In Next Project, you manage your project forecasts; you can create as many forecasts as you want and have the ability to see changes and developments in forecasts continuously.
Toolbar
In the toolbar in the forecast tab, there are the following buttons:
+ | Create a new forecast. |
Save button | Save the selected forecast. |
Delete button | Delete a forecast |
Update forecast: | Reads all costs and revenues for the selected period and updates the forecast with any changes. |
Print forecast. |
The forecast is a tool with a lot of information; below is a summary of all the columns and their significance in the forecast. We start with the upper columns shown on the forecast row.
Column | Description |
Note | Possibility to make a note on the forecast. |
Created | The date the forecast was created. |
Created by | The creator of the forecast. |
Changed | The date the forecast was modified. |
Changed by | The person who modified the forecast. |
Locked | A locked forecast cannot be changed. |
Active | An active forecast is the one used for monitoring. It serves as the basis for Revenue recognition (SVA) and is the forecast displayed on the project card and in the project overview in Next Project. |
Lock Date | The date when the forecast was locked. |
Approved 1 | Approved by. |
Approved 2 | Approved by. |
Period | The period to which the forecast refers. |
Version | The version of the forecast, multiple versions can exist for the same period. |
Budget revision | Displays which budget revision the forecast is created upon |
Period Start | The date which the forecast includes costs and revenues from. |
Period End | The date which the forecast includes costs and revenues to. |
Booked Cost | Total booked costs in the forecast up to the period date. |
Booked Revenue | Total booked revenue in the forecast up to the period date. |
Remaining Cost | Budgeted cost minus booked cost for the period. |
Remaining Revenue | Budgeted revenue minus booked revenue for the period. |
Current forecast cost | Forecast Completion cost total according to the reconciled forecast. |
Current forecast revenue | Forecast Completion revenue total according to the reconciled forecast. |
Forecast CM | Contribution margin based on FC cost and revenue. |
Forecast CM% | Contribution margin percentage based on FC cost and revenue. Forms the basis for the SVA calculation in Next Project. |
Percentage of completion | Successive Profit Deduction. Basis for the accounting of SVA. Calculated as Booked cost in the period / (1-FC CM%). |
Previous forecast cost | Previous forecast total costs. |
Previous forecast revenue | Previous forecast total revenue. |
Previous forecast Contribution Margin | Previous forecast contribution margin. |
Previous forecast CM% | Previous forecast contribution margin percentage. |
Previous Percentage of completion | Previous forecast SVA. |
Comment | Ability to write a comment on the forecast.
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Forecast views
When creating a forecast the standard view will be Account standard.
Views can at any time be switched. The choices are all the combinations of Account, Activity and Location. Even though the views can be switched at any time it is strongly recommended that adjustments are only done in one of these views per forecast.
Cost/Revenue
When a budget is created as described in "Link to Activity based budget", you can now create a forecast. In Next Project, we recommend starting your forecasting work by creating an initial forecast we call the "baseline" forecast. This forecast should not include any booked costs but is an "empty" forecast that aligns with our budget in the project. The reason for creating a baseline forecast is to be able to track the development of the forecast from day one of the project.
The forecast provides us with the ability to:
Monitor a project's finances over time
Analyze accounts in a budget
Manage VO (Additional Work)
Handle various forms of cost adjustments
Make final cost adjustments
Provide a basis for SVA (Successive Profit Deduction)
Create a forecast
To create a forecast, follow these steps – the process is the same whether you are creating a baseline forecast or a "regular" forecast during the project. The difference is that in the baseline forecast, you ensure that no costs or revenues are included in the forecast, manage this in step 4 below.
Go to the Forecast tab.
Press + to create a new forecast.
Fill in the Period to indicate which period the forecast refers to. This has nothing to do with costs/revenues but is only information about when the forecast is made and which period it refers to.
Fill in the period dates. This is the date period which you want to include booked costs and revenues. If, for example, you are doing a forecast reconciliation until the end of September, the period date should be, for example, 2022-09-30. For the baseline forecast: The date should be before the first date there are booked costs or revenues in the project. Check the Booked Cost/Rev tab in Next Project to see which is the first date with booked costs if you are unsure. Alternatively, you can set the dates far back in time to ensure that no transactions are included.
Save. Now you can start reconciling your accounts to assess remaining costs and revenues in your forecast. See the section below.
Reconciling costs and revenues in a forecast
After creating a forecast, Next Project will retrieve all costs and revenues booked on each account for the period. All accounts are listed in the forecast, and here you can reconcile procurement, final costs, etc.
In the forecast tab, there are numerous columns – below is a summary and description of these:
Section | Column | Description |
| Note |
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| Warning |
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| Activity |
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| Location |
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| Account Number | Account Number |
Calculation | Tender estimate | Tender estimate from the Budget tab |
Calculation | Adjustment | Adjusted amount from the Budget tab |
Current Budget | Production budget | Production budget from the budget (Tender estimate + Adjusted) |
Current Budget | VO 1 | Budgeted VO of cost regulation type 1 |
Current Budget | VO 2 | Budgeted VO of cost regulation type 2 |
Current Budget | VO total | Total budgeted VO |
Current Budget | Current Production budget | Production budget + VO Budget |
Current Budget | Budget hours | Hours in budget: Resource with unith (h), Qty, and an account with work attribute. |
Procurement | Budget Procurement | Budgeted total from procurement |
Procurement | Contract sum | Purchased total from procurement |
Procurement | Profit | Procurement profit |
Booked | Sum booked | Total booked cost on the account |
Booked | Booked WO | Booked costs on the project excluding booked VO costs |
Booked | Booked VO | Total VO cost on the account |
Booked | Booked hours | Summary of the booked hours |
Booked | Total booked | Total booked cost |
Remaining | Production budget | Current production budget - total booked cost |
Remaining | Forecast | Column for reconciling the remaining cost of the account according to your assessment – you can write directly or reconcile in the reconciliation. |
Remaining | Forecast (incl VO) | Column for reconciling the remaining VO cost of the account according to your assessment – you can write directly. |
Forecast | Calculated end cost | Calculated End-of-Project Forecast on the account according to reconciliation. |
Forecast | Previous SLP | Calculated previous End-of-Project Forecast on the account according to reconciliation, looking at the previous forecast. |
Deviation from Budget | Deviation against Budget | Deviation on the account (Remaining from budget compared to your forecast). Calculated remaining from budget minus SLP. |
Deviation from Budget | Previous forecast | Deviation from the previous forecast |
Calculated Cost | Calculated cost from the Estimate |
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Adjustment | Adjustment of the estimated cost |
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Production Budget | Cost budget for the project excluding VO | Calculated Cost + Adjustment |
VO 1 | Costs budgeted for type VO 1 | Sum of costs for all VO with cost adjustment 1 |
VO 2 | Costs budgeted for type VO 1 | Sum of costs for all VO with cost adjustment 1 |
VO Total | Costs for all VO in the project | Sum of VO 1 and VO 2 |
Current Production Budget | Cost budget for the project including VO | Production Budget + VO total |
Budget Hours | Budgeted working hours in the project |
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Budget for procurements | Procurement Budget | From the Procurement module |
Agreed Amount | Cost of the procurement as per agreement | From the procurement module |
Procurement Profit
| Profit for the current procurement | Procurement Budget - Agreed Amount |
VO 1 | Booked costs with cost adjustment VO 1 | Sum of costs for all VO with cost adjustment 1 |
VO 2 | Booked costs with cost adjustment VO 2 | Sum of costs for all VO with cost adjustment 2 |
VO 3 | Booked costs with cost adjustment VO 3 | Sum of costs for all VO with cost adjustment 3 |
Total Booked | All booked costs | Sum of all booked costs |
Excl VO | All booked costs except VO, i.e., on work orders | Total Booked - VO total |
VO total |
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Reconcile Cost Account
To reconcile an account in the forecast, you can do it in two different ways.
Manually enter remaining cost in the column:
Click in the "Forecast" box and enter your estimated remaining cost.
Press Tab or click in the next cell to proceed.
If you press Enter, Next Project will always choose the value in the "Remaining from Budget" column, which is Next Project's calculated remaining cost based on Budget minus Booked.
Reconcile the cost/revenue via the Reconciliation dialog:
Here, you can perform a deeper reconciliation where you can see a comprehensive view of all costs on the specific account. See the section below.
Work with Detailed Account Reconciliation via the Reconciliation Dialog
In the account reconciliation, you can get an overview of an account you are working with in the forecast. Here, you can see more information about events and the plan for purchases on the account.
The dialog consists of several fields:
Production Budget: The total budget for the account, including VO.
Forecast Comment: Comment on the account linked to the forecast. Also displayed in the budget.
Procurement Box: All procurement related items linked to the account. It shows the budget, procurement profit, and procurement total for procurements on the current account.
Payment Plan Box: When reconciling cost accounts, any established payment plan with the supplier is displayed. See the Procurement section for more information.
Booked Box: Shows all transactions on the account.
VO Box: Displays the VO where there are calculated order lines where the current account is included.
Own Adjustments Box: Possibility to make ongoing cost adjustments to the account, affecting the outcome and forecast of the account.
Summary Box: Production Budget: Budget including adjustments and VO; VO: VO budget on the account; Current Budget: Production Budget + VO; Own Adjustments: Cost adjustments made in the Own Adjustments box; Forecast: Current forecast for the account; Booked: All booked costs on the account; Remaining: Remaining costs on the account, including own adjustments.
You can easily step between accounts to reconcile one by one. When an adjustment to an account is made in Own Adjustments, the field in the Forecast view is locked.
Reconcile Revenues:
To reconcile project revenues in the forecast, click on the Revenues tab, select the revenue account, and click on Show Reconciliation.
If you are working with a payment plan, you have the opportunity to reconcile your payment plan in a convenient way. Similar to costs, you can see VO, booked revenues, and make adjustments.
Lock and Set Forecast as Active:
When you have finished the forecast and have reconciled all the accounts on the cost and revenue sides, lock the forecast and set it as active. It will then be the applicable forecast for the project and will be reflected in the Project Overview and on the Project Card. SVA will also be linked to the current forecast.
To lock the forecast, click in the "Locked" box, and you will be asked if you want to save and set the forecast as active. Answer Yes if that is the case. You can always unlock the forecast later.
Print Forecast
In Next Project, there is a forecast report that you can print or download. You can find it under the PDF button in the Forecast tab. You have several choices around it, including showing procurement items, estimates, and deviations. You can also download the forecast or email it directly from Next Project. The forecast report does not show markups and should be considered as an internal forecast report.
