Manage Advanced Forecasting and Budgeting

The Capital Planning tool provides advanced forecasting and budgeting features to help automate cash flow projections and synchronize high-level planning data with project-level budgets. Use these tools to apply distribution curves, adjust periodic allocations manually, update multiple records in bulk, and evaluate portfolio scenarios.

Required User Permissions:

• Company Level: 'Admin' level permissions on the company-level Capital Planning tool.

• Project Level: 'Standard' level permissions or higher on the project's Budget & Forecasting tool.

• Additional Information:

  • Calculated budget distributions apply strictly within the project's specified Start and End dates.

  • Available predefined cash flow curves include Linear, Bell, Front-Loaded, and Back-Loaded.

  • Quarterly and yearly groupings align with the Fiscal Year Start month configured in Capital Planning settings.

  • Toggling a project to Off excludes its financial totals from portfolio rollups without deleting the project record.

  • Capturing a snapshot preserves a static record of all forecasting and budget data at that point in time for comparison and historical reporting.

  • Configure the fiscal year start date in the company-level settings.

• Ensure the Capital Planning tool is enabled for the company.

• Ensure Concept Projects and Portfolio Management are enabled for the account.

• Configure the fiscal year start date in the company-level settings.

• Set top-line yearly or quarterly budget totals and confirm your project is active before applying distribution curves.

• Active budget line items, planned values, or project cost estimates must exist.

1. Manage Advanced Forecasting

   1. Navigate to the project's Capital Planning or Budget tool.

   2. Locate the project row you want to forecast.

   3. Enter or verify the project's Start Date and End Date.

   4. In the Forecasting Curve drop-down menu, select a cash flow model:

      • Linear: Distributes budget values evenly across each period in the duration.

      • Bell : Ramps up spend gradually, peaking at mid-project before tapering off.

      • Front-Loaded: Allocates heavier expenditures toward the early phases of the project.

      • Back-Loaded: Allocates the bulk of spend toward the final closeout periods.

      • Review the resulting period values across the timeline grid.
        

        Note

        Updates apply only to future forecasts; past forecasts remain unchanged.

      • Click Save Changes.

2. Bulk Edit Forecasts

   1. Navigate to the Capital Planning tab.

   2. Select the checkboxes next to the rows you want to update.

   3. Click Bulk Edit in the table header.

   4. Update the Start Date, End Date and Forecasting Curve.

   5. Click Apply to push the updates to all selected records.

   6. Click Save Changes.

Add Manual Forecasts

1. Navigate to the company-level Planning tool and open the Capital Planning tab.

2. Locate and select the desired project, then open the Forecasts section.

3. Switch the View selector to Quarterly or Yearly (or Monthly for granular tracking).

4. Click directly into the period cell you want to adjust and enter the specific dollar amount.

5. Review the distribution breakdown:

   1. Amounts entered into quarterly or yearly cells automatically divide linearly across the underlying monthly forecast cells.

6. Click Save Changes.

To learn more about Concept Columns, see What are Concept Columns? and Configure Concept Columns.