Managing Variations in Mastt

Use the Variation module to log, track and approve changes to a contract. Each variation has a status that mirrors your approval process, and that status decides how the variation shows up in your financial reports.

Variation statuses

Status	What it means	In financial reports	Available for payment
Draft	Still being prepared	Not included	No
Forecast	A preliminary estimate	Uncommitted	No
Pending	Under consideration	Uncommitted	No
In Principle	Agreed, but not yet formalised	Committed (Variation column), treated the same as Approved	Yes
Approved	Formally approved	Committed (Variation column)	Yes
Rejected	Denied	Not included	No
Withdrawn	Cancelled	Not included	No

Forecast and Pending variations appear in the Uncommitted column of the Cost Module. In Principle variations are treated the same as Approved ones: they're committed costs, appear in the Variation column and can be paid against. To see Forecast and Pending variations on their own, add the optional Unapproved Variations breakdown column to the Overall page.

Create a variation

In the Cost Module, click + Add Variation in the top left corner.
Fill in the details at the top of the form (see the table below).
Work through the tabs to add line items, a description, time impact and reference details.
Click Add.

Save time: Mastt can pre-fill variation forms from your documents. See How to Use AI Pre-fill for Variations.

The variation form

Field	Notes
Title	A name for the variation
Varying Contract	The contract being varied. Contract terms fill in automatically from the contract you select.
Variation Category	Choose from the dropdown. To add custom categories, contact Mastt Support.
Contract Variation Number	Shown for reference. Hover over the information icon for details.
Status	Where the variation is in your approval process (see the table above)
Date Received	The date the variation was received
Date Approved and Approved By	Record when and by whom the variation was approved

Below these fields, the form has four tabs:

Tab	What it's for
Line Items	The amounts being varied (see below)
Description	The text that appears in your variation letters (see below)
Time Impact	Extensions of time (see below)
Additional Fields	Optional reference numbers

At the bottom of the form, Notes are for internal use only, and you can upload Attached Files by clicking or dropping them in.

Description tab: your letter text

The Description tab controls what your letters say. Each section only appears on certain PDFs:

Section	Appears on	What to write
Recommendation	The Variation Recommendation PDF only	Describe the variation, including its background, scope and justification, so readers understand the reason for the change and its impact. Recommendations may be shared with clients, owners or stakeholders to seek consent.
Approval	The Variation Approval and Variation Order PDFs only	Mastt provides standard wording. Toggle on Customise your letter's text to change it.

Both sections support rich text formatting. To apply your branding to letters, see How to Customise Brand Colours for Letters.

Additional Fields tab: reference numbers

These fields are optional: Variation No., Variation Price Request No., Reference Number, Variation Order No. and Variation Approval No. Anything you enter appears in your Variation Approval letters. To leave a detail off the letter, leave the field empty.

The Clause field is disabled on this tab. Set the clause on the contract instead, under Contract Form > Terms > Variation Terms. It then carries through to your variation letters.

Enter line items and amounts

On the Line Items tab, each line has a Name, Requested Amount, Variation Amount, Contract Line Item, Budget and Tax %.

Click Add Line Item.
Enter a name.
Enter the Requested Amount (what was asked for) and the Variation Amount (what was approved). This documents negotiated savings.
Choose where the variation applies in Contract Line Item: pick a specific line item to vary it, or choose Entire Contract to add the variation to the contract as a whole.
Confirm the Tax %. The Budget is set automatically: when you vary a line item, it follows that line item's budget.

Only the variation amount affects your financial calculations. The requested amount is for your records.

To move a line to a different contract line item, change its Contract Line Item. If the contract already has payments, a warning appears, but you can still submit.

Track a time extension (EOT)

Use the Time Impact tab to record extensions of time requested and approved as part of the variation.

Field	Notes
Current Completion Date	The contract's current completion date. Set the completion date on the contract first, or EOT won't work.
Days Claimed	The extension requested
Days Approved	The extension approved
Revised Completion Date	The new completion date
Comments	For internal use only

Extensions are calculated using weekdays only (Monday to Friday). Weekends are excluded.
Time impact data appears in your variation letters, but comments don't. To leave the time impact out of the letters, leave the tab empty.
You can delete an EOT record if needed. Mastt shows a warning first.

Generate letters

Click the three dots next to the variation.
Choose Variation Approval PDF, Variation Order PDF or Variation Recommendation PDF.
Download the PDF and send it.

Recommendation and approval text supports rich text formatting, and you can attach files to Variation Approval Request letters so supporting documents go out together. See How to Download and Customise Variation Letters.

Change a status or delete a variation

The three-dot menu also has Edit Variation, Delete Variation and Audit Log.

Change status: select Edit Variation and update the Status as the variation moves through approval.
Delete: select Delete Variation. It's greyed out if the variation has payments against it. Only delete variations created in error. For a rejected variation, set the status to Rejected so you keep the audit trail.
Audit Log: shows the history of changes to the variation.

Report on variations

Every variation appears in variation tables on dashboards. Filter by status for focused reports.
The Variation Categories chart shows variations by category.
The Variation Overview page gives you a consolidated view at a glance. See How to View and Manage Variations in Variation Overview.

Troubleshooting

Problem	What to try
A variation isn't available for payment	Check its status is In Principle or Approved. Only these two statuses can be paid against.
I can't find a variation in financial reports	Check its status. It decides which column the variation appears in.
EOT isn't working	Make sure the original completion date is set on the contract.
Requested and variation amounts differ	That's expected. Only the variation amount counts.
I can't delete a variation	Variations with payments against them can't be deleted.

Need help?

Contact Mastt Support for additional assistance.