Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

The Work Breakdown application serves as the central ledger for cost management. It displays project cost information in a hierarchical activity code structure and pulls values from other cost applications to provide an end-to-end picture of project financial health.

Key elements to know about this application include the following:

  • The Work Breakdown app is where the initial activity code (cost code) structure for a project is established—often from a template provided by your organization.

  • Activity codes are hierarchical, allowing you to expand/collapse the structure to review summary totals or line-item detail.

  • Work Breakdown values are not edited directly; columns populate automatically as records are created and progress through statuses in other cost applications (Budget, Contracts, Pay Requests, etc.).

  • Columns may be direct-correlation (one record type + one status) or calculated (derived from other columns and/or multiple record types).

  • Many values can be drilled into via hyperlinks to view the source records contributing to the amount shown.

  • Additional views and filters (expand all, show only activity-level codes, show only rows with values, hide columns) can help reduce clutter and focus your review.

  • Reports can be generated from the Work Breakdown action bar and viewed as PDF or exported as Excel/CSV, depending on what’s available in your environment.

How to . . .

The Work Breakdown app is intended to serve as the crux of cost management. It functions as a central ledger that displays cost information and supports interpretation of overall project financial health.

Activity codes established in Work Breakdown are used throughout Cost Management apps to tie budget, expenses, and other cost documents back to your project’s cost code structure.

Values displayed in Work Breakdown are driven by document type and status (for example, an Approved Budget column typically reflects budget values that are in an approved status).

  1. Review the header to ensure that you are in the correct project or partition.

  2. Navigate to the Work Breakdown application in your project (typically available from the Apps menu under Cost Management).

  3. Review the top-level line item (often labeled Project or Project Total) to see rolled-up values for the entire project across the available columns.

  4. Note the two primary components:

    • Activity Codes (vertical) — your hierarchical cost code structure.

    • Columns (horizontal) — cost information populated from other applications.

Activity Codes are your project cost codes that tie budget, commitments, pay requests, and other cost information to a specific code for reporting and analysis.

To drill down into the activity code structure, complete the following steps:

  1. Click the arrow to the left of an activity code to expand the structure one level.

  2. Continue expanding as needed to reach lower-level (child) codes.

  3. If a code does not have an arrow, it is typically the lowest-level code.

Work Breakdown columns are configurable and typically represent various types of cost records in specific statuses. Values populate automatically from the associated applications as records are entered and move through statuses (manually or via workflow).

Columns are generally one of the following:

  • Direct correlation columns — pull values for a single record type in a specific status (for example, an approved budget status).

  • Calculated columns — derived from other columns and/or multiple record types (for example, a variance or anticipated final cost calculation).

If a value appears as a hyperlink, you can typically click it to view the contributing record details and navigate to the originating record in the relevant application.

You can adjust the Work Breakdown display to focus on the information you need. Common options include:

  • Expand/collapse all — use the arrow in the far-left header area to expand or collapse the entire structure.

  • Activities view — use the View drop-down to show only the lowest-level (activity) codes in a flat list.

  • Only Show Rows With Values — filter out activity codes with no values.

  • Hide columns — use the column selection (pyramid) icon to remove columns from view and reduce clutter (columns can be added back later).

Note Column names and available views may vary by company configuration.

To access reports available in Work Breakdown:

  1. In the Work Breakdown application, select Reports from the action bar.

  2. Select an available report and choose View to render it (commonly as a PDF).

  3. If available, use the export options to output the report as Excel or CSV.

Depending on your environment, you may also have reports within individual cost applications, while summary reporting may be stored and accessed here.

Your domain administrator or another user with the appropriate permissions can configure aspects of cost applications and related structures.

Important When working in the Configuration app, it is important to review the header and ensure that you are working at the correct level in the hierarchy, either the root domain or at a partition or project level.

Settings that you establish at the root domain or lower levels will inherit down the hierarchy until they are overridden. For more information on the hierarchical structure of Kahua, refer to Understanding the hierarchical structure of Kahua.

The Configuration app can be accessed directly through the apps list (Apps > Administration > Configuration), or by right-clicking on an application in the launch bar and selecting Configure. When you select Configure for an app from the launch bar, the detail view of the configuration page for that application opens automatically.

Because Work Breakdown columns and structures can be customized, check with your domain administrator for company-specific configuration details (such as column definitions and any calculated fields).