Note:
This feature is only available to you if you have booked the "Advanced" or "Pro" package. For changes to your current package, please contact your relevant contact person or customersuccess@alasco.de.
Overview of Topics
Cash outflow planning in Alasco gives you flexibility and accuracy when managing your project finances. You can manage planned and actual payments and make adjustments quickly – from individual contracts to entire cost groups.
In this article, you will learn how to configure the reference basis, use cash outflow in view and edit mode, resolve plan-actual deviations, plan directly on a contract, and include recurring payments in your cash outflow.
Reference Basis of Cash Outflow Planning
Before you start cash outflow planning in Alasco, we recommend adjusting the reference bases of the planned amounts and the disbursed amounts in the master data. An Admin can configure these in the master data under "Forecast and Cash Outflow Settings" in the "Cash Outflow" tab.
By default, cash outflow planning is based on the budget or contract volume, and approved and paid amounts are included in the disbursed amounts.
Here you can set your cash outflow to use the more accurate contract forecast in real or worst-case scenarios instead. Depending on your forecast settings, amounts such as provisions, risks, receivables or contract conditions (discounts, cost allocations, insurance and early payment discounts) are taken into account in your cash outflow planning, allowing you to plan more accurately.
You can also define how plan-actual deviations should be handled. If you select an option other than "Do nothing", Alasco automatically applies the selected action at each month change. See Automatic monthly rollover for more information.
Note:
If you use the real-case or worst-case contract forecast as the basis for cash outflow planning, the project forecast in the selected scenario is used at contract unit and cost group level instead of the current budget.
Getting Started with Cash Outflow
First, select the project for which you want to plan the cash outflow and click Cash Outflow in the navigation bar on the left side of the screen, under "Costs".
Initially, cash outflow is displayed in view mode. Depending on your project structure and selected view, the cost groups, associated contract units and contracts are listed. Click the arrow at the beginning of a row to expand its subordinate level, or use "Expand All" and "Collapse All" above the table on the left.
Scroll horizontally to view past and upcoming months in the project duration. By default, cash outflow uses the project duration set in the project settings. The current month is highlighted in light blue.
If you scroll all the way to the left to the beginning of the project duration (project start), the column "Invoices paid outside of Alasco" is displayed. It shows the sum per row of invoices that were not checked through the invoice workflow in Alasco, but were manually created without a date in the contract.
The "Total Amount" column shows the total budget available for distribution in a cost group, contract unit or contract.
The "Not Assigned" row is displayed in each cost group and contract unit. It shows whether budget has not yet been distributed to a contract unit or whether a contract unit still has budget that has not been planned for contracts. You can also distribute this amount in edit mode.
The "Available Amount" column shows the difference between the total amount and the planned or already disbursed amounts, indicating how much budget or contract volume can still be planned. A negative value indicates over-planning. The amount depends on the settings in the master data.
Use the "Months, Total Cash Flow" dropdown above the table to select the displayed period. You can view the data by months, quarters or years, and select a custom period or the total cash flow.
Use "Edit Columns" to show or hide columns, such as "Reference", "Current Budget / Volume", "Worst-Case Forecast", "Real-Case Forecast" or "Contractor". You can save customised column views and share them with your team. A cumulative total row is also available.
In view mode, you can filter the cash outflow for your reporting needs. Click the "View & Filter" button above the table on the right.
In the menu on the right side of the screen, you can choose whether to display cash outflow in net or gross amounts. You can also use the sliders to decide whether the following rows are included in the table:
- Show rows without plan-actual deviation: Shows or hides rows with a deviation between the previously planned amount and the currently approved or paid amount
- Show rows without over- or under-distribution: Shows or hides rows that are fully distributed
- Show rows with zero value: Shows or hides rows containing 0.00€
- Show unassigned rows: Shows or hides rows indicating whether unplanned budget is still available in a cost group or contract unit
Additional filters below the sliders let you narrow down the table:
- Contract status – for example, Planned, Contracted or Finalized
- Contract unit status – for example, Awarded, Finalized or Reserve
- Financing contract status – for example, Active or Ended
- Contract units – select one or more contract units
Use the two dropdowns below to display the cash outflow table grouped by cost groups including contract units or by contract units only. Then click the X in the top right corner. Your settings are automatically applied in view mode. Distributions can also be entered directly as gross amounts.
Click "Export" to create an Excel export of your current view. The export reflects which rows are expanded or collapsed and includes a dedicated Cash Flow Plan sheet.
Note:
The settings in view mode form the basis for edit mode. For example, if you have set the view to contract units, you cannot distribute the budget of the parent cost group in edit mode until you switch the view back to cost groups.
You can edit distributions only at monthly level, not at quarterly or yearly level. Monthly values are then summed up to quarters or years if necessary.
Editing Cash Outflow
To switch from view mode to edit mode, click the "Edit" button in the top right corner of the screen.
In edit mode, you can enter and change planned amounts directly in the cells, similar to a spreadsheet. The updated floating action bar keeps the main editing options readily available.
At the top of the edit view, you can switch between three tabs:
- "Edit Plan" – the standard view for entering and changing planned amounts.
- "Check Deviations" – shows rows with plan-actual deviations from past periods.
- "Show Changes" – lists unsaved changes and lets you undo individual changes before saving.
The current month is divided into a Planned and an Actual column in edit mode. The Planned column shows the amount planned per contract, contract unit or cost group. The Actual column shows the invoices released and paid for a contract so far.
The "Planned/Actual Deviation" column indicates whether actual outflows differed from planned outflows in past periods.
Past months have only an Actual column showing the sum of approved and paid invoices, since you cannot make changes to past plans. You can plan future expenses for contracts, contract units and entire cost groups in the individual cells of the Planned columns, for example to represent agreed payment schedules. All highlighted cells can be edited.
Tip:
You can enter negative amounts to represent refunds or other inflows.
Note:
In the cost group view, you can plan outflows for unassigned amounts using the corresponding "Not Assigned" rows. When you plan specific amounts for contracts or contract units, Alasco automatically reduces the amount planned in the "Not Assigned" row to avoid duplicate planning.
To distribute one or more rows automatically, select them using the checkbox at the beginning of each row. The floating action bar appears with the number of selected rows and the "Distribute Amount" and "Shift Plan" buttons. You can select and edit multiple rows at the same time.
Click "Distribute Amount" to distribute the available amount. The following options are available:
- Specify the amount to distribute in the selected period. By default, the entire available amount is displayed.
- Select the period at monthly level. By default, the current month through to the end of the project duration is selected.
- Choose whether to distribute the amount linearly, in an S-curve (normal distribution), or as a step distribution.
- Use "Reset to Zero" to reset all previous planning for the selected rows.
- Click "Apply" to apply the values to the selected rows.
If your original plan changes due to delays, you can shift the planning of entire contracts, contract units or cost groups by several months.
Select the rows you want to edit and click "Shift Plan". In this window, you can:
- Select the number of months by which to shift the planned amounts. Use the Plus symbol to shift planned outflows into the future, or the Minus symbol to bring them forward.
- Specify from when you want to shift the planned amounts. For example, you can keep the plan unchanged through August and shift all planned amounts from September by two months.
- Review the new plan period after the change.
- Click "Apply" to shift the planned amounts.
Click "Save" in the top right to save your entries, or "Save & Close" to save your entries and exit edit mode.
Note:
Plans are created and changed at the lowest available level and calculated upwards.
Checking plan-actual deviations
In the "Check Deviations" tab, you can resolve open deviations from past periods in one of three ways:
- Distribute across the current plan: The difference is distributed proportionally across the future planned months for that row.
- Move to the current month: The entire difference is moved to the current month.
- Plan manually: The notice is removed, and you adjust the amounts directly in the table.
Planning Directly on a Contract
In addition to editing the central cash outflow, you can enter and change planned amounts directly on a contract. Open the contract and select the Cash Outflow tab to view and edit its monthly planned amounts.
Changes made on the contract are automatically reflected in the parent contract unit and cost group. If an amount was planned in the "Not Assigned" row, Alasco reduces it accordingly to avoid duplicate planning.
From the contract, you can also use the link to return to the central cash outflow with the current filters.
Note:
Planning directly on a contract is also available when the real-case or worst-case contract forecast is selected as the reference basis. The master data setting applies here as well.
Automatic Monthly Rollover
With automatic monthly rollover, Alasco updates your plan at each month change according to the rules you have configured. This lets you automatically apply the selected approach to plan-actual deviations.
Admins can configure this under master data, in "Forecast and Cash Outflow Settings" under the "Cash Outflow" tab. If no automatic adjustment is required, select "Do nothing".
Recurring Invoices
Contracts of the type Recurring Invoice, for example recurring insurance or maintenance payments, can be included in the cash outflow.
Once you have entered the payment frequency and amount on a recurring invoice contract, Alasco transfers the planned amounts to the corresponding monthly cells. You do not need to enter these recurring amounts manually in the cash outflow plan.
Recurring invoices use audited invoice amounts. Their contract amount can grow dynamically as invoiced amounts increase.
Deviations are shown in the Actual column when the corresponding invoices are approved and paid.
How Invoices Affect Cash Outflow
Disbursed amounts are displayed in the Actual column for the corresponding month. At the end of the month, Alasco automatically closes the month. Once a month is closed, both the planned amount and the disbursed amount are fixed, and any difference is displayed in the "Planned/Actual Deviation" column.
Note:
As an Admin, you can use the master data under "Forecast Settings" and the "Cash Outflow" submenu to choose whether approved and paid amounts or only paid amounts are included in cash outflow planning.
Partial invoice payments can be recorded in the payment section of an invoice. The Actual column reflects the recorded payments according to the setting selected in the master data.
For standard contracts without a fixed contract amount, a dynamic contract amount can be used for cost-based billing if it is enabled for the contract. The assumed contract amount is then reflected in the planning.
Switching to the New Cash Outflow
In eligible accounts, you can use the self-service project switcher to move to the new cash outflow. Existing planned and actual values are migrated. Essential and Legacy customers may have access to a trial mode to test the functionality.