What's new in 1.26.4
Cost Book terminology is now localisable. Five new entries on Admin → Financials → Codes → Finance Localization let you rename Cost Book, Cashout Forecast, Transactions, Cost Book Grid and Add Cost Book Line. If you change nothing, current naming is kept. See Step 3.
OCE & Change Order hours via the API. The POST enterpriseFinancials/financials endpoint now accepts an optional Hours value alongside Amount, so Original Cost Estimate and Change Order hours can be loaded by integrations. No configuration change is required. See Step 12.
New enterprise-level iteration endpoint. iterationDetailsByProject returns iteration details for every project in one paged call, one financial type per call. See Step 12 and Things to Watch Out For.
Overview
This is the admin configuration guide for Enterprise Financials.
Enterprise Financials is where project financials (Estimate, Budget, Forecast, Actuals, Commitments, Revenue) are entered, on each project's Enterprise Financials page. Before that is usable, an admin has to work through a chain of setup screens in Admin. The order below follows real dependencies: some screens have required fields that point at records created on an earlier screen, and the system will not let you create a child record before its parent exists.
What is it used for?
The admin configuration decides how Enterprise Financials behaves for every project in the system:
Whether financial management is switched on at all, and which tabs (Estimate, Budget, Forecast, Actuals, Commitments, Revenue) users see.
How periods work — the start of the financial year and whether fiscal-calendar periods are used.
Which currencies are available, which one is the base currency, and how exchange rates apply to projects.
The chart of accounts (Global Site → Account Group → Account Sub Group → Account Code) that every financial value is entered against, plus its supporting lists (Element of Cost, Distribution Curves, VAT Rate, Budget Type and others).
Related financial modules that feed or read the same data: Cost Book, Rate Matrix, Invoicing, Financial Registers, Funding Sources, VAT, Contract Budget Log and financial data import.
Who can edit Actuals and Commitments (for example, restricting manual entry to the Finance Manager role).
Where to find it (Admin)
Step | Screen | Navigation path |
|---|---|---|
1 | Financials configuration — Financials tab | Admin → Financials → Configuration (also Admin → Configuration → Financials) |
2 | Financials configuration — Currency tab | Same screen as step 1 → Currency tab |
3 | Budget Configuration (chart of accounts and lookups) | Admin → Financials → Codes (also listed under Admin → System; the label of that entry can be renamed in your environment) |
4 | Budget Type Linking | Admin → Configuration → Budget Type Linking |
5 | Cost Book configuration | Admin → Financials → Cost Book |
6 | Rate Matrix configuration | Admin → Configuration → Rate Matrix |
7 | Invoicing configuration | Admin → System → Invoicing |
8 | Financial Registers | Admin → Configuration → Financial Registers [specific to a clients configuration] |
9 | Funding Sources | Admin → Configuration → Funding Sources (the label can be renamed in your environment) |
10 | Project Irrecoverable VAT | Admin → Configuration → Project Irrecoverable VAT [specific to a clients configuration] |
11 | Contract Budget Log configuration | Admin → System → Contract Budget Log |
12 | Financial Import | Admin → Imports → Financial Import |
Configuration (Admin)
1. Decide the Master Financial Settings First — This Locks Once Data Exists
Screen: Admin → Financials → Configuration → “Financials” tab
Turn on Enable Financial Management.
This setting becomes permanently read-only the moment any financial data exists: Budgets, Forecasts, Commitments, Actuals, or Estimates. Decide it correctly before anyone enters a value.
Also set: Start of Financial Year, fiscal calendar usage (Use Fiscal Calendar for Periods), visible end-user tabs (Estimate, Budget, Forecast, Actuals, Commitments, Revenue), iteration source per tab, iteration labels and their localisation, manual-entry or Finance Manager role restrictions for Actuals and Commitments, and Budget/Actuals import enablement.
If using Advanced Project Forecasting, changing the current forecast period or turning on Project Forecast Submission is blocked while Submit Forecast or EAC workflows are in flight for any project. The screen warns you when you try to save.
2. Configure Currency Before Anything Cost-Related
Screen: same page → “Currency” tab
Configuration Item | Guidance |
|---|---|
Multi-currency | Decide “Enable Multi Currency” and “Allow FX Rate at Project Level” up front. |
Project-level FX | When FX-at-project-level is disabled, all projects use the latest FX rate for their base/local pair. |
Base currency | A fresh install auto-seeds EUR as the base currency if none exists — replace this deliberately if it is wrong for your organisation. Rate Matrix, Cost Book and Enterprise Financials values are all calculated against whichever currency is flagged Base. |
Exchange rates | Exactly one currency must be flagged Base, it cannot be archived, and every currency needs at least one effective-dated exchange rate. |
Currencies are added and edited from a pop-up on the Currency tab.
3. Build the Chart of Accounts — Strict Parent-First Order
Screen: Admin → Financials → Codes (“Budget Configuration”; the screen header may read “Financial Codes”)
Order | Configuration Area | Dependency / Notes |
|---|---|---|
1 | Global Site | Name, Current Actuals/Forecast Period, CBS Code Structure, Default Capital/Expense Code (must differ), Is Master. |
2 | Account Group | Requires selecting a Global Site. |
3 | Account Sub Group | Requires selecting an Account Group. |
4 | Account / Account Code | Requires selecting a Sub Group; also references Element of Cost, Default Distribution Curve, and VAT Applicable. |
This order is enforced by required fields on each screen and by the system itself. Deleting a parent deletes all its children.
Before creating Account Codes, populate the lookups they reference on the same page: Element of Cost (Description, Abbreviation, System Value), Distribution Curves (changing a default curve only affects new projects going forward), and VAT Rate.
Also on this page: Budget Type, Operational Codes, Contract Bands, Allowed Roles, Grant, Expenditure Category, Finance Localization, and File Types.
Finance Localization — Cost Book terms (new in 1.26.4): five entries let you rename Cost Book wording to match your organisation's financial vocabulary: Cost Book, Cashout Forecast, Transactions, Cost Book Grid and Add Cost Book Line. These rename the Cost Book tabs, pages and the Add Cost Book Line link. As with all Finance Localization terms, if you leave them unchanged, the current naming is kept.
A few tabs — Payment Schedule, Client Link, Supplier PO & Invoice, and Client Invoice — are hidden on this screen and are likely legacy or customer-specific. Confirm whether your environment needs them.
4. Link Budget Types to Operational Codes
Screen: Admin → Configuration → Budget Type Linking
Requires step 3’s Budget Types and Operational Codes to already exist.
For each Budget Type, multi-select the Operational Codes it applies to.
Use this step to align financial categorisation before users start entering project data.
5. Configure Cost Book
Screen: Admin → Financials → Cost Book
Sequence | Area | Key Notes |
|---|---|---|
1 | Cost Book Registers | Set up register foundations first. |
2 | Cost Book Submission | Configure submission behaviour before admin settings. |
3 | Cost Book Admin | Largest settings surface: Project Forecast Period, Forecast in Current Month, Display Invoice Lines, Capex/Opex Totals, Rollup Internal Order, Forecasting Level (selectable per project, or fixed at Account or Detailed level for all projects), Lock Current/Future/Previous Year Budget, and Cashout Forecast Profiling. |
4 | Cost Book Columns Admin | Configure visible and managed columns. |
5 | Cost Book Attributes | Complete attribute setup after core configuration. |
Gotchas: Fixing the Forecasting Level applies to all projects, not per project. Two settings are explicitly flagged “should only be used under guidance of Cora Systems”: Direct Cost Committed = Direct Cost Actual, and Add Down Payment to Actuals.
Full Cost Book admin detail: Admin - Cost Book
6. Configure the Rate Matrix
Screen: Admin → Configuration → Rate Matrix
Rate Matrix Configuration — list of rate matrices; add and edit them from a pop-up.
Options — choose the Planned/Forecast labour cost basis. Checking “Apply Burden Costs” makes Overhead Code, Overhead Rate IDs, and Sub Category required.
Rate Adjustments — min/max, by Skill and/or User.
Burden Rule Matrix
Burden Costs — effective-dated overhead percentages.
Full Rate Matrix admin detail: Admin - Rate Matrix
7. Configure Invoicing (If Used)
Screen: Admin → System → Invoicing
Configure Invoicing Admin first.
Then configure Invoicing Localisation.
8. Map Financial Registers
Screen: Admin → Configuration → Financial Registers
Map each Business Case and Contract register to Status, Capital, and Revenue values.
Mappings must be unique per register.
9. Configure Funding Sources (If Used)
Screen: Admin → Configuration → Funding Sources
Set “Number of Attributes” on the “Funding Configuration” tab first.
Then add funding sources with per-year percentage allocations. The Start Year and Number of Years you enter decide how many Year columns appear.
Use the date-range option on the same screen to adjust a funding source's date range later.
10. Configure VAT Categories (If Applicable)
Screen: Admin → Configuration → Project Irrecoverable VAT
Add VAT categories, each with a rate and an applicable-from date, using the pop-up on this screen.
11. Configure Contract Budget Log Localisation (If Used)
Screen: Admin → System → Contract Budget Log
Only the Localization tab is relevant to Enterprise Financials setup. Full detail: Admin - Contract Budget Log (CBL)
12. Configure Financial Data Import (If Pulling Actuals/Budgets From an External System)
Screen: Admin → Imports → Financial Import
Configure Labor and Non-Labor selectors.
Set the Unique Transaction ID.
Configure the active file location.
Integration settings for some external finance systems also appear on this screen in certain environments; these are set up by Cora Systems for the environments that use them.
Budget/Actuals import must also be enabled on the Financials tab (step 1).
Loading financials through the REST API (new in 1.26.4)
OCE & Change Order hours — POST enterpriseFinancials/financials. An optional Hours value can now be sent alongside the existing Amount on each account entry, against the same Account Code (Cost Category) used for cost. Original Cost Estimate hours are written with the Estimate type as a single value per account; Change Order hours with the Budget type, with a period against each value (the Project Forecasting grid sums all of an account's Change Order periods into one column). Revised Cost Estimate hours are not sent — they are calculated as Original Cost Estimate hours plus Change Order hours. The change is additive: payloads without Hours behave exactly as before, and no configuration change is required. Whether the Hours columns show is still governed by the project's forecast display settings.
Enterprise-level iteration data — iterationDetailsByProject. Returns iteration details for every project in a single paged call (one entry per project, default page size 500), with the same content as the existing project-level IterationDetails endpoint (which is unchanged). One financial type per call (Budget, Forecast, Actual, Estimate or Commitment). Optional iteration selector: Tag, Latest Approved, Latest Saved or First Approved, resolved per project. Optional filters: Root Project (including sub-projects), Project Type, Project Status, Include Archived Projects (included by default) and Include Model Projects (excluded by default). Authenticates with an OAuth2 bearer token or a personal access token; no administrator right is needed.
See Admin - Rest API for setting up API access.
Things to Watch Out For
The master switch locks once data exists. Enable Financial Management becomes permanently read-only as soon as any Budget, Forecast, Commitment, Actual or Estimate value exists anywhere in the system. Get it right before anyone enters a figure.
EUR is auto-seeded as the base currency. A fresh install creates EUR as Base if no currency exists. If your base currency is not EUR, correct it before setting up rates, Cost Book or Rate Matrix — everything is calculated against the Base currency.
Deletes cascade down the account hierarchy. Deleting a Global Site, Account Group or Account Sub Group deletes everything beneath it.
Distribution curve changes only affect new projects. Changing a default distribution curve does not re-spread existing projects.
In-flight workflows block forecast-period changes. With Advanced Project Forecasting, you cannot change the Current Project Forecast Period or turn on Project Forecast Submission while any project has a Submit Forecast or EAC workflow in progress.
Hidden legacy tabs. Payment Schedule, Client Link, Supplier PO & Invoice and Client Invoice are hidden on the Budget Configuration screen. Confirm whether your environment needs them before relying on them.
“Only under guidance of Cora Systems.” Do not change Direct Cost Committed = Direct Cost Actual or Add Down Payment to Actuals (Cost Book Admin) without guidance from Cora Systems.
Fixed Forecasting Level is system-wide. Fixing the Forecasting Level in Cost Book Admin applies to all projects and cannot be overridden per project.
iterationDetailsByProject ignores project rights. The new enterprise-level iteration endpoint applies no project-rights filtering — any caller with a valid token gets every matching project, regardless of their access to those projects. Control who holds API tokens accordingly.
FAQ's
Why can't I untick Enable Financial Management?
It becomes permanently read-only as soon as any financial data (Budget, Forecast, Commitment, Actual or Estimate) exists in the system.
Why can't I create an Account Code?
Each level needs its parent first: a Global Site, then an Account Group, then an Account Sub Group. Element of Cost, Distribution Curves and VAT Rate should also be set up before Account Codes.
Why is EUR already the base currency on a new system?
A fresh install auto-seeds EUR as Base if no currency exists. Correct it deliberately if your organisation uses a different base currency.
Why won't the system let me change the Current Project Forecast Period?
At least one project has a Submit Forecast or EAC workflow in progress. The change is blocked until those workflows complete.
I changed a default distribution curve — why didn't existing projects change?
Default curve changes only apply to new projects going forward.
Who can change the master financial settings?
The admin menu entries for these screens are available to administrators.
If I don't touch the new Cost Book terms in Finance Localization, will anything change for users?
No. Leaving the five new entries unchanged keeps the current Cost Book naming.
Do I need to configure anything to load OCE and Change Order hours through the API?
No. Hours are optional on POST enterpriseFinancials/financials and the Hours columns already exist on the Project Forecasting grid. Whether they are shown is governed by the project's existing forecast display settings; values appear the next time the grid loads.
Will iterationDetailsByProject only return projects the caller can access?
No. It applies no project-rights filtering and returns every project matching the filters. Use the Root Project, Project Type and Project Status filters to narrow the results.
Related Materials
End User page: Enterprise Financials - Overview
Admin - Cost Book (Admin - Cost Book)
Admin - Rate Matrix (Admin - Rate Matrix)
Admin - Multicurrency Handling (Admin - Multicurrency Handling)
Admin - Advanced Financials - Forecasting (Admin - Advanced Financials - Forecasting)
Admin - Contract Budget Log (CBL) (Admin - Contract Budget Log (CBL))
Admin - Workflow (Admin - Workflow)
Cora PPM API - Overview (Cora PPM API - Overview)
Admin - Rest API (Admin - Rest API)
Notes
There is no single “Enterprise Financials” admin menu. The core screens sit under Admin → Financials (Configuration, Codes, Cost Book); the rest are spread across Admin → Configuration, Admin → System and Admin → Imports. The step order on this page follows setup dependencies, not menu order.
Some admin menu entries only appear when the related module is enabled, and some labels (Funding Sources, the Budget entry under Admin → System) can be renamed per environment.
Fee-scale rates used by resource fee models are a separate resourcing concept and are not part of the Rate Matrix or Enterprise Financials setup.
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