Cost Control
You know where the forecast starts, the three ways you change it and when KOSMA raises it by itself.
Forecast is the amount you expect an account to cost by the end of production. **Budget** shows the approved plan, and **Expected** and **Paid** show what is booked so far. **Variance**, Budget minus Forecast, therefore shows early whether an account will go over its budget.
In a new cost control set, the **Forecast** of every account equals its **Budget**. An example: an account has a budget of €40,000, €12,000 is paid and nothing else is booked. **Forecast** shows €40,000, **Variance** 0.00 and **Free** €28,000.
Type a forecast when you know something the bookings do not show yet: a supplier promised to keep a rate, or a shooting location became unavailable. Select the account in the cost control grid and open the **Recalculation** tab. In the account's own row, type the amount into the total cell. If you type €46,000 for the account above, **Forecast** shows €46,000, **Variance** −€6,000 and **Free** €34,000. If you clear the cell, KOSMA removes your typed forecast and works the forecast out again itself.
You cannot type a forecast for the collect-in accounts of fringes, supplements, extra costs and taxes. Their **Recalculation** tab is disabled, and their forecast follows the accounts that KOSMA sums up in them. In the demo project, however, collect-in accounts 4.01, 4.02, 7.01 and 7.02 have a typed forecast you cannot remove, so their **Forecast** does not follow the summed accounts.
In the same **Recalculation** tab, change the account's quantity, unit, price, factor or subaccounts, for example for two more shooting days at the same daily rate. This changes **Forecast**, not **Budget**. If you have typed a forecast, though, **Forecast** keeps showing that amount. See [recalculate an account](/kb/article/recalculate-an-account).
When you expect no more cost on an account, consolidate it: **Forecast** then shows only the sum of its cost items. This requires cost items whose sum is below the forecast. For the account above with €12,000 paid, **Forecast** then shows €12,000, **Variance** €28,000 and **Free** 0.00. KOSMA does not save **Consolidate**. When you open the project again, **Forecast** goes back to its previous amount. To switch it on or off, see [consolidate an account](/kb/article/consolidate-an-account).
When bookings exceed the forecast, KOSMA raises **Forecast** to their sum. An example: an account has a budget of €40,000, and €43,000 is booked. **Forecast** shows €43,000, **Variance** −€3,000 and **Free** 0.00. A typed forecast below Expected plus Paid has no effect.
**Free** is Forecast minus Paid minus Expected: the part of the forecast not yet booked as cost items. Free is never negative.
| What you see | What it tells you | | ------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | Large Free, early in production | Normal: most of the forecast is not booked yet. | | Large Free, late in production | If no more cost is coming, consolidate the account. If less cost is coming than Free shows, type a lower forecast. | | Free at 0.00 | The account is consolidated, or the bookings have reached the forecast. |
You cannot type a forecast when you cannot edit the set: on a **Free** licence (also after a trial has ended) or when the set is read-only for you. As a guest, you can type a forecast only when the set is shared with you for editing and your licence covers Cost Control. See [what your licence includes](/kb/article/what-your-licence-includes).
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