The quick answer
In NetSuite OpenAir, a Soft Booking is a tentative hold on someone's time and a Hard Booking is a confirmed commitment. Both are resource bookings, and the booking type is a planning classification, separate from any approval status. It doesn't show that anyone is working yet, since actual work comes from time entries. To see them, open Resources > Bookings > Planner. Each resource is listed with its bookings beneath, each with a Job code and Booking type, drawn as bars on a timeline, with the resource's utilization on its own row. The filter list at the top switches between saved views, such as a role, one project, or every soft booking. A booking on a generic resource such as the Project manager role is forecast demand for that type of resource, with no named person on it yet.
The screenshots show sample data. The person, company, client and project names are fictional.
Before you start
OpenAir, now branded as NetSuite SuiteProjects Pro, is Oracle's professional services automation (PSA) application. The screens here show the OpenAir interface. It can integrate with NetSuite, but the planner's bookings and utilization come from OpenAir data. The Resource Booking Planner has to be enabled for your account, and your role needs permission to view the planner, plus permission to create and modify bookings if you'll change them.
Soft Booking and Hard Booking are common booking types. Your account can have more, rename them, or give them different meanings. The columns, bar colors and saved filters in the planner are configured too, and which filters you can use depends on your permissions.
In this example, a resource manager is getting ready for the weekly staffing meeting. The planner is set to Utilization Monthly. In these screens, soft bookings draw as orange bars and hard bookings as blue.
01. Review project-manager demand and utilization
Open Resources, then Bookings, and click the Planner tab. Here the planner opens on the Project Manager filter.
The first group is Project manager with a two-person icon. That's a generic resource, which stands in for a type of resource rather than a named person. It has no utilization bar, and it can't record time. Both of its bookings are Soft Booking with job code Project manager:
- Tidewater Logistics:2. ERP Rollout Phase II - Tidewater Logistics, which reads 120.00 hrs
- Ostrander Foods:Supply planning assessment, which reads 20.00 %
One booking is shown in hours and the other as a percentage, so they aren't directly comparable. Whether bookings can be entered in hours, percentages or both is an account setting. Both are forecast staffing needs with no named person yet.
Below it are the named project managers, each with a utilization figure on their own row. Reyes, Tomas reads 91.20 %. His bookings are:
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- ERP Rollout - Tidewater Logistics, 50.00 %, Hard Booking
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- ERP Rollout Phase II - Tidewater Logistics, 30.00 %, Soft Booking
- Internal:General administration, 10.00 %, Hard Booking
Those three percentages add up to 90.00 %, while the row reads 91.20 %, so the row isn't a plain sum of the listed labels. OpenAir works utilization out from booked hours against the person's work schedule at the chosen granularity, here monthly. If a row looks off, check the booking dates, the work schedule and any time off. The other managers read Nair, Priya 84.50 % and Chen, Wei 88.75 %.
02. Check who is confirmed on one project
Click the filter box that reads Project Manager. The list shows the saved filters: All, Unfulfilled Roles, Requested bookings, Soft Bookings, Hard Bookings, Project Manager, Tidewater Logistics - ERP Rollout, and New filter .... Choose Tidewater Logistics - ERP Rollout.
The planner now shows everyone booked on 1. ERP Rollout - Tidewater Logistics:
- Reyes, Tomas, Project manager, 50.00 %, Hard Booking
- Nair, Priya, Project manager, 25.00 %, Soft Booking
- Okoro, Ben, Consultant, 80.00 %, Hard Booking
- Lindqvist, Mia, Consultant, 40.00 %, Soft Booking
The utilization figures stay the same as in the other views: Reyes still reads 91.20 % and Nair 84.50 %. Lindqvist reads 62.40 % although the only booking listed for her here is 40.00 %. In this example the filter changes which bookings are listed, not the utilization on the row, so don't try to reconcile a filtered list to the utilization figure.
03. List every tentative booking
Open the filter list again and choose Soft Bookings. The planner lists every soft booking across projects. Here that's six:
- Project manager (generic): 2. ERP Rollout Phase II 120.00 hrs, and Supply planning assessment 20.00 %
- Reyes, Tomas: 2. ERP Rollout Phase II, 30.00 %
- Nair, Priya: 1. ERP Rollout, 25.00 %
- Chen, Wei: Maple & Finch Retail:Store analytics dashboards, 20.00 %
- Lindqvist, Mia: 1. ERP Rollout, 40.00 %, as a Consultant
That's the staffing meeting agenda. For each one, decide whether to confirm it as a hard booking, give it to someone else, or release it. Making those changes needs booking edit permission, and if your account uses booking approvals, a submitted or approved booking may be locked.
Check the result
- The generic Project manager role has two Soft Bookings and no utilization bar.
- Reyes, Tomas reads 91.20 % in every view.
- On the ERP Rollout filter, Reyes and Okoro are Hard Bookings, and Nair and Lindqvist are Soft Bookings.
- The Soft Bookings filter lists six bookings, four of them on named people across three projects.
Soft bookings hold capacity without committing it, which is useful while a deal or scope is still open. Left too long, they make people look busier than they are and hide who's really free. The generic role's two bookings are worth reviewing first, since they show demand nobody is lined up for yet.
Common questions
What is the difference between a soft booking and a hard booking in OpenAir?
A soft booking is a tentative hold on someone's time, and a hard booking is a confirmed commitment. Teams often soft-book while a deal or scope is still open and switch to hard once the work is agreed. Booking types are configurable, so check what each one means in your account.
How do I see which bookings are still tentative in the OpenAir planner?
Go to Resources > Bookings > Planner and choose Soft Bookings in the filter list. In the example that lists six bookings, two on the generic Project manager role and four on named people. Changing the filter only changes what's listed. It doesn't change any booking.
What is a generic resource in OpenAir resource planning?
A placeholder for a type of resource, like the Project manager role, instead of a named person. Its bookings show demand nobody has been assigned to yet. It can't record time or expenses, so it has no utilization bar.
How is utilization shown in the OpenAir Bookings Planner?
As a bar on each named person's row, with the percentage on it. OpenAir works it out from booked hours against the person's work schedule at the chosen granularity, so it isn't just the listed percentages added up. Reyes's bookings total 90.00 % and his row reads 91.20 %.
How do I see everyone booked on one project in OpenAir?
Pick a saved filter for that project in the planner's filter list, like Tidewater Logistics - ERP Rollout. It lists each person with their booking on that project and its booking type. Here Reyes and Okoro are hard-booked and Nair and Lindqvist are soft.
Why do some bookings show hours and others a percentage?
A booking can be entered as a number of hours or as a share of the person's schedule, depending on your account settings. The generic Project manager role has one of each, 120.00 hrs and 20.00 %. Don't add them together without converting to hours over the same dates.
How do I turn a soft booking into a hard booking?
Open the booking, change its booking type to your hard booking type, and save or submit it the way your account requires. You need permission to edit bookings. If your account uses booking approvals, a submitted or approved booking may be locked until the approval allows changes.