Folio Forecast

The Forecast screen shows the evolution of the financial numbers of a Folio over time. It is divided in two sections:

• A chart showing the Folio's past and projected trend in terms of Planned Value, Actual Cost and Earned Value.

• A details panel on the right side that displays more information about current and projected values.

The Chart

The forecast chart displays various curves showing the evolution of financial numbers related to the current Folio. It spans on a period of time that covers the whole timeframe of the Folio, plus possibly a "Behind Schedule" period. The "Behind Schedule" period (pale red area at the extreme right of the chart) appears if the current performance indices of the Folio lead to an estimated end date later than the current configured end date of the Folio. Today's date is indicated by a vertical dashed line. Clicking on any series of the chart brings a tooltip that displays the detailed information at the selected point in time.

Curves

   Planned Value

The planned expenses from the Folio's start date to the Folio's end date.

   Actual Cost

The expenses that have been incurred by the project so far.

  Future Known Cost

Future expenses that are known to date (as they are entered in the Folio's Actual) up to the projected end date.

  Earned Value

The evolution of the Earned Value of the Folio until today.

  Estimated Cost

 Future estimated cost based on the Cost Performance Index (see Health section of the Folio's Overview).

  Estimated Earned Value

 Future estimated Earned Value based on the Schedule Performance Index (see Health section of the Folio's Overview).

  Today

 Today's date.

Legend

Clicking on the "Chart Legend" button opens the legend. Clicking on the legend when opened will close it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Areas

The chart may display various colored areas, depending on the Folio's configuration or current performance indices. These are described below.

Reserve

The Reserve is an area sitting on top of total planned value and reflects the reserve percentage configured for the current Folio.

Contingency

The Contingency is an area spanning over the Planned Value curve if a contingency has been configured for the current Folio. The height of the Contingency area reflects the percentage configured.

Behind Schedule

The Behind Schedule area appears if the current Schedule Performance Index of the Folio leads to an estimated completion date that is later than the Folio's planned end date. When displayed, the area sits at the extreme right of the chart, starting at the Folio's planned end date.

Ahead of schedule

The Ahead of Schedule area appears if the current Schedule Performance Index of the Folio leads to an estimated completion date that is earlier than the Folio's planned end date. When displayed, the area sits at the extreme right of the chart, starting at the Folio's planned end date.

Point Selection Details

This section displays information for a specific selected point on the chart.

 

Point selected - today or before	Point selected - in the future

Planned Value	Planned Value at the selected point in time.
Actual Cost	Actual Cost at the selected point in time.
Earned Value	Earned Value at the selected point in time.
Known Cost	Known Cost at the selected point in time.
Est. Cost	Extrapolated Estimated Cost at the selected point in time.
Est. Earned Value	Extrapolated Earned Value at the selected point in time.
Completion ratio	Actual (or estimated if selection is in the future) completion percentage of the project at a specific point in time.

Note that when point is selected, you can navigate to the next data point by typing " j ' or to the previous one by typing " k "

Show / Hide Non-Working Days

The "Show Non Working Days" option allows you to display weekend days and other configured non working days on the chart.

Show / Hide Project(s) Versions

 

The "Show Project Versions" option allows you to display the project Versions you defined in JIRA. All versions from all projects included in the folio scope will be shown when the option is selected.

 

Forecast details

The Forecast details panel appears on the righthand side of the Forecast screen. It displays other financial details of interest.

Details section

This section displays the Planned Value, Actual Cost and Earned Value to date. Is also shows the current team size (assigned positions only).

Forecast based on Performance

This section shows projections based on the performance indices, namely the Cost Performance Index (CPI) and Schedule Performance Index (SPI). It shows a comparison between planned and projected end dates as well as planned and projected total costs.

The 'Completion ratio at planned date' gives the estimated completion percentage at the planned end date based on the current trend (CPI).

The 'Current Cost Performance Index (CPI)' gives the value of the CPI used to estimate the projected cost. The 'Current Schedule Performance Index (SPI)' gives the value of the SPI used to estimate the projected end date.

Note that the Total Cost is the maximum value between the Estimated Cost (based on Cost Performance Index) and the total Future Known Cost.

Cost Simulator

The Cost Simulator allows you to perform some simulations in order to get estimates, for instance, on the team size that would required to achieve a certain amount of earned value. For more details, see the Cost Simulator detailed documentation.