Tip #829: Project Service Automation – When are Actuals actually created

Time is moneyMatt “Almost Resident” Johnson is definitely into PSA these days, learning and sharing what he learned.

Here’s a quick reference for anyone interested in when the Actuals are created during a Project in PSA. Maybe this will save someone a bit of investigation time or make things clearer in their mind.

Time and Materials Project

Steps Actuals Created
Resource adds time/expense
Resource submits time/expense
Time/expense approved by PM Actual created – Cost
Actual created – Unbilled Sales
Invoice created for all unbilled sales
Invoice confirmed (sent to customer) Actual created – Unbilled Sales (reversal of the previously created unbilled sale)
Actual created – Billed Sales
Invoice marked as Paid  

Notes:

  • Actuals can be seen against either the Project, the Contract or the Invoice
  • Actuals will not be created if the contract is not associated with the project even if time is submitted and approved.

Fixed Price Project

Steps Actuals Created
Resource adds time/expense
Resource submits time/expense
Time/expense approved by PM Actual created – Cost
Milestone marked as ready for invoicing
Invoice created for Milestone Amount(s)
Invoice confirmed (sent to customer) Actual created – Billed Sales (Transaction class == Milestone)
Invoice marked as Paid

Notes:

  • Actuals can be seen against either the Project or the Contract. Only the Billed Sales (Milestone) Actual will be associated with the Invoice.
  • Out of the box Milestones must be marked as Ready for Invoicing manually.
  • Although a milestone can be associated with a single Task, once this task is completed 100% it doesn’t automagically mark the Milestone as Ready for Invoicing.
  • A Task can actually be associated with multiple Milestones but a Milestone can only have one Task associated with it.

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