A labor category can be assigned to only one opportunity, but an opportunity can have multiple labor categories.

You set the requirements for the labor category on the Required Criteria subtask. Here, you can specify the skills, training, degrees, and other requirements for the resource that could potentially work on the opportunity.

You can manually assign potential resources to each labor category or load them from Costpoint Planning.

If you are licensed for Costpoint Planning and you selected the Use Planning check box for the opportunity, the opportunity ID and associated labor categories will be available for selection on the Advanced Search subtask of the New Business Budgets and Budget By Resource screens in Planning. On the Advanced Search subtask, you can select the opportunity labor category and perform a search on resources with requirements that match the criteria specified for the labor category. After you assign hours to the resources and commit the budget, the resources are added to the Potential Resource Details subtask of Manage Opportunities for that labor category.

Once potential resources have been assigned to the labor category (that is, records exist on the Potential Resource Details subtask), further changes to the labor category depend on the settings selected in the Labor Category Options group box on the Configure Contract Management Settings screen:

• If the Do not allow changes once resources are assigned option is selected, no changes to the labor category will be allowed. Costpoint displays an error message if you attempt to make changes to the labor category.
• If the Allow changes once resources are assigned is selected, any changes to the labor category will be allowed. No message is displayed, unless the Provide Warning check box is also selected in Configure Contract Management Settings.

When deleting labor categories, note the following guidelines:

• If criteria have already been defined for the labor category on the Required Criteria subtask, Costpoint displays a warning when you attempt to delete the labor category. You can either proceed with the deletion or cancel.
• If potential resources have already been assigned to the labor category and you attempt to delete the labor category, Costpoint displays an error message if the Do not allow changes once resources are assigned option is selected in Configure Contract Management Settings. You have to remove the resources from the labor category or assign them to another labor category before you can delete the labor category record. If the option to allow labor category changes is selected, you will be able to delete the labor category.

Table Window

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Field	Description
Labor Category	Enter, or click to select, the labor category that you want to associate with the opportunity. You can select to copy an existing project labor category (PLC) or manually enter a new labor category code that does not yet exist on the system. This labor category relates only to this specific opportunity. Note: Selecting an existing PLC only copies the PLC code and description to the opportunity labor category fields. Any changes to these fields do not update the PLC tables.
Labor Category Description	If you selected to copy an existing PLC in Labor Category, this field automatically displays the description of that project labor category, but this can be edited. If you entered the labor category manually, enter the description in this field. Note: Selecting an existing PLC only copies the PLC code and description to the opportunity labor category fields. Any changes to these fields do not update the PLC tables.
Status	Select the status of the labor category. Valid options are Active and Inactive. If resources have already been assigned to this labor category and you change the status from Active to Inactive, all related resources will be inactivated. If you change the status back to Active, Costpoint will not automatically change the status of the related resources; you have to manually change the resources' status to Active as applicable. If Use Planning is selected, only active labor categories will be available for selection in Costpoint Planning.
PLC	Enter, or click to select, the PLC that you want to associate with the opportunity labor category. A PLC can be assigned to multiple opportunity labor categories.
Total Resources	This field displays the total number of resources assigned to the opportunity for this labor category as detailed on the Potential Resource Details subtask.
Internal Resources	This field displays the total number of internal resources assigned to the opportunity for this labor category. Internal resources are classified as Employee on the Potential Resource Details subtask.
External / Vacant Resources	This field displays the total number of external resources assigned to the opportunity for this labor category. It is the number of non-company resources or generic non-specific resources with the following resource type on the Potential Resource Details subtask: Generic Staff Vendor Vendor Employee Prospective Vendor Prospective Vendor Employee
POP Start Date	Enter, or click to select, the period of performance (POP) start date for the labor category. This defaults to the opportunity's Date Opened value (if existing) on the Status tab, but you can edit it. Note, however, that the labor category POP start date must not be earlier than the opportunity start date; otherwise, Costpoint throws an error message. If Use Planning is selected and a new business budget has already been linked to the opportunity, check the dates for the budget before modifying the labor category POP start date.
POP End Date	Enter, or click to select, the POP end date for the labor category. This defaults to the opportunity's Date Closed value (if existing) on the Status tab, but you can edit it. Note, however, that the labor category POP end date must not be later than the opportunity end date; otherwise, Costpoint throws an error message. If Use Planning is selected and a new business budget has already been linked to the opportunity, check the dates for the budget before modifying the labor category POP end date.
Work Location	Enter, or click to select, the default location where work is expected to be performed. This can be modified at the resource level.
Notes	Enter any additional information about the labor category.

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