Managing Cash Flow in Mastt

Objective

By the end of this guide, you'll be able to:

• Create and manage cash flow projections
• Track actual versus forecasted spending
• Choose between budget-level and line-item cash flow management
• Close financial periods and track actual expenditure

Prerequisites

• Access to a Mastt project
• Existing contracts and forecasts in the Cost Module
• Basic understanding of cash flow management concepts

Video Walkthrough

 

Step-by-Step Cash Flow Management

Understanding the Cash Flow Dashboard

1. Cash Flow Chart

• The top chart provides a visual representation of your project's cash flow
• Green bars: Paid/actual amounts that have been spent
• Colored bars: Forecasted amounts by category:
  • Light blue: Contract amounts
  • Dark blue: Uncommitted forecast amounts
  • Yellow: Risk provisions
  • Purple: Client contingency
  • Pink: Project contingency

2. Additional Comparison Lines

• You can add baseline and target lines for comparison
• These help compare actual/forecasted cash flow against planned spending

Managing Cash Flow Forecasts

1. Two Forecast Approaches

• Mastt offers two ways to forecast cash flow:
  • Individual Object Level: Detailed forecasting by contract/variation/forecast
  • Budget Level: Higher-level forecasting by budget category

2. Individual Object Cash Flow

• Click the three dots next to any contract, variation, forecast, or risk
• Select Edit Cash Flow (e.g., Edit Contract Cash Flow)
• The system displays the total amount and the remaining unassigned amount
• Enter monthly amounts across the timeline
• When the unassigned amount reaches zero, you'll see a confetti celebration

3. Copying Data from Excel

• For efficiency, you can copy and paste rows from Excel
• Select the data in Excel
• Click in the first month field in Mastt
• Paste to populate all the months at once

Using Budget Level Cash Flow

1. Enabling Budget Cash Flow

• Click the settings cog in the top right corner
• Toggle on Budget Cash Flow Entry
• Click the X to close settings

2. Creating Budget Cash Flow

• Three-dot menus now appear next to budgets
• Click the three dots next to a budget
• Select Edit Budget Cash Flow
• For each category (client contingencies, contract amounts, etc.), allocate amounts by month
• Zero out the unassigned amount and confirm

3. Understanding Budget vs. Object Level

• Budget level is indicated by an orange line along the row
• Budget level is useful when:
  • You have many items under a budget
  • You don't need line-item precision
  • You want to manage cash flow at a higher level

Tracking Actual Expenditure

1. Closing Financial Periods

• When a month is complete, hover over the month in the table
• Click Close Month
• This changes from showing forecasted amounts to actual amounts
• Green bars in the chart represent actual expenditure

2. Understanding Month Indicators

• Orange month names: Open months with payments against them
• Green line beneath amounts: Shows percentage progress toward forecast
• After closing, actual amounts replace forecasted amounts

3. Reopening Months

• Only administrators can reopen closed months
• Hover over a closed month and click Reopen Month
• This returns to showing forecasted amounts

Additional Cash Flow Features

1. Date Range Selection

• Choose between Monthly or Yearly views
• Select specific months or use preset ranges:
  • Today: Six months, including the current month
  • Calendar Year
  • Current Financial Year
  • Next Financial Year
  • All Data: Complete project timeline

2. Current Month Indicator

• A dark indicator shows the current month
• This helps orient the timeline to the present

Common Pitfalls and Solutions

• Issue: Cash flow not matching contract amounts
  • Solution: Ensure you've allocated the full amount across months
• Issue: Can't reopen a month
  • Solution: Only administrators can reopen closed months
• Issue: Green actuals not appearing
  • Solution: Months must be closed to show actual expenditure
• Issue: Budget-level cash flow not available
  • Solution: Ensure you've enabled it in settings

Next Steps

Now that you understand how to manage cash flow, explore the Audit Log and Advanced Features guide to learn about tracking changes and using advanced project management features in Mastt.