Understand budget and forecast calculated columns

The Budget Details and Forecast Details pages include calculated columns that help you compare the latest planning values with baseline and previous planning values.

These columns are automatically populated by the application after budget or forecast data is added, imported, or loaded from Cost Transparency.

The calculated columns help you understand:

The latest total value for the budget or forecast item.
How the latest value compares with the baseline.
How the latest value compares with the previous forecast or previous planning value.
Whether the current value has increased or decreased.

Where these columns appear

These columns appear in the grid on the Budget Details or Forecast Details page.

For example, on the Budget Details page, you may see columns such as:

Latest Budget
Latest vs Baseline
Latest vs Previous

The exact column names may vary depending on whether you are viewing a budget or forecast.

How the values are calculated

The application calculates these values from the monthly planning entries available for the selected budget or forecast item.

For example, if values are entered from January through December, the application sums the monthly values and displays the total in the latest budget or forecast column.

If baseline or previous planning values are available, the application compares the current latest value against those values.

Budget calculated columns

The following columns are commonly available on the Budget Details page.

Column name	Description
Group	Shows how the budget table is organized. You can group budget or forecast data using different fields (for example, Cost Center, Account, or Vendor). By default, the table is grouped by Cost Center.
Account	Displays the account name linked to each budget item.
Vendor	Shows the vendor name associated with the budget item.
Assumption	Used to capture any assumptions made while creating or adjusting the budget item (for example, expected usage changes or contract assumptions).
Notes	Used to add additional comments or explanations related to the budget item.
Baseline	Represents the previous year’s budget when data is loaded from Cost Transparency (CT), allowing you to compare current budget with last year’s budget. If baseline data is available from CT, it will be displayed in Baseline column. If not, the value defaults to zero.
Forecast	Represents the previous year’s forecast when data is pulled from CT, allowing you to compare the current budget with the previous forecast. Shown if the forecast data is available. Otherwise, the value defaults to zero.
Latest Budget	The total budget amount for the current forecast, calculated by summing the values from January through December that you have entered or updated.
Latest vs Baseline	Shows how the current budget compares to the baseline. Positive value: Budget has increased compared to the baseline. Negative value: Budget has decreased compared to the baseline. Calculation: Latest Budget − Baseline
Latest vs Previous	Shows how the current budget compares to the previous forecast. Positive value: Budget is higher than the previous forecast. Negative value: Budget is lower than the previous forecast. Calculation: Latest Budget − Forecast
Expense Type	Indicates whether the budget item is classified as: CapEx (Capital Expenditure), or OpEx (Operational Expenditure)

Forecast calculated columns

The following columns are commonly available on the Forecast Details page.

Column name	Description
Group	Shows how the forecast table is organized. You can group forecast data using different fields (for example, Cost Center, Account, or Vendor). By default, the table is grouped by Cost Center.
Account	Displays the account name linked to each forecast item.
Vendor	Shows the vendor name associated with the forecast item.
Assumption	Used to capture any assumptions made while creating or adjusting the forecast item (for example, expected usage changes or contract assumptions).
Notes	Used to add additional comments or explanations related to the forecast item.
Baseline	When forecast data is loaded from CT: If an existing forecast has already been moved into CT, that value is used as the baseline. If no forecast is available, the budget for that year is used as the baseline. If the forecast is not loaded from CT, the baseline value is zero.
Previous Forecast	Displays the previous forecast amount used for comparison. When data is loaded from CT: If an earlier forecast exists and has been moved into CT, that value is shown here. Otherwise, the budget for that year is used. If not loaded from CT, the value defaults to zero.
YTD Spend	Shows the Year-to-Date spend, calculated as the sum of CT spend for locked months. Locked months automatically reflect actual spend pulled from CT. Locked months cannot be edited.
Remaining Forecast	Represents the portion of the previous forecast that is remaining after accounting for YTD spend. Calculation: Previous Forecast − YTD Spend
Latest Forecast	The total forecast amount for the current cycle, calculated as the sum of the January through December values that you have updated.
Latest vs Baseline	Shows how the current forecast compares to the baseline. Positive value: Forecast has increased compared to the baseline. Negative value: Forecast has decreased compared to the baseline. Calculation: Latest Forecast − Baseline
Latest vs Previous	Shows how the latest forecast compares to the previous forecast. Positive value: Forecast is higher than the previous forecast. Negative value: Forecast is lower than the previous forecast. Calculation: Latest Forecast − Previous Forecast

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