Understanding Resource Allocations
What allocations are and how they connect team members to project tasks.
What is an Allocation?
An allocation is the assignment of a team member (or resource pool) to a specific task for a defined time period. Allocations are the bridge between your project plan and your team's availability — they answer the question "who is working on what, and when?"
How Allocations Work
Each allocation defines:
- Who — the resource (person) or pool assigned
- What — the task they're working on
- When — the start and end dates of the assignment
- How much — the hours per day, total hours, or percentage of capacity
Allocations appear as coloured bars in the resource swim lanes on the schedule. The colour matches the project, so you can see at a glance which projects a person is split across.
Allocation and Financials
Allocations drive financial calculations:
- Staff costs are calculated from the resource's cost rate multiplied by allocated hours.
- Revenue from time-based fee types uses the billing rate multiplied by allocated hours.
- The revenue graph shows projected income based on allocation timing.
This means moving or resizing an allocation immediately updates your financial projections.
Capacity and Overallocation
Each resource has a defined weekly capacity (e.g. 40 hours). When allocations exceed this capacity for a given period, Monument shows an overallocation indicator — a visual warning in the swim lane.
Overallocation doesn't prevent you from creating the allocation, but it flags that the resource is booked beyond their available hours.
Allocations vs. Time Entries
It's important to understand the difference:
| Allocations | Time Entries | |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Planning — what you intend to happen | Recording — what actually happened |
| Created by | Project managers on the schedule | Staff when they log time |
| Appears on | Schedule swim lanes | Time tracking calendar |
| Used for | Forecasting, capacity planning | Invoicing, actual cost tracking |
Monument compares allocations (planned) against time entries (actual) to calculate blended progress — helping you understand whether projects are on track.
You don't need allocations to track time. Staff can log time against any task they have access to. Allocations are for planning, not access control.
Calculation Types
Allocations support different calculation approaches:
- Fixed hours — a set number of total hours spread across the period
- Fixed periodic — a set number of hours per day/week across the period
- Formula-based — hours calculated from a formula referencing other financial items
See Allocation Calculation Types for details on each.
What's Next
- Creating Resource Allocations — step-by-step walkthrough
- Allocation Calculation Types — fixed, periodic, and formula
- Using Resource Swim Lanes — navigate the resource view