Set up an allocation report

An allocation report brings together work and resources from two separate tables and lays the work out on a timeline, organized by resource. Assign work by dragging it onto a resource, or turn on AI optimization so people can allocate work with AI.

Before you start

You need:

• A table with the work you want to allocate, such as work orders or requests. This table needs a duration field and a date and time field.

• A table with your resources: the people, equipment, or anything else that does the work.

• A table-to-table relationship between the two tables, with resources as the parent, so one resource can be linked to many pieces of work.

• Optionally, a report on your resources table showing the fields, filters, and sorting you want your resources to have on the allocation report. Without one, your resources use default report settings.

Create the report

1. From your app home, open the table with the work you want to allocate

2. Select Reports

3. Select Add new report

4. Select Allocation from the Scheduling reports section in the list

5. Select Create

Fill in the basics

Name your report and set up the Reports & Charts panel the same way you would for any other report.

Connect your data sources

Under Data sources, choose where your work and your resources come from. The fields you map here update as you move work on the timeline.

Under Work:

• Table is the table you created this report on.

• Duration is how long each piece of work takes. Choose a duration field, or a formula field that returns one.

• Start date/time is when each piece of work begins. Choose a Date/Time field.

Under Resources:

• Related resource is the resource doing the work. Choose the reference field that links your work table to your resources table. This also sets the resources table.

• Source report sets how your resources look on the report: the fields shown, filters, and sorting. Leave it blank to use default report settings.

• Availability report is the availability report this one draws working hours and exceptions from.

Once you select an availability report, availability shows on the timeline: white space is time a resource can work, and gray space is time it cannot.

Note

Selecting an availability report here shows availability on the timeline. For AI optimization to take it into account, turn on the Availability parameter as well.

Set up AI optimization

Turning on AI optimization adds an option to allocate work with AI from the report. It doesn't replace assigning work by hand, which is always available.

The parameters you turn on are what it optimizes for. Each one has its own toggle, and you can add more with Add parameter:

• Availability: each resource's working days and hours

• Skills: whether a resource has the right skills for the work

• Cost: hourly rates, to keep labor costs down

Turning on a parameter is separate from adding it, so check that the ones you want are on.

Learn more about allocating work with AI.

Choose your display settings

Under Display preferences, choose your default view: Day, Week, or Month. You can change this later from the report itself.

Under Work details, choose which fields show on each work item. Select First three fields in default report to use the fields the default report already shows, or Custom fields to pick your own.

Add filters, dynamic filters, or color coding the same way you would on any other report.

Save your report

Once you've filled in the required fields, select Save.

Assign work to a resource

Your resources appear on one side of the report, and your work items on the other.

• Drag a work item onto a resource to assign it
  
  

  

• Drag an assigned work item to move it

• Double-click a work item to see more details or edit its start and finish times

Right-click an assigned work item to:

• Edit the assignment

• Have AI suggest a placement for that work item

• Open its record in a new window

• Unassign it

Switch between views

Use the controls at the top of the report to switch between Day, Week, and Month views.