Hard, Soft, and Sales Allocations

The system supports three types of allocations to accommodate different project planning needs. These allocation types help organizations accurately distribute resources, forecast workload, and manage financial planning.

Types of Allocations

1. Hard Allocations – Confirmed resource bookings that impact project and organizational finances.
2. Soft Allocations – Tentative allocations used during the planning phase.
3. Sales Allocations – Resource reservations for potential deals and upcoming projects.

By using these allocation types, teams can ensure flexibility and accuracy in resource management.

Hard Allocations

Hard Allocations represent confirmed resource assignments on projects. These indicate that an employee is planned to work on a project during the specified dates.

Impact on Metrics

• Used to generate Planned and Forecasted metrics (such as Forecasted Hours, Forecasted Revenue, and Forecasted Cost, for example).
• Helps in financial forecasting and resource planning.

Since Hard Allocations are considered finalized, they provide a reliable basis for scheduling and financial projections.

Soft Allocations

Soft Allocations are tentative assignments used for draft planning or resource requests before final approval.

Use Cases

• Used to indicate potential assignments while plans are still being finalized.
• Helps assess resource availability before making a commitment.

Impact on Metrics

• Generates Requested Hours to estimate potential workload.

Soft Allocations provide a way to experiment with different resource plans without affecting confirmed schedules.

Sales Allocations

Sales Allocations are used for Deals—projects that have not yet been signed, but require preliminary resource planning.

Use Cases

• Reserves resources for potential opportunities.
• Helps align resource planning with business development.

Impact on Metrics

• Generates Sales Hours, which help visualize the potential workload if the deal is closed.

Using Sales Allocations, companies can forecast future workload without disrupting existing schedules.

Managing Allocations in the Planner

In the Planner, you can toggle each allocation type separately. This allows you to:

• View only a specific allocation type for focused planning.
• Combine multiple allocation types to see a comprehensive overview of resource distribution.

By leveraging Hard, Soft, and Sales Allocations, organizations can optimize resource planning, improve forecasting, and align staffing with business goals.