Locations are used throughout Projector. The four places you will see them applied are to resources, projects, time cards, and expenses. The one place where you won't see them defined is for cost centers. Your organization may have geographic cost centers, but this is not a requirement. As locations touch a number of aspects of the Projector software, please see the the subsections below to learn how settings apply to them.

The location editor is reached from the Administration tab | Organizational Structure Heading | Locations and Holidays subsection and double clicking a location.

Permissions and Settings

To make changes on this tab you need the global permission Locations & Holidays set to Update.

The working hours for a day must be in increments of your scheduling settings - System Settings Editor Scheduling Tab.

Locations can be assigned to expenses. The location determines the currency we expect the expense to be in. For example, if you incur an expense in Ireland we'd expect it to have been in Euros.

Locations can be assigned to projects. It determines the default Hours per day for the project. Hours per day is in turn used for detailed task management planning and daily billing calculations. It is also used for reporting.

Locations can be assigned to resources. It determines the default working hours for the resource. It is also used for reporting.

Location Management

The main location window shows all the locations in your installation. You can optionally cull the list down to just locations associated with a resource or project by ticking the Include Only Project and Resource Locations checkbox (excluding locations only associated with time and expense).

Add Location

Click the Create New Location button at the bottom of the location browser.

Delete Location

Right click a location and choose Delete Location. If a location is used in the system then you won't be able to delete it. You should inactivate the location instead.

Inactivate Location

Edit an existing location and tick the Inactive checkbox. Inactive locations will not be selectable for new projects, new resources, new time cards, and new expenses. Existing projects, resources, time cards, and cost cards will keep the location though.

Edit Location

Double click on any location to start editing it. See the help sections below on what the editor settings do.

Location Editor

This section gives only tactical information about what each of the settings on this tab do. In the subsequent sections devoted to Resources, Projects, Time, and Expense you will find specific examples of these settings in action.

General Settings

These are settings that are generic to each location.

Setting	Description
Name	Enter a name that describes this location. Your locations can follow whatever amount of granularity you choose. They can be by country, by region, or by city. It makes sense to sit down and determine the level of granularity you want available in reports before defining all your locations. Remember that your project managers and resources will be selecting from your locations list, so you don't want 1000 locations.
Currency	The list of available currencies is driven by the Currencies and FX Rates Editor. Select the currency that this location uses. When expenses are entered as having been incurred at this location, we'll default to the currency. For example, expenses incurred in England would default to GBP.
Inactive	Inactive locations will not be selectable for new projects, new resources, new time cards, and new expenses. Existing projects, resources, time cards, and cost cards will keep the location though.
Enabled for time cards	Allow resources to select this location when entering their time
Enabled for cost cards	Allow resources to select this location when entering expenses
Mileage Unit	When resources report mileage as an expense, the location determines whether they report in miles or kilometers. Because this setting is only for expenses, you have to tick Enabled for cost cards to access this setting.

Working Schedule Tab

Working hours determine the days of the week and the hours of each day that this location conducts regular business operations. These are the Normal Working Hours for this location. All resources assigned to this location will have this schedule by default. The schedule can be overridden through the resource editor on a person by person basis.

In addition, the working schedule is used when you create unnamed requests or bookings on your projects. These roles need to have normal working hours just like a named resource or your reports won't produce results that make sense. These unnamed roles inherit the location's working schedule.

Setting	Description
Projects and resources may be associated with this location	Tick the checkbox if you want projects or resources to be assignable to this location
Hours/Day for Task Planning	When you create a new project, the location determines the Hours/Day setting found on the project info tab. This can be overridden on a per project basis.
Working Day	Tick the checkbox for each day of the week you expect resources to work
Duration	Type in the number of hours you expect someone to work this day

Holidays Tab

Watch Best Practices: Year End Projector Tasks webinar (go to 14:30) for a video demonstration of how to update holidays by location.

If this location is used for resources or projects then you should fill out the holiday schedule. Resources do not need to enter time on holidays. For schedulers, the holiday schedule lets them know when resources are out-of-office. If you are using our scheduling module, then you should enter holidays even if the location is enabled for Projects only. This is because unnamed resources will use this holiday schedule.

Holidays are different than time-off like vacation or personal days. To manage this type of time-off, use the resource editor.

The options on this subtab are pretty self explanatory. Click Edit on any existing row to change the date, name, or whether it is a full-day or half-day off. To add a new holidays, click the New button at the bottom of the list. You can add half-days or less than full days by un-ticking the All Day checkbox. The number of hours you enter will be subtracted from the resource's normal working hours.

Copy Holidays From One Location to Another

To save time, you can now copy holidays from one location to another for a given date range.

From the Locations and Holidays browser, right click on the source Location and choose "Copy Holidays To.."
From the "Copy Holidays To" window, select a date range and the locations you want to copy the holidays to:
Click Copy.

Next Year's Holidays

If you are adding holidays for a new year, do not edit existing holidays and change the date. This will break the baselines of all your reports. You should add each holiday for the new year manually.

Mileage Rates Tab

Watch Best Practices: Year End Projector Tasks webinar (got to 12:55) for a quick demonstration of how to update Mileage Reimbursement Rates.

Based on a resource's location you can set the reimbursement rate for distance traveled. The rate is time phased based on the incurred date. Finally, you can choose whether distance is measured in kilometers or miles.

The currency used for reimbursement is set by the resource's cost center and doesn't change based on location. For example, if Sally lives in the US and goes for a drive in Canada she'll still be reimbursed in USD.

Location and Cost Center Mismatch

If a resource's location is in one currency and cost center is in another currency - Projector won't be able to calculate a reimbursement rate. The user will need to manually enter their distance and compensation rate. For example, let's say a Canadian resident works for a US company and is paid in USD. If they drive their car, they would expect to be reimbursed using Canadian rates. Projector does not support this scenario.

Resource Locations

Resource locations are set through the Resource Info Tab and the Resource History Tab.

Once your location is chosen, it drives what your holidays are. When you log into time entry you will see that holidays are automatically grayed out, just like a weekend day. Here, the fourth of July is a holiday.

When schedulers go to book your resources, they will see that they are unavailable on holiday days.

Project Locations

Setting your project location determines the default Hours/Day setting on a project. This serves two primary functions. First, it is used for detailed task management planning to figure out how many days something will take to complete. DTM scheduling is done in hours. So (Hours per Day) / Hours = Days of Work. For example, (20 hours of work) / (8 hours per day) = 2.5 days of work. Second, this setting is used for daily billing calculations. Daily billing rounds time up to equal a whole day. For example, if I work 5 hours today, then it gets rounded up to 8 hours of billable labor.

Project locations are also used for determining the working schedules of unnamed roles. That way when the role is eventually filled, hours will not need to be reconfigured to match the resource's actual schedule.

Time Locations

When your resources go to enter their time, they will have the option of choosing the location of work. Each location marked Enabled for Time Cards is available in the list. You can force them to choose a location for every time card through system settings flag called Require Locations on Time Cards.

Expense Locations

When entering expenses, your resource's have the option to specify a location. Each location marked Enabled for Cost Cards is shown in the list. You can force them to choose a location through the system setting Require location on cost cards.

If the selected location's currency differs from the resource's currency, then Projector automatically assumes you will be converting currencies and gives you options for managing that conversion.

The following table summarizes the settings that govern access to locations in expense entry and what each combination presents to the end user.

Location Required + Multiple Locations

Location defaults to "no location." Users need to pick a location before they can submit expenses. Otherwise they are rejected.

Require location on cost cards = true

Enabled for cost cards = true for two or more locations

Location Required + One Location

Location field is not shown during expense entry. Your one location is automatically applied to all expenses.

Require location on cost cards = true

Enabled for cost cards = true for just one location

Location Required + No Locations

You can enter expenses, but they will be immediately rejected when submitted. You will need to enable a location for cost cards to successfully submit.

Require location on cost cards = true

Enabled for cost cards = false for all locations

Location Not Required + One or More Locations

Defaults to no location. Users need to pick a location as needed.

Require location on cost cards = false

Enabled for cost cards = true for two or more locations

Location Not Required + No Locations

Location field is now shown. All expenses default to "no location."

Require location on cost cards = false

Enabled for cost cards = true for no locations

Reports

Projector reports make locations available for grouping. You will see the following row fields available in select reports.

Resource Location
Project Location
Work Location (time card)
Expense Location (cost card)

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