Budget Tab
Define the number of hours a Sub Project will take to complete using Staff Rates and expense estimates for staff cash rates, and Supplier and Sub contractor bills. Breakdown the budget further by adding tasks and staff detail. Use the project budget to help calculate a project fee when creating a new project. Compare the budget hours against the actual time allocated to staff timesheets.
Tips:
- If using different charge out rates, ensure
the Rate Group or specific
rates have been setup before creating the budget.
- Staff entry to a Budget item is only available if the Resource and Capacity Management module is enabled (* Synergy Enterprise clients*).
- Learn more about how to add budgets to Sub Project Templates.
- The Project Plan tab is only shown if the Resource and Capacity Management module is enabled. If this module is OFF, then the Sub Projects Tab will be shown, but the Project Plan, Work Breakdown and Schedule tabs are not shown. Contact the Total Synergy Support Team to request the Resource and Capacity Management module.
Create
budget
Create your budget with basic budget value totals only using the 'Lump Sum' method. Or start to add detail to your budget using rates, tasks, and staff member details. Choose one of the following methods to create the project budget.
Enter the budget for a rate
- Select the Add budget button.
- Each sub project will be displayed in the grid with
all your charge out rates including Office Items etc.
- Click into the Budget units field adjacent to the item
you wish to create a budget for.
Click on the image above to view a larger version. Type the number of hours for each budget line and save the entry.
- For supplier, sub contractors, and cash expenses
enter a cost estimate.
- For travel and office items
enter a number of units.
- Save.
Enter the budget for a specific task 
NEW 4.8
Define the rate, task, and the staff member who will complete the task. Use Tasks in the project budget to outline how the overall Sub Project budget is allocated towards the many tasks involved to complete the work. If you have several staff members involved in a task, then create a budget entry for each staff member and list the number of hours they expect to take to complete the task.
Learn more about Sub Project Tasks setup.
Complete the following steps
- Click into the 'Sub Project' field next to the .
- Select a Sub Project.
- Select a Rate.
- Select a Task.
- (Optional) Need a different task? Select 'create new task' from the task drop down list and enter the task name into the pop-up box.
- (Optional) Select which staff member will be completing the task.
- Enter the 'Budget Units' or 'Rate / Unit' for the selected rate.
- Repeat this step for each Sub Project Task required to be included in the budget.
- Save
.
Click on the image above to view a larger version.
The purple row shows a budget line with the task entered, and the orange row shows a budget entry with the task and staff member entered.
Tip: Tasks can only be entered for Staff and Inspection rate types.
Enter the budget for a staff member NEW 4.8
If you have several staff members involved in a sub project or a task, then create a budget entry for each staff member. List the number of hours they expect to take to complete their Sub Project Tasks as part of your project budget.
Complete the following steps
- Click into the 'Sub Project' field next to the .
- Select a Sub Project.
- Select a Rate.
- (Optional) Select a Task.
- Select which staff member will be competing the work.
- Enter the 'Budget Units' or 'Rate / Unit' for the selected rate.
- Save .
Click on the image above to view a larger version.
The purple row shows a budget row with the task and staff member assigned, the orange row has just the staff member assigned.
Tips:
- Staff members can only be selected for Staff and Inspection rate types.
- The staff members shown are restricted to only display:
- Staff that are setup to use the rate in Staff and Application Security List.
- Are valid for the office location the project has been created for.
- Are part of the project team.
Enter $0 budget checklist items NEW 4.8.8
Sub Project often have a list of tasks that need to be completed for a project that do not require to have time or money included for them in the budget. These items are commonly a checklist of items that must be completed for a Sub Project. The checklist items can be setup as custom task. The custom tasks can then be used as $0 value budget items. The checklist items are marked as completed for the sub project in the Work Breakdown tab.
Add $0 budget items to the budget by:
- Open the Project > Sub Project > Tasks tab.
- Add the checklist items as 'custom tasks'. Learn more about Sub Project Tasks.
- Save the added custom tasks.
Click the image above to see custom and default tasks setup on a Sub Project.
- Go to the Sub Project > Budget tab.
- Click the 'Add Budget' button.
- Add the $0 budget item row by:
- Select a rate for the person who should confirm this checklist item is completed.
- Select the custom task from the drop down list.
Note: If the task is not in the list choose 'create new task' to add it now. - (Optional) Select the staff member who is responsible for confirm this work is completed.
- Repeat for each required checklist item.
- Save.
Click the image above to view the $0 budget checklist items.
- After the work has been done use the Work Breakdown tab to mark the work as 'complete. Learn more about using the work breakdown tab.
Click the image above to view completed budget items in the Work Breakdown tab.
Tip: Resource Management needs to be enabled on your Synergy license for the Work Breakdown tab to be shown. Contact Synergy Support on 61 2 8197 9000 if you would like to get this feature enabled.
Update the Budget
Edit the budget
Edit budget - 4.9.4 release or higher NEW 4.9.4
The project budget can be amended if the system setting for editing sub project budgets is enabled by your system administrator in Tools > System
Settings > Sub
projects. If this setting is Off then changes to the sub project budget lines is not supported.
User can update the project budget when a sub project is set to Proposal or Active status. The following changes are supported:
- Edit the rate and task. NEW 4.9.4
- Edit the staff member assigned to complete the task. (* Part of the Resource Management module). NEW 4.9.4
- Edit the units or value of the budget line.
- Delete budget lines.
Use the filter 'Proposal and Active' on the Project Budget tab, to see all the budget lines that can be edited at once. Updates to the budget can be completed when the 'show actuals' view is enabled. NEW 4.9.4
Changes to the sub project on the budget line are not supported. If this change is required please delete the existing row, and enter a new budget row for the right sub project.
Tips:
- When Phases are ON extra filter options are available, and totals for the values shown are shown on each phase row. NEW 4.9.4
- The
budget cannot be modified while 'Show Actuals' is turned on.
Edit budget - 4.9.3 release or prior
The project budget can be edited
when the project status is set to proposal, and new budget items can be added when the status is Active.
If the system setting for editing sub project budgets is enabled by your system administrator in Tools > System
Settings > Sub
projects, then the users make the following changes to the project budget when the sub project status is set to 'active ':
- Edit the units or value of the budget line.
- Delete budget lines.
Changes to the rate, task, or staff* (* Resource Management module feature) are not allowed on any existing lines. If this is required then delete the line and re-enter a new budget line. Changes to the sub project on the budget line are not supported.
Tip: The
budget cannot be modified while 'Show Actuals' is turned on.
Refresh the budget 
NEW 4.8.8
By default the budget values are shown using the Rates setup within Practice > Rates List. If you need to discount / mark-up the default rates for a project you can do this using the Project > Rates tab by adding specific rates to the project. This is also possible on the Sub Project > Rates tab, if you only need to discount / mark-up one section of the project work on the invoice.
Update your project budget values to use the specific rates. This will ensure that you project budget reflects the true values that you plan to invoice out each section of the project.
Update the project budget by:
- Open the Project > Budget tab.
- The entered budget is shown using the default rate values (setup in Practice > Rates).
- The Associate Director rate needs to be discounted to $130 from the default value of $150. This discount needs to be applied to all the Sub Projects.
Click the image above to see the Associate Director rate in the budget.
- Go to the Project > Rates tab.
- Locate the 'Associate Director' rate in the list and check the 'Specific' rates box.
- Type the new discounted rate value of $130.
- Save.
Click the image above to see the specific project rate.
- Go to the Project > Budget tab.
- To apply the 'specific rate' to the budget click the 'Refresh Budget ' button in the toolbar.
- The budget values have all been updated to apply any project or sub project level specific rates. This ensures that your budget is a match for the values you plan to invoice at for the project.
Click the image above to view the updated project budget.
Using Budget Templates
Budget Templates are a great way of creating
budgets quickly. Copy the budget team and number of units defined in the template into the Sub Project. Create a different budget template for each common task or group of tasks that are completed for your projects. Learn more about creating Budget Templates.
A budget template has a number of hours / units defined. The number of units entered when adding the template to the sub project will multiple these initial template values. i.e. The budget item of Cad Technician for 20 hours exists on the budget template. When adding this to the Sub Project if the #Units entered is 2, the Budget for CAD Technician will be added as a budget row of 40 hours (2 x 20 hours from the template).
Once added to the sub project budget the items will appear with the text
"* From Budget Template" in the item note. If a description of the budget item was also added in the template, this will appear after this automated text.
Create
budget from MS Excel® sheet
Selecting the Create sheet button on the Budget tab will export a list
of each sub project and all system charge rates. The user can then enter
the number of labour hours, cost estimates from supplier / sub contractor / staff cash expenses
and item units into the MS Excel® sheet. The
MS Excel®
sheet is then saved and imported.
Complete the following steps
- Select
Create sheet.
- Use
MS Excel®
to nominate the hours for each sub project and staff rate. Enter the units
(for inspections, office or travel items) or the cost value (for cash and supplier
and sub contract rates).
- Save
the MS Excel® sheet.
- Select
Import sheet. Locate the file saved above.
- The
budgeted hours and cost estimates will be added to the budget.
Tips:
- Use the MS Excel® method to create your budget for each Sub Project based on Rates (Staff, Supplier and Sub Contractors).
- Any tasks added in the MS Excel® file which do not match a 'default timesheet task' will be created as custom tasks upon import.
- If you need to define a budget for specific Staff or enter Lump Sum values, this must be done in Synergy (not MS Excel®).
Create
budget from another sub project / project
You are able to draw in the budget from
another sub project or even another project. The
full budget will be copied which can then be edited if required.
Complete the following steps
- Open the Sub Project.
- Select the Budget tab.
- Select Copy Existing.
- Select the Project and
then the Sub project.
- Choose whether to include
budget Notes.
- Save.
Tip:Use Budget Copy to copy across the budget for each Sub Project based on Rates (Staff, Supplier and Sub Contractors). The details for budgets setup for specific Staff or Lump Sum values are not copied to the new Sub Project.NEW 4.8
Add
new items to or edit the budget
Complete the following steps
- Turn off the Show Actuals by clicking the 'Hide Actuals' button.
- The Budget
hour units or Markup rate / unit value can now be changed.
- Select 'Add Budget'.
- The budget already added will appear at the top of the list.
- Type the budget against the rows shown as greyed out, or enter it into the field next to the .
New budget items can be added while the status
of a Sub Project is active.
Delete Budget
Complete the following steps
- Highlight
one of the budget items within the Budget tab.
- Click
the delete button within the Budget tab
.
- The budget list will refresh to show the item has been deleted.
Show actuals
This will list hours and units allocated to each sub project and rate
used. Actual items that have not been allocated
a budget will still appear as a line, however the budget units and budget
total are blank.
Tips:
- If the budget is still
in Add mode, the Actual units won't be displayed. Turn
off the Add budget and then select Show Actuals.
- Apply the filter 'Proposal and Active' to the Budget tab to only see the sub project budget lines that can be amended.
Budget
The grey section on the budget tab will display
hours and units. The Budget units column is used
to add or edit the budget item when hours and items have been added -
as these have preset cost and charge figures. Staff Cash, Supplier
and Sub contractor rates require a cost value to be entered - with the applicable
markup being applied.
Actual
The far right hand side will list actual
hours and units allocated to each sub project and item.
Tip: Items that have not been allocated a
budget will still appear as a line, however the budget units and value
are blank.
Budgets
using rate groups
Each Sub Project is assigned a 'practice staff rate', is used for the apply discounts or surcharges to the default / standard set of project rates. Select a different rate group from this drop down list to apply the discount / surcharge to the project rates, and the project budget.
Where is it? Project > Project Plan > Sub project
> General tab
Alter this is multiple rates groups have been setup in your Synergy database, and you want to use a different rate group
to the default Standard rate group. Alter this setting first if a sub project requires
estimates to be calculated with a different rate group.
Complete the following steps
- Within
the general tab of the sub project, toward the right hand side of the
screen, click the drop down at Practice Staff Rate.
- Make a
selection.
- Save.
Tips:
- If you have created a budget and then changed the rate group, the budget
will be removed.
- You cannot change the rate group if transactions
have been allocated to the sub project or invoiced.
Set
the fee from the budget figure
Copy the Budget you have setup to be the Fee for the Sub Project. The 'Update Fee from Budget' feature will copy the total budget value for that sub project to be the sub project fee value. This feature is available in the Action menu, and can only be used when the Sub Project is at Proposal Status.
Where is it? Project > Project Plan > Sub project
> Action
Use this if the Sub Project fee type is either 'Fixed Fee' or 'Percent of Project'.
Complete the following steps
- Within the sub project, select
the Action Menu > Update fee from budget.
- The sub
project fee will be updated to the budget value.
- Save
and close.
Suggested Reports
|
Sub project
|
Sub Project Budget Analysis
Add
the following filters:
Rate Type = Staff + Inspection Rate
> This will return budget analysis for staff only
|
Want to learn more?
Looking for more help? Try reviewing the following Projects topics: View Topics
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