FPA Step 2: Identify the scope and boundary of the count

The second step of the FPA process is identifying the scope and boundary of our count.

The scopeof this count will be defined by the data, screens, and reports that I'm about to show you. You should not make any assumptions about any behavior that may appear to be missing.

Regarding the boundary of this application, for our purposes FPTracker should be thought of as a simple, standalone software application. Unlike a suite of applications like Microsoft Office, or a combination of applications that can be found on an Intranet or Extranet site, the FPTracker is not tied to any other applications in any way. Therefore, if I were drawing a boundary line to set off our application from others, it would be similar to the boundary line shown in the sample of Figure 1.

It's also worth noting that the purpose of this particular count is to serve as a sample count for this paper. In the real world the purpose of our counts vary, but typical examples include:

1. Serving as the basis to determine the cost of this software application.
2. Helping to determine the productivity rate of the development team on this project.
3. Helping to determine the retail value of this software asset to our company.

Of course there could be any number of other reasons for pursuing a count like this, but this is a good list of the typical reasons.

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