Budgeting
You can copy a budget to try out a variant, and compare the copy with the original row by row.
A copy lets you try out a variant of a budget, for example a shorter shooting schedule. The budget it came from stays unchanged. You then compare the two in **Compare Budgets**. To copy a budget, you need a licence other than **Free**, and you must be signed in ([what your licence includes](/kb/article/what-your-licence-includes)). You cannot copy a budget in a locked project. A project is locked when its owner's account is inactive or the server no longer lists it. See [why a budget is locked](manage-budgets-in-a-project.md#why-a-budget-is-locked).
With the budget open, click  **Copy this budget** next to the budget dropdown, or choose **Copy Budget** in the **Project** menu. To copy a budget that is not open, click **Manage Budgets** in the budget dropdown, then  **Copy Budget** in the budget's row of the **Budgets Manager**. KOSMA opens **Copy Budget**.
If you use **Copy this budget** or **Copy Budget** in the **Project** menu and the open budget has unsaved changes, KOSMA first opens **Save before copying?**:
You have unsaved changes. Save now to proceed with the copy.
Click **Save**. KOSMA saves the budget and then opens **Copy Budget**.
Under **What do you want to do?**, choose one option:
- **Snapshot** (keep today's state, continue here) saves today's state of the budget as a copy. You keep working in the original. The copy is shared with the same people as the original, so they see the copy too. The copy's status is **Snapshot**. - **New version** (to work on separately) starts a version you work on separately, for example for another funder. It is shared with nobody. Until you share it, only you see it, not even the project owner.
By default, KOSMA also copies the financing plans, cash flow plans and cost control sets built on this budget. With **New version**, you can tick **Budgeting only** to copy the budget alone. A snapshot always keeps everything, so **Budgeting only** is greyed out for it. If **Topsheet Info** shows figures from a financing plan, a copy with **Budgeting only** keeps them as fixed numbers. They no longer change, because the financing plan is not in the copy.
Type a name that says what the variant tests. If another budget in the project already has this name, KOSMA greys out the button that creates the copy and shows under the field:
Name must be unique.
Click **Save Snapshot**, or **Create Version** if you chose **New version**. A new version becomes the open budget. After a snapshot, the budget that was open stays open. If copying fails, KOSMA closes **Copy Budget** and shows:
The budget could not be copied. The incomplete copy was discarded.
The copy is a complete budget with every account, fringe, tax, variable and setting of the original, and changes to one do not change the other. If the budget is locked with **Lock**, the copy is locked too. To unlock it, see [change the status of a budget](manage-budgets-in-a-project.md#change-the-status-of-a-budget).
For example, a budget was first baselined in March, and you copy it in June. In the copy, the **Original** column shows the March figures, not the June ones. **Variance** in the copy therefore compares with March. To measure the copy against its own figures, [set a new baseline](/kb/article/compare-original-and-variance).
Open the budget you want to see on the left, for example the original. Choose **Compare Budgets** in the **Project** menu, then choose the other budget in **Select budget to compare**. KOSMA shows both budgets in one table: **No.**, **Description** and **Total** of the open budget on the left, the same three columns of the chosen budget on the right, and **Variance** at the far right.
KOSMA matches the rows by their number, or by their name where they have no number. A row that exists in only one budget stays empty on the other side. **Variance** is the total of the chosen budget minus the total of the open budget. Blue marks a number, description or total on the right that differs from the left (except in category rows). Magenta marks a negative variance. If the two budgets have different default currencies, **Variance** shows the words Currency mismatch instead of a number.
To hide the **No.** and **Description** columns, click  **Hide No./Description**. The same button, now **Show No./Description**, shows them again.
Click a category, group or account on the left, then click  **Open in budget** in that row. KOSMA closes **Compare Budgets** and selects the row in the budget you started the comparison from.
If someone shared a budget with you for reading only, KOSMA locks it. When you point at a greyed-out control, KOSMA shows:
This dataset was shared with you and cannot be edited. Ask its owner for editing rights.
You cannot copy it either: KOSMA greys out **Copy this budget** and **Copy Budget**, and shows:
This dataset was shared with you to view, so it cannot be copied. Ask its owner for editing rights.
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