Resource Planner

The Resource Planner lets you build staffing scenarios for a project, assigning named personnel to each resource role across project phases. You can maintain multiple scenarios side by side, designate one as the baseline, and compare how hours are distributed before the project begins.

The Resource Planner tab appears under the Resources section of a project when the feature is enabled on your account.

On this screen: The left-side project navigation menu with the Resources section expanded. Two items appear under it: one for the standard resources view and one labeled “Resource Planner.” The Resource Planner item is highlighted as the current page.

Planning Scenarios

When you open the Resource Planner, you see the Planning Scenarios list. Each scenario represents one staffing option for delivering the project — you might have a “Lean Team” scenario and a “Full Capacity” scenario, for example.

On this screen: The Planning Scenarios list view. A header row reads “Planning Scenarios” on the left with a green “New Scenario” button on the right. Below a horizontal rule, each existing scenario appears as a card. Each card shows the scenario name in larger text, and below a dividing line shows two detail fields: a calendar icon followed by the start date (for example, “Starting 6/1/2025”), and a list icon followed by the week and sprint count (for example, “12 Weeks / 6 Sprints”). On the upper right of each card are three action links: a pencil icon with “Edit,” a copy icon with “Duplicate,” and a trash icon with “Delete.” In the lower right corner of each card is a “Use As Baseline” checkbox. A scenario marked as the baseline is visually distinguished with a highlighted border.

Each scenario card shows:

• Name — the label you gave this scenario
• Start date — when the plan begins
• Duration — the number of weeks and the number of two-week sprints derived from that duration

One scenario can be marked Use As Baseline, which designates it as the primary plan. Only one scenario can be the baseline at a time; toggling a different one transfers the designation.

Creating a Scenario

Click New Scenario to open the creation dialog.

On this screen: A modal dialog titled “Create Scenario.” A short instructional line reads “To create a new scenario please provide the name and estimated project duration.” Below it are three fields: a text field for Scenario Name with placeholder text “What do you want to call this scenario,” a date picker labeled “Start Date,” and a number field labeled “Number of Weeks” with placeholder “Choose length of Project.” The modal footer has a Cancel button and a green Create button.

Fill in:

• Scenario Name — a descriptive label (for example, “Q3 Baseline” or “Reduced Scope”)
• Start Date — the date the plan begins
• Number of Weeks — the total duration; ScopeStack calculates sprints automatically (one sprint per two weeks, rounding up for odd-week durations)

Click Create to save. The new scenario appears at the top of the list.

Editing and Duplicating Scenarios

From the scenario list, each card has three actions:

• Edit — opens the scenario detail view where you can update the name, start date, and duration, and assign resources
• Duplicate — creates a copy of the scenario with a new name you provide; useful for branching off an alternative version of a staffing plan
• Delete — permanently removes the scenario (requires confirmation)

On this screen: A single scenario card from the Planning Scenarios list. In the upper right of the card, three text links with icons are visible side by side: a pencil icon labeled “Edit,” a copy icon labeled “Duplicate,” and a trash icon labeled “Delete.” Clicking Edit navigates to the scenario detail view. Clicking Duplicate opens a confirmation modal asking for a new scenario name. Clicking Delete opens a confirmation modal before permanently removing the scenario.

Scenario Detail View

Clicking Edit on a scenario opens the detail view, which has two main sections: the Scenario Overview and the allocation table.

On this screen: The full scenario detail view. At the top is the Scenario Overview card, which contains summary statistics and a pie chart. Below the overview card is the allocation table, a wide scrollable grid with a fixed left column listing resource roles and personnel names, multiple middle columns for each week in the scenario (with phase dropdowns as headers), and a read-only Total column on the right.

Scenario Overview

The overview card summarizes the scenario at a glance:

• Weeks and Sprints — the duration in both units
• Assigned Hours — the total hours allocated across all resources and phases in this scenario
• Available Hours — the difference between the total hours on the project’s resources and the assigned hours; goes negative if you over-allocate
• Resource breakdown chart — a pie chart showing the share of total hours per resource role, with a legend listing each resource’s percentage and total hours

Click Edit on this card to change the scenario name, start date, or duration.

On this screen: The Scenario Overview card. It displays the scenario name, the duration expressed in both weeks and sprints, the total assigned hours, and the available hours (the difference between project resource hours and assigned hours, shown in red if negative). A pie chart occupies the right side of the card, color-coded by resource role. Beside the chart is a legend listing each resource role with its percentage of total hours and the absolute hour count. An Edit button in the upper right of the card opens the scenario name, start date, and duration fields for inline editing.

Resource Planner Table

Below the overview, the allocation table is split into three synchronized columns:

Left column — Resource / Name

Lists each resource role on the project (for example, Project Manager, Senior Engineer). For each resource, you can assign one or more named personnel by clicking + Add to create a row, entering the person’s name in the text field, and pressing Tab or clicking away to save.

You can add multiple people to the same resource role (for example, two engineers split across phases). Click the trash icon next to a name row to remove that assignment.

On this screen: The left column of the allocation table. Each project resource role (such as “Project Manager” or “Senior Engineer”) is shown as a row group header. Below each header is a ”+ Add” link that creates a new personnel row inside that resource group. Existing rows show a text input field containing the person’s name and a trash icon to remove that row.

Middle columns — Phases

Each column header is a phase dropdown. The columns are generated automatically based on the scenario’s duration: one column per week. You assign a project phase to each week by selecting it from the dropdown. Multiple weeks can map to the same phase — this is how you indicate how long each phase runs within the scenario timeline.

Below each phase header, the date for that week is shown. For each personnel row, enter the number of hours that person works during that week in the corresponding cell.

On this screen: The middle section of the allocation table. Each column header contains a dropdown selector showing the project phase assigned to that week (for example, “Discovery” or “Implementation”). Directly below each header is the calendar date for that week. In each data row, there is a numeric input cell where hours can be entered for that personnel row and week combination.

Right column — Total

Shows the total hours assigned to each personnel row across all phases. This column is read-only.

On this screen: The rightmost column of the allocation table, headed “Total.” Each cell in this column displays the sum of all hours entered for that personnel row across every phase column. The cells are read-only and update automatically as hour values change in the phase columns.

Phase Mapping

Phase mapping is how you connect the project’s defined phases to the weeks in the scenario. Each week in the scenario timeline is an independent column, and you select which project phase that week belongs to from the dropdown.

This means a single scenario can show, for example, that Weeks 1-3 are Discovery, Weeks 4-8 are Implementation, and Weeks 9-10 are Cutover — just by selecting the appropriate phase in each week’s dropdown.

Changes to phase assignments are saved immediately when you move focus away from the dropdown.

Permissions

Access to the Resource Planner is controlled by the Resource Plans permission under project privileges:

• View — can see scenarios and the allocation table, but cannot create or modify
• Create — can add new scenarios and personnel rows
• Manage — full access including editing scenario details, updating phase mapping, and deleting scenarios

By default, Users and Admins have Manage access. Sales roles have View access. Contact your account administrator to adjust these settings.

Notes

• The Resource Planner is a planning tool and operates independently from project services and pricing. Hours entered here do not roll up into the project cost or revenue calculations.
• A scenario’s Sprints count is derived from the Weeks field: ceil(weeks / 2). You cannot set sprints directly.
• If Available Hours shows a negative number, you have allocated more hours across scenarios than the project’s resources have in total. This is allowed, but worth reviewing before using the scenario as a baseline.
• The Resource Planner tab is only visible when your account has the feature enabled. If you do not see it, contact ScopeStack support.