Once Cost Center Budgets are created, Brightflag provides spend data and forecasts to help interpret budget performance.
Forecasting
Each Cost Center Budget includes a forecast, unless the budget has already been exceeded.
How the Forecast Works
Brightflag uses a machine learning model to:
Review historical spend data
Predict future spend within the budget period
If applicable, the forecast includes a 95% confidence interval.
Forecast Requirements
Requirement | Result |
At least 6 months of spend data | Forecast is generated |
Insufficient data or high uncertainty | No Forecast Available message appears |
Spend Fields in Cost Center Budgets
Cost Center Budgets display three spend fields:
Approved Spend
Pending Spend
Accruals
Spend from all matters is assigned to the relevant fiscal year (FY) based on the configured date type.
The date type depends on the customer’s settings:
Invoice Date
Billing Period End Date
Closed Matters
If a matter is closed:
✔ Approved spend and pending spend remain visible in the Cost Center Budget.
❌ Accruals are removed, because invoices can no longer be submitted to the matter.