In this video, I will walk you through the Project menu to explain what each section is used for and how costs flow through the system.

We start with the Cost Report. This is the most critical document in production accounting because it tells the Producer and the Studio exactly where the project stands financially. It doesn’t just show what you have spent; it combines your actual payments, your unpaid commitments (POs), and your estimated remaining costs to calculate an ‘Estimated Final Cost’ (EFC). Producers use this to spot budget problems early—if the EFC is higher than the Budget, they know they are going over and need to adjust immediately.

Next is Estimate to Complete (ETC). This is the tool used to forecast the future. It answers the question: ‘How much more money do we need to finish?’ An ETC allows you to enter a cost that hasn’t happened yet, like future crew weeks or location fees-but you don’t know the specific location just yet. By updating your ETCs regularly, you ensure that your Cost Report reflects the true reality of the production, not just what has already been paid.

POs (Purchase Orders) are where you manage commitments. You approve them to reserve budget before an expense occurs. After you have opened a PO and tracked a cost against a particular PO, you can then close it. This removes the remaining cost commitment but keeps the actual expense history.

The Overages section tracks costs that exceed the original budget. These must be reviewed and approved to reallocate funds, ensuring financial control.

Funding tracks money coming into the project, such as client funding or internal allocations. This allows you to monitor cash availability against your spending.

Under Report, you will find detailed financial statements like the General Ledger, Trial Balance, and Cash Flow. These are essential for audits and financial reviews.

The Payments section records and tracks outgoing money. Payments are linked to invoices or payroll and automatically update your Cash Flow report.

Petty Cash handles small, day-to-day expenses. Here, you track cash advances, expense submissions, and any cash returned by the crew.

Payroll handles wages and allowances. These costs are automatically reflected in the project’s Cost Report.

Crew is where you manage all personnel for the project, such as Producers, Line Producers, and Actors.

Contacts shows all contacts shared across the entire organization. Whether they are vendors or freelancers, you use them here to avoid creating duplicates.

The Budget menu is where the project budget is created and maintained. It tracks the original budget, approved changes, and remaining balances by category.

Finally, Settings allows you to configure project-specific details, including the project name and the specific Approvers for POs and ETCs.