Budget forecasts

A forecast is an amount you expect on a given day — a planned expense or revenue. A budget item can have many forecasts spread over time. Their total is the item’s Forecast. The budget timeline shows how forecasts are distributed across periods.

Adding a forecast

On the Budget tab, click an item name to open its panel.
In the forecasts section, click Add forecast.
Enter the amount and choose a date.

If you leave the date empty, the application uses today’s date. When the item is linked to the schedule, the forecast date comes from the task and cannot be edited — you will see the hint Date comes from schedule item and is not editable.

Note: forecasts are added to regular items. A group item has no forecasts of its own — it adds up the forecasts of its sub-items. An amount can have at most two decimal places.

Shifting forecasts in time

When spending moves in time, you do not have to correct each forecast separately.

Open the item menu (right-click in the list, or the menu in the item panel) and choose Shift forecasts in time.
Enter how far to shift the forecasts, in days or months. A negative value moves them back.
Click Shift.

All of the item’s forecasts that are not linked to the schedule are shifted. The amounts stay the same. Forecasts linked to tasks are left alone, because their dates follow the schedule anyway. The shift is recorded in the item history.

Removing past forecasts

Forecasts from past periods that never materialized inflate the budget. You can zero them out in one go.

To cover the whole budget, click Settings above the budget list. To cover one item and its sub-items, open that item’s menu.
Choose Zero out past forecasts. The window lists the forecasts concerned and their total.
Click Zero out.

Past periods are those before the current one, in the scale selected on the timeline. Actuals and the baseline stay the same.

Note: zeroed forecasts are removed from the item rather than kept with an amount of 0. If there is nothing to zero out, you will see No past forecasts to zero out.

Assign budget item to schedule

Assign a budget item to a schedule item from the budget list

Go to your project’s Budget tab and hover over the budget item you want to link.
Click the three-dot symbol that appears.
From the options, select Assign to schedule.

Assign a budget item to a schedule item from the budget item panel

On the Budget tab, click the name of the item you want to link.
In the panel that opens, click the three-dot symbol.
From the options, select Assign to schedule.

Selecting the schedule item to link

After selecting Assign to schedule, the Link to the schedule item window opens.
Click the Schedule item box. A window with a list of schedule items opens.
Select the schedule item you want to link to the budget item.
Click Confirm. The selected task/milestone name appears in the Schedule item field.
Optionally, toggle the Date comes from schedule dates box and specify the difference in days between the start or end date of the selected schedule item.
Click Save. On the panel of a budget item that has been linked to a schedule, the added link is visible in the Schedule section. If Date comes from schedule dates is checked, a symbol of two intertwining hoops is visible next to the date of the budget item (on the panel and in the budget list). The date cannot be edited.

Budget items on the project Schedule tab

Budget items associated with a schedule item are communicated on the schedule list, in the Budget column, in the form of a dollar icon with a corresponding circle color. Budget items that do not have a Base Plan value, or whose amount is equal to the Base Plan value, are represented by a gray circle. Budget items whose amount is less than the Base Plan value are represented by a green circle. Budget items whose amount is greater than the Base Plan value are represented by a red circle.

Budget items that have been linked to a schedule are shown on the linked schedule item panel, in the Budget section.