---
title: "Initiative."
canonical: "https://support.appfire.com/space/DLP/1744503800/Initiative."
format: markdown
---
> 📝 [rolling out] 
> 📝 
> 📝 The **Financials module** is being rolled out for **BigPicture Enterprise cloud** users.

| **Contents:**<br>> Macro (toc) |
| --- |

The Planned vs Actual costs panel for an initiative displays the cost of effort in tasks in a specific initiative.

## Top bar

Here, you can change the period of the chart:

![initiative-period.png](media://4aa120d9-073c-4120-b9b2-c35a786fc45b)

By clicking the cost calculations icon, you can check the current cost calculation settings and edit them:

![initiative-cost-calculation-icon.png](media://8ef60eda-6252-4855-be92-8a63276fbb3c)

## Cost summary

![initiative-cost-summary.png](media://42ed939e-10a1-46ef-ad29-30ec2b6b7402)

Here, you can find a summary of the costs of this initiative.

### Budget

The amount of money planned for a specific initiative. 

Click the pencil icon next to the amount to edit it.

Click the info icon next to the Budget to check the date of the last edit and the editor.

### **Total Cost**

The total cost of all effort in all tasks in the initiative, both already performed and planned. The second displayed amount is the remaining budget amount. If the total cost is within the budget, the amount is green. If the total cost exceeds the budget, the amount is red.

### Actual cost

The cost of the effort in tasks already recorded at this moment.

### **Remaining cost **

The cost of planned, future effort in tasks.

### Progress bar

Under the actual and remaining costs, you can see a percentage value and a bar - both representing the percentage of the total cost already spent.

## Cost over time

In the chart with one axis representing cost and the other time,  you can check a visual representation of the cost of tasks in the initiative over time.

The period setting determines the timeframe and can be changed in the upper left corner of the Planned vs Actual costs panel.

### Current date

The purple vertical line represents the current date.

### Total cost line

The dashed horizontal line represents the Total cost. You can see if the costs stay within the budget. If the total cost is within the budget, the line is green. If the total cost exceeds the budget, the line is red.

### Budget line

The blue horizontal line represents the budget.

### Total cost tooltip

If you hold the pointer over the chart, a tooltip with a Total cost (along with its percentage value compared to the budget) for the given period is displayed. There is also a percentage value of the total cost for the period compared to the budget. The period starts at the beginning of the chart period and ends at the end of the month, pointed by your cursor.

## Cost distribution by tasks

![initiative-cost-distribution-by-task.png](media://da17aa97-ac55-4c5c-8360-483ccc5bded2)

This chart lets you see the Total cost of a specific task as a percentage share of the initiative’s total cost.

## Work costs breakdown

This table shows information about the initiative broken down into specific tasks. Data in the table are readonly. You can change the module to change the details; for example, go to the Gantt module to change task details

Here you can find:

- Task name
- Task start and end dates
- Costs
- Cost Progress - percentage value of actual and remaining cost share in total cost. These values are based on effort estimate in time:  
**Example**:

<details>
<summary>Click to check an example</summary>

The Financials module view:

![cost-progress-example.png](media://936f948c-57d2-4e9b-86d3-b82d8023199b)

The Resources module view:

![resources-view-effort.png](media://363e143e-8b96-44c6-82ac-ec21daeb3a2f)
</details>

- Effort estimate
- Team - team to which an assignee ef the task is assigned.