Releasing The Budget 
Use
In many companies, distributing the budget is not the same as releasing funds. Therefore the Project System enables you to release the budget successively.
You can release budget on a total or an annual level (providing budgeting using total or annual values is included in the budget profile).
Prerequisites
The release is based on the current budget, meaning the original budget changed by supplements, returns, or transfers.
Activities
Releasing The Budget
Choose Logistics or Accounting ® Project System ® Controlling ® Budgeting ® Release ® Change.
The Change Release: Initial Screen appears.
Enter the necessary data and choose Release.
The Change Release: Annual Overview screen appears.
You can release the budget for a project or for an individual WBS element. Enter the corresponding WBS element.
- Choose WBS Element overview.
The Change Release: WBS Element Overview screen appears.
The Budget business transaction is allowed only on the WBS elements that are ready for input, and thus can be released.
- Choose the timeframe that you want to release by choosing Goto
®
Timeframe.Choose Views to select the Plan total in COAr Currency view.
The Version dialog box appears.
Enter the version that contains the plan values you want to use as the budget.
Choose Continue.
The system displays the values in the selected plan version as a view.
Select the WBS elements that contain the plan values you want to use as the budget.
Choose Edit -> Copy view
If the current budget currency differs from the controlling area currency, the system translates the planning data from the controlling area currency to the budget currency.
- If you use the object currency for budgeting, the system displays the budget values for each object in its own object currency. The system displays the object currency on the screen after the budget value.
- If you chose your own currency for budgeting, the system displays all the budget values in the current currency.
The Copy view dialog box appears.
- Enter the percentage of the plan total and decide whether the value is to
- Overwrite the existing value
- Be added to the existing value
- Choose Continue.
You transfer the plan totals for the selected WBS elements as budget values, taking into account the selected percentage. You can adapt the values by overwriting.
- Save your release.
Check Release
You can check the release at any time by choosing Release -> Check. The system automatically checks the budget release when you save it.
Providing the availability control is not active you can save a budget release without checking it.
If availability control is active this is no longer possible. The system then only allows you to save a budget release that does not contain any errors.
Checked Values
Project structure
In the project structure the system checks whether the releases in a lower-level of the WBS element (Distributed values) exceed those in the level above. The system uses controlling area currency for the check, and includes budget line items that were entered in different currencies.
- Time level
For each WBS element, the system checks whether the total of the annual releases (cumulated releases) exceeds the total release. This check is made using the current currency. The system does not include budget line items that were entered in a different currency.
- Releasing the current budget
The system checks whether
- The total release exceeds the current total budget
- The annual releases exceed the current annual budget
The system uses controlling area currency for the check, and includes budget line items that were entered in different currencies.
- Availability control is active
In Customizing under Project System ®
Costs ® Budget ®
Maintain Budget Profile, you can make settings to determine whether the system checks availability for overall budgets, annual budgets, overall releases, or annual releases. If availability control is active, the system also checks the following:
- Availability control for overall releases
If this is active, the system checks whether the Assigned values (= actual + commitment) exceed the overall release.
- Availability control for annual releases
If this is active, the system checks whether the Assigned values on an annual level exceed the annual release.
The system uses controlling area currency for the check, and includes budget line items that were entered in different currencies.
For more information on availability control, see:
Activating Availability Control.