Introduction

Fluid refers to all non time driven costs as Non-Resource Costs.

This can cover anything from advertising costs, hardware purchases and even fixed price resource engagements.

In this article we will look at how forecast and actual data can be maintained within Fluid. 

Who can make changes to forecast and actual data

The Financial Administrator will have the primary access to manage these costs, for both actuals and forecast.

Project Administrators and Project Managers can also add/edit forecast data providing that they have the Financial Access role associated to their account.

Depending on how the instance is configured, actuals can also be updated by the Project Administrators and Project Managers. Each organisation has therefore the ability to determine how this is managed, and reflected in their processes.

Where the PM is allowed to edit actuals, they will see the Edit Actuals button in the Financials section as shown below. If this is not visible, actuals need to be maintained by the Financial Administrator role.

It is important to note that once a period is locked by the Financial Administrator, changes to the non resource costs in the locked period can only be made by Financial Administrators. This ensures that the data is secure for tax and audit purposes, and therefore any changes made after that time are only performed with the agreement and full knowledge of the finance organisation. These controls are set to maximise the financial integrity of the data, and ensure the organisation has appropriate controls in place to manage and report their portfolio.

Managing Non-Resource Costs in Fluid 

Let's look first at setting up a forecast - in the Project workspace, click on the left menu bar and select Financials.

You will then see the Financial Details within the project workspace.

Creating Non-Resource Forecast data within an open month

Click on the Edit Forecast button - this will navigate you to a page called Manage Financial Forecast as shown below.

Click on the Add New Line button to display the Add Financial Forecast Item dialog.

The options on this page will all have been configured by the Financial Administrator. Using the drop down, select the correct Expense Category and Expense type, check you have the right currency, you may also add a brief description here.

For this example I am going to create a forecast item for Technology Hardware.

The following screen will then show, allowing you to add a monthly forecast amount.

Please note, in this example January-August are unavailable to edit, indicating those months have been closed, and so only September to December are open to forecasting at this time.

Below you can see I have added £5,890 to September and October.

then click Save and Close.

You can see now the forecast you had saved in the 'manage forecasts' page, displayed in the project workspace.

Note, you can expand this view to show the breakdown by expense types, and show the monthly amount.

Updating the forecast here, will also update the Project summary details (at the top of the project page).

Below you can see the forecast updated for both the total project and the current fiscal year on the left of the project.

On the right you can see the estimated project completion costs, and also the full year view for the current fiscal year - both of these figures will also include actuals for closed periods.

Editing Non Resource Forecast Data 

Once the project is underway, it is important to maintain a current view of the forecast, so that the overall project data reflects the true expected view of what is needed to complete the project. Reviewing and maintaining this forecast will often be within the Project Manager role, and may also be supported by the Financial Administrator.

For Non-Resource data, this is done in the Financials workspace.

Select Edit Forecast. This opens the project forecast detail page, and will only allow you to edit the open months. In the example below I have scrolled to the right to show the later part of the year available to edit.

You can either amend an existing cost, or select the Add button and add a new cost. Then Save and Close.

Creating Non-Resource Actuals within an open month

Now we'll look at how the project can be updated for non-resource actuals.

This is a Financial Administrator role primarily, but the organisation can opt to allow PMs to do this for open months. That setting is controlled within the configuration settings. Should adjustments to actuals be necessary in a closed month, Financial Administrator permissions are required. 

It is important to re-iterate that actuals can only be added to current open months, once the month-end process has been run, the month becomes locked (or closed) and edits cannot be routinely made.

To add actuals in the Fluid system, go to the project financials section of the project workspace, and select the Edit Actuals button.

Select the expense category and expense type, and then click on Add New Entry.

Here you are able to add a date, amount and currency, reference and description, and Save.

You are now able to see the actuals in the project, and by hovering the mouse over a figure, you'll be able to see both the actuals and forecast, plus the variance between them highlighted in dark blue.

Editing Non-Resource Actuals within an open month

To edit an existing actual, before the month is locked, go to the financials tab, select Edit Actuals, and select the expense category and expense type you wish to edit from the drop down options.

Click on the pencil item to edit, which will open the financial actuals dialog.

Change the data as required and save and close. The financials will now be updated.

The above steps enable you to fully manage forecast and actual data within the Fluid user interface.