Every BFA workbook is associated with an internal snapshot of all approved financial information for your project. Each snapshot includes:
- Original Budget
- EAC
- Forecast
- Change Orders and CCOs
- Commitments
- Pay Requests
- Actual posted amounts
Every time the BFA workbook is opened from a Budget or Forecast document or from the Project Dashboard (in Analysis mode), sfPMS takes the snapshot of all approved financial information and used those amounts in the BFA workbook. Approved changes that you then make to the BFA workbook or that you make through Commitments, CCOs, and Change Orders are reflected in the next snapshot.
Example:
When the BFA workbook is opened from a Budget document (Budget mode), a snapshot is taken.
Changes then made to the BFA workbook appear in the Change columns but not in the Current EAC column, even if the BFA workbook is saved, closed, and reopened.
If the Budget is Approved, then the next BFA workbook (created in any mode) uses a new snapshot including the change.
Opened from the next Budget document, this is a new snapshot.
A new snapshot is created whenever BFA is opened in Analysis mode.
The snapshot associated with each BFA workbook remains untouched. You can return to the BFA document months later and review the financial state of the project at that point in time. A series of Budget and Forecast documents provide a detailed financial history for your project.
When There Is a Newer Snapshot
Because BFA snapshots show data at one point in time, it is possible to be looking at a snapshot that no longer reflects the most current information. In order to improve transparency in these situations, sfPMS warns you if you are not looking at the most current financial information on a BFA snapshot.
When you open the BFA workbook, if a Cost Code has been changed since the workbook’s snapshot, a symbol will appear in the Cost Code cell.
If you see this symbol, close the BFA workbook and either look for a more current version on your Project Dashboard or create a new Budget or Forecast document, which will create a newer BFA snapshot with up-to-date data.
If you try to enter new data in an editable column for the marked row, the Approved/Pending Since Snapshot window will appear. This window indicates what changes have been approved or are pending for that Cost Code.
In Budget mode, the window appears if you try to type in the Manual EAC Change Type or Manual EAC Change Amount cell.
In Forecast mode, the window appears if you try to type in the Working FTC, Working FAC, Working Forecast Revenue, or Working Unit cell.
