapse Group action to collapse a resource group and delete its members:
Select a project planning line with type Resource Group and a quantity = 0.
From the Resource Group menu, select Collapse Group and confirm the action.
The quantity on the resource group (parent) line is set to the Quantity Before Explosion.
The resource member lines are deleted.
Steps - Add a temporary resource group member
Use the Add Resource action to temporarily add a resource to the expanded resource group.
Temporarily means the resource group for the added resource is not updated. The added resource is recognized as "expanded from," so when the group is collapsed, this member line is also deleted.
Select a project planning line with type Resource Group and a quantity = 0.
From the Resource Group menu, select Add Resource.
In the pop-up, select a new Resource No.
Click OK to add the resource on a new project planning line.
The line is added with a quantity of 0 because the original quantity was already split over the group members.
Order, post, and invoice external resources
You can order external resources from the project planning line. Make sure a vendor number is specified on the Resource card for the external resource.
Steps - Order an external resource
Complete and release the project planning line for the external resource.
From the Item Planning menu, use Create, non-invent., purchase orders, or first request a quote with Create, non-invent., purchase quote.
Once a purchase order exists for this type of line, post usage through the purchase order. Posting the number of hours worked creates a posted purchase receipt. This document can be used as a Payment Certificate to the vendor. The payment certificate lets the vendor submit an invoice for the "received" quantity of hours. Posting the purchase order as invoiced creates a project ledger entry and updates the remaining quantity in the project planning line.