Overhead/Hidden Spread Allocation Value Not Displaying In Spread Results

This article is designed to troubleshoot the scenarios where a Hidden/Overhead Cost Schedule Item has been directly allocated to a Direct Cost Schedule item using a Spread Allocation, however, the value of this allocation hasn’t been distributed correctly and isn’t displayed in the Spread Results window.

The main reasons a Spread Allocation isn’t distributed correctly are:

• A Total Percentage Allocated value hasn’t been set, or,
• An allocation has been set to an item with an estimated value of zero.

ENSURE TOTAL PERCENTAGE ALLOCATED IS POPULATED

When processing the allocation of a Hidden or Overhead item to a specific Direct Cost item using an Item Value allocation weighting, a percentage needs to be entered into the Total Percentage Allocated column in order to complete the Spread Allocation.

The Total Percentage Allocated represents the portion of Hidden or Overhead value that will be distributed to the Direct Cost Schedule lines selected.

This column can be populated by entering the percentage required in either the main grid area or the Properties Pane of the Spread Allocations window.

To enter the value into the Properties Pane:

1. Click the Properties button located in the Spread Allocation ribbon toolbar.
2. Select the Overhead or Hidden item that you wish to allocate.
3. In the Properties Pane enter the percentage of the item that you wish to allocate in the Total Percentage Allocated field.

Once the Total Percentage Allocated has been set, the value is spread proportionally across all allocated items based on their total item value.

Note: If 100% of the item is not allocated, the remaining cost will be distributed as part of the normal spread calculation.

APPLY ALLOCATIONS TO ITEMS WITH ZERO ESTIMATED VALUE

While allocating Hidden or Overhead item to specific Direct Cost items, it may become necessary to allocate a percentage of the spread value to Direct Cost items that do not contain any estimated cost value, for example, the costs of an Establishment or Disestablishment unit of work that has been priced as an Overhead Cost Schedule, but needs to be presented to the client via the Submission Schedule Report.

As a result, allocating using an Item Value spread weighting won’t spread the Hidden or Overhead to the Direct Cost item as there is no value on which a proportional spread can be based. In these cases, it is necessary to manually define the percentage of Hidden or Overhead value to be allocated.

To apply a Spread Allocation using the Entered Percentage spread weighting:

1. Select a Hidden or Overhead item and click into the Weighting column.
2. From the drop-down menu, select the Entered Percentage option.
3. Click the Allocations button in the ribbon menu to open the Direct Spread Allocation for the Hidden or Overhead items selected.
4. In the Direct Spread Allocation window find the line(s) which will receive an allocation value.
5. For each line to be allocated, enter the percentage value into the Percentage Allocated grid column for each item.
   
   Note: The Percentage Allocated for a Spread Allocation can also be defined in the Properties Pane.
6. Click the Save button in the ribbon toolbar.

After the spread has been calculated, the Direct Cost Schedule items with an Entered Percentage allocation is marked up by the Hidden or Overhead Cost value allocated.