Cost Management

Improve cost control, gain real-time visibility of cost-related risks, and forecast accurately by centralizing all cost activities in the cloud and within the context of the project. 

Introduction

Overview

Download PDF Guide

 

Tracking costs, managing risk, and keeping a project on budget can be one of the biggest hurdles in a construction project. Finding efficiencies in this area can make all the difference in delivering a project on time and on budget.

 

Autodesk Build’s cost management functionality enables teams to reduce risk by managing all cost-related activities in the cloud with streamlined and connected workflows. Teams gain real-time visibility into cost-related risk, the ability to forecast accurately, and greater accuracy on cash flow and profitability projections.

 

The following guide introduces suggested cost management workflows and gives context to the different capabilities built into the product, including step-by-step starter guides.

 

Learn about Cost Management in Autodesk Build

Watch the Cost Management Workflows in action

Watch the Cost Management course in the ACC Learning Center

Visit the Cost Management Help Site

Cost Management with Autodesk Construction Cloud

Built on a unified platform and common data environment, Autodesk Construction Cloud is a powerful and complete portfolio of construction management products that empowers general contractors, specialty trades, designers, and owners to drive better business outcomes. Autodesk Construction Cloud combines advanced technology, a unique builders network and predictive insights to connect teams, workflows, and data across the entire building lifecycle.

Suggested Workflows

Cost and Change Management Workflow

Used to help control cost and confirm all changes are accounted for and managed effectively to maintain positive cash flow, reduce risk and maximize profit. The graphic below outlines the suggested cost and change management workflow using Autodesk Build.

Why follow this workflow?

  • Customizable to suit users needs and preferences
  • Provides a real-time summary view of all budget items and contracts
  • Streamlines upstream and downstream change order workflows

Capabilities Used

  • Budget management
  • Contract management
  • Change order management
  • Payment applications
  • Forecasting
  • Actuals

Payment Application Workflow

Used to help manage incremental pay applications effectively to automate tasks and gain a real-time view of the project’s financial health. The graphic below outlines the suggested pay application workflow using Autodesk Build.

Why follow this workflow?

  • Adds a level of automation
  • Easy to manage and track
  • Provides a real-time summary view of all cost and budget payments

Capabilities Used

  • Budget management
  • Contract management
  • Budget payment applications
  • Cost payment applications
  • Document generation

Cost Management Capabilities

Home Page

Leverage the Home page to keep processes moving and ensure nothing slips through the cracks with an aggregated calendar view of important dates.

Calendar View Overview

  • The calendar displays an aggregated view of project-level dates.
  • Use the arrows to scroll or the drop-downs to navigate between different months and years.
  • Click “Day” or “Week” to toggle between the different views.
  • Select the hyperlink within the listed item to open it (permission permitting).

Managing Dates within Settings

  • Dates are managed by Admins within Settings.
  • In Settings navigate to the Dates section in each component (e.g., Cost).
  • For editable dates, select the three-dot menu.

Date Types & Display

  • Non-editable system generated dates – Are not displayed 
  • Editable system generated dates – Display can be turned on or off
  • Custom dates created within Custom Attributes – Display can be turned on or off

Relative Dates

  • Leverage the relative date option for cases where an activity is relative to the date of another activity (e.g., creating a procurement schedule).
  • The relative date option is only available for editable system generated dates and custom dates.

Budget Chart

  • This pie chart displays the percentage distribution and cost values of the total budget and can be toggled to display values from a selection of five columns from the budget overview.
  • Note, the chart is only visible to members with Budget View All or Full Control permission. 

 

Reviews Chart

The Reviews Chart displays current active workflows, review step, reviewer, and due date for all custom approval workflows.

 

  • You can expand the view of the chart, via the expand arrow on the right.
  • Quickly access Items in the chart via a hyperlink, permission pertaining.  
  • To keep track of all items by the same reviewer, filter by reviewer via the filter icon on the right.  
  • If the due date appears in red color, it means an item is past due.

Settings

Cost Management is flexible and customizable. Configurable features allow teams to customize the software to suit their needs and preferences.

1. Activate Cost Management

  • A Project Admin needs to activate Cost Management for project members.
  • Within Project Admin, select the Member tool, then the member. In the fly-out panel, toggle on Cost Management.
  • Select “View all tool permissions” to assign appropriate permission levels for the different components of Cost Management.

2. Accessing Settings

  • Project Admins are the only individuals who have permission to access and edit the settings for Cost Management.
  • In Cost Management, select “Settings” to access the general settings and settings for each tool (e.g. Change Order).

3. General Settings

Select the “General” tab.

  • Project Process: An optional setting that configures which components in Cost Management display and configures permission options based on selected role and project preferences.
    • By using Project Process, teams have the option to enable a collaborative Potential Change Order workflow for upstream and downstream change orders. It is made of 3 main optional Project Process driven features.
      • A user can let their supplier generate PCOs and have them reviewed/rejected.
      • A user can send a PCO out to request pricing for a change order instead of using RFQ (assuming only one recipient in the PCO).
      • A collaborative PCO workflow where the GC can directly submit a PCO rather than COR to the customer and have the owner review/accept/reject.

  • Unit of Measure: Select imperial or metric.
  • Unit of Measure List: Set specific dimension as default or deactivate certain units from the list. Click “Add” to manually add additional dimensions.
  • Companies Setup: Identify the project Owner, General Contractor, and Architect. Use the drop-down to select the correct contact or add a new contact.

  • Budget and Contract Allocation: Allows the ability for project members to allocate a budget to multiple contracts but also limit adding multiple budget codes to a Contract by selecting “One budget to one Contract” for Budget and Contract allocation. This setting ensures any of the accounting integrations are not affected.
  • Round Settings: Select the “Rule” (Half up, Round up, Round down) and “Accuracy” (1, 0.1, 0.01, 0.05). In the example field, users can test the settings. Under Sum, choose your rounding preference. 
  • Materials in Payment Applications: There are two options for calculating materials on site in payment applications. Materials on site option is the default option that follows AIA logic. Materials Billed option, allows users to treat materials on site as ‘previously billed’ and eliminates the need to manually move them if the user needs to show them as work completed the following month regardless of whether complete or still in storage.
    Note: The Setting cannot be changed once any payment application is created.
  • Retention: Allows users to put in a default retention percent for completed work and materials on site. This will automatically be added to every line item, but can be edited/removed per line.

  • Document and Attachments: Allows users to choose to store generated documents and uploaded attachments in both Cost Management and Autodesk Docs. Choosing to store the files in Autodesk Docs creates a single repository of all generated documents specific to each company for future audit purposes. If desired, the folder can be shared with other project members to access the information.
  • Work Schedule: Allows users to set a default number of hours worked per day and days of the week.
  • Tab Names & Order: Allows users to customize the names of the main tabs (Budget, Cost, Change Order) and the subtabs within each (e.g. Cost Item, PCO, RFQ, etc.) to better suit users’ needs. To change the display order of the subtabs in each section, select the three dots.

4. Budget Settings

Select the “Budget” tab.

  • Budget Code Segments: Used to set up the Budget Code template. Refer to the Budget Code Setup chapter for more details on setting up the budget.

  • Budget overview columns: Used to create custom calculated budget columns.
  • Lock Budget: Once the original Budget Setup is finalized, lock it to avoid accidental change.
  • Allow Internal Budget Transfer: Turns off the ability to allow users to make an internal budget transfer from the budget summary view.
  • Main Contract Schedule of Values: Choose how Change Orders should display – as a line item, or in a column.

As with all our custom lists, system defaults cannot be deleted, but they can be deactivated so they will not show up in the user interface.

  • Main Contract Types: Use the “Add” button to create a list of main contract types. This is the primary contractual agreement entered into directly; for example, between an Owner and a General Contractor. In edit mode in the Main Contract tab, users can assign a contract type to a line item via a drop-down.
    • Using ‘Fixed Price’ as the main contract type will automatically add markups added to Change Orders to the work items to be hidden from the client easily. For example, a 10% mark up to a 10k concrete works Change Order item will result in an 11k concrete works item.
  • Budget Payment Application Approval Workflow: Use to create custom approval workflows to automate the routing of budget payment applications for internal review.

  • Document Templates: Use to create standard Budget Payment Application and main contract template formats, the templates are created using fields that automatically populate with data from the system. Refer to the Document Templates section to learn how to create Document Templates.
  • Dates: Use to manage dates for Contracts and Budget Payment Applications.
  • Custom Attributes: Use to customize portions of the details flyout panel for items in each subtab within the Budget tab. Refer to the Custom Attributes chapter to learn how to create Custom Attributes.
  • Default Email Message: Use to create custom default email messages for when a Budget Payment Application is sent.

5. Budget Overview Columns

  • In the Budget settings within the Budget overview columns section, Project Admins can manage the name, group and order of existing columns. As well as create custom columns calculated on base values or other columns.
  • To manage existing columns and create custom calculated budget columns, select the “Manage” button.

Managing Existing Columns 

  • To change where existing columns appear (group and position), rename them and control which appear by default. Select the column name and choose the desired option beneath the list view.

Creating Custom Calculated Columns 

  • Duplicate an existing column and edit the formula by selecting the column name, then the “Duplicate” button. To create a new column from scratch, select the “Add new” button.
  • Example: Creating a column next to Approved Change Orders in the Cost group titled Recoverable Change Orders shows what will be paid for by the Owner.

  • How It’s Done:
    1. Select “Add new”.
    2. Update the column name.
    3. Choose the column group.
    4. From the left side panel, drag and drop to add the formula item.
    5. On the right side panel, select the value type and enter a value to preview.
    6. Drag additional formula items as needed and update values.
    7. Update the column position and visibility option.
    8. Select “Save”.

6. Cost Settings

  • Select the “Cost” tab.
  • Number Format: Ability to configure the expense code format by customizing the prefix, suffix, number of digits, and start number. Ability to also include the type in the prefix.

  • Contract Overview Columns: Used to create custom calculated contract columns. Functionality to create and manage columns is similar to the budget overview columns, refer to the above section for more details.

  • Contract Schedule of Values: Used after a subcontract has been executed, Admins can change the Contract Schedule of Values setting from the default ‘Fully Locked” to ‘Amount Locked.’ This allows members to edit the breakdown of the locked lump sum before the first cost payment application is executed.

  • Required Fields: Used to make certain required fields mandatory for contracts or potential change orders. If the user submits a PCO or a Contract and the required fields are not filled in, it will not allow the user to submit until they are compliant, and these can be filled out in the flyout menu.
  • Contract Types: Use the “Add” button to create a list of contract types. In edit mode in the Contracts tab, assign a contract type to a line item via a drop-down.

  • Expense Types: Use the “Add” button to create a list of expense types. In the Expense tab, assign an expense type to a line item via a drop-down.

  • Contract Approval Workflow: Used to create custom approval workflows to automate the routing of contracts for internal review.
  • Document Templates: Use to create standard Cost Payment Application and contract template formats, the templates are created using fields that automatically populate with data from the system. Refer to the Document Templates section to learn how to create Document Templates.

  • Custom Attributes: Use to customize portions of the details flyout panel for items in each subtab within the Cost tab. Refer to the Custom Attributes section to learn how to create Custom Attributes.
  • Default Email Message: Use to create custom default email messages for when Contracts and Cost Payment Application are sent from the system.

7. Change Order Settings

  • Number Format: Users have the option to configure the code format by customizing the prefix, suffix, number of digits, and start number for each component. This will dictate how the information is displayed in the number column of each tab within Cost Management. Users can also choose to use Change Order type and Contract code in the coding structure to provide easy grouping and filtering.

  • Financial Markup Formulas: Where users can create multiple project-level markup configurations to apply to Potential Change Orders (PCOs), Change Orders Requests (CORs), or Owner Change Orders (OCOs). Refer to the Financial Markup Formulas chapter to learn how to create custom Markups.
    • Choose to use financial markups for budget changes or cost changes. Cost changes will enable the markups to display on the supplier change order page. 
  • Change Order Types: Use the “Add” button to create a list of Change Order types. This allows them to be grouped by type and, if preferred, have different numbering schemes per type.

    • You can specify which change order types apply to each stage and optionally define a default for each by using the drop-down in the ‘Applicable to’ and ‘Default for’ sections.
  • Change Order Pay Before Approval: You can select any OCO/SCO change order types and manually add them to payment applications before they are approved. Use the drop-down menu options of OCO/SCO types to choose from.
    • Note: This option allows the change order value to be edited between payment applications and is very useful if you are in a T&M scenario, where the final change order value may only be known once the work is complete.

  • Cost Item Types: Use the “Add” button to create a list of Cost Item types. In the Cost Item tab within Change Orders, users can assign a Cost Item type to a line item via a drop-down list.
  • PCO Source Types: Use the “Add” button to create a list of PCO source types. In the PCO tab within Change Orders, users can assign a PCO source type to a line item via a drop-down list.
  • OCO & SCO Approval Workflow: Used to create custom approval workflows to automate the routing of SCOs and OCOs for internal review.

  • Document Templates: Used to create standard template formats for PCOs, RFQs, RCOs, OCOs, and SCOs. The templates are created using fields that automatically populate with data from the system. Refer to the Document Templates section to learn how to create Document Templates.
  • Dates: Use to manage dates for RFQs, CORs, OCOs, and SCOs.

  • Custom Attributes: Use to customize portions of the details flyout panel within the Change Order tab. Refer to the Custom Attributes section to learn how to create Custom Attributes.
  • Default Email Message: Use to create custom default email messages for when PCOs, RFQs, CORs, OCO, and SCOs are sent from the system.

Multi Currency

Multi-Currency

With Multi-Currency foreign supplier management is streamlined. Teams can easily manage supplier contracts, change orders, payment applications, and expenses in different currencies. The system then automatically converts all foreign currencies to the project’s base currency and displays exchange rate gains and losses for better cost control.

 

1. Accessing & Setting Multi-Currency for the Project

  • Project Admins are the only individuals who have permission to access Multi-Currency.
  • Within Cost Management, select the Settings tool. Multi-Currency is under the General Settings tab within the Currency section.
  • Multi-Currency needs to be turned on to utilize it. To do so, under Foreign Currencies, toggle it on.
  • To add a foreign currency, select Add. From the drop-down, select the currency you would like to add. Then input the current exchange rate.

 

  • Important Note:
    • The exchange rates set are used by default and can be updated in Settings as required throughout the project lifecycle. The default exchange rates can also be overwritten by users with the latest rates every time a transaction is made, as shown in later sections of this guide.

  • The system has no limitations to currency type or the number of currencies that can be used on a project.
  • If you are using hedge rates, you can enter the validity date range in the valid from and valid to fields and these will be automatically used as a base on transaction date.

2. Using Multi-Currency

With Multi-Currency turned on, project teams can now easily create and manage foreign supplier contracts, change orders, payment applications, and expenses in the set currencies.

Foreign Supplier Contract Management

  • To change the currency for foreign supplier contracts from the base project currency, select the contract to open the flyout panel. 
  • Within the Details section of the flyout, select the Currency drop-down, and choose the appropriate currency. 
  • The exchange rate set in Settings for that currency will appear in the Exchange Rate field. It can be edited from here if the rate has since changed. 
  • The Schedule of Values are entered in the foreign currency. The system automatically converts it to the base currency. 
  • You can easily toggle between the two currencies to view the Unit Cost and Amount change in either currency.

Foreign Supplier Change Order Management

  • Change orders can be entered and managed in the currency of the foreign supplier as the project progresses.
  • The system will automatically recognize the currency set for a supplier within their contract, so when a potential change order (PCO) arises, you or the supplier (with the appropriate permission level) can generate a PCO. 
  • The Proposed and Committed amounts are entered in the supplier’s local currency then the system auto-converts it to the base currency. 
  • Arrow icon displays to indicate the change order information is converted. To view the information in both currencies, hover over the field. The Exchange Rate can be edited from here by selecting the pencil to override what was defined in Settings.

  • You can also manage this information within the Cost Item’s flyout panel. First, select the item to open the flyout panel, then scroll to the Cost Summary section. 
  • There select the Proposed or Committed columns. Toggle between the two currencies and edit the exchange rate if needed. 

Foreign Supplier Payment Application Management

  • Payment applications can also be entered and managed in foreign currencies. 
  • Within the Cost tool, select the Cost Payment Application tab and open the details view for the appropriate supplier.
  • The system will automatically recognize the currency set for a supplier within their contract, so Work Completed will be entered in the local currency. And the system will auto-convert it back to the project’s base currency.

 

Foreign Supplier Expense Management

  • Expenses can also be entered and managed in foreign currencies. 
  • Select the Cost tool, and Click the Expense tab.
  • Then select Add from Contract.

  • In the Add Expense from Contract box, choose the Contract that you would like to assign the expense to from the drop-down and click Add.

 

 

 

  • The system will automatically recognize the currency set for a supplier within their contract, so the Unit Cost and Amount are entered in the local currency. The system will auto-convert it back to the project’s base currency. 
  • Like Change Orders, an arrow icon displays to indicate the information has been converted. To view the information in both currencies and exchange rate used, hover over the field. 
  • Exchange rate can be overridden via the flyout panel. Once an expense is “Approved” the field will be locked and rate can’t be changed.

3. View Currency Gains & Losses within the Budget Overview

The system automatically pulls all cost activities into the budget overview and converts foreign currencies back to the project’s base currency. So, as actual expenses start rolling in, teams gain instant visibility into currency gain or loss on actual (realized) and projected (unrealized) costs.

New Realized & Unrealized Currency Columns

  • To view the budget overview, select the Budget tool.
  • With the release of Multi-Currency, three new columns are available: Realized Currency Gain or Loss, Unrealized Currency Gain or Loss, and Forecast Exchange Rate.
  • Use the gear icon to turn them on.
  • Realized costs are calculated based on whatever the exchange rate was set at on the day each actual cost was approved.
  • Unrealized (projected) costs are based on anything not yet claimed for.

Recalculating/Editing the Exchange Rate

  • Recalculating/editing exchange rates are done within the Forecast Exchange Rate column you’ve turned on via the gear icon.
  • To edit the rate, hover over the field and click Edit.

  • In the Edit Forecast Exchange Rates box, to update the rate click into the field to directly edit it. Or select Fetch from settings to use the rate within Settings.
  • When done, select Save.

 

 

 

 

 

Making Forecast Adjustments

  • To make a forecast adjustment based on currency gain or loss select the more-menu (three-dots) next to the item name.
  • Then select Forecast Adjustments. An Edit Forecast Adjustment box will appear.
  • From the “Add from currency gain or loss” drop-down menu, choose one of the following options:
    • Realized Currency Gain or Loss
    • Unrealized Currency Gain or Loss
    • Total Currency Gain or Loss
  • When done, select the “X.”

Display Currency Column in Budget and Contract View

  • Within the Budget and Contract overview page, turn on the Currency option via the gear icon to display a Currency column that shows the currency being used for each item.    

Generate Budget Report in Different Currency

When using Multi-Currency, you can generate a full project report converted to a foreign currency.

 

  • Within the Budget tool in Cost Management, Select the Export drop down, select PDF Report 
  • Click Report currency drop down, Select the currency desired to generate PDF report, Click Create Report.  

Permissions & Collaborate Access

Setting Permissions

  • Select the “Permissions” tab. Designate user-, role-, or company-based permissions for each tab within Cost Management. Auto permissions for each tab using role-based settings can also be set. Permission levels are:

 

    • No Access: can’t access the tab
    • Collaborate: can view and edit limited attributes of items assigned to them in the tab
    • View All: can view all items within the tab
    • Full Control: can view and edit all attributes on all items within the tab

 

  1. Use the search field to find the desired user, company, or role.
  2. Click “Add”.
  3. Hover over the permission level and click to access the menu drop-down. Set the appropriate permission level for each column.

Project Settings Control

A new permission setting for Cost Management called Project Settings has been added. This permission level allows teams to alter whether individual project admins have view-only or edit access for Cost Management’s settings. This ensures that defined cost settings are not accidentally changed.

  • Within Cost Management in the Settings tool, Click the Permissions Tab.
  • Select the user, in the Project Settings column, drop down menu select View Project Settings for viewing only or Full Control for being able to edit.

 

 

  • A member with “View Project Settings” will not be able to edit any settings for Cost Management. The “Edit” option will be dimmed.

 

 

Collaborate Access for Owners & Suppliers

  • To help streamline workflows and enhance collaboration with Owners and Suppliers, give them Collaborate access to view and interact with certain information.
  • The Collaborate permission is available for specific components within Cost and allows them to only view and edit limited attributes on items assigned to them. Note, an Autodesk Build license is required.

What Owner/Supplier with Collaborate permission can do

Related tool and component in Cost

Supplier Request for Quotation

  • Provide work breakdown and propose a price
  • Upload/download attachments

Change Order Tool

RFQ Component

Owner Change Order Request

  • Accept or reject COR
  • Download COR documents
  • Upload/download attachments

Change Order Tool

COR Component

Owner Change Orders

  • Approve or reject OCO
  • Download OCO documents
  • Upload/download attachments

Change Order Tool

OCO Component

Supplier Payment Application (with view and respond access)

  • Fill in pay application and submit to contractor
  • View previous applications
  • Generate payment application documents
  • Upload/download attachments

Supplier Payment Application (with create, view, and respond access)

  • Create new billing periods in contract and cost payment application views
  • Set due dates
  • Fill in pay application and submit to contractor
  • Delete a payment application with the status of Submitted, Revised and Resubmitted, or Pending Supplier Input. Can’t delete a payment application with the status of In Review, Accepted, Approved or Paid.
  • Delete billing period if no linked payment application
  • View previous applications
  • Generate payment application documents
  • Upload/download attachments

Cost Tool

Cost Payment Application Component

Owner Payment Application

  • Approve or reject pay application
  • View previous applications
  • Download payment application documents
  • Upload/download attachments

Budget Tool

Budget Payment Application Component

Supplier Contract Exhibits/Attachments

  • Upload/download

Cost Tool

Contract Component

Supplier Schedule of Values

  • Provide schedule of values breakdown

Cost Tool

Contract Component

Supplier Cash Flow Forecasting Collaboration 

  • Create and update distribution of forecast final costs with a submission/approve/revise workflow.

Forecast Tool

Allow Collaborators to View/Upload/Download Files

  • Permission levels need to be set to allow collaborators to view, upload, and download files to relevant folders.
  • Select Build from the product picker, then the Files tool.
  • Select the three dot icon next to the desired folder, then click Permissions.

  • In the Permissions flyout panel select Add.
  • Search by name, email, role, or company.
  • Select the drop-down and choose the appropriate permission level.
  • Click Add
  • Note; Permissions set to the main folder (parent folder) will be carried through to any sub-folders (children folders).

Owner Collaborate Access

Collaborating on an Owner Change Order With eSignature – Available to customers with an active SignNow integration before December 1, 2023.

Autodesk Build’s allows teams to streamline workflows and enhance collaboration by providing Owners with the ability to access, view, and interact with specific information in the Cost toolset.

Owner Change Order with eSignature

  • An email will notify the Owner of the change order for review.
  • Open the email and select Open in Cost Management.

  • When Cost opens, only the information pertaining to the Owner will be visible.
  • Click the change order name to open the details flyout panel.
  • Scroll to review details, including any documents.
  • With the Owner given ‘Collaborate’ access, they can review, accept, reject, or request a revision.
  • Select Respond in the workflow bar.

  • Review the Scope of Work and attached documents. To add attachments, select Add Document.
  • Respond by clicking the drop-down in the Response section and selecting Approved, Revise and Resubmit, or Rejected.
  • Include a comment before hitting Submit.

  • Once submitted, the General Contractor will be notified.
  • If approved by the Owner they can trigger the eSignature process. The document will be sent to the required parties for signature based on a configured order. This process utilizes an integration with SignNow.
  • The Owner will be notified by email that documents are awaiting their review and signature.
  • Open the email and select View Document.

  • When the document opens, select your language before getting started.
  • Select the Signature Field in all required places to populate your electronic signature. 
  • When complete select Done. Once the last party has signed the system will notify the General Contractor for their signature. 
  • The completed document will automatically upload into Cost as an attachment.

Supplier Collaborate Access

Autodesk Build’s allows teams to streamline workflows and enhance collaboration by providing Suppliers with the ability to access, view, and interact with specific information in the Cost toolset.

Supplier Contract Schedule of Values Collaboration

  • The Supplier will be notified of the contract for review by email.
  • Open the email and select Open in Cost Management.

  • When Cost opens, only the information pertaining to the Supplier will be visible.
  • Select the contract name to open the details flyout panel.
  • Scroll to review details, then select respond in the workflow bar.

  • Within the Schedule of Values (SOV) section, manually add the SOV items or import from Excel.
  • Select the three-dot icon to add subitems, import subitems, or delete subitems.

  • If importing from Excel, select ‘download template’ to download an Excel template.

  • Once the SOV information is complete, add comments for further context and select Submit.

  • Once submitted, the system will notify the General Contractor by email.
  • They can review and request revisions with comments.
  • If a revision is required, the process will continue as outlined above once it is submitted back to the Supplier.
  • Once approved, the General Contractor can compile the contract document package and send it over for signature.

Supplier Cost Payment Application Collaboration

  • The Supplier will be notified of the cost payment application for review by email.
  • Open the email and select Open in Cost Management.

  • When Cost opens, only the information pertaining to the Supplier’s cost payment application will be visible.
  • Scroll to review details. In the columns within This Period, click on the fields to enter the completions. The information will auto-populate based on the Amount or % entered. 
  • To auto-populate data based on the item being 100% complete, select the three-dot icon next to a line item and choose % mark as completed. 

  • Once the payment application information has been populated, select Submit.
  • Include a message in the Submit dialog box.

  • Once submitted, the system will notify the General Contractor by email.
  • They can review line-by-line and accept, reject, and leave comments.

  • If a revision is required, they can request it. 
  • The Supplier can respond directly to the comment left by the General Contractor and make necessary updates. 
  • When done, the Supplier submits the payment application back to the General Contractor.  
  • Once the General Contractor is happy, they can accept all line items. The system will notify the Supplier by email.

Supplier Request for Quotation Collaboration

  • The Supplier will be notified of the quotation request by email.
  • Open the email and select Open in Cost Management.

  • When Cost opens, only the information pertaining to the Supplier will be visible.
  • Click the Request for Quotation name to open the details flyout panel.
  • Scroll to review information and access any associated documents.
  • When ready, select Respond in the workflow bar.

  • Under the Scope of Work section, click to add the appropriate unit cost. The amount will auto-populate.
  • Include a comment within the Comment section and select Submit.

  • Once submitted, the system will notify the General Contractor by email.
  • They can either accept it or request a revision.
  • If a revision is required, the process will continue as outlined above once it is submitted back to the Supplier.
  • If necessary, a formal quotation can be attached by the Supplier when responding. 
  • Once accepted by the General Contractor, the system will notify the Supplier by email. 

Supplier Collaborative Workflow for Forecasting

  • Suppliers can be invited into the system to create and update distribution of Forecast final costs throughout the project.
  • Suppliers will only see their requested distribution items for forecast final cost and actual costs, keeping all other sensitive budget information private. 
  • As with other collaborative workflows, admins manage collaborative access for Cash Flow within Settings.

Sending Distribution Items to Supplier

  • Once the supplier has collaborative access and you have created your forecast distributions, within the Cash Flow tab in the Forecast tool, select the items to be sent to the supplier for input and Click Request Input.

 

  • A ‘Send email to supplier’ dialog will appear where you can type a message to the supplier. Click Send.

Receiving requested input for distribution items as a Supplier

  • The supplier will receive an email notification of the request.
  • Open the email and select Open in Cost Management.
  • In Cost, they can only see their distribution items for forecast final and actual costs.

  • Select multiple items to batch distribute or distribute individually.
  • Click the Distribute button. Select the start and end date and choose the distribution curve: Front Loaded, Typical, Rear Loaded, or Linear. Click Distribute.
  • When finished select the Submit button.

  • Once submitted, the PM is notified via email. It’s in their court to review the supplier’s input and can request a revision or accept.

Budget Code Setup

The Cost Management toolset in Autodesk Build is flexible and customizable to meet your needs and preferences while also giving you the freedom to slice and dice your data.

1. Accessing the Budget Code Settings

Project Admins are the only individuals who have permission to access and edit the Budget Code.

  • In Cost Management, select the Settings tool to access the settings for the different components within Cost Management.  
  • The Budget tab is where the Budget Code is set up. 

PRO TIP: The tab name ‘Budget’ can be customized within General Setting.

2. Budget Code Template

Budget codes are generally made up of individual segments of information, such as a work classification, sub job, cost type, etc. Some companies have only one segment, and some have multiple. The Cost tool does not have limits. During the budget setup process, define the number of segments for your codes (see section 3) and each segment’s length. The sum of the segment lengths equals the total length of the budget code.

  • Within the Budget tab, you can either build the Budget Code format from scratch, import an Excel list from an accounting system, or integrate it directly into the system via API from ERP/Estimating system or similar.
  • This informs the system how the Budget Code should appear in the Cost tool. 

Budget Import 

 

  • The imported budget should not include summary groups of other budget items, as shown in the left screenshot below. Grouping is managed by using master lists for each segment, allowing the budget to be sliced and diced in many different ways, as described in sections 36 on the following pages.  
  • There is a concept of sub-items in the budget, which allows for a budget item to have cost build-ups. But they should only be build-ups relative to the actual budget item. 

Importing Special Characters

 

  • When importing budget codes the system allows the import of special characters (e.g, hyphen), known as a delimiter within the actual imported code.
  • Any special characters will be counted in the # of digits in the segment. For example:
    • 03.00.00 = 8 digits
    • 030000 = 6 digits

 

  • Users can add delimiters between complete segments. For example, if CSI was a segment (8 digits) and cost type another (3 digits) then there might be a delimiter between 03.00.00-LAB. This example will be 11 total digits (8+3) when imported.
  • This means both the group headers which are driven by the segment master list and the actual budget line items will be shown with special characters.

3. Creating Budget Segments

  • In the Segment section, double-click to rename the sample segments and select Add new to add additional segments.  
  • At a minimum, there must be least one segment, but multiple segments can be created as required. 
  • Click and drag the segment tabs to rearrange.  

4. Adding Budget Segment Details

  • “Where” informs the system how to show the segment: 
    • Code  as part of the whole Budget Code. 
    • Column  in a separate column from the Budget Code. 
    • Info only – purely for information and not shown in the budget columns. 
  • “# of digits” informs the system how many digits are expected for that segment. 
    • For irregular structures, choose Variable Length for the segment’s # of digits.
    • Variable Length can be applied to multiple segments and the max # of digits per individual segment is 20.
    • If Variable Length is chosen, the template for import will be updated to support this.
  • “Delimiter” informs the system how to separate the segments, if at all. When importing budget codes the system allows for the import of special characters (e.g, hyphens, periods, etc), which is known as a delimiter.

PRO TIP: You can’t edit segments when there are budget items in the project.

5. Adding Segment Values

  • Segment values can be added individually by selecting “Add” or by importing a master list.

Importing a master list:

 

  • When importing, users can either drag and drop or select “Import” to browse for an Excel sheet (must be .xls or .xlsx and can’t exceed 10MB). Note, only the first sheet in the workbook will be imported. 
  • Best practice, when importing a list, is to first download the template by clicking “Download template”. 
  • Hierarchy levels are unlimited. Child levels don’t require a column header; just insert a column for each level of hierarchy between “Code” and “Description” columns in the template. 
  • Every line item can have only one code. When importing, make sure to set # of digits” correctly, or an error message will display. 

  • Adding a master list of values for each segment is not a system requirement.  
  • However, if more detail is added into the budget segments (e.g. cost type, sub job, custom attributes, etc.), it can be used for grouping. 

Editing a Master List

  • If a user has already defined and imported a budget segment master list with no hierarchy parent group item, user can still add one.

  • To create a new hierarchy group item, open the budget segment settings and select ‘Add’
     

  • For this scenario, a new hierarchy group item 26 has been added.

 

  • Select all the items that you would like move under the new group item 26. You can do this by using Shift key to select a range of items.
  • Select ‘Move’ and select the new target parent item 26, click Save.

 

 

 

  • All items are now moved under new group item 26 that was created.

 

 

 

  • Adding this additional hierarchy group level 26 can be viewed in the Budget View.

 

 

 

6. Deleting Segment Values

  • To delete a segment value, select the checkbox next to the line item. Under “Segment code master list”, the “Add” button will turn into “Delete”. Select “Delete”.  
  • To delete all items, select the checkbox in the header row. 

7. Code Preview

  • The “Segment code preview” field allows users to input example data to confirm the segment code details are accurate.  
  • “Budget code preview” displays a preview of the entire Budget Code as it will be shown in Cost.  
  • Hover over the “Budget code preview”. A “Full code preview” pops up to display the code as it might look when imported into the system from your accounting system. 

Custom Attributes

The details flyout panel allows users to quickly view detailed information behind any item in multiple components within Cost Management. With the Custom Attributes feature, teams can customize a portion of the details flyout panel to suit their needs and preferences. 

1. Accessing Custom Attributes

  • Project Admins are the only individuals who have permission to create and edit Custom Attributes.  
  • Within Cost Management, select the Settings tool. You will now be able to access the settings for the different components within Cost Management.  
  • Custom Attributes can be created in the following tabs for each component: 
    • Budget: Budget, Main Contract, and Budget Payment Application 
    • Cost: Contract, Cost Payment Application, Expense, Expense Subitem 
    • Change Order: Cost Item, PCO, RFQ, COR, OCO, and SCO 
  • Note, the main tab and component names can be customized within General Settings. 

2. Creating Custom Attributes

  • To create a Custom Attribute, hover over the component and select “Add”.

  • Either click to add, or drag and drop the attribute from the left sidebar into the center preview panel.
  • Select the attribute to define it in the properties panel on the right. 
  • Rearrange the attributes by clicking then dragging and dropping the field. Select “Finish” when done. 
  • The attributes will appear in the component. Like adding, click to edit. 

  • Some custom attributes generate a custom variable that can be referenced in documents. Not all custom attributes create custom variable entries. The following support custom variables:
    • Cost contract custom attributes
    • Change order custom attributes
  • The format for these custom attributes is {xxx.properties[“Attribute Title”]}.
    • For example: A date custom attribute for an RFQ titled “Required on Site” would be {rfq.properties[“Required on Site”]} would return the date specified.
  • Copy the variable from the custom attribute edit and paste it into the desired document template.

3. Viewing Custom Attributes in Item Details Flyout

  • Select an item within any of the Budget, Cost, or Change Order tabs. The details flyout will appear. 
  • In the details flyout, scroll down to the Custom Attributes section.  
  • This will display the Custom Attributes created in Settings. 

PRO TIP: Add Custom Attributes to the table view via the Control icon. In the table view, users can assign them. Users can also use Custom Attributes for grouping and filtering. To do this, select the filter icon, and then choose the attribute from “Group items by drop-down”.

Document Templates

Easily create standard documentation formats for distribution with Cost Management’s Document Templates capabilities. Templates are created using fields that are automatically populated with data from the system when generated.

1. Accessing Document Templates

  • Project Admins are the only individuals who have permission to create and edit Document Templates.
  • Within Cost Management, select the Settings tool. You will now be able to access the settings for the different components within Cost Management.
  • Document Templates can be created in the following tabs for each component:
    • Budget: Main Contract and Budget Payment Application
    • Cost: Contract and Cost Payment Application
    • Change Order: Potential Change Order (PCO), Request for Quotation (RFQ), Change Order Request (COR), Owner Change Order (OCO), and Supplier Change Order (SCO).
  • Note, the main tab and component names can be customized within General Settings.

2. Downloading a Sample Template

  • Within the Document Templates section, select the component to add a template to.
  • Select “Download sample template” to automatically download a template. Depending on the component, you will have the option to download a Word or Excel template.

  • The downloaded template can be customized to suit the user’s needs.
  • The content within the brackets must stay the same for the module to recognize and to auto-populate it when generating the document.

Document template variable details

PRO TIP: To remove “SAMPLE” click into the document header

  • Payment application document templates include additional rows in the payment details table to allow users to define hierarchy and parent node background color and font.
  • Summaries can be at the top or bottom of a document. Increasing the visibility of summary items within generated payment applications.

3. Uploading a Document Template

  • There are two ways to upload a document template:
    • Option 1: Drag and drop the file, or click “Browse” to locate the file on your computer for upload.
    • Option 2: Select a document from Autodesk Docs by clicking “Select files Autodesk Docs” and navigating to the correct folder.
  • Select “Finish” to save and exit.

4. Online Document Review Functionality

  • Once the document template(s) are uploaded to the system, Admins with Microsoft Office 365 can click on the desired template to open it online and make edits versus downloading a copy and re-uploading it. 
  • Users with Microsoft Office 365 can also open and edit Microsoft Word/Excel documents online directly from the document package section within the item’s flyout panel.

Account Library Document Templates

For quick distribution of Cost Management document templates across all projects, Account Admins can easily manage templates at the account level within the Library.

1. Accessing Cost within the Account Admin Library

  • Users with Account Admin permission are the only individuals able to access the Library.
  • Select ‘Account Admin’ in the product picker, then select ‘Library.’
  • In the Library, click on the ‘Cost’ tab.
  • Here is where you manage settings (e.g., Document Templates) for Cost Management.

2. Accessing the Document Template Settings Builder

  • Within the ‘Cost’ tab, select ‘Create cost settings.’
  • In the next window, select ‘Document Template’ and click next.
  • The Settings Builder will open and display a listing of all Cost Management document templates.
  • Best practice: create a setting for individual templates or groupings of like templates.

3. Creating Cost Settings & Uploading Document Templates

  • In the Settings Builder, title the settings (e.g., Budget Pay App).
  • Use the drop-down menu or scroll to the desired document template section (e.g., Budget Payment Application). If needed, select the hyperlink to download the sample template.
  • When ready to upload a document template, drag and drop the file, or click ‘Browse’ to locate the file on your computer for upload.
  • A single section can include multiple templates.
  • Select ‘Save’ to save and exit.

4. Push Templates to Existing Projects

  • Within the ‘Cost’ tab in the Library, select the template then the ‘Add to’ button.
  • To apply the template across all project select the box next to Project Name.
  • To apply to select projects scroll the list or use the search box to find/select the desired project(s).
  • When ready select the  ‘Add’ button at the bottom.
  • Within Cost Management, an icon representing the Library will appear next to document templates shared from the Library.

5. Updating Templates

  • Within the ‘Cost’ tab in the Library, select the template, then the ‘Edit’ button to open the Settings Builder.
  • You cannot replace templates with a new template with the same name. Instead, upload a new template with a different name or select the three-dot menu to delete the existing template.
  • When done, select ‘Save.’
  • A dialogue box will appear to confirm the system will automatically update the setting across associated projects. Select ‘Save and update.’ Note, this means templates deleted from the Library will automatically be removed from associated projects when saved.

Financial Markups

Easily create multiple project level markup configurations to apply to Potential Change Orders (PCOs), Change Order Request (COR), or Owner Change Orders (OCOs).

1. Accessing Financial Markups

  • Project Admins are the only individuals who have permission to create and edit financial Markups.
  • Within Cost, select the Settings tool. You will now be able to access the settings for the different components within Cost.
  • Financial Markups are created in the Change Order tab.
  • Multiple Markup formulas can be created, and any existing formulas will be available in the list.
  • Use the drop-down to choose if the markups will be used in Budget or Cost changes. When Cost change is selected, it will enable the markups to display on the supplier change order page.
    • Budget change markups can be applied to either PCOs, CORs, or OCOs.
    • Cost change markups can be applied to either PCOs, RFQs, or SCOs.
  • Note, the main tab and component names can be customized within General Settings.

2. Creating a Financial Markup

  • Scroll to the Financial Markup Formulas section, and select “Add”.
  • Select the top “New formula” field to title the formula.
  • To add a description, select the pencil icon next to “New financial markup formula.”
  • To enter a sample cost basis, which will allow you to check the calculation as you start building the formula, select the pencil icon next to “Sample cost basis”.

Creating the Formula:

 

  • 1: Click “Markup” to add a new markup row to the formula, or select “Markup” and drag it into the center preview panel.
  • 2: In the Markup edit panel, name the Markup (e.g. Fee).
  • 3: Select the Markup type and amount:

 

    • “Percentage” for a standard percentage based markup.
    • “Flat” for a flat fee, per PCO.

 

  • 4: Select the “Cost basis” from the drop-down.
  • 5: Add a description of the Markup (optional).
  • 6: Search or scroll to select a target budget item for the Markup.
  • 7: By default, Markups are calculated on all budget items. Using the “Calculate on” fields, you can enter rules to only calculate on particular Budget Codes, Cost Types, etc.

  • 8: Add a subtotal by selecting “Subtotal” or by dragging it into the center preview panel.

 

    • Name the subtotal (e.g. Contingency and Fee).
    • Select the appropriate “Cost basis revising” option.
      • “Revise cost basis” (default), if revising the cost basis for all subsequent Markups, will be included.
      • “Info only” to summarize any Markups above for information.

 

  • 9: Select “Save”.

Custom Tax Calculations

Utilize the custom tax calculation feature to calculate taxes in all cost processes and show tax in the generated cost documentation to comply with government requirements.

1. Accessing Tax Calculations

  • Project Admins are the only individuals who have permission to create and edit tax formulas.
  • Within Cost Management, select the Settings tool. You will now be able to access the settings for the different components within Cost Management.
  • Tax formulas are created and managed in the General Settings tab.
  • Multiple tax formulas can be created, and any existing formulas will be available in the list.
  • The tax formulas created here can then be applied to contracts, payment applications, and change orders.
  • Note, the main tab and component names can be customized within General Settings.

2. Creating a Tax Formula

  • Scroll to the Tax Formulas section, and select “Add”.
  • To the right, use the text field to name the formula.
  • Select the pencil icon next to the formula name to edit the name.

  • To update the net total default (1,000.00) in the center preview panel select “Net total”.
  • Click “New tax” to add a new tax row to the formula, or select “New tax” and drag it into the center preview panel.
  • In the Tax edit panel, name the Tax (e.g. VAT) and add the tax rate percent.
  • Taxes can be added, removed, named and re-ordered as required. After setting the tax rate for each, the amounts are calculated on the shown “Cost Basis”.

  • For situations where tax on tax is needed, create a single formula that includes multiple taxes by adding subtotals.
  • Add a subtotal by selecting “Subtotal” or by dragging it into the center preview panel.
  • In the Subtotal edit panel, select the appropriate “Cost basis revising” option.
    • “Revise cost basis” (default), creates a subtotal and recalculates the sample “Cost Basis” for subsequent taxes.
    • “Info only,” creates a subtotal for information purposes without recalculating the “Cost basis” for subsequent taxes.
  • Select “Save”.

  • To show tax in the generated cost documents, the document template will need to be updated with the new template available in settings.

3. Applying Tax

  • Tax can be applied to contracts, payment applications, and change orders via the details-flyout panel.
  • In the details-flout panel scroll to Tax and select “Apply Tax”.
  • All tax formulas will appear in the drop-down, select the appropriate formula.

  • Once selected, the tax summary will automatically appear.
  • Select the “More” menu to delete the tax or edit tax details.

  • Editing tax details allows you to remove tax from specific line items (e.g. tax exempt items).
  • In the edit tax details dialog box, click the check mark next to the item to remove the tax.
  • Select “Done”.
  • The change will automatically update in the Tax summary table.

4. Edit and Manage Tax Formulas

  • In General Settings scroll to the Tax Formula drop-down.
  • To edit a formula, select the formula name.
  • For additional options select the “More” menu to access the following options:
    • Duplicate: to make a copy of the formula.
    • Deactivate: to deactivate the formula so it won’t be used.
    • Delete: to permanently delete the formula
  • Note, tax formulas that have been applied to items can not be edited, deactivated, or deleted.

Custom Approval Workflows

Utilize a decision-based workflow engine to create custom approval workflows for Owner Change Orders (OCOs), Supplier Change Orders (SCOs), Contracts and Subcontractor Payment Applications. Structuring approval workflows will ensure contractually binding documents follow required internal review processes and allow for consistency and transparency of company-defined processes across projects.

1. Accessing Approval Workflows

  • Project Admins are the only individuals who have permission to create and edit approval workflows.
  • Within Cost, select the Settings tool. Users are able to access the settings for the different components within Cost.
  • Navigate to the following tabs for:
    • Budget: Budget (Owner) Payment Application Approval Workflows
    • Cost: Contract Approval Workflows and Cost (Subcontractor) Payment Application Approval Workflows
    • Change Order: Owner Change Orders and Supplier Change Orders Approval Workflows
  • Note, the main tab and component names can be customized within General Settings.

2. Creating Approval Workflows

  • To create a Contract workflow, navigate to the Cost tab. To create Owner and Supplier Change Order workflows, navigate to the Change Order tab.
  • 1: Select “Create approval workflow”.
  • 2: In the dialog box, select an approval workflow template from the drop-down list. Templates are available for single-step or multi-step group reviews.
  • 3: Click “Next”.

  • 4: Define the workflow conditions.
    • For example, for Change Orders, choose either “Committed value” or “Type” and define remaining conditions.

  • 5: In the General Info section, name the workflow. When an item meets the defined conditions of a workflow, the workflow name will appear in the system as it progresses through the review process.
  • 6: In the Steps section, specify the details for each step in the workflow:
    • For each step, specify either single or multiple reviewers. Reviewers can be a user, role, or company. The reviewer must have Full Control or Admin permissions to the component (e.g. SCO tab) to participate in the review.
    • If multiple reviewers (a group approval step), specify whether every member of the group must review, or select the minimum number of reviewers required.
    • Note: When an approval workflow template is selected, the Reviewer Type field is filled in by default. For reviews with more than one step, this can be customized as required. For example, if a Three Step Approval template is selected, one of the single review steps should be changed to a group review step.
    • Specify the time allowed for each step.
    • Optionally, enter a name for each review and approval step. The step name will appear in the system as it reaches each review step.

 

  • 7: Click “Save”.

3. Reviewer Notifications and Submission for Signature

  • When an item satisfies the conditions of an approval workflow, a dialog box will appear, detailing the approval workflow it will be progressing through and enabling you to add a comment.
  • As an item progresses through each step in a workflow, the designated reviewer for that step will be alerted via email.
  • The reviewer can click “Open in cost management” to be directed to the item for review in the email. Respond appropriately and select submit.
  • The final reviewer submits the item to the external party for their approval and signature.
  • If using the SignNow integration for e-signature, documents will be sent to signers defined in the signature template.
  • The workflow bar in the details flyout panel displays the item’s status, ball-in-court, and expected due date as it moves through the workflow.
  • Activity is captured in the item’s activity log.

4. Edit and Manage Approval Workflows

  • To edit/manage a specific workflow, next to the workflow select the “More” menu and choose from the following options:

 

    • Configure: to edit the workflow settings
    • Duplicate: to make a copy of the workflow. Tip: This is useful when creating a new workflow using settings similar to an existing one. Configure the copied workflow to give it a unique name, and change other settings as required.
    • Deactivate: to deactivate the workflow so it won’t be used
    • Move Up: to move the position of the workflow up in the list
    • Move Down: to move the position of the workflow down in the list
    • Delete: to permanently delete the workflow

Compliance Requirements

With the Compliance feature, teams can create a list of compliance requirement documentation for Contracts and Cost Payment Applications to ensure all legal documents are attached upon item submission.

1. Accessing Compliance Requirements

  • Project Admins are the only individuals who have permission to create and edit Compliance Requirement lists 
  • Within Cost Management, select the Settings tool. You will now be able to access the settings for the different components within Cost Management.
  • Compliance requirements can be created within the Cost tab for Contracts and Cost Payment Applications. 
    • Note, the main tab and component names can be customized within General Settings. 

2. Creating Compliance Requirements

  • To create Compliance Requirement(s) for Contracts or Cost Payment Applications, select “Add”.
  • An “Add requirement” dialog box will open. Fill in the required information.
    • For Contracts:
      • If a document expiration date is required, select the “Requirements to submit Contract” drop-down and check the box.
      • To choose which contract type the document is required for (e.g., All Contract Types, Subcontracts, Purchase Orders, etc.) select the “Applicable to” drop-down.
    • For Cost Payment Applications:
      • If a document expiration date is required, select the “Requirements to submit Cost Payment Application” drop-down and check the box.
  • When ready, select “Add”.

  • To manage/edit compliance requirement items, select the three-dot menu.
  • Option include:
    • Edit: opens the “Add requirement” dialog box where you can make edits.
    • Move Up: Moves the item up the list within the flyout panel.
    • Move Down: Moves the item down the list within the flyout panel.
    • Deactivate: Inactivates the item.
    • Delete: Deletes the item.

3. Viewing Compliance Document Requirements in Item Flyout Panel

  • Within the Contract or Cost Payment Application tabs, select an item to open the flyout.
  • In the flyout, scroll down to the Compliance Requirement section.  
  • This will display the required documents created in Settings. 
  • Select the “Add Document” drop-down to upload a document from your computer or attach it from Autodesk Docs.
  • If an expiration date is required, select the calendar field and choose a date.

4. Making a Document Optional

  • Users with Contract and Cost Payment Application Full Control permission can mark specific documents as optional within the item’s flyout panel.

5. Uploading Required Documents

  • When a document is uploaded, the orange circle turns green with a checkmark.
  • Next to the uploaded document, select the three-dot menu to access the following options; open, download, or remove from the requirement.
  • If a required document is not uploaded, you will not be able to submit the item.

6. Suppliers with Collaborate Access

  • To speed up workflows, bring suppliers into the system with collaborate access.
  • They will be able to review contracts, payment applications and upload the required documentation.
  • Note: If the Contract insurance compliance requirement has expired, the system prevents the associated payment application from being submitted even if the payment application compliance requirement is fulfilled (see image).

Compliance Expiration Date Display

View document expiration dates as a column in the Contract & Cost Payment Application overview tables and in the calendar view of the home page.  

 

Important Note: During compliance requirement setup within Settings, the option of “Requires document expiration date” must be checked in the Requirements to Submit Contract drop-down.

 

  • Project Admins are the only individuals who have permission to create and edit Compliance Requirement lists. To do this, within the Settings tool open the Cost tab. Under the Compliance requirements section, click Add. An Add Requirement box will appear.  
  • Type the Name and Description of the requirement being added. 
  • Pull down the drop-down menu of Requirements to Submit Contract and select Requires Document Expiration Date.  
  • If this option is not selected, this requirement will not include the required document expiration date.  

 

 

Turning on Expiration Date Column

  • Select the Cost Tool, click the Contract tab or Cost Payment Application tab. 
  • Select the gear icon and select Compliance Document Expiration Date from the list. 
  • With this column on, expiration dates will be visible. Expired documents will display as red dates.   

 

 

 

Setting Expiration Dates

  • Users can edit the Compliance Document Expiration Date within the Contract or Cost Payment Application flyout pane uUnder the Compliance Requirements section. Simply click on the calendar option next to the contract requirement, select a date. 

 

  • Suppliers with collaborative access will be prompted to submit compliance requirement dates for specific items when reviewing/submitting contracts and payment applications. If the date is left unspecified, they will not be able to proceed and submit the item. 

 

 

  • Once you’ve set all the above, the Compliance Expiration dates will be automatically pulled into the calendar view of the home page making it easy to stay up to date with documentations.

Budget and Contract Management

Cost in Autodesk Build enables teams to minimize risk by managing all cost-related construction activities in a single software. It provides a real-time summary view of all budget items and contracts, giving a clear picture of revenue, costs, forecast and variance related to each item.

1. Budget Tab Overview

  • Open the product picker and select Cost. Select the Budget tool. The budget tab displays a real-time view of the project’s financial health. Note, tab names can be customized by the Project Admin within settings.
  • All cost activities are automatically pulled into the overall budget summary, providing clear visibility into cost impacts and making necessary forecast adjustments.

  • To avoid accidental changes, the budget can be locked. If it’s not yet locked, select “Lock budget”. Only Project Admins can edit the original budget after it is locked.
  • For a comprehensive view of a budget item, select the item to open the details flyout panel. Information such as associated contracts, budget transfer history, forecast adjustments, etc. is available.
  • If a budget line item has no cost associated with such as items like contingency, allowances, and fees, teams can change the scope of these items as Budget Only in the details flyout panel.
  • Integrations can be configured to lock budget transfers once integrated to the ERP. This will be apparent within the Internal Budget Transfer History section within the flyout via a locked icon.  

  • Locations can be added to budget items within the Details section of the flyout panel. By doing this you can filter and group to see how much money is allocated to specific areas in the building. Note, Project admins configure locations within Build’s settings.

  • 1: Select the Export button to export formatted budget reports. The Excel report provides the option to include additional historical data. With the PDF report, choose to export a full report with all columns except Custom Attributes or a budget report with columns in General and Budget.
  • 2: Select the filter icon to filter/group the budget summary view based on multiple conditions.
  • 3: To save a filter and switch between saved views, select the “Default view” button.

  • 4: Select the Control icon to control the visibility and order of columns within the table.
    • Check the box to make the desired column(s) appear.
    • Hover over an item and select the arrow to lock the column in place. Locks to the left or right based on arrow selection.
    • Change column order by hovering over an item, selecting/holding the dots, then dragging and dropping in the new location.
  • 5: Select the chart icon to view budget and cost trend charts.
  • 6: Select the Plan icon to open a set of capabilities that allows users to plan schedule-related allowances such as General Conditions in a Gantt type view. More details are in the Method-Related Planning chapter.
  • 7: Select the edit icon to enable edit mode. If the user has “view only” permission, they can’t make edits.

2. Budget Edit Mode

Users with “full control” permission for the Budget component can edit the budget. If the budget is locked, only Project Admins can make edits. Once the original budget is locked, it cannot be undone. With the budget in edit mode:

  • 1: Select “Add” to manually enter new budget items.
  • 2: Select “Download template” to download a budget import template.
  • 3: Select “Import” to import an Excel file.
  • 4: Select the “Export” button to export the formatted budget Excel report.
  • 5: Select the filter icon to filter/group the budget summary view based on multiple conditions.
  • 6: To save a filter and switch between saved views, select the “Default view” button.

  • 7: Select the Control icon to control the visibility and order of columns within the table. Select the column headers to sort in ascending or descending order.
  • 8: Within each budget item, select the pencil icon to edit the budget name.
  • 9: Click within the Quantity, Unit, and Unit Cost columns to edit the information.

  • 10: Select the checkbox next to a budget item or the three-dot menu to access additional actions for that specific budget item; for example, make a Change Order Transfer or delete the item.

  • 11: Create a Main Contract SOV or Contract by selecting one or more items. The ability to compile them into one contract is also available.

 

    • There is no restriction on hierarchy levels, and the totals from all child items are rolled up to the parent and divided by the parent quantity to provide a unit cost, allowing visibility into how the budget number was derived.

  • 12: When budgets have been associated with line items in the Main Contract, they can be hidden to be kept private. Users can temporarily hide & unhide subitems using the option in the context menu.
    • Select a Main Contract item, Click Edit Mode pencil at the top, Click three-dot menu next to the item. Select Hide Subitems.
    • To Unhide subitems, in the Main Contract select line item, Click three-dot menu, Select Unhide subitems.

3. Contract Tab Overview

  • Open the product picker and select Cost. Select the Cost tool. This is where supplier contracts are managed. Note, Tab names can be customized by the Project Admin within settings.
  • The Contract view is similar to the Budget view.

  • Select the Export button to export formatted contract summary reports.
  • Select the filter icon to filter/group the contract view based on multiple conditions.
  • To save a filter and switch between saved views, select the “Default view” button.

  • Select the Control icon to control the visibility and order of columns within the table. Select the column headers to sort in ascending or descending order.
  • Select the chart icon to view budget and cost trend charts.
  • Select the edit icon to enable edit mode. If the user has “view only” permission, they can’t make edits.

  • Select the contract name to open the details flyout panel. The details flyout panel provides more information such as Supplier details, scope of work, schedule of values, documents, billing periods, etc.

4. Contract Edit Mode

Users with “full control” permissions for the Contract component can edit, in edit mode:

 

  • 1: Select “Add” to manually enter a contract item.
  • 2 & 3: Select “Import” to open the Contract Import window to import an Excel file. In the Contract Import window Select “Download template” to download a contract import template.
  • 4: Select the “Export” button to export formatted contract summary report.
  • 5: Select the filter icon to filter/group the contract view based on multiple conditions.

  • 6: To save a filter and switch between saved views, select the “Default view” button.
  • 7: Select the Control icon to control the visibility and order of columns within the table. Select the column headers to sort in ascending or descending order.

  • 8: Within individual contract items, select the pencil icon to edit the contract name.
  • 9: Click within the Type and Budget Code columns to edit the information. Project Admins create the list of contract types within the Cost settings in the Settings tool.
  • 10: Select the checkbox next to a contract or the three-dot menu to delete it.

  • To edit additional information pertaining to a specific contract, select the contract name to open the details flyout panel. Key items:
    • Budget Code – Provides a list of all unallocated budget items. Create the connection between contract and budget item by assigning from this list.
    • SOV (Schedule of Values) – By default, the SOV will inherit any budget item build-ups from the connected budget item. They can be removed by right-clicking if the user wants to create a different list of items. They can also be appended or edited and the values overwritten to create the correct award value for the contract.

    • Documents – Automatically generate the contract, package the contract with associated documents, and email from the system.
    • Billing Periods – Create and manage billing periods for payment applications.
    • Custom Attributes – Project Admins can customize the type of information that needs to be captured for contracts. Steps for creating a Custom Attribute can be found in the Custom Attributes chapter.

5. Copy Supplier SOV Subitems to Main Contract

Some Owners require that their payment applications reflect the exact schedule of value breakdown the General Contractor gets from their subcontractors. However, the General Contractor may not have some of their subcontractor SOV’s established until later. Follow the below steps to learn how to copy supplier contract SOV subitems to the main contract so the Owner’s payment applications include the required information.

 

  • Open the Suppliers contract within the Contract tab in the Cost tool. Next, scroll to the Schedule of Values section in the flyout panel and select the three-dot menu. There you can manually add subitems or import an Excel list. Note, subitem amounts must equal the exiting SOV amount.

  • Next step, go to the Main Contract tab within the Budget tool and expand all. Navigate to the contract and open the contract’s flyout panel. Select the three-dot menu to copy subitems to Main Contract.
  • The new SOV subitems will now display the next Owner payment application.

6. Expand Supplier SOV to Full Page

  • When the Contract SOV root nodes exceed hundreds of items, having the full-screen view makes it easier to visualize the data.
  • There are two ways to expand the SOV section of a specific Contract to full-screen. 
    1. Hover over the contract row and select the expand icon. 
    2. Open the contact flyout and select the “View Schedule of Values in full page” button within the Schedule of Values section. 
  • Once in full page view, select the filter icon to group by budget code segment. Also, custom views can be saved for later for quick referencing within this view. 

7. View SOV Evolution

  • Within the contract full page view, click the more menu and choose to view change orders as a column  

 

 

 

  • Using the gear icon on the right, turn on the designed columns under Revised Values.
  • This view auto aligns Original Budget, Scheduled Value (SOV), Change Orders and Revised Values.  
  • Note: Alignment between original and changes is defined by having identical item code and name. This would be done automatically if a change in the order cost item hierarchy has been generated from the contract SOV or can be done with manual entry. 

  • For customers who purchase material in bulk and need to reflect this pricing accordingly in the contract purchase order SOV, they can turn on new columns, Qty Per Bulk, Bulk, and Bulk Unit Cost using the gear icon on the right.

  • In the QTY column, users can enter the total number of fittings.
  • In the Qty Per Bulk column, users can enter the qty of fittings per box.
  • In the Bulk Unit Cost column, users can enter unit cost of each bulk.
  • The Bulk column calculates the bulk units required.

  • The sample contract template also includes an option to utilize the bulk columns and use the bulk unit cost instead of per fitting.

Fundamental Forecasting

With all cost activities automatically pulled into the overall budget summary, teams have clear visibility into cost impacts, with a few clicks users can easily make necessary forecast adjustments.

1. Making Forecast Adjustments

  • Within the Budget tab in the Budget tool, the following columns are available to make and manage forecast adjustments.
    • Actual Costs
    • Forecast Adjustments
    • Forecast to Complete
    • Forecast Final Cost
    • Forecast Variance

  • When a forecast adjustment needs to be made/edited, select the three-dots next to the Budget item then select Forecast Adjustment.
  • In the Edit Forecast Adjustment dialog box select “add line item” and fill in the necessary information. Multiple items can be added. To delete an item, select the three dots then Delete.

  • The total adjustments will appear in the Forecast Adjustments and Forecast Variance column. The Forecast Cost to Complete and Forecast Final Cost will now reflect the change.

Cash Flow Forecasting

Access a project-level cash flow analysis and quickly visualize the difference between planned actual and forecast with built-in dynamic charts to ensure plans are being met, risk is mitigated, and profit is maximized.

Setting Preferred Forecast Period

  • Within Settings Admins can set preferred forecast periods; weekly or monthly. Once a forecast distribution is created on any budget item this setting cannot be changed.

Setting Distribution Items

  • Within Settings Admins can also set distributions items based on Budget, Budget code segment, or Contract.
  • Once the create distribution item based on is set, it cannot be changed.

Built-In Forecast Distribution Curves

  • Perform forecast distributions for each budget line item with four built-in forecast distribution curves, including front-loaded, rear-loaded, typical, and linear (when required, you can manually override).
  • There are three ways to access the distribution curve functionality.

 

    • Via the Forecast Distribution section of the budget item’s details flyout panel.

Option 1

    • Within the Forecast Tool via the more menu (three-dot menu) of a budget line item in the Cost & Time view.
      • From this view you can also select multiple budge items and batch create forecast distributions.
      • If you use a grouped view (via. filters) you can multi-select by the group header.

Option 2

Cashflow Distributions

Only within the Forecast tool in the Cash Flow tab, you can create and manage all cashflow distributions and distribute at a grouped level and reduce the number of line items.

 

    • To create a cash flow distribution, Select distribution item button, click Add.  
    • The Add distribution item box will show the items to distribute based on the settings that you set.  

 

  • Members can make distribution modifications in a sub-table view to see the context of the other distribution items while making adjustments.
  • Click the value listed in the distribution total column, to view the sub-table.

  • A Create Forecast Distribution dialog box will appear when creating a forecast distribution, add in the distribution start and end date. When performing distributions to items connected to the schedule, dates automatically pull in. 
  • Choose the Curve from the drop-down menu; front-loaded, rear-loaded, typical, and linear. Note, a Budget with a time-based unit can only be distributed with a linear curve.
  • Select, Create. 

Option 3

  • The details flyout panel will update to display a graphic representation of the distribution
  • Choose to display the information by amount or percent. 
  • Select the three dot more menu to delete the distribution.
  • Use the control icon to access the chart’s settings to display the chart by period, cumulative, or cumulative & by period. 
  • Select the arrow icon to expand the chart view. 

  • Note: Work Completed and Actual Cost is automatically added into the distribution if Revised Budget and Forecast Final Cost has not been distributed.
    • This information comes from this forecast distribution date.
    • By default, it comes from the date the item was approved, but you can edit it.

  • Hover over a specific point on the chart to view detailed information. 

  • In the table, scroll to view the distribution periods.
  • As projections are made, the system will auto-flag if the distribution total doesn’t match the forecast-final cost and direct you to open the distribution details.

  • The distribution details will open in the Cash Flow tab.
  • There you can manually make the distribution.

  • To customize the distribution further, select the more menu to add periods or delete the last period.

Project Level Cash Flow Analysis

  • Once all budget line items are forecasted, teams can access a project-level cash flow analysis to easily visualize the cash flow distribution throughout the project lifecycle.
  • This real-time summary enables teams to see planned actual and forecast quickly. It also provides the ability to drill into details if needed.
  • To access this, open the Forecast tool via the left sidebar then, select the Cashflow tab.

Time-Versus-Money Chart Navigation

 

  • To display the built-in dynamic time-versus-money chart, select the chart icon.
  • Click Revised Budget, Work Completed, Actual Cost, or Forecast Final Cost to switch between views. 
  • Choose to display the information by amount or percent. 
  • Use the control icon to access the chart’s settings to display the chart by period, cumulative, or cumulative & by period. 
  • Hover over a specific point on the chart to view detailed information. 

Table Navigation

 

  • Use the control icon to rearrange columns and hide/show months. 
  • Use the filter icon above the cart to filter/group the information within the table. 
  • To save views, select Default View, then Save Current Views. 

  • To dive deeper, hover to the right of the line item’s name to access the option to open details view. 

  • With the details view open, select the name of a budget item to view specific information/make updates within the details flyout panel. The graph will also change to display the information relevant to that item for the particular view you’re in. 
  • To delete distribution directly from the table select the three dot more menu.

Forecast Distribution Date in Details Flyout Panel

  • When a budget payment application, cost payment application or expense is approved, the ‘Forecast Distribution’ date field within the details flyout panel will display the same date as the ‘Approved’ date.
  • However, it can manually be modified manually to meet your needs.

Performance Tracking

With the Performance Tracking toolset in Cost Management, contractors who self-perform can analyze productivity and cost data in ‘near’ real-time to gain clear visibility into the potential risk of schedule delays and cost overruns to enable accurate forecasting.

Synching Productivity Data

Productivity data populates into Cost Management via integration with 3rd-party labor tracking applications such as Rhumbix, QuickBooks Time, and ClickUp.

Using Performance Tracking

  • To access Performance Tracking, click on the Forecast Tool. Then select the Performance Tracking tab.
  • To connect labor data to budget codes, select Add tracking item. Then select the budget cost codes from the drop-down.

  • A default tracking instance is automatically created.
  • To add additional instances, select the three-dot menu next to the line item’s name, then Add tracking item instance.

  • To help define instances, you can utilize Locations by clicking in the Location field and selecting from the list.

  • Select Item Instance to view instances separately.
  • For better visualization, slice and dice the data. For example, summarize by location.

  • To calculate planned productivity, switch to the Tracking item view and scroll to the Plan section. Once there, review and refine the input quantity, hours, and output quantity, work units.

  • Tracked input and outputs will auto calculate actual productivity.

  • For additional insights, open the flyout to view detailed logs and charts.

  • Visual indicators show you how actual productivity compares with the plan.
    • A red arrow pointing up appears in the Tracked Productivity Rate column when you are underproducing to indicate you have an issue.
    • In the Performance Ratio column, you can see how well you are performing. This is where breaking down your data into instances and leveraging locations comes in handy. At the “parent level,” you can quickly gauge how you’re doing based on the colored ratio indicator. You can then dive deeper into each instance to analyze performance. Less than 1.00 displays as a red dot and indicates you are underperforming. 1.00 is as planned, and above is over-performing which displays as a green dot.

  • The forecast section within the table calculates the required performance to help keep you on track. It also shows any variance from the plan.
  • The system will forecast an indicative end cost by using actual trending costs to date and calculated variance.

  • If needed, you can easily make Forecast adjustments by selecting the three-dot menu next to the parent item’s name, then selecting Forecast Adjustments. 
  • You can add individual line items or add from an existing tracking item/instance.
  • Adjustments are instantly reflected in the budget overview.

Change Order Management

A typical construction project can have dozens of Change Orders. Improve tracking of Change Orders across the entire approval process, and view details of Cost Item impacts as well as historical reference points with Cost’s Change Order capabilities.

1. Potential Change Order Tab

 PCO’s (Potential Change Orders) are the starting point of any budget or cost change. Cost items are added providing a connection back to the affected budget, contract and supplier. Cost items can be created directly in the cost item view and assigned to a PCO later, but the typical workflow is as follows: 

  • 1: Select “Add” to create a new PCO.
  • 2: Select Scope, In (Cost Change Only) Out (Additional Budget and Cost Change) or Contingency (Budget and Cost Change) If a change is Budget side only simply do not add any values to Estimated, Proposed or Committed columns.
  • 3: Type is an optional field if you’d like to be able to number, track or group change orders by their type.
  • 4: Source Type and Source Ref are also optional if you’d like to track or group based on the origin of the change.
  • 5:Export” allows you to export a PDF or CSV PCO report.

PRO TIP: If you see your calculated markups are out of sync select the line item and in the “Apply Markup” drop-down select the necessary markup from the list.

  • 6: Column settings allows you to select the columns you wish to include in your view.
  • 7: View selector allows you to store and recall your preferred grouping/column visibility.
  • 8: Select the PCO name to open the details flyout panel, the pencil allows you to edit the name.
  • 9: Select the three dot icon or right click to access the context menu to add cost items, change status, etc Reference the last section in this chapter for more information on cost items.
  • Leaving a PCO as draft will mean any costs are not shown or used in calculations in the budget/contract overview. Setting status to Open triggers those calculations and impact will be shown in the overview 

PRO TIP: Source Types are created/managed by the Project Admin within the Change Order settings in Settings.

  • To add a location to a PCO use the Location field within the table. By doing this you can filter and group to see a location-based view of changes. Note, Project Admins configure locations within Build’s settings.

  • Depending on the budget and cost statuses when a PCO is selected, the below options will appear.
    • Set to open
    • Ability to generate an RFQ, COR, OCO, or SCO
    • Ability to delete it

PRO TIP: To detach a cost item from a PCO expand the row and select the item, a detach button will appear.

2. Generating a Request for Quotation from a Potential Change Order & Batch Request

Request for Quotation (RFQ) is the document generated to solicit pricing from a supplier. There are two ways to generate a Request for Quotation (RFQ).

  • First, a single RFQ that includes all the associated Cost Items can be generated or individual RFQs for specific Cost Items within the PCO can be generated.
  • Second, an RFQ can also be generated through a Batch request when there is a change and is not clear who is affected by it, an RFQ can be sent directly to all recipients and keep record of their response.

  • There are three different ways to generate an RFQ through a PCO:
    • Option 1: Select the checkbox next to the PCO or specific Cost Item. A “Generate” drop-down menu will appear. Choose “RFQ”.
    • Option 2: Select the three-dot menu next to the PCO or specific Cost Item and scroll to “Generate”. Then choose “RFQ”.
    • Option 3: Select the PCO name to open the details flyout panel, then choose “RFQ” from the “Generate” drop-down menu. This option is available only for generating a single RFQ that includes all associated Cost Items.
  • Once an RFQ has been generated, the item moves to the RFQ tab.

Batch Request RFQ

A Batch Request Quotation can be used when a change occurs, and it is unclear who might be affected by this change. To reduce the risk of missing anyone, a batch request to all suppliers can be sent to let them indicate whether affected or not and keep a record of their response.

 

  • Under the PCO item, Click the three-dot menu, Select Batch request quotations.
  • Users can also click PCO item and in the flyout panel, scroll to Quotations, Select Batch request quotations.

  • A Batch request quotations box will appear to fill out. Under Supplier, you may select all suppliers to be added.
  • A required Message and Due Date can also be added. Click Send.

  • Placeholder cost items are generated for each supplier and are shown in parentheses. Suppliers can respond by saying no impact or can propose a quotation.
  • The placeholder cost items will be converted to regular cost items if a quotation is proposed.

  • In the RFQ view we have built in saved view which can filter the different types and status and view all RFQ.

3. Request for Quotation Tab

The Request for Quotation (RFQ) tab is within the Change Order tool in Cost. Note, tab names can be customized by the Project Admin within settings.

    • 1: The items status auto updates to “Draft” after a RFQ is generated from a PCO.

    • 2: Select the Control icon to edit position and visibility of columns within the table.
    • 3: The Response Due column will be populated when a date is added in the dates section of the details flyout panel.
    • 4: To delete an item, update the item’s status, generate/regenerate a document. Then, select the checkbox next to the line item or the three-dot menu.

  • To “detach” a Cost Item from an RFQ, expand the row and select the three dots or check the box. The detach button will appear. It will still be part of the PCO.
  • Click into the Estimated and Proposed columns to add necessary information.

  • Select the item’s name to open the details flyout panel. Editing the RFQ can be done within the flyout panel.
  • In the details flyout panel, selectable workflow-based actions (buttons) will appear to guide the user through the process.
    • For example, when the RFQ status is “Open,” a “Request Quotation” button is visible. Note, a Supplier needs to be listed in the Supplier Details section.
    • Once the RFQ is sent, the next options appear: “Set as Proposed” or “Rejected”, and so on.
    • When Accepted, select “SCO” to generate a Supplier Change Order.

  • To generate the RFQ documentation, scroll to the documents section of the details flyout panel and select “Add document”. Choose “Generate from document template” and pick the appropriate template. This process utilizes the document templates created in Settings.
  • Once the document is generated, select the three-dot menu to view additional options. To email the document(s) directly from the system, choose the three-dot menu next to Document Package, and select “Send by email”.

4. Generating a Change Order Request from a Potential Change Order

Change Order Request (COR) are upstream budget change orders. They are a means of requesting a change in the contract between the Owner and the Main Contractor. Typically, the COR created by the Main Contractor is built from one or more Cost Items and sent to the Owner.

 

  • There are three different ways to generate an COR.
    • Option 1: Select the checkbox next to the PCO. A Generate drop-down menu will appear. Choose COR.
    • Option 2: Select the three-dot menu next to the PCO, and scroll to Generate. Then choose COR.
    • Option 3: Select the PCO name to open the details flyout panel, and then choose COR from the Generate drop-down menu.
  • Multiple PCOs can be rolled up into a single COR. Select the checkbox next to the PCOs to generate into a single COR. The process is the same as generating a single document. However, the COR will be a combination of the selected PCOs. The Cost Items will be combined, and the scope is auto-populated but can be adjusted.
  • Once an COR has been generated, the item moves to the COR tab.

PRO TIP: The PCO must have a Budget Status of “Open” and a “Submitted” value to be able to generate an RCO

5. Request for Change Order Tab

The Change Order Request (COR) tab is within the Change Order tool in Cost. Note, tab names can be customized by the Project Admin within settings.

 

  • 1: The item’s status auto-updates to “Draft” after an COR is generated from a PCO.
  • 2: To delete an COR and update the status select the checkbox next to the line item. Select the three-dot menu for additional options.
  • 3: Select the Control icon to control the visibility and order of columns within the table.
    • Check the box to make the desired column(s) appear.
    • Hover over an item and select the arrow to lock the column in place. Locks to the left or right based on arrow selection.
    • Change column order by hovering over an item, selecting/holding the dots, then dragging and dropping in the new location.
  • 4: Select the items name to open the details flyout panel. Editing the COR can be done within the flyout panel.

  • In the details flyout panel, selectable workflow-based actions (buttons) will appear to guide the user through the process.
    • For example, when the COR status is “Submitted,” “Set as Accepted” and “Set as Rejected” buttons are visible.
    • By selecting “Set as Accepted”, the status color changes, and the next options are “Set as Rejected,” “Generate”, and “Revert to Submitted”.
    • With the status as “Accepted”, an OCO or an SCO can be generated.

  • To generate COR documentation, scroll to the documents section in the details flyout panel and select “Add document”.
  • Choose “Generate from document template” and pick the appropriate template. This process utilizes the document templates created in Settings.
  • Once the document is generated, select the three-dot menu to view additional options. To email the document(s) directly from the system, choose the three-dot menu next to Document Package and select “Send by email”.

6. Generating an Owner Change Order from a Change Order Request

Owner Change Order (OCO) represents a Change Order from the Owner to the Main Contractor/Construction Manager. These documents are built from one or many change requests (COR’s) by processing the CORs into an OCO. The signed OCO legally amends a contract to effect a change in requirements, cost, or schedule to the previously negotiated contract.

  • The COR status must be “Accepted” to generate an OCO.

  • There are three different ways to generate an OCO.
    • Option 1: Select the checkbox next to the COR. A Generate drop-down menu will appear. Choose OCO.
    • Option 2: Select the three-dot menu next to the COR, and scroll to Generate. Then choose OCO.
    • Option 3: Select the COR’s name to open the details flyout panel. Then choose OCO from the Generate drop-down menu

  • Multiple CORs can be rolled up into a single OCO. Select the checkbox next to multiple CORs to generate a single OCO.
  • The OCO will be a combination of the selected CORs. The Cost Items will be combined, and the scope is auto populated but can be adjusted.
  • To show and hide COR, PCO hierarchy, click the three-dot menu. Using this view option allows you to see the origin of the items and also detach items if required.
  • Once the OCO has been created, the item moves to the OCO tab.

7. Owner Change Order Tab

The Owner Change Order (OCO) tab is within the Change Order tool in Cost. Note, tab names can be customized by the Project Admin within Settings.

 

  • 1: The items status auto updates to “Draft” after an OCO is generated from an COR.
  • 2: To delete an item or update the item’s status select the checkbox next to the line item. For additional options select the three-dots.
  • 3: Select the Control icon to edit position and visibility of columns within the table.
  • 4: Select the item’s name to open the details flyout panel. Editing the OCO can be done within the flyout panel.

  • In the details flyout panel, selectable workflow-based actions (buttons) will appear to guide the user through the process.
    • For example, when the OCO status is “Open”, a “Set as Submitted” button is visible. By selecting it, the status color changes and the next options are “Set as Approved” or “Set as Rejected”.
    • Once the status is “Approved”, an SCO can be generated. It can be generated now or select “Set as Executed” and then generate it.

  • To generate the OCO documentation, scroll to documents and select “Add document”. Choose “Generate from document template” and pick the appropriate template. This process utilizes the document templates created in settings.
  • Once the document is generated, select the three-dot menu to view additional options. To email the document(s) directly from the system, choose the three-dot menu next to Document Package and select “Send by email”.

Owner Change Directive

Construction Change Directives (CCD) are sometimes used when the price cannot or has not been agreed upon and approved but the work needs to continue, and costs are dealt with later. This can lead to scenarios where the contractor needs to bill for the work completed and the final value is still not known. Users can choose ‘Owner Directive’ as the ‘Change Order Type’ and for purposes of billing enter an estimated value in ‘Approved’.

 

  • As long as the OCO has a status of at least ‘Open’ it can be added to a Budget Payment application.
  • Select a line item from your change orders, Select ‘Add Change Order’ at the bottom of the SOV.
  • In column mode, users can use the button in the flyout panel under Change Order Details.
  • Add Change Order box will appear, select the type of OCO.

  • Once added it can be billed for this period.
  • As work continues, it might be required to re-estimate so the user can change the amount in the OCO.
  • When they create a pay app for the next month the scheduled amount will be updated accordingly.

8. Generating a Supplier Change Order

Supplier Change Order (SCO) is a downstream cost Change Order which amends the original Supplier’s contract.

 

  • There are a few different ways you can generate an SCO within Cost:
    • From a PCO with a budget status of “Open”, “Approved”, or “Executed”, and cost status of “Open” or “Proposed”.
    • From an RFQ with a status of “Proposed”.
    • From an COR with the status of “Accepted”.
    • From an OCO with the status of “Approved” or “Executed”.

 

  • To generate a single SCO consisting of all Cost Items associated with a “parent” line item, select the checkbox next to the parent.
  • To create individual SCOs for specific Cost Items within a “Parent”, select the box next to the Cost Item.
  • You can also select multiple SCOs with multiple “parents” to generate a single SCO.

9. Supplier Change Order Tab

The Supplier Change Order (SCO) tab is within the Change Order tool in Cost. Note, tab names can be customized by the Project Admin within Settings.

  • 1: The items status auto updates to “Draft” after an SCO is generated.
  • 2: To delete an item or update the item’s status select the checkbox next to the line item. For additional options select the three-dots.
  • 3: Select the Control icon to edit position and visibility of columns within the table.
  • 4: Select the item’s name to open the details flyout panel. Editing the SCO can be done within the flyout panel.

  • In the details flyout panel, selectable workflow-based actions (buttons) will appear to guide the user through the process.
    • For example, when the SCO status is “Open”, a “Send” button will be visible. By selecting it, the status changes and the next option is “Set as executed”.

  • To generate the SCO documentation, scroll to documents and select “Add document”. Choose “Generate from document template” and pick the appropriate template. This process utilizes the document templates created in settings.
  • Once the document is generated, select the three-dot menu to view additional options. To email the document(s) directly from the system, choose the three-dot menu next to Document Package and select “Send by email”.

10. Cost Item

Cost items are the individual detailed items for each budget code associated with a potential change. In the Cost Items tab in Cost Management, you can easily add cost items or edit existing cost items. 

 

  • Open the product picker and select Cost.
  • Select the Change Order tool, then the Cost Item tab.

PRO TIP: Project Admins can customize the main menu name (Change Order) and the subtab names (Cost Item, PCO, RFQ, COR, OCO, SCO) and change the order of the tabs within Settings. Refer to the Settings and Permission chapter for more details.

 

  • 1: To manually enter a Cost Item, click “Add”.
  • 2: To export a PDF or Excel Cost Item report, click “Export”.
  • 3: The Control icon opens the column settings.

  • 4: Budget Status displays the current status of the cost item in the budget request workflow.
  • 5: Select the link to open the “container” for whichever part of the process the Cost Item is in.

  • 6: Select the pencil icon to edit the Cost Item name
  • 7: Select the three dots to delete a Cost Item.
  • 8: Select the name of a Cost Item to open the details flyout panel.

Details flyout panel

 

  • Edit the Cost Item’s details within the details flyout panel. To access the details flyout panel, select the Cost Item’s name.
  • In the details flyout panel under Cost Summary, the Cost Item can be broken down into a more granular level of detail by selecting “Define hierarchy”.

  • A location can be added to a Cost Item using the Location field within the table or within the Details section in the flayout panel. You can then filter and group to see a location-based view of cost items. Note, Project Admins configure locations within Build’s settings.

Assigning Cost Items to a Potential Change Order

 

  • Existing or new Cost Items created directly in the Cost Item tab can be “assigned” to a Potential Change Order (PCO) by:
    • selecting the checkbox next to the Cost Item. Once selected, an “Assign” button appears. Click the drop-down to assign.
    • or the three-dot menu next to the item’s name, hover over Assign.
  • An assign window will pop up. Type in search criteria to filter the list. Select the PCO to add the Cost Item.

Display Associate xCO Number in an xCO Tab

Within all Change Order tables views, users have the option to display associated xCO numbers for each cost item. 

 

  • Using the gear icon on the right, turn on desired column(s) to show new xCO numbers (e.g., PCO, RFQ, COR, OCO, SCO) to view and access information pertaining to the change order life cycle. 

Potential Change Order Generation From Project Management Workflows

It’s common for an Issue or RFI to incur a potential cost change, and in the case it does, Autodesk Build members can generate a Potential Change Order directly from the item. This streamlines the process and creates a bi-direction connection between the workflows, reducing the risk of data loss and capturing the origin of the change order.

Permission Requirements

  • Full control permission level for the Cost Item and PCO component in Cost Management.
  • Admins control permissions within Cost Management’s Settings tool.

Creating a new PCO from an RFI/ Issue/Submittal Item

  • From either a new or existing RFI/Issue/Submittal Item record scroll to References and select “Add reference”, then “PCO”.
  • In the Add PCO Reference dialog box, select “Create”.
  • Fill in the PCO name and description, then select “Create”.
  • This information will populate the new PCO record within Cost Management, it can be altered later.

Linking existing PCO(s) to an RFI/Issue/Submittal Item

  • Follow the same steps listed above. However, when the Add PCO Reference dialog box appears, select the PCO(s) from the list and click “Add PCO”.
  • To unlink a PCO, hover over it and select the “X”.

Accessing Linked References

  • Within the RFI/Issue/Submittal Item list view in the linked references column, select the PCO number to open the PCO in Cost Management. If the user does not have the correct permission level this option will not be accessible.

  • In Cost Management within the PCO flyout panel, scroll to the Reference section and select the item.

Expense Management

Cost Management includes a robust set of functionality that enables teams to streamline the management of expenses. Not only does it streamline invoice reviews and approvals, but teams can utilize up-to-date actual cost data for more accurate forecasting and add expense data to Budget Payment Applications.

1. Expenses Tab

  • Open the product picker and select Cost Management.
  • Select the Cost tool, then the Expense tab. This is where users can manage all invoices and expenses outside of pay applications.
  • To add an expense, you must have full control permission for this tab. Project Admins control the permission levels within Settings.
  • There are four ways to add expenses:
    1. Add from an existing contract
    2. Manually
    3. Use APIs to build an integration between Cost and the user’s accounting/ERP system to automatically flow data between the two platforms.
    4. Excel Import

2. Adding Expenses from an Existing Contract

In the Cost tool, select the Expense tab

  1. Select the “Add from contract” button.
  2. In the dialog box use the drop-down to find the correct contract.
  3. Select “Add.”

  • Details are automatically brought in. For example, Name, Supplier, Contract, and Amount. The item is also automatically connected to the correct budget code to show liability.

    • Scope: In the Scope column, use the drop-down menu to categorize the payment type, Full or Partial.
    • Type: In the Type column, click to access the drop-down and select the appropriate expense type (e.g., Internal, Invoice, Overhead Cost).
      • Project Admins create the list of types in Settings. Refer to Settings and Permissions to learn how this is done.

    • Amount Paid: Click in the Amount Paid field to add the amount.
    • Date Issued: In the Date Issued column, use the calendar to select the appropriate date. For example, the date the invoice was issued.
    • Reference Number: To include a reference number, click into the Reference Number field.
    • Status: In the Status column, use the drop-down menu to set the appropriate status.
    • Date Paid: When the items status is set to paid, the date will automatically populate in the Date Paid field.

 

  • If Cost is connected to your Accounting/ERP system as changes are made the information will automatically update in both systems.

 

PRO TIP: To delete a subitem or expense, select the three dots in the appropriate row. To delete an expense or subitem, the expense status must be Draft, Pending, Revise and Resubmit, or Rejected.

3. Manually Adding Expenses

If there is no purchase order, expenses can be manually added to track it and show liability against the budget.

  • In Cost, select the Expense tab.
    • 1: Select the arrow next to the “Add from contract” button, then select “Add.”

    • 2: Expense Name: In the Name column, type in the name for the expense.

    • 3: Supplier: In the Supplier column, use the drop-down menu to choose the appropriate Supplier. If it’s not listed, type it in the search box and choose enter to add it.
    • 4: Type: In the Type column, use the drop-down to select the appropriate expense type.
    • 5: Date Issued: In the Date Issued column, use the calendar to select the appropriate date.

    • 6: Add Subitem: To add cost details, select the three dots to the right of the Expense name. You can add an unlimited number of subitems to a contract as long as the status is Draft.

    • 7: Item Name: In the Name column, click to manually add the name of the item, then push enter.
    • 8: Budget Code: In the Budget Code column, use the drop-down menu to select a budget item. You can type to filter the list and use the group by segment to organize the list as preferred.
      • If the budget code isn’t listed, choose “Create” it. If creating the code manually, click the field to save it.

PRO TIP: The option to group by budget code segment is also available.

    • 9: Amount: In the Amount column, click to manually add the amount.
    • 10: Scope: In the Scope column, use the drop-down menu to categorize the payment type, Full or Partial. This will automatically update the contracts scope.

    • 11: Status: In the Status column, use the drop-down menu to set the appropriate status.
    • 12: Date Paid: When the items status is set to paid, the date will automatically populate into the Date Paid field.

To delete a subitem or expense, select the three dots in the appropriate row. To delete an expense or subitem, the expense status must be Draft, Pending, Revise and Resubmit, or Rejected.

4. Adding Expenses Via Excel

Users also have the option to add expenses from excel and process required to manually associate budget for sub items.

  • Within Cost tool, select the Expense tab.
  • To download a template formatted for import click Download Template.
  • To upload an Excel file drag and drop or select choose file.

5. Adding Expenses to Budget and Payment Applications

Associating expenses to a budget payment application is a similar process to associating Cost Payment Applications to the budget payment application.

  • In Budget, navigate to the Budget Payment Application tab.
    • 1: Use the drop-down menu to navigate to the correct contract.

    • 2: Select the contract name to open the details flyout panel.
    • 3: Scroll to the Associate Expense section and select “Add existing.”

    • 4: A list of approved expenses will populate, select the one(s) you wish to associate.

    • 5: The associated expense will appear in the details flyout panel.

PRO TIP: When generating the Budget Payment Application document, the option is given to collate associated expenses, attachments, and Supplier pay applications together for submission to the Owner.

6. Viewing Expense Details in the Budget Summary

Similar to approved Cost Payment Application details pulling into the budget summary, approved/paid expenses automatically pull into the budget summary view, giving users the ability to view actual cost breakdowns and make accurate forecast adjustments.

  • In Budget, navigate to the Budget tab.
  • Scroll to the right to the Actual Cost column. Expenses with an approved or paid status will display in the list.

  • Select the total in the Actual Cost column to view the cost breakdown.
  • Select the Budget Name to open the details flyout panel for more detailed information.

  • For any budget item, if a forecast adjustment, budget transfer, or Change Order transfer needs to be made, select the three-dot menu next to the budget item name.

Expense Photo References

Leverage the photo reference capability for expenses to ensure supplemental information such as delivery tickets or receipts are available to process payments.

Adding a Photo Reference

  • Within the Cost tool in Cost Management, navigate to the Expense component.
  • Select an Expense item to open the flyout panel, scroll to the “References” section and select “Add References”.
  • Existing photos from the Photos tool in Autodesk Build will appear in the Add Photo Reference dialog box.
  • To upload a new photo, select “Upload New.” Then choose the file(s) from your desktop or drag and drop, select “Upload” then “Add Photo”.

  • Select the funnel icon to access filters including location, date added/taken, photo type, referenced by, tags, and uploaded by.
  • Leverage the filters to quickly find specific photos.

Taking and Tagging Photos on Mobile

  • Open the Autodesk Construction Cloud mobile app, navigate to the project, and choose the more menu to open Photos.
  • Tap “Add” and select “Take new photo”.
  • To add tags (e.g., Delivery Ticket) to the photo, tap “Tag”.
  • Choose from the existing list of tags or select “Create tag” to create new ones.

Payment Applications

Avoid risks and errors resulting from the use of disconnected cost management tools, and benefit from real-time visibility into how payments are affecting the project budget to maintain a real-time view of the financial health of the project.

1. Creating Main/Prime Contracts

Open the product picker and select “Cost”. Select the Budget tool, then the Main Contracts tab. To create a contract, users must have full control permission for this tab. Project Admins control the permission levels within Settings.

  • 1: Select the edit icon.
  • 2: In edit mode, an “Add” button will appear; select it to create a new main contract(s).
  • 3: Type the contract code, name, and select the type drop-down.
  • 4: Select the Control icon to control the visibility and order of columns within the table.
    • Check the box to make the desired column(s) appear.
    • Hover over an item and select the arrow to lock the column in place. Locks to the left or right based on arrow selection.
    • Change column order by hovering over an item, selecting/holding the dots, then dragging and dropping in the new location.
  • 5: To export the information in the summary view to Excel, select the “Export” button.
  • More than one contract can be created. If, more than one contract is created select the three-dot menu after the contract name to set which is default. The three-dot menu also provides addition options (e.g., ability to add sub-items or delete the contract).

PRO TIP: To edit a contract after it is created, enter edit mode.

2. Creating the Main/Prime Contract Schedule of Values (SOV)

SOVs can be manually entered or automatically created from selected items within the Budget tab.

Manually creating the SOV:

 

  • In the Main Contract tab, select the edit icon.
  • Next to the desired main contract, select the three-dot menu, then “Add subitem.” Note: Once a payment application exists, the contract will be locked, and edits can’t be made.
  • A new line will appear under the main contract. Fill in the necessary information. Either type in a value or associate it to a budget code by selecting within the budget code column; the value will auto-populate.

Automatically creating the SOV:

  • 1: Within the Budget tool, select the Budget tab and then the edit icon.
  • 2: Select the budget items to associate with the contract.
  • 3: A “Create Main Contract SOV” button will appear. Select it.

  • 4: Within the “Create Main Contract SOV” dialog box, select the contract from the list.
  • 5: Select what to create the SOV from; when done, click “Create”.

  • The Main Contract SOV will now be created automatically and link to the budget. This connection allows users to see what they will be paid and what they need to pay their Suppliers.

Import SOV from Excel & Batch Associate Budgets

  • SOVs can also be generated via excel import.
  • Within Cost Management, Click the Budget Tool, Select Main Contract tab.
  • To import SOV from excel, Select the three-dot menu, select Import Schedule of Values. Drag and drop SOV excel file.

  • Once Main Contract SOV items have been imported or added, users can associate each of these items to a budget by using the Batch Associate Budgets.
  • Note: Batch Associate Budget option is useful when fees are not openly disclosed to the customer and spread over Main Contract SOV line items.
  • Select main contract item, click the three-dot menu, select Batch Associate Budgets.

  • A Batch associate budget box will appear, Select which budget item you would like to associate the main contract item.
  • Selecting from the Batch associate budget box means that the original unit cost of the main contract item will be overridden and will show the new selected Budget item value. If you do not want this, Toggle on Preserve Main Contract Value to preserve the Main Contract item value. Click Associate Budgets.
  • Note. If ‘Fixed Price’ is set as contract type the setting to preserve main contract value will be toggled on by default. This setting assumes fee/markups details may not be shared with the owner so auto distributes mark-ups in change orders to the work line items too.

3. Creating Billing Periods/Master Schedule

Billing periods can be set up from the main contract’s details flyout panel or within the Budget Payment Application tab.

From Main Contract details flyout panel:

 

  • Select the main contract to open the details flyout panel. Within the panel, scroll to the Master Schedule section and select the “Manage” button.
  • In the “Manage master schedule” dialog box, either copy billing periods from another main contract using the drop-down menu or manually create new periods.
  • Once the billing periods are created, manage them easily within the details flyout panel under the “Master schedule” section. In this view, easily see payment application statuses and amounts for each period.

From Budget Payment application tab:

 

  • In the Budget Payment application tab, choose the desired contract.
  • Select the “Set up master schedule” button.
  • The “Manage master schedule” dialog box will open, follow the same steps as above.

4. Managing Cost Payment Applications

Supplier payment applications can be managed from the Budget Payment Application tab within the Budget tool. They can also be managed in the Cost Payment Application tab within the Cost tool.

From Budget Payment application tab:

 

  • 1: Use the drop-down menu to select the desired main contract.
  • 2: Use the drop-down menu to choose the correct billing period or use the arrows to navigate between periods.
  • 3: Select “View associated costs”. This will open the details flyout panel.
  • 4: In the Associated Cost Payment Application section, select “Create” to create a new cost payment application. To connect an existing application to the contract select “Add existing”.
  • 5: Once created/selected, the cost payment application(s) will appear. To update a Cost Payment Application’s information, select the billing period. This will take you directly to the Cost Payment Application.

From Cost Payment Application tab:

In the Cost tool, select the Cost Payment Application tab.

  • 1: Select the arrow next to “Batch create”, then “Create”.
  • 2: Use the drop-down menu to select the appropriate contract.
  • 3: Select “Set up billing periods” and choose the appropriate option. If creating from scratch, follow the same steps covered in section 3, “Creating billing periods/master schedule”.
  • 4: Choose the correct billing period or use the arrows to navigate between periods.
  • 5: To batch create cost payment applications, select “Batch create”.
  • Note: the export button allows you to export an open payment application to Excel. The Excel file can then be filled out by the supplier and imported back into Cost Management where the information will be automatically populated.

Updating Cost Payment Application information:

  • In the Cost tool, select the Cost Payment Application tab.
  • Then, hover over a line item and select the icon. Or select the three-dot menu to open details view.

  • 1: Scroll to to the right and stop at This Period, click within the table to make necessary updates. The system will automatically update to reflect the changes.
  • 2: Approved Supplier Change Orders (SCOs) will automatically be added based on the approved date. If one is not visible, select “Add change orders” to manually insert it.

  • 3: To request input from the Supplier, select the “Request Input” button. Note, the Supplier will need access and the correct permission level.

  • If you would like to include a set of columns to track claimed work completed, click the gear icon. Scroll down to ‘This Period Claimed Work Completed’ to select the columns you wish to add. The checkmark next to ‘This Period Claimed Work Completed’ will activate all columns.
  • Turning on the new columns will show you certified/approved amounts with variances with added notes. 
  • Only members with full control permission to Cost Payment Applications can modify this section. 

  • The three-dot menu next to “Request input” provides the following options:
    • Ability to export the payment application. This is useful if someone does not have access to the system. They can populate data into the yellow highlighted area; then you can import the information back into the system.
    • Ability to import data.
    • Ability to delete the payment application.

Cost payment details flyout panel:

 

  • To open the details flyout panel, click the payment application’s name within the table.
  • Expand and collapse the different sections.
  • Within details, the status can be updated.
  • View a concise payment application summary table.
  • View a change order summary.
  • Quickly generate or access generated documents.
  • If the cost payment application is associated with a budget payment application, details will be displayed. Select the billing period to open the budget payment application.

PRO TIP: If custom attributes have been created, they will appear. For more information about custom attributes, refer to the Custom Attributes chapter.

5. Managing Budget Payment Applications

Owner pay applications can be managed from the Budget Payment Application tab within the Budget tool.

Budget payment application tab:

 

  • 1: Use the drop-down menu to select the appropriate contract.
  • 2: Use the drop-down menu to choose the correct billing period, or use the arrows to navigate between periods.
  • 3: Select the Control icon to control the visibility and order of columns within the table.
    • Check the box to make the desired column(s) appear.
    • Hover over an item and select the arrow to lock the column in place. Locks to the left or right based on arrow selection.
    • Change column order by hovering over an item, selecting/holding the dots, then dragging and dropping in the new location.
  • 4: Approved owner change orders automatically pull in.  

  • 5: To manually insert a change order, select “Add change orders” and use the drop-down to select the change order. 
  • The three-dot menu next to “Submit” provides the following options:
    • Ability to export the payment application.
    • Ability to unhide subitems.
    • Ability to show change orders as a column.
    • Ability to delete the payment application.
    • Ability to allow overbilling.
  • To submit, click the “Submit” button.

Budget payment application details flyout panel:

  • To open the details flyout panel, click the payment application’s name within the table.
  • Expand and collapse the different sections.
  • Within details, the status can be updated.
  • View a concise payment application summary table.
  • View a summary of the change orders.
  • Quickly generate or access generated documents.
  • Create or add existing cost payment applications. Cost payment applications can be aggregated by Amount or Percent.
  • Ability to associate expenses by selecting “Add existing”. Expenses can be aggregated by Amount (Work Completed), Quantity, Amount (Materials on Site).
  • Select the update button to update values in work completed this period from associated cost payment applications and expenses. Note, Associated Expense must have a status of “Approved” in order to update.

PRO TIP: If custom attributes have been created, they will appear. For more information about custom attributes, refer to the Custom Attributes chapter.

6. Associated Costs Report Export

  • Easily export an associated costs back-up report of all cost payment application details and expenses from the flyout panel to support the budget payment application.
  • Open the flyout panel and scroll to the Associated Costs section.
  • Select the Export drop-down to choose a PDF or Excel report.

7. Document Generation

Create standard documentation formats that automatically populate directly from the system. See the Document Templates chapter of this guide for details on how to access the document templates and create your own.

 

For example, automatically generate a payment document which provides the information required to populate documents such as the AIA G702-1992 and AIA G703-1992 forms.

Generating Documents:

 

  • 1: Within the Main Contract, Cost or Budget Payment Application details flyout panel, scroll to the Documents section, select “Add document” and choose “Generate from document templates”.
  • 2: Select the desired template from the drop-down list and click “Generate”. The document templates are controlled by the Project Admin. Refer to the Document Templates chapter for more information.

  • 3: To attach additional information to the document package, select “Add document”. Either upload files from your computer or select files from Autodesk Docs.
    • Within a Budget Payment Application, the option to add from Cost Payment Applications is available, allowing users to collate associated expenses, attachments, and Supplier pay applications together for submission to the Owner.
  • 4: The three-dot menu next to the item provides additional capabilities (e.g. download Word doc, download PDF, re-generate, delete, rename, etc.)
  • 5: To open, download, or email a document package, select the three-dot menu at the package level.

Cross Project Budget Report

Leverage the account-level cross project budget report to gain insight into the financial health of your projects, across your company or business unit.

Accessing the Cross Project Budget Report Functionality

The cross project budget report is available to users with executive access level. Project Admins set access levels within the Members tool in the Account Admin module.

 

  • In the product picker, select Insight.
  • Next, select Executive Overview in the left side panel.
  • Once in the Executive Overview, select Reports to access the Reports tool. 

Creating a Report

  • Click Create Report and select the Budget Project Overview template within the Reports tool.

  • Choose a PDF or Excel report format.
  • Use filters to limit the data that appears in the report. 
    • Filters by Project options = project name, status, type, or active projects you’re an administrator on. 
    • Filters by Data options = name, budget description, original budget, and main contract. 
  • Choose the data to sort the report by and the direction of the sort.
  • Click Run report to create the report and generate the data.

  • You have the option to save the report as a template for future use.
  • To just run the report, choose the No, just run the report option.
  • To save the report as a template, choose the Yes option and enter a template title.
  • Click Run and save.

Prediction and Analytics Capabilities

Insight

Everyday construction projects have thousands of open issues, hundreds of RFIs, and countless change orders. Tracking and understanding all of these pieces of data is nearly impossible. Furthermore, nearly 95% of this project data goes unused.

 

The Insight capabilities built into the Autodesk Construction Cloud platform gives teams a deeper understanding of project performance, prioritized daily activities, and instant visibility into project risk. This allows them to more easily leverage their project data to, ultimately, avoid costly mistakes and minimize risk.

1. Project Dashboards

  • Select the product picker drop down and select “Insight”.
  • From within the Insight tool, users will see a list of preset dashboards for Risk, Design, Project Controls, Quality and Safety.
  • Select the “Customize” button on the top right to rearrange, remove, or add new cards to each dashboard view.

  • Create a custom dashboard by selecting the blue “+” icon on top of the left navigation panel.
  • Custom dashboards can also be shared by user, company, or role.

 

Customize Dashboards 

2. My Home

  • In addition to project dashboards in Insight, all Autodesk Construction Cloud users have a personalized user-centric dashboard, My Home, that highlights a detailed cross0-project view of all their Autodesk Construction Cloud data.
  • My Home appears right when users enter into their Autodesk Construction Cloud account on web.
  • In the My Home dashboard, users can track action items from specific workflows like RFIs and Submittals, easily dive back into recent items, and choose from over 100+ branded partner integrations to add onto their view.

My Home

3. Project Home

  • In addition to project dashboards in Insight, any Autodesk Build user will have a preset home screen called “Project Home”.
  • Click on the “Project Home” tool from within Autodesk Build.
  • From this screen, users can track progress by setting key milestones, access any quick links, view a list of recent activity, see updates on both a user’s assigned work status and project overall work status, and get the weather, as well as see how many users from the project are using updated mobile syncing.

Project Home

4. Executive Dashboards

  • Only users who have Executive Overview access can view the Executive dashboards.
  • From within Insight, navigate to the “Executive Overview” option on the bottom of the left side panel.

  • Similar to project dashboards, users will see a list of pre-set executive level dashboards that show a summary of cross-project data:
    • Risk – Overview of high-risk projects and sort by project type or business unit.
    • Cost – A roll-up summary view of cost information for each project. NOTE: Executives with permissions to view project costs can drill down to see details

    • Design – Overview of design issues and approval reviews by project as well as a design risk heatmap flagging projects that may be at higher risk for early design issues.
    • Quality – Overview of quality checklist activity per project.
    • Safety – Overview of safety checklist activity and safety checklist conformance per project.

 

Executive Overview

5. Card Library and Partner Cards

  • Both project level and executive overview dashboards can be customized by adding or removing cards from the “Card Library”.
  • Click on the “Customize” icon on the top left to see a view of the Card Library.
  • Filter, view, and select cards to be added to a dashboard:
    • Filter by Partner Cards to add data from any of the selected integration partners.
    • Filter by Construction IQ-specific cards.

 

Partner Cards

6. Construction IQ

  • Construction IQ is a built-in machine learning and AI functionality that leverages data across the entire Autodesk Construction Cloud platform.
  • Construction IQ sifts through millions of data points from your construction documents, issues, checklists, related meta-data and historical data, and analyzes it to identify and prioritize risks.

  • Construction IQ automatically classifies items and flag issues as “High Risk”.
  • “High Risk” issues are items that, if left open, will likely lead to bigger more costly issues down the road.
    • For example: If flashing was marked as missing on a window, the Issue would be flagged as “High Risk” to avoid bigger water-leaking Issues.

  • View Construction IQ data through the “Risk” tab within the Insight module as well as by selecting cards tagged as “Construction IQ” in the Card Library.

 

Construction IQ

7. Reports

  • Navigate to the “Reports” tool on the left side panel.
  • Click the blue “Create report” button and select a report template to start with.
  • Modify the report template as needed by selecting the file format, filtering, and sorting options.
  • Once you run the report, it will show up in the “Reports log” tab.

  • Users can choose to download the report, share the report via link or by user, role, or company, or save the report as a template.
  • In the “Templates” tab, users will see a list of reports that were saved as templates.
  • From here, users can choose to run a report, edit the template, or schedule a recurring report.

 

Creating Reports

8. Data Connector

  • Users with the right permissions can extract data using Data Connector at either an individual project level or across all projects.
  • From within Insight, navigate to the “Data Connector” option on the bottom of the left side panel.
  • Users can extract data in different ways:
    • Click the blue “Run extraction” button to manually extract data.
    • Click the “Schedule” button to schedule recurring extractions.
  • Users can set up direct connections to Power BI using the Microsoft certified Power BI Connector to automate data syncing / extracts.
  • Users can select any Power BI templates from the gallery view.

 

PRO TIP: Use the Power BI Connector to automatically sync data from Autodesk Construction Cloud platform directly into Power BI, and use the premade Power BI Templates. There is also a Data Connector API that helps integrate to other business intelligence tools.

Cost Insights

Managing project costs can be tedious and time-consuming, especially when trying to oversee costs across multiple projects. The Cost tool in Autodesk Build allows teams to centralize cost management across a unified platform. Taking that a step further, the capabilities of Insight allow users to get instant visualizations of cost data and, ultimately, improve decision-making to better control and monitor costs.

1. Executive Cost Dashboard

  • Users with executive level permissions will see a tab called “Cost” in the Executive Overview Insight module.
  • The Cost Summary by Project card shows executives a summary of cost information across projects, helping them better visualize cost performance and monitor cost overruns. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
  • Users with permissions to view Cost on individual projects can drill down from this view to click in and view detailed cost information for each project.
  • Filter the card to view projects by business unit or project type.

Additional Capabilities

Account Admin & Standardization

Setting up account-level features and standards is critical to ensuring teams are being set up for success. Whether it is creating project templates or ensuring the right team members have the right access to different features, the account admin functions help everyone get up and running quickly. Taking that a step further, by setting up standards that are used across the organization, teams are able to maximize the data being collected and better leverage information downstream to improve decision-making.

1. Setting Up Templates

  • Users with Account Admin settings can navigate to Account Admin using the product picker or by selecting “All Projects” under the project picker and clicking “Account Administration” on the top left.
  • Select “Templates” from the left side panel.
  • From here, users can see a list of all active or archived templates.

  • Click on an active template to edit any details, or click the blue “Create project template” button to see two options to create a new template:
    • Create a new template – This allows users to start a template from scratch.
    • Create a template from an existing project – This allows users to copy over certain aspects of a project into a template.

  • Once a template has been created, users can add, edit, or remove members from the template and assign permissions or product access

PRO TIP: Check out the help site to view which aspects of a product can be carried over into a template.

About Project Templates

2. Creating a Project

  • Users with “Account Admin” settings can navigate to the Account Admin tool and select “Projects” from the left side panel.
  • From here, select the blue “Create project” button.
  • Enter all the relevant details, including project name, project number, address, start and end dates, as well as the option to use a project template.

 

Creating a Project

3. Adding Project Members

  • Members can be added via an individual project as well as added to an account.
  • From the “Account Admin” tool, select the “Members” option from the left side panel.

  • Here, admins can add members and assign them access levels, associate roles or companies, as well as manage their individual member subscriptions.

PRO TIP: Account Admins will see how many subscription licensees are available.

Manage Account Members

4. Library

  • The Account Admin Library serves as a centralized library of objects or “components.” From the library, users can configure a component, and simultaneously add them to multiple existing projects.
  • Click on the ‘Forms’ tab to create a new form template
  • Choose to build a new form or upload an existing PDF form
  • Once saved, the new form template can then be added to new or existing projects
  • Account Administrators can also edit any template and all updates will be pushed to any projects in which this template was added to

About Library

Project Admin

Ensuring all aspects are running smoothly is a key component of making sure projects stay on time and on budget. When technology is set up in a way that simplifies daily activity, teams can collaborate and get things done more efficiently. With the project admin features in the Autodesk Construction Cloud unified platform, admins can easily create new projects, add and manage project members, and ensure all settings or project locations are being used correctly.

1. Create Projects

  • Users with “Project Admin” settings can open the project picker and click “View all projects” and select “Projects” from the left side panel.
  • From here, select the blue “Create project” button.

  • Enter in all the relevant details, including project name, project number, address, start and end dates, as well as the option to use a project template.

 

Create a Project

2. Adding Project Members

  • Once a project has been created, users can add any team members and assign them access levels, roles, and which products should be turned on.
  • Admins can also invite new users by email and associate them to a company or role.

  • NOTE: If a template was used to create the project, the members associated with the template will be prepopulated here. However, admins can also remove any members through their member settings panel.

Add/Manage Members

3. Settings

  • Within the “Project Admin” tool, select the “Settings” option on the left side panel.
  • From here, admins can update project information or update specific product level settings.

  • Additionally, users can add locations or sublocations of a project (including levels or rooms), which can be referenced in other workflows throughout the product.

PRO TIP: Users can download an Excel template to populate different locations and then re-import for quicker entry.

 

Project Settings

 

4. As Built Export

  1. From the left navigation in Autodesk Build, select Settings to navigate to the Settings tool.
  2. On the Settings page, click the As-built Export tab.
  3. From here users can download previously generated as-builts or create a new one.
  4. To create a new as-built, click the blue ‘Create as-built’ button and configure which Sheets, RFI’s, and Submittals to include.
  5. Once created, the user will receive an email notification which will direct back to the as-built export log page from where you can download the zipped file for all documents.

 

As-Built Export

5. Bridge

  • Using Bridge users can share sheets or files across projects or accounts.
  • To share a sheet or file simply select the items and click the “Share” button on the top of the screen.
  • From here select to share with “another project” or with “anyone with the link”.
  • The receiver will either see the sheets automatically added to their project or if shared via link, can select which project they would like to add the sheets to.
  • Users can also select to automatically send newer versions to ensure the receiving team always has the most up to date information.

  • To view a list of all shared or received sheets or files navigate to Bridge from the left side panel.
  • From here you will see a tab for Incoming or Outgoing shares, a list of sheets that have automations set up, as well as a “Bridged Projects” tab where you can directly link one project to another to make sharing even easier.

Bridge Overview