How an amount becomes a period – Cash Flow

How an amount becomes a periodCash FlowYou know where a cash flow rule is set, which amounts follow it and why an amount without a rule is missing from the plan.A cash flow rule sets the dates on which the amount of a budget account is paid out or the amount of a financing source comes in. KOSMA stores only the total and the rule. When KOSMA draws the cash flow plan, it uses the rule to place the amount in the periods.Where you set the ruleYou set a cash flow rule in the **Set Cash Flow Rule** dialog: on a budget account in Budgeting or Cost Control, or on a financing source in Financing. You cannot set a rule in the cash flow plan. For the steps, see [set a cash flow rule on an account](/kb/article/set-a-cashflow-rule-on-an-account) and [set a cash flow rule on a source](/kb/article/set-a-cashflow-rule-on-a-source).The two forms of a ruleIn **Set Cash Flow Rule**, you choose one of two forms:- **Milestones/dates**: you tie each payment to a milestone in **Milestone mode**, or to a fixed date in **Date mode**. - **Payment cycle**: KOSMA spreads the amount across a span of time.Fringes, supplements, extra costs and non-refundable tax need no rule of their own. KOSMA places them on the payment dates of the accounts they are applied to.Which rule appliesA subaccount uses its own cash flow rule. If it has none, it uses the rule of its account. An installment of a financing source works the same way: its own rule first, otherwise the rule of its source. An item has no rule only when neither it nor its account or source has one.Without a rule, the amount is missingAn account or source with an amount and no rule has no date. KOSMA does not place it in any column of the plan, not even in **Before** or **After**, and not in the row's total. Its amount is missing from the plan.If accounts or sources have no rule, KOSMA warns about the missing amounts under **Linked Sources** in the left-hand panel of the plan.The warnings count only amounts above zero. A negative amount without a rule, such as a discount, is also missing from the plan, and no warning names it.To tell a missing rule from other causes, see [why something is missing from the plan](/kb/article/why-something-is-missing-from-the-plan). To find the accounts and sources without a rule, see [find accounts without a cash flow rule](/kb/article/find-accounts-without-a-cash-flow-rule) and [find sources without a cash flow rule](/kb/article/find-sources-without-a-cash-flow-rule).In a plan that reads a cost control setIf a cost item has an actual amount and a payment date, KOSMA places the actual amount on that date. Otherwise, KOSMA places the item's estimate by the cash flow rule. A rule that points to the past is a separate case: see [fix an outdated cash flow rule](/kb/article/fix-an-outdated-cash-flow-rule).Milestones move with the scheduleEach milestone lies a number of days before or after the first shooting day. When you move the first shooting day, KOSMA moves every milestone and every payment tied to one in **Milestone mode**. Budgeting, Financing and the cash flow plan show the new dates. A payment in **Date mode** stays on its date.If the shooting schedule decides when a payment is due, choose **Milestone mode** for it. To show the milestones in the plan, see [show milestones on the plan](/kb/article/show-milestones-on-the-plan).Markdown