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36.
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Why do the totals on the 8.3 form not reflect the sum of the figures on that sheet?
Because the sum on the bottom includes the personnel costs, the Durable equipment spread across the three years and in the case of Additional Cost partners the overhead allowance <= 20%
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35.
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When I reduce the value of an AC partners costs by 5000 euro more than this is subtracted from the total
This is because the total figures on the 8.3 form contain all elements of the costs including the Fixed overhead element which also decreases when the direct costs decrease.
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34.
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I have different results after importing from 1.31
One possibility is that an old version with some minor mathematical errors have been corrected or - more commonly the orange cells have been overwritten by a formula instead of fixed values. In this case ELECTRA cannot detect the difference between a correct and an incorrect formula and so ignores the new one and leaves the original in place. These need to be replaced by the fixed value in the original or the formula in the new ELECTRA
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33.
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When I Import a project using Release 1.30 not all figures are copied across
Only cells with fixed values are copied - see FAQ 32 - if formulae have been entered into green cells then Release 1.31 should be used.
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32.
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What is Release 1.30
It is the latest version of ELECTRA and allows all other versions including 1.20 to be upgraded without re-entering data. (However if users have written Formulae into the data entry fields, these will not be carried across and will have to be re-entered). Future major revisions will similarly be possible without the need to re-enter data.
FAQs 8,9,11,14,15,1 & 23 have been addressed in some measure by this release
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31.
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I still keep getting requests to make missing links on my master sheets - these are very time consuming.
You may safely ignore these and answer 'NO' each time
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30.
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I deleted some green cells and now have errors on the brown cells
NEVER delete cells only clear them. Go back to your previous version and repeat any changes made (Hint: save as 'new version' often)
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29.
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I get strange results when I enter a percentage figure into ELECTRA (e.g. 20%)
Never include the '%' sign in any entry as Excel divides the number by 100
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28.
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I get confusing warnings when entering data on the Coordinators A7 forms.
Please ensure you fill in the basic data concerning funding on the 8.1 and 8.2 forms first
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27.
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How do I have different percentages for EU contributions in different years?
Select 'variable' on 8.2 percentage field and enter the percentage figure you wish under each year
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26.
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On a two year project I have some very few euros (1-5) carried into the third year.
Yes, this is due to the rounding algorithm which ensures that the three years on A5.1 and A5.2 add up to the totals on A3.1 & A3.2 This will be corrected in future releases. The current alternative workarounds are:
- Ignore them - the A5.1 and A5.2 forms are for information only.
- Work with year 2 and 3 only instead of year 1 and 2.
- Create a corrected year 2 of the A5.1 and A5.2 from the year 2 and 3 data on the computer-generated forms (using an appropriate CPF form).
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25.
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The calculation of total hours on the project on Sheet 8.4 does not agree exactly with the hours on 8.2
There is a small discrepancy due to the rounded monthly figures used by 8.4 in calculating the person hours. This will be corrected but should not affect your current work as it is 0.1 person month per partner per year maximum error.
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24.
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After filling in the durable equipment costs data in Electra, it makes an allocation of them balanced across the 3 years. However, when I've tried to do the same by hand, the results are different.
For costs in general the annual figures are calculated from the individual years, where they are available. However, the durable equipment costs are spread over the three years in the same proportion as the rest of the project. No account is taken of actual purchase dates.
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23.
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When I print out the forms I cannot read the numbers in the shaded boxes
Make sure that, if you are using a black and white printer, it is set to print in Greyscale. If it prints in Black and white only, depending on the printer there might be a problem.
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22.
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When can I download Version 1.13 or 1.22
It is not intended to make a full release of either 1.13 or 1.22, they can only be created by running the upgrade.
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21.
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On Portal, overheads for AC funded Coordinators are not added on the Coordinator's administration forms but ELECTRA does, which is correct?
ELECTRA is correct as it reflects the agreed position that fixed overheads can be charged by coordinators for administration costs
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20.
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Outdated
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19.
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When I try to start ELECTRA the system fails to run, or I get various virus alerts, what is wrong?
This can be because you are not running NTT.0/W98/W95 with Office 97 and associated Visual Basic installed. Your system manager may have configured your systems to not allow visual basic macros to run as part of a virus protection scheme. A stand alone computer with the above configuration should solve your problem.
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18.
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After exporting and importing partners spreadsheets I have residual external links left on the main 'co-ordinator's' ELECTRA work book. How can I remove them?
This replaces FAQ 9 - Any stray external links that are left can be removed by answering 'Yes' to the request to remake links when you load your main 'co-ordinator's' workbook and selecting the same source file as your main 'co-ordinator's' workbook.
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17.
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The A3.1 form - Number of Person Months - does not reflect the number of person months attributed to permanent staff in the case of AC funded partners. Is this correct?
The spreadsheets are correct, the permanent staff person months should NOT appear on the A3.1 - Number of person/months, they should only appear on the the work package resources. They are deliberately left out of the costing forms as no cost is attributed to them.
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16.
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When I want to remove a partner, the system doesn't allow me to remove the lines in A3, A4 & A5?
Correct, the system will do this automatically (Version 1.20 and above will delete a line, version 1.11 and above will leave the line blank). However you must clear the Partner ID entry in the green field in A3.1 for this to take effect.
A problem identified in the Readme file downloaded with the ELECTRA file describes the update problem (appears to be a 'feature"! of Excel). This is solved by saving as a new version number using the ELECTRA system.
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15.
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Outdated
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14.
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Outdated
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13.
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Is ELECTRA Y2K proof? There is a high probability that it will work but it is untested, no guarantees. Contingency action is to use the original sheets.
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12.
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Are there versions of ELECTRA available for other contract types? Not at present, they will become available, however for the current round of negotiations paper forms should be used and the data transferred later.
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11.
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I am a partner and received my sheets 8.1 - 8.4. Unfortunately after filling them in I find I need an extension form - How do I add it without losing my data?. Send your completed Workbook to your coordinator who will import the work you have done. They will create the extension forms you need and re export them with your old forms. You can then complete the extensions without losing the data you have already entered.
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10.
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I have a 4 year project - How should I handle the 4th year The current version of ELECTRA only allows a duration of three years. If a project has a longer duration the remaining years should be included under the third year. Extension sheets can be used (8.2 Bis & 8.3 Bis) to separate the costs by entering the 4th year information under the 3rd year on the extension sheet. However they are still summed into the 3rd year for A3 and A5. Later versions will accommodate up to 5 years.
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9.
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Outdated
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8.
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Outdated
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7.
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Outdated
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6.
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Are ELECTRA sheets available for other types of contracts (accompanying measures... etc.)? Not at present although the intention is to provide them in the future. - Watch this space .......
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5.
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Where does it calculate overheads for the AC (Additional Costs) case? This is only done on the A3.2 form. The overheads on the 8.2 form should remain zero
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4.
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Can I have the password for the sheets or programme? No - sorry but the integrity of the worksheets must be maintained so that we can use the data for subsequent processing.
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3.
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Can I have the password for the workbook? Yes - it is null, you only have to select unprotect for it to happen. PLEASE do not edit the names of the spreadsheets, this will have undefined effects.
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2.
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Outdated
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1.
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Which version should I be using? If you have already entered data on V1.10 then an upgrade to 1.13 is advised. If you are starting from the beginning then Version 1.21 with the 1.22 upgrade should be used.
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