There are three settings for Cashflow-Edit timescales; ‘Automatic’, ‘Re-Timed’ and ‘Manual’.
When you enter appraisal information for the first time, all cost and sales items are set to 'Automatic' meaning that they are controlled by the information entered in the Time/Finance section and cannot be edited here until the setting is changed. Items that have been edited in the Detailed Timing section are shown as 'Re-Timed' and can similarly be edited here by providing a start date and duration. The setting unique to the Cashflow-Edit section is 'Manual' which allows for the direct editing of individual component values in each month.
To change the setting for an individual item, click on it (so it highlights) then use the appropriate button (‘Re-Time’, ‘Auto’ or ‘Manual’) located on the right-hand side of the display. You will notice in the lower window that there is a grey column on the right hand edge predominantly displaying the letter 'a' (if there is a number in front of the letter then this indicates a phase number - it is the letter we are interested in here). The letter 'a' indicates that the selected line is set to Auto. If changed to Re-Timed or Manual then the letter indicator will change to 'r' or 'm' respectively.
Automatic
If automatic is selected then the highlighted item will be timed in accordance with any settings already provided for its heading in the Time/Finance section. Items set as automatic cannot be edited in the Cashflow-Edit section.
Re-Timed
The Re-Timed setting is exactly the same as updating timescales in the Detailed Timing section. Anything edited there is set to Re-Timed and can also be edited here similarly by providing a Start Date and a Duration – the effect is the same. The main difference is that more entries can be Re-Timed here, for example Professional and Disposal fees. These items do not normally need to be Re-Timed as they are set to follow the profile of their subject (e.g. professional fees will follow the profile of all the construction costs) so if you do wish to retime such items then do so within the Cashflow-Edit section as they will not display for editing in the Detailed Timing section. The other facility available for Re-Timed items in the Cashflow-Edit section is the Cashflow Graph facility (described later in this manual).
When a Re-Timed item is highlighted then edit boxes will appear at the bottom of the display allowing for entry of the Start Date and Duration. Entries can be typed in (press Enter to apply the value). You can use the up/down symbols to increase or decrease the value and if the edit box is highlighted then the cursor up and down keys work in the same way.
If dealing with a cost or sale that only occurs in a single month then set that figure as the Start Date and enter a duration of 1. If a longer duration is set then the total value will be spread equally over that period; for instance a building cost of £100,000 starting in month 3 with a duration of 10 months will result in 10 equal payments of £10,000 starting in month 3 and lasting 10 months.
Note: The sum of the Start Date and Duration settings cannot be greater than the length of the timescale and Prodev will prevent entries that would cause this to happen. If you are having difficulty entering these values then first set the Duration to its minimum value of 1, then set the Start Date and finally set the Duration - in that order.
Manual
This provides the ability to provide or edit individual monthly values. Having changed an item to Manual you can then use the spreadsheet display for this purpose. The changes made will be reflected both in terms of cashflow timing and alteration of the total value for the item.
For example you may start off with a Marketing (Promotion) budget of £10,000 in month 20, but then later you determine that the actual budget is £11,500 divided as to £5,000 in month 12, and £6,500 in month 20. The manual setting allows you to enter these individual figures and will also update the total to the new figure of £11,500. The actual process of entering this information is as follows. Assume that the budget figure has already been entered using the Automatic or Re-Timed settings. First set the Promotion line to Manual. Once this is done you will notice (at the bottom of the display) that you have additional buttons and entry boxes to deal with manually set items. A quick way to remove any existing values (in all months) is to highlight the total value in the ‘Total’ box and enter zero followed by the Enter key (or press the ‘Del’ key). Then click on the ‘Marketing’ line on the (upper) cashflow box and edit in the new monthly values as required (in our example 5,000 in month 12, and 6,500 in month 20). Once entered, notice that the cashflow total for marketing in the lower list has updated to reflect the line total for the individual entries. This change will also be reflected in the Data List.
There are 3 buttons (‘%’, ‘Balance’ and ‘ReTotal’) and a Total Entry box that can assist with manual editing. The best way to describe their use is with two simple examples. The result is the same but it is useful to illustrate the differing methods. In both cases it is assumed that a Site Value has been provided (shown in the lower listbox display) and that it is currently set as either Auto or Re-Timed.
Example 1
Let us say you have a Site Value where you want to enter 10% deposit in month 1 and 90% in month 3. First make the Site Value Manual then click in the Total Box and enter zero followed by the Enter key (or press the ‘Del’ key). This will clear out any existing cashflow values for Site Value.
In the spreadsheet enter for Site Value the figures 10 in month 1 and 90 in month 3. Once entered notice that in the lower listbox you have a new cashflow Total of 100 (it does not have to add up to 100, it is the proportions we are interested in).
Click the ‘ReTotal’ button and you can see that the Cashflow Total has been set to the same figure as Appraisal Total (original total Site Value) made up as to 10% deposit and 90% balance (notice the individual figures in the spreadsheet).
The effect of the ‘ReTotal’ button is to apply a new total value by proportionately adjusting each individual monthly value so that it adds up to the original total. By entering the two proportional values 10 and 90 (adding up to 100) means that they will be individually allocated as percentages.
Example 2
Make Site Value Manual then click in the Total Box and enter zero followed by the Enter key (or press the ‘Del’ key). This will clear out any existing cashflow values for Site Value.
In the spreadsheet enter for Site Value the figure 10 in month 1 then click the ‘%’ button. This will put 10% of the total Site Value in month 1. Move to the month 3 entry for Site Value then click the ‘Balance’ button, this will put the remaining (90%) portion in month 3.
Notice that the Cashflow Total is the same as Appraisal Total made up as to 10% deposit and 90% balance.
The Total Box and how Manual settings are stored
Regardless of how they are entered, individual cashflow entries are stored as proportions of the line total. Using the previous examples for Site Value, the deposit and balance entries are stored as 0.1 and 0.9 respectively (the same as 10% / 90%). If the Site Value total is 1 million then the deposit would be 100,000 and the balance would be 900,000. If you then used the Totals box to change the total to 1.2 million then the deposit will proportionately increase to 120,000 and the balance to 1,080,000. Similarly if the total is changed in the main Data List then their component values in the cashflow will change proportionately as well.
Updating Manual totals
When entering values for manually set items the overall total will change (see earlier example for Marketing costs). Prodev will adjust the figures in the main Data List to reflect the change. How this is done differs as to the cost or sale category being updated. The list below explains how they are updated.
Percentage or Amount values - These are site fees, professional fees and disposal costs which are converted to amounts prior to being updated. A message box will display informing you of this change. Bear in mind that once converted to an amount then they will not alter when their subject value is changed. For instance if Site Legal fees is set as 0.5% on a Site Value of £1 million then the legal fees total will be £5,000. Should the Site Legal fees be updated in Cashflow-Edit to £6,275 then this value (not percentage) will be set as the new figure in the Data List. Because it is now set as a value and not a percentage then it will no longer alter if its subject value (i.e. Site Value) is subsequently changed.
Unit Build Costs - The Building Cost rate will be updated. If entered as 1 unit of 25000 sq ft at a rate of £40 per sq foot, the total will be £1 million. If the total is changed to £1.2 million then the building cost rate will be altered to £48 per sq ft. Because building cost rates are rounded off to 2 decimal places then sometimes not all of the building rate will display in your appraisal. If in this example the total building cost was changed to £1,206,187 then the rate per sq ft (assuming 25,000 sq ft) is £48.24748 which will be the figure used. However because of the rounding this will be displayed (in both the Data List and the Appraisal Report) as £48.25. When this happens a note will appear at the bottom of the appraisal report informing you that the £48.25 is a rounded figure.
Investment Values - It is the Yield Rate that is altered to compensate for any change in value. Yield rates are rounded off to 5 decimal places.
Direct Sales - The Direct Sale rate will be updated. Otherwise this works in a similar fashion to Unit Build costs.
Everything else - All other Data List entries operate as values and will be updated accordingly.