Goals and Forecasts for Accounts

In the Enterprise plans of PSA, it is possible to have account-specific budgeting, called Goals, which allows for comparing the desired and actual financial situation. The company's goal (target) is thus formed from several sub-goals that are defined on account cards. Budgeting enables your company to anticipate situations and create monthly forecasts.

In the goals settings and in the permissions it is first defined how and by whom the customer goals are set and monitored.

The goal implementation can be monitored through account cards as well as from the Goals report on the dashboard.

Permissions: Accounts > Goals target/commitment/forecast
PSA plans: Enterprise, Enterprise+

Goals view on the account card

In Finances > Goals view, each budgeting tracking method selected in the goals settings is budgeted and monitored separately on its own tab.

• Net profit
• Gross profit
• Net margin (of quotes)
• Gross margin (of quotes)

Under the name of the tracking method, its calculation formula is displayed.

Under the calculation formula, you can change the displayed Fiscal year or Value (for cumulative amounts).

If projects are classified into different Project types, they can be budgeted separately if necessary (not usually required in standard use).

In budgeting, three stages can be used. In Permissions, you can define the users to whom the different stages are visible.

• Target – Budgeted target level.
• Commitment– Optional additional level for example for management monitoring.
• Forecast – Updated estimate of actual budget.

The Actuals section on the right displays the following information:

• Actual (tracking method name): The column displays the real-time status of the selected budgeting method on a monthly basis.
• Cumulative target/commitment/forecast: The sum is accumulated from the starting month onward.
• Total: The summed amount of all months.
• Month-to-date: The amount calculated from the first month of the fiscal year to the current month.

Adding a target

The target is the "basic level" of the goal.

1. Go to the account card section Finances > Goals > desired tracking method.
2. Select Fiscal year.
3. Click Edit target.
4. Add target:
   • for each active month separately by entering the value in the Target field OR
   • for multiple months at once:
     • Activate the desired months.
     • Add the value in the field above the months.
     • Click Split evenly.
5. Click Save. The target has been added and is active.

Adding a commitment

The commitment level is visible in Goals when it has been activated in the goals settings. The commitment column functions in the same way as the target column. The commitment level is independent of the basic target and can be used, for example, to motivate management team. The commitment goal is typically larger than the company's annual target.

1. Go to the account card section Finances > Goals > desired tracking method.
2. Select Fiscal year.
3. Click Edit commitment.
4. Add commitment target:
   • for each active month separately by entering the value in the Commitment field OR
   • for multiple months at once:
     • Activate the desired months.
     • Add the value in the field above the months.
     • Click Split evenly.
5. Click Save. The commitment target has been added and is active.

Adding a Forecast

A forecast is an updated estimate of the expected budget. The forecast can be created based on the original target or the actual figures (for past months). Both the target and the forecast can be monitored in tracking and reporting.

1. Go to the account card section Finances > Goals> desired tracking method.
2. Select Fiscal year. 
3. Click Create new forecast.
4. Name forecast.
5. The actual figures are shown by default for previous months. Modify the forecast figures: 
   • for each active month separately by entering the value in the Forecast field OR
   • for multiple months at once:
     • Activate the desired months.
     • Add the value in the field above the months.
     • Click Split evenly.
6. Click Save.