You create period profiles to specify how Oracle Projects groups and displays time periods when you edit budgets, forecasts, and workplan costs. Period profiles do not affect the time periods for which you can enter amounts. The periods for which you can enter amounts are determined by the start and end dates of the plan line.
You create a period profile by specifying whether the period profile is based on PA or GL periods, and by defining a range of periods. You define a range of periods by specifying the number of PA or GL periods to include in one or more period groupings. You can define an unlimited number of period groupings of varying duration in a period profile.
Note: Oracle Projects provides two predefined period profiles. One is based on PA periods and the other is based on GL periods. Both period profiles contain 52 single period groupings.
You can associate period profiles with projects at the project, plan type (budgets and forecasts only), and plan version levels. The period profile you select for a project is the default period profile for all plan types that you add to a project. The period profile for a plan type is the default period profile for all plan versions that you create for a plan type. You can override the default period profile selections at the plan type and plan version levels. For more information, see: Defining Planning Options.
The following two tables show examples of how you can define period profiles for planning short-term and long-term projects. Both examples assume use of the GL Period period type.
The table below shows an example of a period profile set up to accommodate detail planning for short-term projects. This period profile enables entry of amounts by month for a period of one year.
| Period | Number of GL Periods |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 1 |
| 3 | 1 |
| 4 | 1 |
| 5 | 1 |
| 6 | 1 |
| 7 | 1 |
| 8 | 1 |
| 9 | 1 |
| 10 | 1 |
| 11 | 1 |
| 12 | 1 |
The table below shows an example of a period profile set up to accommodate detail and summary-level planning for long-term projects. This period profile enables entry of amounts for a mix of monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, and annual periods for a span of five years.
| Period | Number of GL Periods |
|---|---|
| 1 | 12 |
| 2 | 6 |
| 3 | 3 |
| 4 | 3 |
| 5 | 1 |
| 6 | 1 |
| 7 | 1 |
| 8 | 1 |
| 9 | 1 |
| 10 | 1 |
| 11 | 3 |
| 12 | 3 |
| 13 | 12 |
| 14 | 12 |
To provide a reference point for grouping historical, current, and future period amounts, you can designate one period in a period profile as the Current Planning Period. Oracle Projects maintains the details of all amounts that you enter by time period. The system sums amounts that fall outside of an existing period profile range and displays the total amounts in either a preceding period or succeeding period amount field.
The following table shows an example of how Oracle Projects derives and groups periods for edit of plan amounts when you designate the Current Planning Period in a period profile. In this example, which uses the same five-year period profile shown in the table in the previous example, Period 6 is designated as the Current Planning Period. If the current GL period is August 2004, Oracle Projects would derive the period groupings shown in the table for edit of plan amounts for the five-year span of the period profile.
| Period | Number of GL Periods | Current Planning Period | Period Grouping |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | July 2002 - June 2003 | |
| 2 | 6 | July 2003 - December 2003 | |
| 3 | 3 | January - March 2004 | |
| 4 | 3 | April - June 2004 | |
| 5 | 1 | July 2004 | |
| 6 | 1 | Yes | August 2004 |
| 7 | 1 | September 2004 | |
| 8 | 1 | October 2004 | |
| 9 | 1 | November 2004 | |
| 10 | 1 | December 2004 | |
| 11 | 3 | January - March 2005 | |
| 12 | 3 | April - June 2005 | |
| 13 | 12 | July 2005 - June 2006 | |
| 14 | 12 | July 2006 - June 2007 |
To create a period profile, perform the following steps:
Navigate to the Create Period Profile page.
Enter a name and, optionally, a description.
Select either GL Period or PA Period for the period type.
Enter an effective from date and, optionally, an effective to date.
Define a range of periods by entering the number of PA or GL periods to include in a period grouping for one or more rows in the table.
Optionally, designate one period grouping as the Current Planning Period.