Overview
The Capital Planning module is your strategic tool for forecasting, budgeting, and managing long-term investments in your physical assets. It allows you to model multi-year expenditures, prioritize projects, and align all major spending with your organizational goals.
Component | What It Is | Key Action |
Capital Plan | The central document for your multi-year investment strategy (e.g., "FY 2026-2030 Plan"). | Create a new plan and assign a client. |
Scenario | A version or model of your plan (e.g., "High-Priority Funding Model"). You can duplicate or start from scratch. | Create and model multiple scenarios to test different budgets. |
Project Requests | Items submitted for potential future funding. | Connect requests to a scenario to evaluate their financial impact. |
Active Projects | Projects that are already in progress. | Include active projects to model their continuing financial needs. |
Cash Flow Tab | A high-level financial overview showing the timing and amount of expected expenditures across the plan's timeline. | Review to ensure financial stability and feasibility. |
Approval Process | Marking a scenario as Draft, Pending Internal Approval, or Approved. | Approve the best-fit scenario to finalize the organization's investment plan. |
The Goal: To move from reactive spending to proactive, planned investment, ensuring every dollar spent contributes to long-term asset value and strategic goals.
1. 🔑 Access and Permissions
Access to the Capital Planning module is governed by specific permissions set in your Account Type.
Access Level | Capability | Notes |
No Access | Cannot see the module or any content |
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Can View | Can only view pipelines and plans if invited to them. Cannot edit. |
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Can Manage | Can view and edit invited pipelines/plans, but cannot create new ones. |
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Full Access | Can create pipelines and capital plans, and view/edit all within the workspace. | Required for Pipeline and Plan Creation. |
2. 🛠️Creating and Setting Up a Capital Plan
A Capital Plan is the container for all your long-term investment models. While you can include existing Project Requests, it is not a requirement to start the plan itself.
2.1 Initiating a New Plan
Navigate directly to the Capital Planning module within the platform.
2. Click Create Capital Plan.
3. Provide a clear Name for the plan (e.g., "FY 2026-2030 Portfolio Investment").
4. Select the relevant Client or owning entity.
5. Click Create Plan.
2.2 Managing Scenarios within a Plan
The power of Capital Planning lies in Scenarios. A scenario is a version of your plan that allows you to model different funding and prioritization outcomes.
2.2.1 Creating a New Scenario
Within your newly created Capital Plan, click Create Scenario.
First, you may choose to Start from Scratch or Duplicate information from an existing scenario to build an audit trail of plan evolution.
Define the scenario's scope:
Enter a descriptive Name.
Fill in the Estimated Total Capital budget (the target spend).
Define the Start Date and End Date for the planning period.
4. Click Next Step.
2.2.2 Connecting Projects and Requests
This crucial step links your financial model to the actual work that needs to be done. You will select items from your organization's existing work pipeline:
Item Type | Description | Key Selection Note |
Project Requests | Items from the Pipeline used for evaluation and future funding. | Status Requirement: Requests must be visible and have an appropriate status (e.g., Pending Review, Reviewed). Note: A request must be marked Reviewed before it can be converted into an Active Project. |
Active Projects | Projects that are currently in progress. | Source of Truth: Financial data (actuals, commitments) is read-only and pulled directly from the active project. |
After selecting the necessary items, click Create Scenario. The new scenario will now appear in Draft status, ready for analysis.
3. 📊Reviewing and Analyzing Your Scenario
Once the scenario is created, it is in Draft status, allowing you to use the detailed analytics tabs to review and refine your financial model before approval.
3.1 Scenario Details and Cost Breakdown
The Details tab contains several widgets providing key insights into the combined data of project requests and active projects:
Financial Statistics: Compares Total Capital (Target) vs. Total Anticipated Cost vs. Total Committed.
Cost Breakdown: Shows anticipated cost broken out by Project Request vs. Active Project, and by Cost Category (e.g., CapEx vs. OpEx).
Health: Widgets display the Financial Health and Schedule Health of all included active projects.
3.2 Interactive Cash Flow Forecasting (Key Logic)
The Scenario Cash Flow allows you to forecast spend across monthly or quarterly rollups.
Component | Data Source & Flexibility | Financial Switch Logic |
Project Requests | Uses the Estimated Cost (ROM Budget). Planner can adjust start/end dates and select a cost curve (Straight Line, Bell Curve, Skewed, or Manual Entry). | After conversion to Active Project: The original Project Request cash flow becomes a read-only Planned Forecast row for comparison. |
Active Projects | Pulls Actuals, Commitments, and Balance to complete directly from the active project. | After conversion to Active Project: The system treats the item as an Active Project. The anticipated cost is pulled from the Project's budget, not the original ROM budget. |
4. ✅ Workflow and Finalizing the Plan
4.1 Status Management
All status changes for Project Requests and Scenarios are completely manual in the MVP (Minimum Viable Product). Statuses are for record-keeping only and do not dictate any logic, except for project initiation.
Project Request Statuses: Pending Review, Reviewed, Rejected, Mark as Archived.
Scenario Statuses: Scenarios can be manually marked as Approved for record-keeping only.
4.2 Initiating a Project
A Project Request can be converted to an active project only once it is marked Reviewed.
Click Initiate Project on the Project Request.
You will be dropped into the Project Wizard, with the custom ID, name, and scope automatically pulled through.
Once created, the new Active Project links back to the original Project Request and the connected Capital Plan.
5. 💡The Big Picture: Why We Use Capital Planning
The entire point of using the Capital Planning module is to shift from reactive spending to a strategic, proactive approach. It allows you to:
Level Spending: Plan and control large sums of money (e.g., a multi-million dollar annual budget) by leveling spending across all competing Project Requests and Active Projects.
Model Alternatives: Test different funding strategies through Scenarios before making a financial commitment.
View Progress: Once approved, track how the Project Requests are converted into active, executing Projects to ensure the plan is being implemented as intended.
The Capital Planning module is the central hub for disciplined, strategic investment in your portfolio. By systematically planning and prioritizing your projects through Scenarios, you ensure that every major expenditure is aligned with your long-term goals and contributes directly to the value and longevity of your assets.
Ready to optimize your investment strategy? Begin by creating your first Capital Plan today.