Look beyond posted invoices
A project can appear within budget when its report only includes invoices, even though confirmed purchases are due to arrive later. Decisions need a distinction between budgeted, contracted or ordered, received and invoiced amounts. Each answers a different question. The monitoring report should state its cut-off date and included statuses; otherwise two departments may compare figures representing different stages of the same purchasing process.
Define a commitment and who can change it
Agree which document brings a purchase into the forecast: for example, an approved order or signed contract. A supplier quotation need not represent a commitment yet. Keep the project, cost category, supplier, amount, status and owner. Quantity changes, price changes and cancellations must remain linked to the original document. Purchasing and site teams should understand the rule before a dashboard is designed.
Do not count the same purchase twice
Fictional example excluding tax: a confirmed order totals €20,000, materials worth €8,000 have arrived and €5,000 has been invoiced. If these amounts refer to the same lines and prices, the report can show €5,000 invoiced, €3,000 received but not invoiced and €12,000 still to be received. Together they total €20,000, not €33,000. This reconciliation requires links between lines, rather than matching documents solely by supplier.
Handle exceptions before automating
Partial deliveries, returns, advances and price changes complicate a simple sum. Create a queue of differences with reasons and owners instead of adjusting figures merely to force agreement. The linked technical documentation distinguishes billing by ordered quantities from billing by received quantities, illustrating why ERP configuration matters. Do not assume that every application or type of purchase behaves in the same way.
Include work that has not been ordered
Incurred cost and open commitments may not cover everything needed to finish the project. Add a reviewed estimate for outstanding work that has not yet been contracted, avoiding overlap. For example, €50,000 of incurred cost, €20,000 of open commitments and €15,000 of remaining uncontracted work produce an illustrative forecast of €85,000. Record the assumptions, exclusions and person responsible for updating each estimate.
Validate one project before expanding
Choose one project and reconcile a few completed, partial and cancelled purchases against their documents. Confirm that status changes move amounts between columns without duplication and that exceptions remain visible. Then agree a review frequency and an owner for closing the period. CADT can help connect purchasing, project operations and the ERP to create a forecast that can be explained from its underlying records.