A single lump-sum resource per task is an efficient way to cost-load a P6 Professional schedule.
Resource loading typically involves multiple assignments of labor, equipment and materials per activity in a Primavera P6 schedule. For large projects, these multiple cost-loading assignments can become tedious and cumbersome to enter and maintain.
Lump-sum cost loading simplifies this by assigning a single resource to each task; it applies to fixed-price contracts, in which the contractor delivers all labor, equipment and materials at an agreed-upon price.
When determining how to cost-load your P6 schedule, it is good to consider industry standards; a lot of thought and consensus went into their development, and you may glean practical schedule insights from them.
Although no single standard governs scheduling across all industries, the Unified Facilities Guide Specification (UFGS) provides Primavera P6 submission guidelines for schedules used by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Department of Defense (DoD).
Also, consider a known primary user of P6, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). They require all P6 schedules to be compatible with their Resident Management System (RMS). From the UFGS and USACE RMS requirements, Ten Six has compiled the main attributes of a suitable P6 Professional lump-sum resource definition as follows:
- Resource Type: Single labor resource (typical Resource ID: “LUMPSUM”)
- Price/Unit: Must be $1/hr
- Defaults Units/Time: Must be 8h/d
- Calculations Settings:
- Auto Compute Actuals: Un-selected
- Calculate costs from units: Selected (this ensures P6 treats 1 unit as $1)
Understanding these P6 Professional lump-sum resource attributes directly helps ensure your schedules comply with the government’s progress payment system. And it is a proven, efficient way to cost-load your schedule.
This article presents a P6 Professional lump-sum cost loading based upon the UFGS blueprint and USACE RMS data requirements.
Technical Reconciliations
Before our demonstration, we need to address two differences between guidelines and actual practice when defining a lump-sum resource in Primavera P6 Professional.
(1) There is a key difference between UFGS and USACE RMS requirements for lump-sum resources: the UFGS specifies them as non-labor resources, while the USACE RMS expects labor resources when P6 schedules are submitted for upload. We defined our lump-sum resource as labor to align with USACE, which is known to use Primavera P6 extensively; our demonstration is primarily to show the utility of lump-sum cost loading, not necessarily strict adherence to UFGS.
(2) UFGS says to unselect the ‘Calculate costs from units’ setting in the Projects, Calculations tab, but this is necessary to ensure that P6 considers 1 unit as $1. A suggested workaround is to load your schedule with ‘Calculate costs from units’ selected, then deselect it before exporting. This ensures a workable and compliant solution.
Demonstration: Step-by-Step Cost Loading
In Figure 1, we have our demonstration schedule.
This schedule currently shows no cost loading: all Budgeted Labor Costs and all Budgeted Total Costs are zero. Note also that the calendar is named 5×8 Standard & Holiday.
Phase 1: Defining a Lump-sum Resource
Either we prefer to lump-sum cost load, or our requirements require it; we must create a lump-sum resource to cost-load our schedule.
Create Resource in Database
Figure 2 shows what a portion of the Resource database in P6 Professional looks like when you include the sample data during your initial installation.
To create our lump-sum resource in the Resources tab, we select Edit | + Add. This creates a resource, R, with default settings, some of which are shown in Figure 3.
We want to locate this resource in the database above the E&C Resources. To do this, we use the move tool group, a vertical tool group on the far right, Figure 3. In Figure 3, we click the Move Left arrow to move the resource left. Then, in Figure 4, we click the Move Up arrow to move the resource to the top of the Resources list.
Resource ID and Details
In Figure 5, we enter the resource ID LUMPSUM and the resource name Lump-sum Resource.
In Figure 6, we (1) choose the Resources tab, (2) select our Lump-sum Resource, (3) choose the bottom Details tab, (4) set the resource type to Labor, and (5) deselect the Auto Compute Actuals toggle (you only need that setting for the time system module).
Calendar Synchronization (Project vs. Resource)
The UFGS specification requires project-level calendars for P6 schedules, but resources must use global calendars. This creates conflict because project calendars are project-specific in P6, while resources are global, requiring global calendars for enterprise use.
Our resource database mandates a calendar for each resource. P6 lacks a copy/paste calendar function, so we use a workaround: we create a new global calendar and manually duplicate the settings from our project-level calendar, 5×8 Standard & Holiday.
We proceed and choose Enterprise | Calendars. Then we click the Calendars dialogue + Add button, as shown in Figure 7.
In the Select Calendar to Copy From dialog, Figure 8, we select the Corporate – Standard Full-Time calendar, an eight-hour-per-day, five-day workweek calendar like our desired 5×8 Standard & Holiday project calendar.
Note that the Corporate – Standard Full-Time calendar is included in P6 Professional when the sample data is loaded during installation. In Figure 9, we enter the name for our new resource calendar: 5×8 Standard & Holidays (we simply append ‘s’ to our current name).
Confirm Calendar Settings
In Figure 10, we click the modify button to open the dialogues that will confirm our calendar settings match our project-level calendar.
In the Global Calendar dialogue, we click the workweek button to confirm the workweek hours, Figure 11.
The hours-per-day values for a standard workweek in the Calendar Weekly Hours dialogue look correct in Figure 12.
We review the Hours per Time Period dialogue and confirm the Hours/Day is eight, as shown in Figure 13.
The Hours per Time Period are good. Our performance period runs through July 2031, so we select July 4, 2031, in the calendar and set it to a non-work holiday.
Assign Resource Calendar
Now that we have defined our 5×8 Standard Holidays calendar to duplicate our project-level 5×8 Standard Holiday calendar, we proceed. In the Resources, Details tab at the bottom, we click the ellipsis button in the Calendar field, and select the 5×8 Standard & Holidays calendar to set it as LUMPSUM’s resource calendar.
Essential Settings
We have a few additional Resource settings to confirm/set for our lump-sum resource. Figure 16 shows the bottom details for the lump-sum Resource; we verify that the Defaults Units/Time is 8.0 h/d.
We then confirm, Figure 16, that Auto Compute Actuals is deselected. And for now, that ‘Calculate costs from units’ is selected, Figure 16. In Figure 17, Resources, Units & Prices tab, we set the standard rate to $1.0/h.
Our dollar value will correspond one-to-one to the number of hours of work we specify for the task.
And that concludes our lump-sum definition.
Phase 2: Assigning a Lump-sum Resource
Next, we demonstrate an efficient method for assigning this lump-sum resource to all tasks in the schedule.
Select Tasks and Assign Cost Loading:
In Figure 18, we select all task-dependent tasks in the schedule, then, from the Assign tool group, we choose the Assign Resources button. (Note: make sure no deliverables are selected because if they are, your Assign Resources operation will not work properly.)
Then, in the Assign Resources pop-up menu, we select the LUMPSUM resource and click Assign, Figure 19.
This assigns our lump-sum resource to each selected task in Figure 18, making it the sole resource assignment for that task.
Adjust Lump-sum Resource Assignments
Before we modify our lump-sum resource assignments, we review/confirm the default calculation settings in the Projects, bottom details, Calculations tab.
These default settings should remain appropriate when we adjust our lump-sum resource assignments. In Figure 21, we select the Project Management effort and, in the Activities, bottom details, Resources tab, click the Budgeted Units field to update it. It defaulted to 144.0 h, and we want a different value.
We set it to 4,000.0 h. Note before entry: the Budgeted Cost is $144, Figure 22.
Figure 23 displays the completed lump-sum resource assignment for the Project Management effort.
There is now, after entry, a one-to-one correspondence between Budgeted Units (4,000-h) and Budgeted Cost ($4,000).
Figure 24 displays the schedule with all assigned lump-sum resource costs.
Verify S-Curve and Cash Flow
Once the lump-sum costs are assigned, you must verify that the expenditure is distributed logically over the project lifecycle. First, Recalculate/Schedule (F9) to ensure all cost data and remaining totals are refreshed across the timeline. Then, utilize the Resource Usage Profile to plot an S-curve.
This visual check allows you to confirm that the cash flow is realistic and not unevenly distributed across costs. (Note: A deeper dive into S-curves and cash flow distribution will be covered in a subsequent article.)
Phase 3: Export and Presentation
After lump-sum cost loading, you may have two separate routes to go: 1) export to USACE/RMS or 2) present the schedule to team members and other stakeholders. We recommend first verifying the schedule exports to RMS, then making it presentable to others.
Pre-export Checklist
To ensure the closest UFGS compatibility, navigate to the Resources window and select your Lump-sum Resource. Then, in the bottom Details tab, deselect the ‘Calculate cost and units’ checkbox. This ensures that the $1 to 1 unit relationship is preserved and prevents P6 from triggering unwanted recalculations during the final export process.
Adjust Column Header
While our lump-sum costs are correctly housed in the Budgeted Labor Cost column for RMS compatibility, this header can be confusing to non-scheduler stakeholders. To make the layout more intuitive, manually rename the Budgeted Labor Cost column header to “Lump-sum Cost” in the Columns dialog to reflect the project’s financial reality.
We proceed and choose View | Columns, then in the Columns dialogue, Figure 25, select the Budgeted Labor Cost selected option and click the Edit Column button.
We then enter the New Title, Lump-sum Cost, which links back to the Budgeted Labor Cost selected option in Figure 26.
The final schedule, with a lump-sum cost header, is shown in Figure 27.
Summary
To simplify resource loading and ensure compatibility with USACE RMS export requirements, we define a lump-sum labor resource with a fixed rate of $1.00/hour. This approach aligns with the UFGS cost-loading framework while satisfying the technical data exchange requirements for USACE/RMS integration.
Because USACE mandates project-level calendars and P6 resources require global calendars, we create a matching global calendar (synchronizing workweeks, time periods and holidays) for the performance period. Once defined, this lump-sum resource can be efficiently assigned to all task-dependent activities. Schedulers then adjust the Budgeted Units for each task to calculate the appropriate lump-sum cost.
Plot an S-curve to review and ensure costs are distributed appropriately across the project lifecycle. The final step before presentation to stakeholders is to edit the Budgeted Labor Cost column header to make it more relevant to them.
For your schedule progress updates, note that maintaining the ‘Fixed Duration and Units’ duration type during updates is essential for cost stability, as it ensures that budget-approved values remain constant throughout.
Conclusion
Our lump-sum resource definition simplifies cost loading, aligns with the UFGS blueprint and satisfies USACE data requirements. This approach provides an efficient way to cost-load a schedule while supporting Earned Value Management (EVM) analysis, the most effective tool for assessing project progress and forecasting both funding and performance.