Booking allocation methods in Project Service Automation
Important
Dynamics 365 Project Service Automation has evolved into Dynamics 365 Project Operations. For more information, see Project Service Automation Transition.
Whether you add a team member directly to a project on the Team tab, or book a resource to a project or requirement from the Schedule board, there are a few different booking allocation methods you can use. This article explains how each method works, and which methods could lead to overbooking resources.
The following table shows and example and how each of the booking allocation methods behaves:
| Booking allocation method | Resource Requirement (Duration) | Total | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thurs | Fri | Respect capacity | Respect availability | Respect requirement duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Resource's working capacity | - | 40 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 0 | |||
| Resource's existing bookings | - | 16 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |||
| Full capacity | N/A | 40 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 0 | Yes | No | No |
| Remaining capacity | N/A | 26 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 0 | Yes | Yes | No |
| Percentage (50%) | N/A | 20 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 0 | Yes | No | No |
| Percentage (100%) | N/A | 40 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 0 | Yes | No | No |
| Evenly distribute | 80 | 80 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 0 | No | No | Yes |
| Front load | 80 | 26 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 0 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Full Capacity
The Full Capacity method books the resource’s full capacity for the specified from and to dates. For example, if a resource has a calendar set to work eight hours per day, five days a week, setting a start and end date that covers five working days will book the resource for 40 hours. The booking is done without regard to the resource's remaining capacity, or the duration of the requirement being scheduled. If a resource is already booked on other projects during that period, the 40 hours is booked as additional hours, which potentially lead to overbookings.
Remaining Capacity
The Remaining Capacity method is only available when you book directly to a project using the Schedule board. This method books the resource’s available capacity within the specified date range. For example, if a resource has a capacity of 40 hours per week and has already been booked 10 hours, booking for the same week results in booking the remaining 30 hours of capacity for that week.
Percentage Capacity
The Percentage Capacity method books the resource for a percentage of capacity for the specified from and to dates. For example, if a resource's calendar is set to work eight hours per day, five days a week, setting a start and end date that covers five working days at 50% capacity would book the resource for 20 hours. The individual bookings per day are spread equally across the period, four hours per day in this example. The booking is done without regard to the resource’s remaining capacity. If the resource is already booked during that period on other projects, the 20 hours is booked as additional hours, which potentially lead to overbookings.
Evenly Distribute Hours
The Evenly Distribute Hours method books the resource for a specified number of hours, distributing the time evenly per day over the specified from and to dates. For example, if you book a resource for 20 hours over a five day period, this method distributes the 20 hours evenly at four hours per day. The booking is done without regard to the resource's remaining capacity. If the resource is already booked during that period on other projects, the 20 hours is booked as additional hours, which potentially lead to overbookings.
Front Load Hours
The Front Load Hours method books the resource for a specified number of hours, front-loading the per-day hours over the specified from and to dates. Front-loading consumes the resource's available capacity in a “first-in-first-consumed” order. For example, if a resource’s work schedule is eight hours per day, five days per week, and they have no current bookings, booking the resource for 20 hours over a five working day period results in the following daily booking pattern:
| Bookings | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Existing bookings | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| New booking | 8 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
The front load method takes into consideration existing bookings and available capacity. For example, if the same resource already has 20 hours of bookings in the work week, the new bookings consume the remaining capacity as follows:
| Bookings | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Existing bookings | 8 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| New booking | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 20 |
Because available capacity is considered, you may get an error message if the resource has no remaining capacity that can be absorbed by the booking. With this method, you can’t overbook.
None
The None method is only available when you book from the Team tab within a project. This method adds the resource as a team member on the project, but doesn’t create any bookings that absorb the resource's capacity. This method is used when the default project manager team member is added when a project is created. The project manager user who created the project is added by default to the project, so that the project entity record has an owner and there is one approver on the project. Because this user doesn't have any bookings, if you do want to book the resource, you can either delete and then re-add them using a different allocation method, or add the resource to tasks and then use Extend Bookings on the Reconciliation tab to create bookings for the assignments.
Allocation methods that lead to overbooking
To summarize, the following allocation methods lead to overbooking if the resource is already committed in other projects (or for other work orders or schedulable entities):
- Full Capacity
- Percentage Capacity
- Evenly Distribute Hours
When using one of these three allocation methods, you won’t be notified that the resource is overbooked. To correct the overbooking, you’ll need to use the Schedule board.