Job Forecasting at the Cost Category level

Start at the Job

To enter a forecast, first launch the Project Cost Scorecard report.

Once the report loads, select the job you want to build a forecast for by drilling down on either the Job to Date cost or the JTD Forecast at Complete number for that job. Note the date that you run the report will be the same date for which you are forecasting.

Once you have drilled down, you will be viewing the job at the Cost Category and the Cost Code Group. (This is the default view that has been chosen for this training. You have the ability to create your own view.)

Next, click the graph icon in the Forecast Builder Icon.

Once that is selected, the Forecast entry screen will appear.  This is where you will enter your Forecast AT  complete or TO complete by selecting that parameter at the top as seen below.

In this example, 'Forecast AT Complete' has been chosen. Notice in the middle section the “At Complete” is highlighted once this option has been selected. As you make entries to this cost code and categories the numbers will update here.

To make a forecast entry click the “Add Entry” button and a text box appears in the Description field. Here is where you enter the description for your forecast entry, then tab to enter the “Unit Description”, Units, $/Unit, and then the Total will be calculated.  See the example entries below. Also, note in the middle section the Forecast at Complete reflects the pending entry and gives you a comparison to your prior forecast.

Each new entry in the forecast will be shown in the Forecast Adj column. The total column is a calculated field. To save, click the “Save & Go to Next Forecast” button. Prior to doing this, if you would like to enter a note about your forecast entry that can be done in the notes field — see below.

Once the entry has been completed, click the save and close panel button.  Once saved, return to the Cost Code level of the report and the column entered will be highlighted in blue to let you know that it has been modified.  From here other cost codes can be updated.

Above you see the updated forecast which has been increased by $50.  Additionally, the Is Anterra Forecast field has been updated with a target. This indicates that the last forecast number was entered in Anterra. You can open and close the Forecast Builder with the arrow on the right hand side of the screen.

Additional Features

Within the Forecast Entry screen, you can review previous forecasts by clicking the “Previous Forecast” button as well as review previous notes by clicking the “Past Notes” button. 

In the screen below, the “Past Notes” button has been selected, and the screen below pops up showing past note entries. Highlighted in yellow is the entry made as part of this training guide. To close, click the “close past notes” button.

To review the previous forecast, click the “Previous Forecast” button and will roll back through the previous dates the entries were made. 

Editing a Forecast Entry

To edit a forecast entry simply click on the column you want to edit and either adjust using the arrows or type in the new entry. Once you are done, click save and the entry will be adjusted.

In this example, the Unit has been adjusted up from 1 to 2 by typing in the new number. This added another 50$ to the forecast.  Click “Save & Close Panel” to update the forecast. See below where the forecast has been updated to $5,017,200.

Delete an entry

To Delete an entry simply click the trash can icon and follow the same process as above.

Notes Entry Field

Multiple notes can be added to a single forecast for a single day by one or more users.

Notes, once added, cannot be edited, only additional notes can be added.

Each note is date/time-stamped with who the author was along with the note itself and the date/time stamps are shown.

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