Overview
Historically, Parallax has featured three different Billing Models (Fixed Bid, Fixed Retainer and Time & Materials) and these Financial Models have always been applied to a Project within Parallax as a whole. However, Projects have a lot of moving pieces, and sometimes one Billing Model works great for one phase of a Project, but just isn't the right fit for another phase. We've heard you loud and clear - Billing Models (now known as Financial Models) can now be applied individually to Offerings, rather than an entire Project. Below we'll break down just exactly what that means!
| What has changed? |
Billing models and rate cards are now specified at the Service Offering level versus the Project level. |
| We'll cover the tools available to you while adding and modifying resource allocations to projects. | |
| Can Internal Projects be Mixed? |
We’ll cover our perspective on the important things to keep in mind while shaping projects in Parallax. |
| Miscellaneous other improvements |
We’ll cover our perspective on the important things to keep in mind while shaping projects in Parallax. |
What has changed?
The most prominent change you're going to see is that the Financial Model now appears attached to the Offering within a Project, instead of the Project as a whole. While this will have some impact on the visual and functional aspects of a few different pages, the biggest changes are these:
- Listing Pages - Financial Model (next to the Project Name) and Filters* have been updated with new Multiple* and No Offerings to reflect Projects using multiple Financial Models or which haven't yet had Offerings added. For Multiple Financial Models, hover over the Financial Model to see which ones!
- On the Project Details Page - just like the Listing page, Multiple and No Offerings are Financial Model Options (and you can hover over Multiple to see which ones). You'll also see the Financial Model next to each Offering next to the name.
- Within the Shaper - You'll now see the Financial Model next to each Offering in the Shaper!
- Financial Settings - Instead of one set of the Financial Model and Rate Card being set at the top of the page, you'll see a separate selector for Financial Model and Rate card next to each Offering, as well as an option to add Service Revenue to that Offering.
- Integrations - Just like the Shaper and PDP, you'll see the Financial Model next to each Offering.
- Assignments View - Just like Listing Pages, we've added Multiple and No Offerings to the Financial Models filter. On the People Tab, you'll see the Financial Model for the appropriate Offering.
- Insights - a Multiple filter has been added to Billing Models where applicable.
- Terminology change - Anywhere you've previously seen the term Billing Model this will have changed to Financial Model to better reflect these changes.
*Parallax Tip 1: There are Multiple Models, but which ones?
Great question - to see which Models are included when you see Multiple on the Listing Page or Project Details Page, just hover over the word "Multiple" and a tooltip will appear displaying which ones!
Parallax Tip 2: I want to find all Projects that include a specific Model - do I have to search by Multiple?
We're glad you asked! The filters for the individual Models (T&M, Fixed Bid, Fixed Retainer) will include Multiple Model projects that also include that Model.
Example: You have 2 Projects where all Models are Fixed Retainer Offerings, and 1 Project that has Fixed Retainer Offering and Fixed Bid Offering. Filtering by Fixed Retainer will show you all 3!
What has not changed?
The Financial Models themselves have not changed - Fixed Bid, Fixed Retainer and Time & Materials still work the same as they previously have, they are simply managed and applied to each individual Offering. If you want to apply the same Financial Model to an entire Project, go for it!
Parallax Tip: What happens to my existing Projects?
In short - not much. Remember, the Models themselves aren't changing, but how they're applied. Since Offerings are a smaller unit than Projects, the Billing Model that was applied to a Project will now be individually applied to each Offering.
Example: If you had 1 T&M Project with 2 Offerings prior to this change, you now have 1 Project with 2 T&M Offerings. We tried to keep this update as painless as possible!
Can Internal Projects be Mixed?
Although we haven't mentioned this thus far, we feel it's important to keep billable and non-billable projects separate from one another - so the Internal Financial Model cannot be mixed with billable models like Fixed Bid, Fixed Retainer or Time & Materials.
Miscellaneous other improvements
We've also taken this opportunity to make a few other small updates:
- On the Shaper, we've improved the Descriptions on the Data Types and Visible Fields so you know what you're selecting.
- In Financial Settings, we've added the ability to Hover over longer Service Offering Names to see the full name.
- In Financial Settings if you have unsaved changes to the Service Revenue, you'll see a red icon calling this out.
Where can I find out more?