Overview
The Active Actuals Month (AAM) is the latest period for which actuals are enabled in your model. It acts as the boundary between your actuals data and your forecast — months up to and including the AAM display actuals, and months beyond it display forecast values.
When a new Project is created, the AAM is set to one month before the Project Start Month by default. For example, if your Project Start Month is July 2022, your AAM will be set to June 2022, representing your opening balance position.
Adjusting your Active Actuals Month
To adjust your AAM, click the calendar icon in the top right corner of any workspace and select the relevant month.
Rolling Actuals Forward
Rolling actuals forward extends the AAM to a later period, making additional months available for actuals import.
- Navigate to the Active Actuals Month setting via the calendar icon.
- Navigate to the right year via the arrows or dropdown menu.
- Select the month you would like to set as the new AAM.
- Confirm the action to proceed (click: Yes, Change)
Once rolled forward, multiple months of actuals can be imported via integrations. The dotted vertical line in the Actuals Data workspace will update to reflect the new AAM.
Rolling Actuals Backward
Rolling actuals backward follows the same steps, simply select an earlier month as the new AAM. Your previously imported actuals data is retained and will not be lost.
Rolling backward does not delete any actuals data that has already been imported. Castaway retains all previously imported values and they will reappear when you roll forward again.
When would you roll actuals backward?
The most common reason to roll actuals backward is to adjust forecast values in actualised months before saving a new budget or forecast snapshot for variance analysis. If the budget or forecast values you are comparing your actuals against are not as expected:
- Roll your AAM backward to the relevant period.
- Adjust your forecast values as required.
- Roll your AAM forward again.
Refer to this article for details: Saving a Budget and Updating Budget Data Retrospectively