New Features and Enhancements in PSA Winter 2024

The following new features have been introduced in the Winter 2024 release of PSA.

If you are upgrading from a previous version, see Upgrading to PSA Winter 2024. This provides a summary of the items that have been added for each feature and details of any required upgrade steps.

Enhancements to the PSA Mobile Application

We have added a new Work Opportunity Hub tab to the PSA Mobile application. This tab allows you to express your interest in upcoming work opportunities that you would like to be assigned to.

For more information, see:

Self-Nomination Desktop

To enhance consistency across the Work Opportunities Coming Soon desktop and Work Opportunity Hub mobile user interface, we have made some changes to the button labels. The previous I'm Interested button is renamed to Interested, and the Not for Me and Remove Interest buttons are now labeled as Not Interested.

For more information, see Expressing Interest in Upcoming Work Opportunities.

Enhancements to Manage Skills and Certifications

We have made the following enhancements to the Add to Profile window in the Manage Skills and Certifications:

  • You can expand and close the categories to view the skills and certifications.
  • A new button is now available to collapse all expanded categories in the selected view. This button is disabled for the Add from Filters view.
  • Skills and certifications that match the search term are highlighted with a yellow background in all views.
  • A new row-level action View in Hierarchy is added to the Selected Skills and Certifications grid.
  • As part of performance enhancement, you can now add any number of skills to a resource's profile.

For more information, see Mass Managing Skills and Certifications for Resources.

Contact Card

We have added a new Show View Experience Button checkbox in the Properties panel of the Lightning App Builder for the contact card. This controls the visibility of the View Experience button in the Requested Skills section of the contact card. By default, the Show View Experience Button checkbox is selected.

For more information, see Contact Card Lightning Component Properties.

Project Task Lightning Component Availability on PSA Experience Cloud Sites

You can now make the following Lightning components available to external users through PSA Experience Cloud sites:

  • PSA Project Gantt
  • PSA Project Task Board

For more information, see:

Enhanced Privacy for Milestone Amount

We have made the Milestone Amount field non-mandatory to help avoid sharing sensitive financial information. You can now share milestone information in Experience Cloud sites without sharing the milestone amount.

Work Planner in Experience Cloud

You can now make a Work PlannerLightning component available to external users through PSA Experience Cloud sites.

To support this implementation, we have created the PSA EC Work Planner (rmwp_communityWorkPlanner) component, which enables you to hide buttons and actions, and restrict editing when using Work Planner in PSAExperience Cloud sites.

For more information, see:

Enhancements to Time Entry

We have made the following enhancements to Time Entry:

  • The timer now automatically populates the assignment, milestone, or project of the record page layout it is added to.
  • From this release, you can add dependent picklists to the Time Entry component.
  • From this release, your users must be assigned read/write permission for the Daily Notes field on the project object, to enter time in the Time Entry component.
  • We have added a Reassign button to the Mass Approvals component. This button enables you to reassign timecards that have been submitted for approval to another approver.

For more information, see:

Extension for Rollups, Billing and Timecard Processes

You can now exclude records from EVAs, Timecard, Expense, and Project Monitor rollup calculations so that the processes are not impacted when errors are encountered in rollups.

To implement this we have added the following new fields:

  • Exclude from Timecard Expense Rollups field on the Assignment and Milestone record page. When selected, excludes the assignments and milestones from the rollup calculations.
  • Exclude from Monitor Rollup field on the Project record page to exclude the selected project from the monitor fields rollup when changes are made to the assignments related to that project.
  • Exclude from EVA Calculation field on the Assignment and Project record page. When selected, the Est vs. Actuals are not calculated for the selected assignments and assignments under the selected projects.

For more information, see:

Also, the following page layouts have been updated to include these checkbox fields:

  • Assignment Layout
  • Milestone Layout
  • Project Layout

For more information, see Customizing Page Layouts.

As part of the volume and performance improvements, you can now submit a large number of timecard records using the Time Entry page. To achieve this, we are using the existing Time Entry Submit Batch Size field in the Timecard Entry UI Global custom setting. For more information, see Timecard Settings.

We have also introduced progress windows for the Save and Submit buttons on the Time Entry page. This enhancement allows you to track the progress of saving and submitting timecards in real-time.

Exclude Zero Amount Records

On the Projects Awaiting Billing tab, we have introduced a new checkbox called Exclude Zero Amount Records in the Mass Billing Event Generation and Schedule Billing Event Generation window. This feature allows you to easily review the non-zero amount records on the Billing Events Awaiting Release tab. For more information, see Projects Awaiting Billing Tab.

Enhancements to the Project Task Board

We have made the following enhancements:

  • The Project Task Board is now available on the Project Lightning page by default.
  • You can use the My Tasks option in the filter panel to display the project tasks you own or are assigned to and all tasks on the projects you manage, if applicable.
  • You can focus on the project tasks you want to view by specifying a date range in the filter panel using the Start Date and End Date fields. Tasks whose start or end date overlaps with the selected date range are displayed.
  • Project tasks without a status are displayed in a No Status column.
  • Avatars are displayed on project tasks so you can see at a glance which resources or roles are assigned to a task.
  • A badge is displayed on project tasks to indicate how long before a task is due to end or when a task ended.
  • Start and end dates are displayed on a project task instead of the task description.
  • Tasks on the Project Task Board change color based on their end date and whether they are complete. Tasks that have passed their end date turn red. Tasks with the Completed checkbox selected or whose status is complete turn green. An administrator can turn this off by deselecting the Use Task Colors component property for the Project Task Board in the Lightning App Builder.
  • We have removed the tooltip that used to show task information when hovering over a task. Information about the task that is currently selected on the board is now displayed in a record details panel. To view the record details panel, select a project task from the board and click Task Details. An administrator can control the fields displayed in the panel by configuring the Task Details Custom Fields Field Set component property for the Project Task Board in the Lightning App Builder.
  • Double-clicking on a task now shows the record details panel instead of the Edit [Task Name] window. To edit a task from the Project Task Board, you must now click Edit in the record details panel.
  • You can search for project tasks by task name using the search box in the Project Task Board toolbar.

For more information, see:

Hiding the Equal Split Allocation Type in the Gantt Task Editor

On the Task Assignments tab of the Task Editor in Gantt, the Equal Split allocation type is currently the default option. An administrator can now hide this allocation type if they do not want users to have access to it by deselecting Show Equal Split Button in the Gantt Global Settings custom setting. When the Equal Split allocation type is hidden, the Hours allocation type becomes the default instead. For more information, see Task Assignments Tab and Managing Resources and Roles.

Improved Project Planner Access from a Project or RPG Record

We have added extra Apex class access permissions to the PSA - Use Project Planner permission set to make it easier for you to access the Project Planner from project, region, practice, and group record pages. You can now do the following:

  • Click Open Project Planner under Actions on a project record. An administrator can customize the location of this action. If not customized, it is available from Actions | Project Planning Tools | Open Project Planner.
  • Click Project Planner on the Projects related list of a region, practice, or group record.

For more information, see Permission Sets and Accessing Planners.

Tip:

Work planners are also available, which cover many of the same workflows as the Resource Planner and Project Planner and offer the following additional features:

  • A scheduler to give you a clear, visual overview of upcoming work.
  • Enhanced support for resource requests.
  • More options for filtering and grouping work.
  • A panel that enables you to view additional details, such as logged hours and project tasks, without leaving the current page.

For more information, see Work Planners Overview.

Enhancements to Project Collections and Portfolios

We have made the following enhancements to the Delivery Tracker:

  • Project Overview has been renamed to Delivery Tracker.
  • Delivery Tracker now has a dedicated app page named Delivery Tracker, accessible through the app launcher.
  • Delivery Tracker can now be added to app pages, and any record page layout.
  • A filter panel has been added to the Delivery Tracker.

    You can now filter your programs or project hierarchies by:
    • Account
    • Group
    • Opportunity
    • Practice
    • Project
    • Region
  • You can now select different time periods to view your projects over a range of periods. This enables program and project managers to gain an overview of financial data at different periods throughout the financial year.
  • You can now select different currency views to gain a more detailed overview of financial data.
  • We have added Save and Save As buttons, enabling you to save your filter selections.
  • We have also added advanced search capabilities to the Delivery Tracker filter panel.

We have also added an Include Full Project Hierarchies checkbox on the filter panel, enabling you to select if full project hierarchies are displayed in Delivery Tracker.

The following permission sets have also been updated for Winter 2024:

  • PSAManageGanttAndProjectTasks
  • PSAManageProjects
  • PSAUseProjectPlanner
  • PSAUseResourcePlanner

To support this update to the above permission sets, Edit permission is now required on the following fields:

  • Filter_Set_c.Feature_c
  • Filter_Set_c.Filter_Set_Name__c
  • Filter_Set_c.Filters__c
  • Filter_Set_c.IsDefault__c
  • Filter_Set_c.Related_SObject_ID__c
  • Individual, or Non-Rolled-up Value (NRV) actuals fields can now be displayed as a tooltip on Rolled-up actuals fields.
  • To support this enhancement, we have renamed the Non-Rolled-up Value (NRV) Project Revenue, Cost, and Time fields to Individual.

For more information, see:

User Experience Enhancements in Work Planner

For improved resource management, we have enhanced the Work Planner with the following changes and additions:

  • A palm tree graphic now identifies company holidays in the grid view at the resource level in the Day and Week zoom levels. The graphic is also displayed at the lowest level when the view is grouped by project, region, practice, or group in the Day and Week zoom levels.
  • We have added the Preferences panel that enables you to:
    • Set the limits for the display of resource allocation statuses in the Grid view.
    • Show the resource allocation statuses using cell colors or icons in the Grid view.
    • Change the colors of the cell colors or icons to show resource allocation statuses in the Grid view.
    • Use each resource's utilization target value with your allocation values to calculate the allocation colors in the Grid view.
  • We have added standard Certinia coloring to identify cells that have been updated in either Scheduler or Grid view.
  • When you switch between Scheduler and Grid views, the last view is retained if you are using the same browser on the same computer.
  • In the Grid view, the current date is now highlighted in each zoom level.
  • In either Scheduler or Grid view, for each zoom level, the view is centered on your last viewed date if it is within the filtered range, or the center of the filtered range, in the same session.
  • You can now include RPG sub-levels when filtering using the Filter by Resource Request, Filter by Resource, and Filter by Project sections.
  • To simplify the process of applying filters in the future, you now have the option to save your filters with unique names. This allows you to easily select the desired filters when you reopen the work planner, eliminating the need to reapply them each time.

To support these enhancements, we have:

  • Added a button to open the new Preferences panel.
  • Added the following checkboxes to include RPG sub-levels:
    • Include Sub-Regions
    • Include Sub-Practices
    • Include Sub-Groups
  • Added a Save As button to open Save Filter window where you can save your own filters with a unique name.
  • Added a Filter Set Controls button to manage the saved filter sets.

For more information, see:

Support for Online Meetings in Work Events

To enhance work events, we have added support for online meetings using Microsoft Teams.

To support this enhancement, we have:

  • Added a Meeting field to the Work Events window. Currently, this defaults to Microsoft Teams.
  • Added a checkbox to the Work Event object to identify online meetings. We have also added this field Is Online Meeting (Is_Online_Meeting__c) to the PSA - Manage Work Events permission set.
  • Renamed the existing Description field to Short Description (Description__c) on the Work Event object and added the Description (Rich_Description__c) field to enable the URL of an online meeting to be added when synchronized with an external calendar. We have added these changes to the PSA - Manage Work Events permission set.

For more information, see:

Utilization Analytics Improvements

We have improved Utilization Analytics to include the following:

  • Opportunity Weighting related Utilization Results fields added to the Utilization Results Analytics dataset. This will enable you to create a more customized Utilization Analytics analysis using these fields in the Utilization Analytics dashboard. For more information, see Utilization Results Dataset PS Cloud Analytics Output Fields.Utilization Results Dataset PS Cloud Analytics Output Fields

Enhancements to Resource Optimizer

We have made the following enhancements to the Resource Optimizer:

  • We have introduced the new PSA Resource Optimization Summary, which displays summary cards for Resource Optimizer. These summary cards correspond to the Resource Optimizer runs, reflecting the results for the selected group of Resource Requests.
  • The following columns are added to the Resource Requests grid on the Resource Optimizer page:
    • Account
    • Project
  • In the Resource Requests grid, the resource manager can now group resource requests by specific fields and sort them in either ascending or descending order based on the values of those fields.
  • Resource managers now have the option to click on the suggested resource to open the Resource Details panel, which provides them with additional details. They can also hover over the names of the suggested resources to view the relevant information. This consistent behavior allows for easy access to comprehensive details for both suggested and matched resources.
  • We have enhanced the visibility and personalization of the matched and suggested resources. Resource managers now have the ability to view the profile picture of the Resources who have added one to their contact.
  • Resource Optimizer now supports Date/Time fields when they are added to field sets for controlling the columns displayed in the Resource Requests grid.

For more information, see Using Resource Optimizerand Resource Optimizer Buttons and Fields.

Improved Expense Entry User Experience

The Expense Entry interface has been improved in Lightning Experience.

We recommend that all customers use the Lightning version of Expense Entry to take advantage of the enhanced functionality and security. No further development is being undertaken on the Visualforce interface for Expense Entry, and as of Winter 2025 it will be removed from the product.

The improved Expense Entry interface enables you to:

  • Better organize fields.
  • Perform dynamic field calculations.
  • Save an expense record and move on to the next entry using the new Save and New button.
  • Save an expense record and copy the entry using the Save and Copy button, so that you can enter multiple expenses quickly and accurately.

It also offers versatility with the use of field sets, configuration options, and Lightning App Builder properties, enabling a wide range of configuration and personalization.

For more information on how to migrate to Lightning Experience, see Migrate from Visualforce to Lightning Web Components.

For more information on enabling Expense Entry Lightning Web Component, see:

.For more information on Expense Entry Lightning, see:

For the exact schedule of Expense Entry Visualforce pages deprecation, see the Certinia Product Retirements page.

Enhancements to Expense Management

We have made the following enhancements to Expense Management:

  • From this release, you can add dependent picklists to the Expense Entry component.
  • We have added a Reassign button to the Mass Approvals component. This button enables you to reassign expense reports that have been submitted for approval to another approver.

For more information, see:

Improved Accuracy in Services Revenue Forecasting

This section describes updates made to Revenue Forecasting so that you can improve the accuracy of your revenue forecast calculations in Winter 2024.

Configuring Mid Month Forecasting Calculations

If you are using the Deliverable or the % Complete recognition method, you can now select Use Mid Month Forecast Calculations on the active revenue forecast setup record and select a day from the Actuals Cutoff Day drop-down that aligns with your typical timecard submission cadence. PSA then excludes past scheduled hours that are not covered by timecards from revenue forecast calculations for the current monthly time period. This provides a more accurate representation of the remaining planned work and the completed planned work for the current month. Forecasts run for other months are not affected.

If you are using the % Complete recognition method, you can select Exclude Actuals After Cutoff Day in conjunction with these settings to exclude actuals that are after the selected cutoff day. This provides a clear distinction between actual and scheduled revenue. For example, if the specified cutoff day is Sunday and the forecast is run on Tuesday, Revenue Forecasting excludes any actuals for Monday and Tuesday and also excludes actuals for any upcoming days.

For more information, see:

Including Resource Requests in Opportunity Revenue Forecasts

Using a new Include RRs on Opportunities setting on the active revenue forecast setup record, you can now configure Revenue Forecasting to include revenue from resource requests in opportunity revenue forecasts.

If required, you can use the existing Exclude from Forecast RR Field and Resource Request Bill Rate Field settings on the active revenue forecast setup record to:

  • Exclude particular resource request records from opportunity forecasts.
  • Control the bill rate that is used in the opportunity revenue forecast calculations.

We have moved these settings to a new General Settings section on the Revenue Forecast Setup object because they now apply to both project and opportunity forecasts.

For more information, see:

Enhancements to Revenue Forecast Versions and the Review Forecast Version Page

This section describes improvements made to revenue forecast version adjustments and the Review Forecast Version page in Winter 2024.

Generating and Adjusting Revenue Forecast Versions

You can now configure Revenue Forecasting to copy adjustments made to values on revenue forecast versions into future revenue forecast versions, including any notes. To do this, you must select Persist Adjustments Across Versions on the active revenue forecast setup record. If you have Persist Adjustments Across Versions selected, you can also set an expiration date on an individual adjustment, to prevent it from being copied into a future version. For more information, see:

If you don't want an adjustment to be included in forecast calculations from now on, you can now deactivate it. For more information, see Deactivating a Revenue Forecast Version Adjustment.

We have added the following keyboard shortcuts to the Adjust Revenue Forecast window to make it quicker to save an adjustment:

  • Ctrl + S (PC)
  • Cmd + S (Mac)

In the Version Forecast Period field on the active revenue forecast setup record, you can currently specify the forecast period that you want your revenue forecast versions to cover, for example, Rolling 3 Months. It is now possible to use your own custom value for the rolling time period instead, by overriding the option selected from the Version Forecast Period field and entering a rolling number of months in the Version Forecast Period Override field on the revenue forecast setup record.

Reviewing Revenue Forecast Versions

We have introduced the following enhancements on the Review Forecast Version page:

  • A Total Adjusted Revenue Forecast summary card is now available, which shows the calculated total value of the revenue forecast version displayed, including any management adjustments that roll up into the total. The calculation ignores any adjustments that are overridden by other adjustments higher up in the hierarchy.
  • Summary cards no longer show decimal places to make it easier to read cards with large values. To view the full value, you can hover over it.
  • We have redesigned the chart to make it easier to view revenue forecast versions covering a greater number of time periods.
  • We have made it easier for you to use the keyboard to navigate the Forecast Breakdown grid. For example, you can now use the arrow keys to navigate to the appropriate cell in the grid and press Enter to start entering the adjustment details.
  • The Switch Version and Rename Version buttons are now displayed on the Review Forecast Version page. They are no longer kept in a button menu, which makes it easier to find them.
  • With the exception of Period From and Period To, filters remain applied until you click Clear, provided you are using the same browser on the same device.
  • The following are now included in the tooltip that is displayed when you hover over a cell in the Forecast Breakdown grid:
    • Forecast: the total scheduled revenue
    • Actuals: the total actual revenue
  • A tooltip is now displayed when you hover over a relevant cell in the Forecast Breakdown grid. Previously, tooltips were only displayed on cells containing adjustments or summary roll-ups.
  • The icons used to denote whether an adjusted or summary roll-up value is greater or less than the original calculated value have been updated and new icons are used to indicate values that are unchanged:

    Value increased following direct adjustment indicates the cell value has increased following a direct adjustment

    Value decreased following direct adjustment indicates the cell value has decreased following a direct adjustment

    Summary roll-up value increased indicates the summary roll-up value has increased following an adjustment lower down in the hierarchy

    Summary roll-up value decreased indicates the summary roll-up value has decreased following an adjustment lower down in the hierarchy

    Value unchanged following direct adjustment indicates the cell value is unchanged following a direct adjustment

    Summary roll-up value unchanged following adjustment indicates the summary roll-up value is unchanged following an adjustment lower down in the hierarchy

For more information, see Reviewing Revenue Forecast Versions.

Improved Stability in Services Revenue Forecasting

We have improved the stability of record ownership in Revenue Forecasting. Previously, errors were sometimes displayed if you changed the project manager or opportunity owner after revenue forecasts had been generated and the new record owner did not have the required permissions. Now, if the new record owner does not have the required permissions, record ownership remains with the person who originally generated the revenue forecast records. For more information, see Revenue Forecast Record Ownership.

We have also improved the scalability of forecasting for fixed fee projects and milestones that have a large number of associated records.

Unlock Actuals

We have added a new Unlock Actuals link under the Actuals Verification and Recalculation section on the PSA Administration page.

This unlocks actuals regardless of the current state of any actuals jobs. This feature provides you with a streamlined way to unlock actuals and ensures that you are aware of any potential issues or ongoing processes that might affect the unlocking process.

For more information, see Actuals Verification and Recalculation.

Advanced Lookup

The lookups are enhanced to offer an advanced search experience throughout PSA. With the introduction of search windows, you can now view additional information fields related to the records within the lookups. This allows you to make more informed decisions and select the best option that meets your specific requirements.

For more information, see Using Advanced Lookup.

Horizontal Alignment of App Page KPI Cards

We have added the FDN App Page Cards Panel component that you can add to any app page. This component supports cards for the KPIs that are most important to you.

For more information, see Certinia Card Panels Overview in the Foundations Help.

Certinia Help Is Now Available from help.certinia.com

You can now access the Certinia Help and Technical Reference from help.certinia.com.

We have updated all the Help links included in PSA Winter 2024. For more information, see Certinia Help URL.

Release Content

We want to help you find all of the information and resources that you need to use our products effectively.

In-App Guidance

Certinia in-app guidance uses Salesforce user engagement features to deliver Certinia content, such as tutorials and walkthroughs, directly from our products.

In this release, we've updated our in-app guidance. For more information, see PSA In-App Guidance.

Certinia Trailhead

If you want to learn more about the new features in this release, see the PS Cloud - Winter 2024 Release Highlights Certinia Trailhead module. This module will guide you through the new features in PS Cloud.

Fixes

Fixes are listed on the Known Issues page of the Certinia Community. You can access this page from the Community Support Hub. For a brief description of the issues that have been fixed in this version of PSA, see the relevant section of the Known Issues page.