Add a cost item

You can add either an existing or a new cost item. The cost item can be one of the following types:

  • Plug – Unit and total costs are entered at the cost category level

  • Detail – Resources are defined to determine costs

An existing cost item has already been established in InEight Control. When you add an existing cost item, details are pulled from Control. When you add a new cost item, you must add the detail information, such as UoM and a pay item. The detail information is added in Control when the CCO is executed and approved in Control. See Edit cost items for information about the types of details that can be edited for existing and new cost items. The number of cost items you can add is not limited in an issue. However, if you convert the issue to a change order or use it in a budget move, you are limited to 250 unique cost items or 100 unique pay items.

You can also add an unassigned pricing item that does not have a cost item associated to it. An unassigned item has lump sum cost pricing by default and populates the Pricing summary page in the Lump sum section.

You can use the icons in the left toolbar to add, edit, delete, or copy cost items. You can also right-click in the grid to get a context menu with the same options. You can also import new Plug items from a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet into cost item pricing.

The fields that are available for you to add values to and edit depend on the cost item type and the unit rate driver. See Edit cost items for information about editing plug and detail cost items.

Add an existing cost item

Add cost item pricing when you want to add detail to your pricing. Cost items are based on the CBS structure from Control. The unit rate driver for an existing cost item defaults to the current estimate. You can edit the unit rate driver after the cost item is added.

Only active terminal cost items are available for selection in cost item pricing.

  1. From the Cost item pricing page, click the Add cost item pricing icon.

  2. Select Add existing cost items. The Add cost item pricing dialog box opens with the CBS structure from Control. The cost items use the same color coding as they do in Control.

  3. Select a cost item from the Select cost items section of the Add cost item pricing dialog box. Available cost items have the Add icon. Parent WBS codes have a selection box that automatically selects all the cost codes underneath it. You can use column choosers to select the columns you need to identify the cost item. You also can remove items you do not want to see. The cost item is added to the Select cost pricing pane, and the entry in the Select cost items section is dimmed.

    Repeat this step for each cost item you want to add.

  4. Assign the cost pricing category (for example, labor or materials) by selecting the cost item in the Select cost pricing section, and then choosing one of the options in the Cost pricing column. If there are multiple cost items that are in the same category, select them, and then click Group cost pricing.

    After all cost items have a pricing category, the Add button becomes available.

  5. Click Add.

    Change pulls the following fields from Control:

    • WBS

    • Description

    • UoM

    • Forecast (T/O) qty

    • Current CB Qty

    • Mhrs/Unit

    • Unit/Mhr

    • Unit cost

    • Cost source

    • Resources

    • Billing rate markup % (Calculated based on resource billing rates for cost source detail cost items that have resources assigned with billing rate markups)

  6. If you have the pricing information, enter a value in the Adjusted CB Qty column. Change calculates the values for the Adjusted cost, Updated CB qty, and Adjusted man-hours fields, if applicable, based on the current budget or current estimate rates. The value you enter in the Adjusted CB Qty field cannot make the value in the Updated CB Qty field less than zero. Each cost item defaults to current budget rates. If you change the Unit rate driver field from current estimate to current budget, Change calculates the adjusted cost and adjusted man-hours based on those unit rates. If you do not have the pricing information you can automatically calculate values to get adjusted values from Control. See Auto calculate cost items for information about automatically calculating cost items.

    If a cost code is assigned to only one contract, Change automatically brings in that contract association, so you do not have to look for the contract. The cost pricing defaults to Vendor, but you can change it. After the cost item is added, Change automatically assigns the cost item to the vendor and contract number. The vendor is editable.

    A negative quantity can be entered if it is smaller than the Current CB Qty column. You can use negative numbers in deductions so that Change calculates a true negative deduction.

  7. Click Save. The cost items are added to the Cost item pricing page and the Pricing summary page.

The cost items can be edited from the Cost item pricing page. When you edit the description, it is shown in the Cost item pricing grid, but is not carried over to InEight Control. The cost items are read-only on the Pricing summary page.

Add a new cost item

Add a new cost item pricing when you want to add detail to your pricing, but the pricing item does not exist in Control.

If you are adding a plug cost item, the adjusted cost is driven by the values in the Details tab. After the adjusted cost is calculated, the Cost categories tab shows a breakdown. If you are adding a detail cost item, the adjusted cost is calculated using the resources on the Resources tab.

  1. From the Cost item pricing page, click the Add cost item pricing icon .

  2. Select Add new cost item. The New cost item slide-out panel opens.

  3. Enter the description, and then indicate whether the cost item has a cost source of Plug or Detail.

  4. Enter the cost item information on the Details page.

    • If the cost source is Plug, you can enter information in any of the fields.

    • If the cost source is Detail, you can enter information in the Description, Adjusted CB Qty, UoM, and Cost pricing fields only. The value you enter in the Adjusted CB Qty field cannot make the value in the Updated CB Qty field less than zero. The other fields are populated after you have added resources on the Resources tab.

  5. Click Apply. The pricing item is added to the Cost item pricing grid.

  6. Click Save. Change sends the cost item to Control, and the WBS phase code is set to New.

You can edit the cost item to add more information regarding resources or cost categories. After the CCO is executed, you can see the newly created cost item in the Control contract adjustment. When the contract adjustment is approved in Control, a WBS is assigned. You can see the WBS phase code in the CBS and the WBS number is reflected in the executed issue cost item pricing.

The cost item cost category in Control corresponds to the cost pricing section in Change the item was assigned to. If there are any man-hours on the new cost item, that portion of the value is allocated to the Labor cost category, and the remaining value to the category mapped to the cost pricing selected.

Add an unassigned pricing item

Summary: Add a pricing item that is not assigned to a cost item in InEight Control when you want to use lump sum pricing.

Considerations: Unassigned pricing items do not have cost categories. When sent to Control, the pricing items are unassigned.

  1. From the Pricing page, click the Add cost item pricing icon, and then select Add unassigned pricing item. The Add Unassigned pricing item dialog box opens.

  2. Enter the adjusted cost of the pricing item, and then click Add. The unassigned pricing item is added to the Pricing grid. The unassigned pricing item is added to the Pricing grid with the adjusted billable amount, and adjusted cost. The Cost pricing is set to Lump sum adjustment. The item does not have a cost category.

What's next: The unassigned pricing item also shows on the Pricing summary page.