In order to use the budget module in TM Master you will first need to add your accounts. This is done in the [Accounts] view found under the [Purchasing] module group. The [Account] module consist of two parts, on the left you will find the account groups (or structure) on the right had side a grid that will list your accounts. In the tree structure (or folder structure) on the left hand side two default folders can be found. The folder “All accounts” (Blue folder) will list all existing accounts in the grid on the right hand side. Selecting the folder “Ungrouped Accounts” (Green folder) will list any account that has not been assigned to a group. Selecting any of the other groups (yellow folders) will list accounts found in the selected group.

Fig 1: Accounts overview

Click [Purchasing] → [Accounts]
To add an account group, click the [Add a root node to tree] button
Add the name in the small dialog that appear.
To add a subgroup to one of your account groups, you will need to select it and then click the

[Add sub node to selected node] button.

Add the name in the small dialog that appear.
To add an account, click the [New] button found in the top menu bar in top left corner.

Fig 2: Account form

Enter the “Account Name”, “Account Number” and select the account group you want the account to be part of, by clicking the […] button at the end of the “group” field.
If The “Disabled” tick box is ticked the account will by default not be included when creating a budget, and it will not be available choice when selecting accounts anywhere in TM Master.
The Account limitation check box “Direct order” if used will limit the accounts allowed used on direct orders from the Unit/Vessel. If none of your accounts has this limitation turned on, all accounts will be available when creating direct orders.

Tip: You can drag and drop an account or a selection of accounts from the right-hand side grid onto a group in the structure in the left view to add or reassign the account to a group.

Tip: It is possible to edit account numbers and account names directly in the account grid on the lefthand side, by first clicking the toggle button [Edit in grid] found in the menu bar. In order to use this function you will need the “edit in grid” user right for the budget module.

How to delete an account group, subgroup, or an account?

Select the account group or subgroup you wish to delete.
Click the [Delete Node] button
You will then be asked what should happen to any accounts currently in this gro

Fig 3: Delete group dialog

Your choices are “Delete all elements” which will delete all accounts found in the group or “Set elements to ungrouped” which will keep the accounts but remove the link to the group. You will find these accounts by clicking the “Ungrouped Accounts” group/folder.
To delete a single account, select the account and click the [Delete] button.

How to use the “Cost Activity” function for accounts?

In the top of the left-hand side of the account view (above the [Add account groups/tree structure] buttons you should see two tabs, one named “Account group” the current one and the other named “Cost Activity”. Clicking this tab will display a second structure view.

The idea behind this structure is to make the job choosing the correct account when placing orders. The users creating orders are most likely not accountants and when presented with the long list of accounts may have problems choosing the correct one for the order they are about to create. By using the account activity function, you can group accounts based on the activity they are meant for. I.E. Creating an activity group called “Docking” where only accounts to be used during a docking is listed etc.

When selecting an account for an order without the “cost activity function turned on, the account picker will look like illustrated below to the left and with “Cost Activity” to the right:

Regular account picker compared to “Cost activity” account picker

Selecting an activity will limit the account list to accounts that is part of that activity group.

When selecting an account, for and order, using the “Cost Activity” picker the selected activity is also displayed on the order form.

Excerpt of the order head form, displaying the “Cost activity” field.

How to activate the “Cost Activity” function?

To use the cost activity function, you will need to activate it this is done in the following manner.

Click [System] → [Settings] → “Order settings” tab → “General” sub tab → “Global PO Settings” Here you will find a drop-down setting called “Account Selection Dialog”. This setting will alter the “account picker” dialog
Two of the options in the list relates to “Cost activities”. Select either:
1. Cost activity (Optional)

This will include the “All items” group in the cost activity structure, allowing users to select it and avoid first selecting an “cost activity”

Cost activity (Mandatory)

This will remove the “All items” group in the cost activity structure, forcing users to select a cost activity, before selecting an account.

This setting is a “Global Settings”/” Fleet settings”, which means once activated at the office, the setting is replicated to all units and will apply to all units/vessels. The setting cannot be turned off for individual units.

How to add a cost activity?

Click [Purchasing] → [Accounts] → “Cost Activity” tab.
Click the [Add root node to tree]
Enter a name for the cost activity.

How to add an account to a cost activity?

Click on the default folder “All items” to get a complete list of accounts displayed in the grid on the right-hand side
Select one or more account (Press the CTRL key or SHIFT key to select more than one account)
Drag and drop the account to the desired “Cost activity” folder/group.

Tip: An account can be added to more than one cost activity folder/group, and thus be available for selection for several activities.

How to remove an account from a cost activity?

Select the “cost activity” group/folder containing the account or accounts you want to remove from the activity.
Right click the account or accounts and select “Remove from cost activity”.

(To remove the account or accounts from all activities use the “Remove from all cost activities” option found in the right click menu)

How to remove a cost activity?

Select the cost activity folder/group you want to remove.
Click the [Delete Node] button.

Note! You will only be able to delete “Cost activities” that do not contain any accounts. You will need to remove any accounts from the group first, as described above. Once the cost activity group/folder is empty, you may remove it.

Budget

The budget module view

The budget module view has two different tabs “Filtered budget” and “Budget” tab. Both tabs show the same Budget figures, and have the same functions, but the views work slightly different. The main differences are:

“Filtered budget” tab:

It has data retrieval filters, which is described in the chapter below (The budget filter function). The filter allows the user to only retrieve the data the user need, which is more efficient than retrieving all budget rows, and may increase the performance and wait time.
Selecting a budget row in the “Budget row” grid will list linked orders, budget specification details, documents and change history in the lower grid.

Fig 6: Budget module, “Filtered budget” tab

The “Budget” tab

This view will list all “Budget Row” for the selected year, it is not possible to limit the data retrieved. For systems with a large amount of budget rows, this might take some time to load.
Any budget row with a linked order, will list these in a child grid if the [+] expand button in front of the account row is clicked.
Users are required to double click each individual row to access linked documents, budget specification details and change history for the selected row.

Fig 7: Budget module, “Budget” tab

The budget filter function.

This function is found on the “Filtered budget” tab in the Budget module. By default, the grid will be empty, and an interaction with the filter bar is required to populate it.

By default the filter for “Period from” and “Period to” are set to include the “current year”, by clicking the [Refresh] button upon entering the module will list all budget rows for the current year, for the selected unit. The following fields are available on the filter bar:

Fig 8: Budget row filter bar

Unit: This filter is not editable if accessed through [Purchasing] – [Budget]. If this is an onboard system only budget details for the current unit\vessel is available in the database. If the module is accessed in the office system, the “unit picker” in the top menu bar servers as a unit filter and will update the “filter bar” filter if a different unit is selected. If the module is accessed through [Fleet] – [Budget], it will be possible to select several vessels\units to include, making it possible to retrieve budget rows from multiple units\vessels

Period from: By default, this will have the first period in the current year pre-selected. Any existing period can be selected as the “period from” (if no budget periods are available this filter will be empty)

Period to: By default, this will have the last period in the current year pre-selected. Any existing period (after the selected “Period from”) can be selected as the “period to” (if no budget periods are available this filter will be empty)

Account(s): This field will allow users to select any number of accounts to be included. If left “blank” (no selections are made) it is considered as “include all”

Cost Code(s): If budgets have been created on cost code level it is possible to select any number of cost codes and only retrieve the budget rows matching the selecting cost codes. If left “blank” (no selections made) it is considered as “include all”. This filter should always be left blank if the budget is not created per cost code.

[Refresh] – Clicking this button will start the data retrieval from the database using the current filter settings.

[Reset] – Clicking this button will reset the filter to its default state (period from and to set to current year)

How to create a budget from scratch?

Click [Purchasing] → [Budget]
Click [New] in the top left corner.

Fig 8: Create new budget dialog

Unit: Select the Unit/Vessel you want to create the budget for

(default value will be the current vessel you have selected in your vessel selector)

Year: Select the year you want to create the budget for. (Default current year) 5. Account: Select which account you want to create a budget for.
1. To create a budget for a single account, select the account by clicking the […] button.
2. To create a budget for all accounts tick “Select All accounts”
3. To create a budget for some accounts, tick the “selected accounts” and then click the “selections” tab, and make your selection of accounts to create a budget for.
Cost Code: If not configured to budget on “Cost code” the cost code selector will be disabled. If TM Master is configured to budget on “Cost code”, select which cost code(s) you wish to create the budget for.
1. To create a budget for a single cost code for all selected accounts, select the single cost code by clicking the […] button.
2. To create a budget for all cost codes tick “Select All Cost codes”
3. To create a budget two or more of the Cost codes, tick the “Selected Cost codes” and then click the “Selections” tab, and make your selection of Cost codes per account to create a budget for.
Cost codes Included in budget (system setting): This check box will reflect if the system is set up

to budget on Cost code or not. (Please refer to the chapter: How to configure budget system settings? For more details)

Include disabled accounts: Tick to generate budget rows for any of the selected accounts that have been disabled.
Budget Periods: This will reflect the number of budget periods the system is configured to use.

By default the system is configured to use only one period but can be altered under [Settings]

(Please refer to the chapter: How to configure budget system settings? For more details)

To start generating the budget rows, Click [OK]. Please note that the system will spend some time generating the budget rows, so please be patient. If any of the rows to be created already exists, it will not create an additional row but keep existing.

How to copy a budget from a previous year?

Click [Purchasing] → [Budget]
Click [New] in the top left corner. (dialog in Fig 8 will appear ref previous chapter)
Unit: Select the Unit/Vessel you want to create the budget for

(default value will be the current vessel you have selected in your vessel selector)

Year: Select the year you want to create the budget for. (Default current year)
Skip the “Account” and “Cost Code” fields
Tick the “Copy Budget Setup from Previous Year”
Select one of the available previous years that you wish to copy.
Select which budget values you wish to copy if any. If no selection is made, the system will copy only the budget setup from the selected year (accounts and cost code combinations)
1. Copy “Budget” figures, will also copy the “budget” details
2. Copy “Suggested Unit” budget will also copy the “Suggested Unit” details
3. Copy “Suggested Office” budget will also copy the “Suggested Office” details

11. Click [OK] to start copying the budget from the selected year. Please note that the system will spend some time generating the budget rows, so please be patient. If any of the rows to be created already exists, it will not create an additional row but keep existing.

How to edit a budget?

Click [Purchasing] → [Budget]
Select the vessel/unit you wish to edit the budget for using the unit selector in the top menu.
Select the budget year you want to edit.
Click the [Edit in Grid] * button.
You may suggest a budget sum (or you can have crew onboard suggest a budget **) in the “Suggested budget” column.
The actual budget sum for each account is entered in the “Budget” Column
The “Used” column can not be edited, it will reflect the “sum” of all the “paid” orders

(in earlier versions it was possible to edit but later removed)

*Requires the “Edit” and “Edit in Grid” user rights **Requires the “Suggest budget” user right.

How to edit a budget directly in the grid?

Click [Purchasing] → [Budget]
Use the filter bar to retrieve the budget rows to edit (Ref. the chapter: The budget filter function for more details)
Click the [Edit in Grid]* button.
The columns that is highlighted in blue is now available for edit. It may vary which columns will be possible to edit as it depends on the system the user is logged on (office or vessel/unit) and what user rights it has. The following columns can be edited directly in the grid if the conditions are right. a.

“Budget”

“Suggested Budget (Unit)” **
“Unit comment” (If onboard)
“Suggested Budget (Office)” ***
“Office Comment” (If in office)

A small technicality to keep in mind is for the system to save the entered value in a field, the cursor needs to be placed in a different field.

Clicking the [Edit in Grid] button again will turn off the edit in grid function again.

How to use the “Distribution tool”?

If the budget is divided into multiple periods, it can be a tedious task to enter the “budget” figures for all periods especially if it is the same figure for all periods. If import of budget figures is not an option, the distribution tool can be used. Here is how it works.

Click [Purchasing] → [Budget]
Use the filter bar to retrieve the budget rows to edit

(Ref. the chapter: The budget filter function for more details)

Click the [Open Distribution] button in the top menu

Fig 11: Distribution dialog.

Fill in the distribution details
1. Amount to distribute: Enter the total amount to be distributed to all periods
2. Account: Select the “Account” the value should be distributed on
3. Cost Code: Select the “Cost Code” (If applicable)
4. Column: Specify the budget column to update (Suggested (office), Suggested (unit) or

Budget)

Budget Periods: The number of periods the system is configured to use will be displayed
Period amount: This field will display the amount allocated on each budget period.

Click [Distribute]

How to use the “Suggest budget” function?

Some companies may want to include several people in the process of estimating and suggesting a budget before deciding upon the actual budget. TM Master supports getting two such “suggestions” per budget row, and these suggestions are referred to as “Suggested (Office)” and “Suggested (Unit)”

Users onboard will be able to update the “Suggested (Unit)” and the users in the office will be able to update the “Suggested (Office)”, in addition to the suggested figures users can also add a comment, by double clicking the budget row. (One comment for the office user and one for the unit users.)

Once the suggested figures have been added, it is possible to “lock” the fields individually, stopping further editing. More details on locking figures is described in the chapter: “How to lock budget figures?”

Any of the “Suggested” budget values can be transferred to the “Budget” field. More details on transferring is described “How to transfer suggested budget figures to the budget column?”

“Suggested (Office)”

For a user to edit the “Suggested (Office)” the following requirements must be met:

Users need the “Budget” – “SuggestedBudgetOffice” user right
Logged on the “Office” system

“Suggested (Unit)”

For a user to edit the “Suggested (Unit)” the following requirements must be met:

• Users need the “Budget” – “SuggestedBudgetUnit” user right • Logged on the “Unit” (vessel) system

How to use the Budget Specification function?

This function will allow to build a budget using itemised expected expenditures.

How to create a budget specification record?

Click [Purchasing] → [Budget] → “Filtered Budget” tab.
Select the budget row to specify the budget for.
Click the “Budget Specification” tab in the lower pane.

Click the [New] button, alternatively drag and drop the documentation for the expected expense into the grid.
The following dialog should appear.

Enter the following details for the fields in the “Budget Specification details” field group:
1. Short Description: Enter a descriptive text to identify the expected expense
2. Documentation: Click the […] button at the end of the field.
  1. Select “Add from hard drive” if the file is stored on a file location
  2. Select “Add from budget documents” if the document has already been added as a document to the current budget.
3. Remarks: Enter any relevant remarks for the expense if needed or applicable 7. If detail is added onboard, user can fill in or edit the fields in the “Unit” field group.
  1. Unit Estimate: Enter the estimated\expected expense value. The value should be entered in the “Unit Currency” which is shown to the right of the value field.
  2. Unit Remark: If a comment or remark about the estimated expense value is needed this can be added in this field.
  3. Office Estimate: Enter the estimated\expected expense value. The value should be entered in the “Unit Currency” which is shown to the right of the value field.
  4. Office Remark: If a comment or remark about the estimated expense value is needed this can be added in this field.

At the bottom of the “Budget Specification” grid, both the “Unit Estimate” and the “Office Estimate” is summed to a Total estimate.

How to edit the budget specification details using “Edit in Grid”?

It is possible to edit the budget specification details by double clicking each individual record, as done when creating the records. Double clicking each individual row to modify them can however be a bit tedious and time consuming, the “editing in grid” function may be simpler to use.

Select the budget row to modify
Click the “Specification Details” tab
Click the [Edit in grid] button
If done in the office the “Office Estimate” and “Office Remark” column will open for direct editing in the grid. If done onboard the “Unit Estimate” and “Unit Remark” will be possible to edit directly.

How to “Deactivate” or “Reactivate” a budget specification record?

During a budget process, some of the estimated expected cost may be rejected. It is possible to delete a record to remove them, but this may cause some confusion for other users who are involved in the budget, as the user will not be able to see the reason for it to be rejected etc. A better approach than deleting may be to “Deactivate” the budget row. A deactivated row will remain in the list but will be crossed out and not be included in the budget specification estimate total.

Select the budget specification row to be “Deactivated”
Click on the [Deactivate] button in the grid menu bar.
The “budget specification” row will be dimmed in colour and line will show a strike out line.

To reactivate a deactivated budget specification row, simply select it and click the [Reactivate] button in the menu bar.

How to transfer the “Specified budget total value” to the budget row?

Once the budget specification has been done there will be a need to transfer the “budget specification” value to one of the budget row columns. (Budget, Suggested Unit or Suggested Office). Here is how this can be done.

Select the budget row, where the budget specification is completed.
Click the “Budget Specification” tab in the lower pane.
Click the [Transfer to budget column ...] button, found in the bottom right-hand corner

The above function is for one budget row at the time, it is possible to transfer the value for multiple budget rows in one operation please see: How to copy\transfer budget figures from one budget column to another? for more details

The below dialog should appear

Select the option that meet the requirement. If performed in the onboard system, only the copy functions to “Suggested budget (Unit) will work, unless the user onboard can modify the “Budget” figures also.
Click [Copy]
Total value should now be transferred\copied to the selected budget column.

How to copy budget specification records?

In some cases, there might be a need to copy “budget specification” rows between accounts, or from one year’s budget to the next. This is possible.

Select the budget specification row or rows to copy
Right click and select “Copy Specification Details”
Then select the budget row to copy the “Specification details” to
Right click in the “Specification details” grid, and select “Paster Specification Details”

How to lock\unlock budget figures?

A lot of people may be involved in the planning of the budget both onboard and in the office. At some point there will be a need to stop the involved users from editing the various budget figures. It is possible to “lock” each individual budget figure cell. (Budget, Suggested Budget (Unit) and Suggested Budget (Office). When a budget cell is “locked” it is not possible to edit the figure, unless it is “unlocked”. Users will need a separate user right to “lock” and “unlock” budget figures.

Select the budget row or rows to lock.
Click the [Lock Budget] button
The following dialog should appear

In the “Action” field group in the top select which action to perform.
1. Lock
2. Unlock
In the “Column” field group, select which of the cells in the selected row to lock\unlock
1. “Suggested budget (Unit)”
2. “Suggested budget (Office)”
3. “Budget”
In the “Rows” field group select which rows to lock.
1. for selected rows (only)
2. for all rows (in the entire budget) 7. Click [OK]

8. A small pad lock symbol should appear in any cell that has been locked.

Example of locked and unlocked budget value cells

How to copy\transfer budget figures from one budget column to another?

There are 3 budget related value columns where users can enter budget values. The “Suggested Budget (Unit)”, “Suggested Budget (Office)” and “Budget”. In some cases, it is useful to be able to transfer a value or multiple values from one of the columns to another. Here is how this can be done.

Select the budget rows containing the value to transfer between the three columns.
Right click the selected rows, and select “Copy selected suggested budget…” 3. The following dialog should appear

Select one of the available options that apply.
1. Copy the figures from “Budget Specification” (Office Estimate) …

(Click here for more details on “Budget Specification”)

… to “Suggested budget (office)”
… to “Budget”

Copy the figures from “Budget Specification” (Unit Estimate) …

(Click here for more details on “Budget Specification”)

… to “Suggested budget (Unit)”
… to “Budget”

Copy the figures from “Suggested budget (Unit)” …
1. .. to “Suggested budget (Office)”
2. .. to “Budget”
Copy the figures from “Suggested budget (Office)” …
1. .. to “Suggested budget (Unit)” ii. .. to “Budget”

Click [Copy]
Figures are now copied. Please note that if the target column already had any values, these will be overwritten.

How to use the “Budget Overspend” function?

TM Master v2 has a function to warn and to deny users from overspending the set budget.

The function can be turned on pr. unit. Turning it on for one unit does not affect any of the other units. Here is how to configure the “Overspend” function.

In the office module click [Fleet] → [Units] → “Double click the “Unit” you wish to turn the overspending function on for.
Click the “Overspending” tab

Tick of the “Enable budget overspending control”

Now you will need to decide if you want the system should allow any type of overspending. It is possible to set a level for what will be accepted overspending, this can be done either by a set value or a “percentage” of the account budget figures.

You select which by ticking either “Value” and enter the accepted sum to overspend for every account or you tick the “percentage” (%) and enter the accepted overspending percent. If you do not wish anyone

How to configure budget system settings?

The settings for the budget module is found under [System] → [Settings] → “General” tab → “Budget” sub tab.

The available settings are:

Number of budget periods: This is the default number of periods a budget is divided into when created.

Include cost code in budget: Ticking this will allow creation of budget with cost codes.

Use external economy system: Will enable the service to import budget figures from an external system.

External Budget type: Defines the import filter for external budget systems import files.

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