Table of Contents

Financials

Overview

Project financial management involves planning, monitoring, and controlling the financial aspects of a project to ensure that it stays within budget and achieves its objectives. Effective financial management is crucial for the success of a project, as it helps in allocating resources appropriately, controlling costs, and ensuring that the project is financially sustainable.

Altus has a comprehensive financials application that enables project managers to manage all facets of their projects financial position including:

  • Budgets: A budget is a financial plan that outlines the expected revenues and expenses for a specific period. It serves as a roadmap for allocating resources and helps in setting financial goals and constraints.
  • Forecasts: A forecast is an estimate or prediction of future financial outcomes based on current and historical data. It is often used to project how the actual financial performance might deviate from the budget over time.
  • Actuals: Actuals refer to the real, observed financial results or performance that has occurred during a specific period. Actuals provide the factual data on income, expenses, and other financial metrics as opposed to planned or forecasted figures.

Altus Finance grid

The image below shows an example of the finance grid in Altus. This provides a single spot for project managers to manage their project budgets. The subsequent sections below cover each of the numbered items:

Financials_AppOverview.png

Key Features

1. New Items

Project managers can add additional rows to the finance grid using the New button in the top left-hand corner. There are two choices available here:

Financials_NewItemSelect.png

  • Budget: Enables the user to add a new budget line to their project.
  • Cost: Enables the user to add either forecasts, actuals, or both to their project.

The Name and Financial Category fields are both mandatory. Users also need to add at least one transaction in order to create a new record.

New Budget form

Financials_NewBudget.png

New Cost form

Financials_NewCost.png

Generate Bulk Transactions via the Budget/Cost form

Both the Budget and Cost forms enable users to add multiple transactions. The form enables users to do the following:

  • Specify a start date
  • Specify the number of months
  • Specify the end date (specifying this will auto calculate the number of months based on the start date)

Financials_GenerateTransactions

Closed Periods

Within the configurations area of Altus, there is a function which enables the Admin user to specify which periods are permissible for transactions to be entered into. Once periods are closed, these will show as 'locked' periods in the calendar picker and won't allow the user to enter transactions within these periods. The screenshot below highlights this behaviour in further detail:

Financials_ClosedPeriods.png

Overlapping Closed Periods

The finance application has error trapping to prevent transactions from being entered over periods with closed dates. If this occurs, the following message will appear in the Generate Transactions dialogue:

Financials_OverlappingClosedPeriods.png

2. Change Period

By default, the finance grid will open up on the current month. This is calculated programmatically using the current date to determine the month. However, users can use the Change Period control. The gif below, shows how users can use this to go forward/backwards in time to view their financials.

Financials_ChangePeriod

This control enables users to search for any content that they have keyed into the financials grid. This is useful especially for larger projects where there can be many rows of content:

Financials_Search

4. Category Filter

In addition to the search function, this control enables a quick filter of items based on the financial category associated with the item. This can be done by selecting from the available options which will then return only the matching rows:

Financials_CategoryFilter.png

5. Data drop-down

The data drop-down contains the following options:

Financials_DataDropdown.png

  • Export to CSV: Enables the user to export all financial information from the grid into Excel format.
  • Import Resource Forecasts: Enables the user to import and convert all resource plan information and use the cost rates to create forecast items.
  • Import Timesheet Actuals: Enables the user to import timesheet actuals (similar to the resource import function).

Note: if you have forecasts or actuals to import an alert will show on the screen and the menu item will show with a red circle next to it.

Export to Excel

This feature enables users to export all data from the finance application to Excel for ad-hoc analysis and reporting.

Import Timesheet Actuals

This feature enables users to import timesheet actuals into the finance application. Approved timesheet hours are multiplied by the resource cost rate to determine the total cost

Once imported, new financial transactions will be created to add actuals to the project's financials. If the approved values from the timesheets change you will be prompted to import the changes which could mean adding or removing Actual values from the project.

For more information on how to setup this feature please see here.

Resource Plan to Financial Forecast

This feature enables users to import forecast data from the Resources Plan into the finance application. Saved Proposed or Committed hours (depending on your organisation's settings) are multiplied by the resource cost rate to determine the total cost:

Once imported, new financial transactions will be created to add forecasts to the project's financials. If values within the Resource Plan change, you will be prompted to import the changes which could mean adding or removing forecast values from the project.

For more information on how to setup this feature please see here.

6. View drop-down

The view drop-down contains the following options:

Financials_ViewDropDown.png

  • Period: Changes the granularity of the timeline (default is Month).
  • Show/Hide: Enables the user to choose what content they wish to see in the finance grid (default is for all content to be shown).
  • Grouping: Currently enables the user to toggle on/off grouping by Category. Default is for no grouping to be selected.
  • Horizontal Mode: Changes the finance grid to show the Type (Budget, Forecast, Actuals) to be columns instead of rows.

Period Granularity

The gif below shows how users can change periods to set the granularity to enter financial information:

Financials_PeriodGranularity

Show/Hide content

The gif below shows how users can show/hide content in the finance grid:

Financials_ShowHideContent

Grouping

The gif below shows how users can group content in the finance grid:

Financials_CategoryGrouping

Additional Column Grouping

In additional to the Category field, the financial grid can be configured to include additional custom columns.

Note

These columns don't appear OOTB and require configuration.

Financials_AdditionalColumnGrouping.png

Horizontal Mode

The gif below shows how users can change how data is served up in the finance grid:

Financials_HorizontalVerticalMode

7. More drop-down

The More drop-down contains the following options:

Financials_MoreDropDown.png

  • Refresh: Refreshes the data in the finance grid.
  • Full Screen Mode: Pops the finance grid out into a focussed, full screens mode.

Financials_FullScreenMode

8. Actions

This control can be used to open up existing items in edit mode.

Financials_Action_EditItem

9. Enter data into the grid

The grid area offers an 'excel like' experience to input and edit data.

Financials_EditInGrid

Columns

The following columns exists for Financials in Altus. These are captured in three entities:

Table Details
Financial Categories Contains the items which group together financial items for tracking and reporting purposes.
Financial Items Contains the financial category, project, and other information about the item including whether it is a forecast, budget, or actual.
Financial Transactions Contains the data and cost information related to the financial item.

Financial Categories

The following columns exists in Altus.

Columns prefixed with sensei_ are those that form part of the Altus solution.

The remaining are default dataverse fields created automatically.

Property Value
Display Name Financial Category
Name sensei_financialcategory
Primary Column Name
Description
Display Name Name Data type Field Length Customizable Required Searchable
Created By CreatedBy Lookup True False False
Created By (Delegate) CreatedOnBehalfBy Lookup True False False
Created On CreatedOn Date and Time Date and Time True False False
Financial Category sensei_financialcategoryId Primary Key True False False
Import Sequence Number ImportSequenceNumber Whole number True False False
Modified By ModifiedBy Lookup True False False
Modified By (Delegate) ModifiedOnBehalfBy Lookup True False False
Modified On ModifiedOn Date and Time Date and Time True False False
Name (Primary name column) sensei_name Single line of text 500 True True True
Owner OwnerId Owner True False False
Owning Business Unit OwningBusinessUnit Lookup True False False
Owning Team OwningTeam Lookup True False False
Owning User OwningUser Lookup True False False
Parent Financial Category sensei_parentfinancialcategory Lookup True False False
Record Created On OverriddenCreatedOn Date and Time Date Only True False False
Status statecode Choice True False False
Status Reason statuscode Choice True False False
Time Zone Rule Version Number TimeZoneRuleVersionNumber Whole number -1 to 2147483647 True False False
UTC Conversion Time Zone Code UTCConversionTimeZoneCode Whole number -1 to 2147483647 True False False

Financial Items

The following columns exists in Altus.

Columns prefixed with sensei_ are those that form part of the Altus solution.

The remaining are default dataverse fields created automatically.

Property Value
Display Name Financial Item
Name sensei_financialitem
Primary Column Name
Description
Display Name Name Data type Field Length Customizable Required Searchable
Actual Cost Locked sensei_actualcostlocked Yes/No True False False
Budget Locked sensei_budgetlocked Yes/No True False False
Created By CreatedBy Lookup True False False
Created By (Delegate) CreatedOnBehalfBy Lookup True False False
Created On CreatedOn Date and Time Date and Time True False False
Department sensei_department picklist True False False
External Id sensei_externalid Single line of text 100 True False False
External Metadata sensei_externalmetadata Multiple lines of text 1048576 True False False
External Name sensei_externalname Single line of text 200 True False False
External Sync Date sensei_externalsyncdate Date and Time Date and Time True False False
External Tooltip sensei_externaltooltip Multiple lines of text 1048576 True False False
External Type sensei_externaltype Single line of text 100 True False False
External Url sensei_externalurl Single line of text 2000 True False False
Financial Category sensei_financialcategory Lookup True True False
Financial Item sensei_financialitemId Primary Key True False False
Forecast Cost Locked sensei_forecastcostlocked Yes/No True False False
Form Updated Token sensei_formupdatedtoken Single line of text 100 True False False
Import Sequence Number ImportSequenceNumber Whole number True False False
Modified By ModifiedBy Lookup True False False
Modified By (Delegate) ModifiedOnBehalfBy Lookup True False False
Modified On ModifiedOn Date and Time Date and Time True False False
Name (Primary name column) sensei_name Single line of text 500 True True True
Note sensei_note Multiple lines of text 2000 True False False
Owner OwnerId Owner True False False
Owning Business Unit OwningBusinessUnit Lookup True False False
Owning Team OwningTeam Lookup True False False
Owning User OwningUser Lookup True False False
Portfolio sensei_portfolio Lookup True False False
Program sensei_program Lookup True False False
Project sensei_project Lookup True False False
Record Created On OverriddenCreatedOn Date and Time Date Only True False False
Status statecode Choice True False False
Status Reason statuscode Choice True False False
Task sensei_task Lookup True False False
Time Zone Rule Version Number TimeZoneRuleVersionNumber Whole number -1 to 2147483647 True False False
Type sensei_type picklist True True False
UTC Conversion Time Zone Code UTCConversionTimeZoneCode Whole number -1 to 2147483647 True False False

Department (sensei_department)

Value Label Description
955000003 Finance
955000004 HR
955000005 Marketing
955000002 IT
955000006 Operations
955000000 Sales
955000001 Corporate

Financial Item Type (sensei_type)

Value Label Description
955000000 Budget
955000001 Cost

Financial Transactions

The following columns exists in Altus.

Columns prefixed with sensei_ are those that form part of the Altus solution.

The remaining are default dataverse fields created automatically.

Property Value
Display Name Financial Transaction
Name sensei_financialtransaction
Primary Column Name
Description
Display Name Name Data type Field Length Customizable Required Searchable
Created By CreatedBy Lookup True False False
Created By (Delegate) CreatedOnBehalfBy Lookup True False False
Created On CreatedOn Date and Time Date and Time True False False
Currency TransactionCurrencyId Lookup True False False
Date sensei_date Date and Time Date Only True True True
Exchange Rate ExchangeRate Decimal True False False
External Id sensei_externalid Single line of text 100 True False False
External Metadata sensei_externalmetadata Multiple lines of text 1048576 True False False
External Name sensei_externalname Single line of text 200 True False False
External Sync Date sensei_externalsyncdate Date and Time Date and Time True False False
External Tooltip sensei_externaltooltip Multiple lines of text 1048576 True False False
External Type sensei_externaltype Single line of text 100 True False False
External Url sensei_externalurl Single line of text 2000 True False False
Financial Item sensei_financialitem Lookup True False False
Financial Transaction sensei_financialtransactionId Primary Key True False False
Import Sequence Number ImportSequenceNumber Whole number True False False
Locked sensei_locked Yes/No True False False
Modified By ModifiedBy Lookup True False False
Modified By (Delegate) ModifiedOnBehalfBy Lookup True False False
Modified On ModifiedOn Date and Time Date and Time True False False
Name (Primary name column) sensei_name Single line of text 100 True True True
Note sensei_note Multiple lines of text 2000 True False False
Owner OwnerId Owner True False False
Owning Business Unit OwningBusinessUnit Lookup True False False
Owning Team OwningTeam Lookup True False False
Owning User OwningUser Lookup True False False
Record Created On OverriddenCreatedOn Date and Time Date Only True False False
Status statecode Choice True False False
Status Reason statuscode Choice True False False
Time Zone Rule Version Number TimeZoneRuleVersionNumber Whole number -1 to 2147483647 True False False
Transaction Row Id sensei_transactionrowid Single line of text 100 True False False
Type sensei_type picklist True True False
UTC Conversion Time Zone Code UTCConversionTimeZoneCode Whole number -1 to 2147483647 True False False
Value sensei_value Currency True False False
Value (Base) sensei_value_Base Currency True False False

Transaction Type (sensei_transactiontype)

Value Label Description
955000000 Budget
955000001 Forecast
955000002 Actual

External Sync Columns

The following columns exist for use by Altus sync engines (Resource to Finance Sync and Timesheet to Finance Sync) but can also be utilised for custom sync purposes where required. If using these fields, please ensure that Altus sync values are never overwritten and that the External Type field is unique.

Financial Item

Field Name Description
sensei_externalid Used to reference the parent id of the item that the sync relates to.
For Financial Items created by Resource to Finance Sync, this field will be populated with the Resource Request Id.
For Financial Items created by Timesheet to Finance Sync, this field will be populated with the Bookable Resource Id.
sensei_externaltype Used to identify the unique name of the sync activity that created this Financial Item. This field should be populated with 'IQ Resource to Finance Sync' (if the item was created by Resource to Finance Sync) or 'IQ Timesheet to Finance Sync' (if the item was created by Timesheet to Finance Sync).
sensei_externalsyncdate Timestamp of when the sync activity occurred to create or update this item.
sensei_externalname Not currently in use.
sensei_externaltooltip Not currently in use.
sensei_externalurl Not currently in use.
sensei_externalmetadata Not currently in use.

Financial Transaction

Field Name Description
sensei_externalid Used to reference the parent id of the transaction that the sync relates to.
For Financial Transactions created by Resource to Finance Sync, this field will be populated with the Resource Request Id.
For Financial Transactions created by Timesheet to Finance Sync, this field will be populated with the Bookable Resource Id.
sensei_externaltype Used to identify the unique name of the sync activity that created this Financial Transaction. This field should be populated with 'IQ Resource to Finance Sync' (if the transaction was created by Resource to Finance Sync) or 'IQ Timesheet to Finance Sync' (if the transaction was created by Timesheet to Finance Sync).
sensei_externalsyncdate Timestamp of when the sync activity occurred to create or update this transaction.
sensei_externalname Not currently in use.
sensei_externaltooltip Gets populated with a HTML string with a breakdown/summary of the sync calculations used in determining the value of this transaction. This tooltip gets rendered by the Finance Grid.
sensei_externalurl Not currently in use.
sensei_externalmetadata This field is populated with a JSON string representing key data used by the sync activity. For Altus sync activities the properties can include;
calculationMode: Tracks the Resource to Finance sync calculation mode as per the value in the configuration setting at the time the sync occurred.
timesheetSyncSourceId: Gets populated with the Bookable Resource Id that the timesheet transaction relates to.
zoom: Indicates whether the transaction has been created at the month level or fiscal period level (related to Resource to Finance Sync).

Security Roles

Security Roles for Financial Categories

Security Role Create Read Write Delete Append Append To Assign Share
Altus - PMO User Local Global Local Local Local Global Local Local
Altus - Portfolio Manager Basic Global Basic Basic Basic Global Basic Basic
Altus - Portfolio Manager - Team Basic Global Basic Basic Basic Global Basic Basic
Altus - Program Manager Basic Global Basic Basic Basic Global Basic Basic
Altus - Program Manager - Team Basic Global Basic Basic Basic Global Basic Basic
Altus - Strategy Executive None Global None None None None None None
Altus Admin User Global Global Global Global Global Global Global Global
Altus Portfolio User Local Global Local Local Local Global Local Local
Altus Project Executive Local Global Local Local Local Global Local Local
Altus Project User Basic Global Basic Basic Basic Global Basic Basic
Altus Strategy User Local Global Local Local Local Global Local Local

Legend

  • Global Organisation / Global
  • Local Business Unit / Local
  • Basic User / Basic
  • None None

For details see Application Security.

Security Roles for Financial Items

Security Role Create Read Write Delete Append Append To Assign Share
Altus - PMO User Global Global Global Global Global Global Global Global
Altus - Portfolio Manager Basic Local Basic Basic Basic Basic Basic Basic
Altus - Portfolio Manager - Team Basic Basic Basic Basic Basic Basic Basic Basic
Altus - Program Manager Basic Local Basic Basic Basic Basic Basic Basic
Altus - Program Manager - Team Basic Basic Basic Basic Basic Basic Basic Basic
Altus - Strategy Executive None Global None None None None None None
Altus Admin User Global Global Global Global Global Global Global Global
Altus Portfolio User Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local
Altus Project Executive Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local
Altus Project User Basic Basic Basic Basic Basic Basic Basic Basic
Altus Strategy User Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local

Legend

  • Global Organisation / Global
  • Local Business Unit / Local
  • Basic User / Basic
  • None None

For details see Application Security.

Security Roles for Financial Transactions

Security Role Create Read Write Delete Append Append To Assign Share
Altus - PMO User Global Global Global Global Global Global Global Global
Altus - Portfolio Manager Basic Local Basic Basic Basic Basic Basic Basic
Altus - Portfolio Manager - Team Basic Basic Basic Basic Basic Basic Basic Basic
Altus - Program Manager Basic Local Basic Basic Basic Basic Basic Basic
Altus - Program Manager - Team Basic Basic Basic Basic Basic Basic Basic Basic
Altus - Strategy Executive None Global None None None None None None
Altus Admin User Global Global Global Global Global Global Global Global
Altus Portfolio User Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local
Altus Project Executive Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local
Altus Project User Basic Basic Basic Basic Basic Basic Basic Basic
Altus Strategy User Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local

Legend

  • Global Organisation / Global
  • Local Business Unit / Local
  • Basic User / Basic
  • None None

For details see Application Security.

Dataverse Tables

Financial Financial with fields


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