Clarity

We currently have a license for the Financial Management module, however, it is not being used. We are adopting an updated budgeting process for IT that requires  tracking of software purchase and maintenance costs, hardware purchase and maintenance costs, project development costs, etc., etc.  We will need to track actual expenses to the budgeted items  As opposed to numerous spreadsheets, is it possible to use Clarity Financial Management to budget and how difficult is it to do so. I have been browsing the User Guide and it seems quite complex.  Any comments and/or sugestions?  

The classic answer is - it depends (primarily on your setup).  Apart from the FOS setup that you'll need to do (or expand upon) the major component for budgeting are going to be Rates.   The budgeting process is pretty simple once you have a procedure set for your organization.  Let's say you use a flat rate for resources (meaning everyone is $85/hr regardless of position).   This makes the rates config easy and really a non-issue.The normal planning process is 80% of the budgeting setup.   If you have Roles configured, each Team Member will bring the rate associated over with their role or specific resource (whichever is more specific).  The easiest budgeting setup works by using the WBS - Work Plan to capture the estimated hours and assignments to create a Cost Plan.   I find that using Roles and Months for your units are sufficient.   After that you just submit the cost plan and get it approved.   For earlier plans, you can estimate by Role what hours and cost will be needed and submit that rudimentary plan.  Bottom line - your org will define the level of complexity for the Financial Setup.   If you are using assignments, the Cost Plan setup is made much easier and removes complexity at the end user level.   The hardest part is thinking through the process before implementation so you can train the steps once and not have to change that process once it's delivered.   The software and assets are a similar deal - just made simplier due to fewer moving parts (compared to a project).   It's worth doing if the executive will to implement is there - once you're off and running it's a lot easier than spreadsheets (but the change management is crucial to compliance - past experience here...)  Good luck!
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