Guide to using Custom Calculations in OpenAir
NetSuite OpenAir is already a powerful all-around PSA solution as it is. It has a ton of features and functionalities to promote quality project management. However, some of these features and functionalities, such as custom calculations, aren’t so obvious to everyday use.
The custom calculations feature allows users to bring reporting and report values together out of OpenAir that aren’t naturally there. In other words, with custom calculations, you can customize values and report to your liking or your unique business needs.
However, it’s important to note that getting the most out of the feature demands you set it up correctly and leverage key configurations. In this guide, we help you do just that. We’ll cover the basics of custom calculations and give you tips and tricks on making the feature work for you. We’ll cover:
- Custom calculations usage and key features
- Getting the right end result
- Consideration of report configuration with custom calculations
- Tips and tricks
OpenAir Custom Calculations Usage
Custom calculations are a configurable way to add your own reporting values. Custom calculations have four distinct use cases as far as reporting is concerned. First, you can control the equation. For instance, it allows you to create new values that may otherwise not be there or create custom calls to manage or rename the equation.
Second, you can pre-filter the results. Before custom calculations were a feature of OpenAir, you couldn’t see different utilization values in the same report. You were forced to have different reports for different utilizations. With this feature’s ability to filter different values, that’s no longer a problem.
Third, custom calculations allow you to define date ranges within a calculation. One of the primary reasons for custom calculations was users’ inability to have sub-date values in a report and see , for example, charge projections for limited dates, but still report the start-to-end dates beyond these sub-dates. You can now define date ranges to your liking.
Fourthly, you have the freedom to rename a standard field. Some users have always just wanted to rename standard fields in OpenAir, and it has been quite difficult. With custom calculations, you can rename whatever fields you want.
Getting Started with OpenAir Custom Calculations
Now that you know what custom calculations are and their purpose, it is important to consider certain factors before getting started with this smart OpenAir feature. In particular, pay attention to role permissions and switches. With role permissions, you can give permissions to other non-admin roles by checking their role and ensuring permissions are set for the calculated field.
Switches may need to be enabled. They include calculated fields using calculated fields, calculated fields with custom report filters, and calculated fields with custom report date filters. Please note that you should see one of these options in your calculations, but if you don’t, you’re probably using an older version of OpenAir.
What is a calculation?
So far, we’ve thrown the word calculation around, but what is it? What does it involve? As the name suggests, a calculation is just that — defining an equation. For example, defining worked hours where worked hours is all hours, but not rejected hours. So, in this case, the calculation (or equation) would be worked hours equals all the hours minus rejected hours. And by doing this, you have created a new reporting value that you can bring into reports and dashboards.
A calculation must include plus, minus, multiplication, or division. So, when creating a new reporting field, make sure the operation for the field contains any of those. You can leave the operations blank, as OpenAir will give you that option. But understand that if you leave it blank, it won’t do anything as far as the calculation is concerned.
Also, you can create different custom calcs based on the reports. We recommend using a company summary report unless you have a specific report requirement. With a company summary report, you can bring in timesheet, expense, and project data and then subtotal by multiple levels and values without having to start over with a new template.
Using Custom Calculations in Reports
So, a couple of things about using custom calculations in reports. You may create, say, a value called billable utilization using a combination of custom calcs, and we’re filtering on task type equals billable to get to our billable utilization value. Then we want to add billable utilization to a report and use a task-type filter that contradicts the billable filter inside the custom calc.
In doing so, you may think this would cause a conflict, meaning you would not get a report. However, custom calcs usually ignore report filters if the custom calculation has a filter. The only time a report filter will work is when you have other values that are not a custom calc using that filter. Our recommendation is when using custom calcs, avoid using any reporting filters and let custom calcs filters rule the day. You’ll have the best results and consistency in your reporting.
However, if you include a date range in a custom calc and the report doesn’t include that date range, you’ll get no values in the report. The point to take home in this scenario is that filters override from the custom calcs, but dates don’t. So, dates will behave the way you’d expect.
Tips and Tricks
Using Custom Calculation Descriptions
You may have hundreds of custom calcs – especially if you’ve had OpenAir for a long time. In addition, you may have multiple similar custom calcs. Usually, this is due to creating multiple custom calcs and playing around with them to come up with the correct equation and values. The problem with multiple custom calcs is it can be confusing, and you may experience difficulties in coming up with the right combination of values or even just understanding where certain custom calcs apply.
You can avoid all these by using the description box. This allows you to see what the calc is intended to do. Also, if you’re running under an advanced report, there’s a summary report that will show you all the standard values and what they mean. The summary report will also show you all the custom calc values. And if you add a description to your custom calc, you see that in the report.
OpenAir Custom Calculation Filters
Filtering is essential in reporting. It essentially lets you see the values that you want to see. You can filter by different values in custom calculations from several options available.
Usually, report filters allow you to include or exclude values of what you might like. The case is different for custom calc; you don’t want to keep updating the custom calc filter every time you create new data that you want to include in the custom calc filter.
Still, you can exclude a custom calc without doing this in a direct filter. The trick is first to create a custom calc that includes the values to be excluded. Then, create a new custom calc that subtracts that calc from the full value.
OpenAir Custom Calculation Equations
A common question asked by OpenAir users is, “how can I always make an equation when I just want to filter a single value?” To do this, you’ll need to use constants to help you create a value filtered by a tag in the system. You can create a constant under the custom detail fields. In doing so, you can create new values by applying the constant to a value.
Please note, always set the constant as a ratio field and don’t check the apply constantly to each time entry to avoid getting unexpected results. Constants can be tricky. So, be sure to always use the right constant for quality and accurate reporting.
Ways to learn more about OpenAir custom calculations
We hope you took away a tip or two from this short guide. We recently conducted a webinar on this topic that may interest you. As always, drop us a question or request a meeting if you have other questions or need some assistance with your OpenAir system.
