Project Financials

Here are some links to other sections of docs that may be helpful:

• Resource plan to project financial forecasts
• Timesheet sync to project financial actuals
• As Built document

The Financial Configuration Settings is made up of the following settings pages:

• Display Greyscale Past Forecast and Future Actuals
• Finance - General Settings
• Fiscal Year Start Month Number
• Form Behaviour

Other Financial configuration details in this page:

• Setting up Financials in Altus
  • Fiscal Periods
• Financial Grid Configuration and Functions
  • Adding Columns to the Finance Grid

Default Financial Transaction Types

Altus is shipped with three Transaction Types:

1. Budget
2. Forecast
3. Actual

For more information on these transaction types click here.

Additional Transaction Types can be built within the client's environment. These new Transaction Types will show within the Cost form and grouping.

Finance - General Settings

The Finance General Settings has the following options:

• Precision
• Enable In Grid Editing
• Select Finance Grid Variance Calculation
• Show/Hide Transaction Types on the Grid
• Transaction Type Security Locks
• Item Transation Type Mappings

Currency Precision

The Altus Finance Grid will display currency amounts as per the Precision value in the Financials > General (financialsGridSettings) Configuration Setting. This setting affects the decimal places at which data is captured (via associated Financial Item form) as well as the display of values within the Grid. The default value for this setting is 2.

This setting is distinct from the environment level Currency precision settings which Dataverse allows to be configured for each Currency type. Because values are stored against the currency type, the precision set in the grid must be less than or equal to the precision set for the default base Currency itself in Dataverse.

Note

When using the Resource to Finance forecast import functionality in Altus, the environment Currency precision setting will be used when calculating forecast transaction values in order to keep calculated values as accurate as possible. The values in the Finance Grid however, will always be display as per the Grid precision setting.
 
For example, if currency precision is set to 4 decimal places and the Finance Grid precision is set to 2 decimal places, in the instance where a Resource Rate is $100.25 and the number of hours for that resource in the fiscal period is 0.5 hours, the forecast amount calculated and stored in Dataverse will be $50.125. When rendered in the Finance Grid, the amount will display as $50.13.
 
Should the next fiscal period for that Resource contain the same amount, each fiscal period transaction would display in the Grid rounded as $50.13 but the Total would correctly evaluate to $100.25.

Further information on setting Currency precision in Dataverse can be found here.

Enable In Grid Editing

This setting contains a toggle that allows you to turn off and on In Grid Editing.
In grid editing allows users to enter data directly into the Financials Grid. These values aren’t automatically saved, users need to Save their data. The data that is entered is saved against the first date in that period.

For more information click here.

Note: this setting takes into consideration all Transaction Type locks.

Select Finance Grid Variance Calculation

The Finance Grid contains a Variance column that calculates the variance of each of your monthly or Fiscal period columns. This calculation changes based on the current month or fiscal period:

• Past month/period Variance = Budget - Actual
• Current and future month/period Variance = Budget - Forecast

The use of the current month or fiscal period is set in the Finance Form Behaviour settings.

Altus allows two calculation methods for determining the Variance value that is displayed in the Finance Grid.

Budget minus Estimate at Completion (EAC) = Variance

This is the default calculation mode, and when in use, Variance will be calculated as Budget value minus the Estimate at Completion (EAC) value. Estimate at Completion (EAC) = (Actuals + Forecasts) where Actuals are accrued from the Project start date to the end date of the most recently completed month. Forecast values are accrued from the current month onwards.

Example: Suppose today's date is 27th September 2024. Our project runs for three months and has a budget of 30000 distributed evenly across August through October 2024. We have forecast values of 8000, 10000 and 12000 respectively across those same three months. We also have Actuals which have been accrued in August, and some have come through for September already.

The calculation of Variance for August is determined as +5000. This month is the most recently completed month and is calculated as Budget (10000) minus Actual (5000).

The calculation of Variance for September is determined as 0. This month is incomplete (today is 27th September) and so the calculation of Variance is Budget (10000) minus Forecast (1000). Note: Once we reach the 1st of October (and therefore September becomes a completed month), the variance for this month would then be calculated as Budget (10000) minus Actual (12000) = -2000.

The calculation of Variance for October is determined as -2000. This month is into the future and so the calculation of Variance will be Budget (10000) minus Forecast (12000).

The Total Variance of 3000 (as displayed in the Overall Total column) reflects the sum of the calculated Variance for August (+5000), September (0) and October (-2000).

Budget minus Forecast = Variance

When this calculation mode, Variance will be calculated as Budget value minus Forecast value and has no dependence on the date of the underlying transaction values.

Example: This example uses the same data and scenario as the example for Budget minus EAC (above), but in this instance the setting has been changed in Altus so that Budget minus Forecast = Variance.

In this instance, the calculation of Variance for August is determined as +2000 as it reflects Budget (10000) minus Forecast (8000).

The calculation of Variance for September is 0 and reflects Budget (10000) minus Forecast (10000).

The calculation of Variance for October is -2000 and reflects Budget (10000) minus Forecast (12000).

The Total Variance of 0 (as displayed in the Overall Total column) reflects the sum of the calculated variance for August (+2000), September (0) and October (-2000).

Note

The selected Variation calculation mode will also be reflected in the calculation used by the Status Update financials panel.

Show/Hide Transaction Types on the Grid

Any of the out of the box transaction types (Budget, Forecast, Actual, Variance) can be optionally hidden from the Finance Grid across all of Altus. Toggle to hide default transaction types on all project finance views.

Note

If custom transaction types are required to never display, then they should be removed from the environment.

Finance Forms

These settings allow for selecting whether the default transaction information is present for new Budgets and Cost items and allows users to set which Form will be used when you view and enter financial records.

The Finance Forms Behaviour Settings has the following options:

• Default New Budget form to include Blank Transaction?: if set to 'Yes', when using the default New Budget form, a transaction will automatically appear on the form with the date set to the first of the current month and the value set to 0.
• Default New Cost form to include Blank Transaction?: if set to 'Yes', when using the default New Cost form, a transaction will automatically appear on the form with the date set to the first of the current month and the value set to 0.
• Override Default Budget Form: if no value is set, the default Altus financials form will be used. If set, this value should contain the Form name of the sensei_financialitem Form that you wish to display. More information on this setting can be found here.
• Override Default Cost Form: if no value is set, the default Altus financials form will be used. If set, this value should contain the Form name of the sensei_financialitem Form that you wish to display. More information on this setting can be found here.
• Variance Mode: this setting determines what date grouping is used in the Variance calculation. More information on this setting can be found here.

Finance Form Types

There are two types of forms used for Budget and Cost financial items:

1. Quick Create Form

2. Main: New/Edit Form

Transaction Grid Custom Control

To streamline the transaction creation for the user, we developed a custom control called Transaction Grid (see image below). We have encapsulated the Transaction Grid in a custom control that can be embedded on a Dynamics form allowing us to use it our Quick Create and New/Edit forms.

Transaction Type Security Locks

Specific Transaction Types can be locked in Altus, this means that this Transaction Type will not be available for users to enter in the Finance Grid. This doesn't limit any data from being synchronised into these fields by other means. For Example: if you Lock "Actuals" users cannot key Actuals into the Finance Grid, but any Actual feeds from LOB systems or timesheets are still able to be imported and will be visible in the Finance Grid.

Click + New Transaction Type Lock, this will open the fields you can select to lock a Transaction Type.

• Transaction Type: a drop-down list of all Transaction Types in the system
• Is Locked: a Yes/No toggle that if you select Yes will lock this transaction type
• Security Roles: you can select specific security roles from this field that will still be able to edit this transaction type even if it is locked.

Item Transaction Type Mappings

This setting allows custom Item Types to be mapped to Financial Transaction Types. This controls the items that display within the New button and the columns that display when you select this Type within the Financial Item form.

To set up this mapping, click New Item Transaction Type Mapping in the Configuration setting. This opens the following screen:

• Item Type: Out of the box, options include Cost and Budget, but you can add custom Item Types. This maps to the Type field on the Financial Item. To learn how to create new Item Types, follow the instructions below.
• Transaction Type: This is the Transaction Type you want to display within this Item Type. To learn how to create new Transaction Types, follow the instructions below.

Note

This feature allows you to modify the names of the out-of-the-box Item Types.

Note

A single Transaction Type can be mapped to multiple Item Types. If set up this way, the totals for that Transaction Type will be combined.

Creating Custom Item Types

1. In your solution click Add Existing > More > Choice.
   
   
2. Select Financial Item Type.
   
3. Add your new Financial Item to the Edit choice screen.
   
   

Note: these new items will not display in the finance grid until they are mapped.

Creating custom Transaction Types

Custom Transaction Types will appear in Altus Finance even without mapping them. By default, they will appear under the Cost item type.

1. In your solution click Add Existing > Table.
   
   
2. Select the Financial Transaction table and click Next.
   
   
3. Edit the objects and add the Type column.
   
   
4. Click Edit choice to edit the column in the table.
   
   
5. Add your new type to the list.
   
   

Fiscal Year Start Month Number

As organisations can have financial/fiscal years that start on different months, Altus has been set up to allow you to set exactly what the first month in their Fiscal Year is, through the FY Start Month Number configuration setting.

Finance Form Behaviour Setting

The default dynamics form we provide is called Details (see image below) which uses the Transaction Grid control will be used by default unless:

1. The customer has customised the Quick Create form previously to make use of the old code form (prior to December 2024).
2. The customer has configured the finance grid to use specific Dynamics forms previously for budget and cost items.

This ensures that new customers and those existing customers using a standard customised configuration will get the new Transaction Grid control. And customers who had customised the previous experience (prior to December 2024) will continue to get that until they migrate.

The Details form has been added to avoid any customisation layer issues on the existing Information form we had shipped previously that didn’t included the Transaction Grid control.

Form Name	Form Type	Using Transaction Grid	When was it released?
Quick Create	Quick Create	Yes	Prior to December 2024
Details	Main (for New and Edit items)	Yes	2024.12.10.4
Information	Main (for New and Edit items)	No	Prior to December 2024

Configure Financial forms to use

Both forms, Quick Create and Main (New/Edit), are configurable to add fields or custom fields. If the forms are not suitable for the customer needs, the alternative is to develop your own coded forms, based on the customer needs, and via configuration. You will then need to assign those coded forms to the specific Dynamics forms for Budget and Cost items (see image below Setting Finance > Form Behaviour).

Note

If you have done a coded form for Main (New/Edit) prior to December 2024, you would not have benefited from the Transaction Grid custom control that we made available in the Main (New/Edit) Form called Details. If so, and you wish to integrate the Transaction Grid in the Main (New/Edit) form, please refer to the section below.

Migration to Transaction Grid Latest Experience

For customers who have customisations and want to take advantage of the latest Transaction Grid, the options are as follows:

Quick Create Migration to Customer Coded Form

If the Quick Create form has been customised for the customer:

1. Replicate any custom columns added to the Quick Create form onto the new Details form.
2. Remove the customisation layer on the Quick Create.

Once there is no customisation layer on the Quick Create form the default experience will automatically take over.

Main Form Migration to Custom Dynamics forms users

If the Main form has been customised for the customer: Here we have 2 options:

1. Re-apply any customisations to the default Details form and remove the configured forms from the settings.
2. Add the Transaction Grid control to your existing forms as per the set up in the Details form.

Setting up Financials in Altus

Fiscal Periods

You can either manage your Financials in Altus by Calendar period or Fiscal period. Using Fiscal Periods will also allow an organisation to lock periods. Note: If an organisation is using Calendar periods but would like to lock periods, they will need to set up Fiscal Periods to mirror the calendar months.

To set up Fiscal periods you must have access to the Settings area of Altus, and it can be found on the left-nav. There are two ways to set them up:

• Once at a time, using the + New button, or
• Bulk Create

Note: Fiscal Periods must be given unique names.

Creating a single New Fiscal Period

• Period Name: The name of this fiscal period, this will show in the Finance grid and reports, so it should be sort and clear
• Period Start: The first day in the fiscal period
• Period Finish: The last day in the fiscal period
• Lock Fiscal Period: a True/False field that if set to True will lock the entry of new ALL financial items within this period
• Lock Actuals: a True/False field that if set to True will lock the entry of new Actual values within this period. This includes any Actual values coming from Timesheets, no new values will be entered into these closed periods
• Lock Forecasts: a True/False field that if set to True will lock the entry of new Forecast values within this period. This includes any Forecast Values from Resource Requests, no new values will be entered into these closed periods
• Lock Budgets: a True/False field that if set to True will lock the entry of new Budget values within this period

Note: These lock fields are used in conjunction with the overall Transaction Type locking found within the Finance - General Settings, but ultimately the settings in Finance - General Settings override these settings. For example: if you have locked the Actual Transaction Type fields in Finance - General Settings, whatever setting you set for Lock Actuals for the Fiscal Period won't change the fact that the Actuals are locked at the Transaction Type level.

Bulk Creation of Fiscal Periods

• Start Date: The starting date for the first period
• Period Duration: This determines how long the period should be by selecting a number then Week(s), Months(s) or Year(s)
• Number of Periods: You can select the number of periods to create
• Sequence seed: You can select a number that will become the beginning sequence number in the naming of the periods
• Name template: The naming convention you'd like to use when creating periods. There are some fields that you can use that will automatically calculate values for you when the periods are created:
  • Sequence: this relates to the Sequence Seed field value selected
  • Start: this will enter the start date of the period in the name
  • Finish: this will enter the finish date of the period in the name

Financial Grid Configuration and Functions

Adding columns to the Finance Grid

Any custom columns added to the Finance Grid will display to the left of the Totals column.

1. Navigate to the Active Financial Items View, and click Edit then Edit again, to edit the active financial items view in the customisation project layer
   
   
2. Click + View column and select the column you would like to add to the Finance Grid.