Altus enables you to monitor project financial performance by comparing:

• Budget, representing planned expenditure
• Forecast, representing expected future expenditure
• Actuals, representing realised expenditure
• Estimate at Completion (EAC), representing the expected total cost at project completion
• Variance, highlighting differences between planned and expected or realised expenditure

The Financials grid provides a time-phased view of project financial data, helping you identify overspend, underspend, forecast changes, and emerging financial risks.

Variance tracking supports:

• Project financial control
• Status reporting
• Forecast reviews
• Governance discussions
• Portfolio and program oversight

Important:
Financial processes, reporting periods, approval requirements, and calculation methods may vary according to your organisation’s configuration. Always follow your internal financial governance process where it differs from this article.

Access the Financials Grid

1. Open the required Project.
2. Navigate to Information.
3. Select the Financials tab.

The Financials grid provides a consolidated view of the project’s:

• Budgets
• Forecasts
• Actuals
• EAC
• Variance
• Financial categories
• Time-phased transactions

The available transaction types, columns, groupings, and editing options may vary according to your organisation’s configuration and your access permissions.

Understand the Financial Measures

Budget

Budget represents the approved or planned cost for the project.

Budget values provide the baseline against which Forecast, Actual, EAC, and Variance can be assessed.

Forecast

Forecast represents the expected future cost of delivering the project.

Forecast values should be reviewed and updated as delivery assumptions, resource requirements, supplier costs, or project timelines change.

Actuals

Actuals represent costs that have already occurred.

Depending on your organisation’s setup, Actuals may come from:

• Approved timesheets
• Non-labour cost entries
• External schedules or financial systems
• Manually created financial transactions
• Configured import processes

Estimate at Completion

EAC represents the expected total project cost at completion.

Depending on configuration, Altus can use EAC when presenting the project’s overall variance.

Variance

Variance measures the difference between Budget and the relevant Actual, Forecast, or EAC value.

It helps identify whether the project is expected to remain within its approved financial position.

Where Variance Is Displayed

Variance is displayed directly in the Financials grid alongside the project’s Budget, Forecast, and Actual values.

The grid calculates Variance across the visible months or fiscal periods, providing immediate visibility of:

• Historical financial performance
• Current forecast position
• Expected future expenditure
• Overall financial outcome

Variance is also available through Insights reports for broader project, program, and portfolio analysis.

Understand Time-Based Variance

The period-level Variance calculation changes according to whether the displayed month or fiscal period is in the past, current, or future.

Past Months or Fiscal Periods

Variance = Budget − Actual

Past periods use Actuals because the expenditure for those periods should already be known.

Current and Future Months or Fiscal Periods

Variance = Budget − Forecast

Current and future periods use Forecast because the final expenditure has not yet been fully realised.

This means:

• Historical periods reflect actual financial performance.
• The current period reflects the expected financial position.
• Future periods reflect projected expenditure.

Important:
The Finance Form Behaviour setting determines how Altus identifies the current month or fiscal period.

Understand the Overall Variance Calculation

Altus supports different configured methods for the overall Variance displayed in the Financials grid.

Budget Minus Estimate at Completion

Variance = Budget − EAC

This method compares the approved Budget with the total expected project cost at completion.

Use this method to understand whether the project is expected to finish above or below Budget.

Budget Minus Forecast

Variance = Budget − Forecast

This method compares the approved Budget with the current Forecast.

Use this method to monitor the predicted financial position throughout delivery.

Important:
Your organisation’s Finance Grid configuration determines which overall Variance method is used. Confirm the configured method before interpreting or communicating the result.

Interpret Variance Values

Where costs are being monitored:

• A positive Variance generally indicates that expenditure is below Budget.
• A negative Variance generally indicates that expenditure exceeds Budget.
• A zero Variance indicates that the comparison value equals the Budget.

Variance can help identify:

• Actual cost overruns
• Forecast increases
• Budget pressure
• Changes in delivery assumptions
• Areas requiring corrective action or stakeholder attention

Tip:
Always interpret Variance alongside the Budget, Forecast, Actuals, reporting period, and configured calculation method. A Variance value without this context may be misleading.

Adjust the Financials Grid View

The Financials grid can aggregate transactions according to the selected time period.

For example, the grid may display financial values by:

• Month
• Fiscal period
• Year
• Another configured zoom level

A value displayed in one grid cell may therefore represent several underlying transactions within that period.

Tip:
Select the time scale that best suits the review. Use a more detailed period for operational analysis and a broader period for higher-level reporting.

Group Financial Data

The Financials grid can display records:

• Without grouping
• Grouped by Financial Category

Ungrouped View

In the ungrouped view, records are sorted by Financial Type:

1. Budgets, sorted alphabetically by Name
2. Costs, including Forecasts and Actuals, sorted alphabetically by Name

Grouped by Financial Category

When grouped by category:

• Financial Categories appear in an expandable structure.
• Parent categories appear above their subcategories.
• Records are grouped beneath the relevant category.
• Budgets appear before Costs within each category.
• Records are then sorted alphabetically by Name.

Tip:
Use Financial Category grouping to review related Budget, Forecast, and Actual values together, such as labour, technology, supplier, capital, or operational expenditure.

Edit Financial Data in the Grid

Where enabled, financial values can be edited directly in the Financials grid.

A displayed grid value may be the aggregate of several underlying transactions. When an aggregated value is changed, Altus adjusts the underlying transactions that make up that value.

For example, if several Forecast transactions are represented by one monthly total, changing that total in the grid updates the underlying Forecast transactions when the change is saved.

Important:
Because changes are distributed across the underlying transactions, editing an aggregated value may alter several transactions rather than a single record.

For precise control over individual transactions, open the relevant Cost Item or Budget Item form and amend the transaction values directly.

Understand New, Zero, and Deleted Cell Values

When editing in the grid:

• Entering a value into an empty cell creates a new transaction.
• The new transaction is placed on the first date of the displayed aggregated period.
• Changing an aggregated value to zero sets the underlying transaction values to zero.
• Removing the value from the cell and saving deletes all underlying transactions represented by that cell.

Warning:
Clearing an aggregated cell is not the same as changing its value to zero. When the cleared cell is saved, all underlying transactions represented by that cell are deleted.

Understand Negative Transaction Values

Positive and negative transactions are treated using the same distribution method when an aggregated grid value is changed.

Because the adjustment is distributed across the underlying transactions, editing an aggregate containing negative values may cause:

• A positive transaction to become negative
• A negative transaction to become positive

For greater control, update the individual transactions through the Financial Item form rather than changing the aggregate directly in the grid.

Understand Locked Financial Cells

A Finance Grid cell may be locked and unavailable for editing when:

• In-grid editing has been disabled.
• You have read-only access to the Project.
• The Transaction Type is locked at Project level.
• The Transaction Type is locked at Financial Item level.
• The Transaction Type is locked through the Finance Grid configuration.
• The Fiscal Period is locked.
• One or more transactions contributing to the aggregated value are locked.

Tip:
If a cell cannot be edited, first confirm your Project permissions, the Fiscal Period status, and whether the relevant Transaction Type or Financial Item has been locked.

Keep Forecasts and Actuals Current

Accurate Variance depends on current and reliable source data.

Review and update:

• Approved Budget values
• Resource Forecasts
• Non-labour Forecasts
• Approved timesheet Actuals
• Non-labour Actuals
• External cost information
• Financial categories
• Transaction dates

Where configured, Resource Forecasts and Timesheet Actuals can be reviewed and imported through the Data menu.

Important:
Forecast and Actual information may not update the Financials grid automatically. Follow your organisation’s defined import and financial reporting process.

Export the Financials Grid to CSV

You can export Finance Grid data for analysis or reporting.

1. Open the project’s Financials tab.
2. Select the Data menu.
3. Select Export to CSV.
4. Save or open the resulting CSV file.

The exported file:

• Displays the data vertically, even if the grid was viewed horizontally.
• Uses the timeline zoom level currently selected in the grid.
• Groups exported data by the displayed Month, Year, or other period.
• Does not include grouped total rows.
• Breaks nested Financial Categories into individual category fields.
• Uses the Category field to show the lowest-level category assigned to the Financial Item.

Tip:
Set the required timeline zoom level before exporting. The selected Month, Year, or other period view determines how the CSV data is grouped.

Track Variance in Insights

Financial information is also surfaced in Altus Insights reports.

Depending on the reports available to you, Insights can provide:

Project-Level Analysis

• Budget, Forecast, and Actual comparisons
• EAC
• Variance
• Financial trends across periods

Program and Portfolio Analysis

• Aggregated financial performance
• Project-level financial comparisons
• Areas of forecast overspend
• Broader financial risks and trends

Important:
Insights visibility depends on your Altus security access, Power BI workspace access, licensing, and the reports deployed in your environment.

Use Variance in Project Reporting

Variance should be reviewed as part of the regular project reporting cycle.

When reporting financial progress:

1. Confirm Budget values are accurate.
2. Import or update the latest Forecasts.
3. Import or update approved Actuals.
4. Review period-level Variance.
5. Review overall Variance using the configured calculation.
6. Investigate significant differences.
7. Reflect material financial risks in the project status narrative.
8. Escalate required decisions through the appropriate governance process.

Tip:
A negative Variance should not be reported without context. Explain the cause, expected impact, corrective action, and any support or decision required.

How Financial Information Connects

The project’s financial lifecycle can be understood as:

Budget → Forecast → Actual → EAC → Variance

• Budget establishes the planned financial position.
• Forecast reflects expected expenditure.
• Actual records realised expenditure.
• EAC represents expected total cost at completion.
• Variance highlights the difference between Budget and the relevant comparison value.

Keeping each component current provides a more reliable view of project financial health.

Key Considerations

• Period Variance changes between Budget minus Actual and Budget minus Forecast according to the current period.
• The overall Variance method is determined by configuration.
• A grid cell may represent multiple underlying transactions.
• Editing an aggregate may change every transaction represented by the cell.
• Clearing a cell deletes its underlying transactions after saving.
• Locked Fiscal Periods and Transaction Types prevent changes.
• Financial Category grouping supports structured analysis.
• The CSV export follows the selected timeline zoom level.
• Exported CSV files do not include grouped total rows.
• Reliable Variance depends on accurate Budgets, current Forecasts, and approved Actuals.
• Financial processes may differ according to organisational configuration.