Project transaction validation is the process by which Costpoint ensures that the proper accounts and organizations are charged to a project. You can ensure that only valid accounts and organizations charge your project by selecting an appropriate validation method during project initialization. Review these validation methods to evaluate the type of validation needed for your projects. Review the Validation Processing and Flowcharts sections to clarify your understanding of the process used to validate project transactions.
There are several methods that are used for project transaction validation. This topic outlines the methods available and provides a detailed step-by-step analysis of the validation process.
Validations are performed based on the selections made on the Manage Project User Flow screen. You can use only one validation method per project, but validation methods can vary between projects. You must select your validation method before you begin project charging.
You can set up the following validation methods in Costpoint:
Project Account Group only — This is the least restrictive method available. A transaction passes validation as long as the account entered belongs to the project account group of the project entered for the transaction. The project account group assigned to the project displays in the Charging group box on the Basic Info tab of the Manage Project User Flow screen. Select the Active and Allow Charging check boxes in the Charging group box on the Basic Info tab of the Manage Project User Flow screen to initialize project account group only validation. Project Account Groups are established and accounts are assigned on the Manage Account Groups screen.
Limit Accounts to P/O/A (Summary method) — This method is available only if you have not selected the Validate Project Charging by Organizations check box on the Configure Project Settings screen. The status of the Validate Project Charging by Organizations check box on the Configure Project Settings screen determines whether the summary or the detail method of POA validation is available on the Basic Info tab of the Manage Project User Flow screen. If you do not select the check box, the summary method is available on the Basic Info tab. The Limit Accounts to P/O/A check box displays on the Basic Info tab if the summary method has been selected. This is a company-wide selection. You can select summary method POA validation on a project-by-project basis on the Basic Info tab. Both the summary and detail methods of POA validation use the PROJ_ORG_ACCT table to validate project transactions.
The summary method of POA validation is more restrictive that using the Project Account Group method. It uses the Project Account Organization table to perform validations. If you select this method, you must set up the Project Organization Account table on the Link Projects/Accounts/Organizations screen. You must enter the project and any account that is charged for this project. You must also enter an organization in this screen, but any organization entered in a transaction screen passes validation. This validation method allows further limitation of the accounts charged to a project beyond the accounts in the project account group. If you select the Limit Accounts to P/O/A check box, Limit Orgs check boxes are unavailable. For this, or any, validation method, the account charged is limited to the account in the projects account group.
Limit which Orgs can Charge Specific Accounts (detail method) — This method is available only if you selected the Validate Project Charging by Organization check box on the Configure Project Settings screen. The status of the Validate Project Charging by Organization check box on the Configure Project Settings screen determines whether the summary or the detail method of POA validation is available on the Basic Info tab of the Manage Project User Flow screen. If you select the check box, the detail method is available on the Basic Info tab. The Which Orgs can Charge Specific Accts check box displays on the Basic Info tab if the detail method is selected. This is a company-wide selection. However, you can select detail method POA validation on a project-by-project basis on the Basic Info tab. Both the summary and detail methods of POA validation use the PROJ_ORG_ACCT table to validate project transactions.
If you select the Which Orgs can Charge Specific Accts check box on the Basic Info tab of the Manage Project User Flow screen, you selected the detail and most restrictive validation method available in Costpoint. The project/account/organization combination charged in any transaction screen must also exist in the PROJ_ACCT_ORG table. You can set up the combination in this table using the Link Projects/Accounts/Organizations screen. The Limit Accounts and Limit Orgs check boxes are not available if you select the detail method. For this, or any validation method, the account charged is limited to the accounts in the projects account group.
Limit Accounts — This method is used to further restrict accounts that can be charged using the Project Account Group only method. The Limit Accounts check box is not available if you selected POA validation (detail or summary method). After you select the Limit Accounts check box, you must initialize the Link Projects/Accounts/Organizations screen. Costpoint accesses information from this screen to limit the accounts that can be charged to the project. For this, or any, validation method, the account charged is limited to the account in the projects account group.
Limit Orgs — Use this method to restrict organizations that can be charged to this project. After you select the Limit Orgs check box, you must initialize the Link Projects/Accounts/Organizations screen. Costpoint accesses information from this screen to limit the accounts that can be charged to the project.