Phases

Phases define the stages of production in a budget. You can use the system’s default Phases or create your own custom phases as needed.

Phases help organize budget details into logical stages — for example, Pre-Production, Production, or Post-Production.

The Phases screen in Element Manager is initially populated based on the selections made during Budget Builder setup. Once the budget is created, you can add, edit, and manage Phases and their settings directly from this screen.

Working with Phases

Phases are applied to lines in the Details level of the budget through the Phases column.
They serve two purposes:

1. To define the phase of the line (e.g., Prep, Shoot, or Wrap).
2. To work in conjunction with the Locations and Day Types columns to pull calendar data based on these three columns, which is then used to populate the Start and End Date columns.

Figure: Example of Phases in the Details level of the budget

Phases are included by default in every budget:

• Each budget must contain at least one phase.
• System Phases cannot be deleted.

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Group Manager

The Group Manager lets you organize elements into custom groups for better structure and reuse. You can save groups to your Element Library, and import individual elements or entire groups from the library into your budget as needed.

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Phases Table

Phases can be created, edited, or removed from the Phases of Production table.

Adding a New Phase

1. Press the Add button at the bottom of the table.
2. A new Phase is automatically assigned a default name (e.g., Phase1). Custom Phases follow this naming pattern: Phase1, Phase2, Phase3, etc.
3. Update the new Phase with a custom name.
4. Enter a Description (optional).
5. Assign Pay Hours to the Phase. For more information on Pay Hours visit Preferences > Core Data.

Editing a Phase

• Click into any cell to update the data. Changes are saved automatically when you click out of the cell.
• System default Phases cannot be edited.

Table Column Details

Column	Description	Data Type
Order	Drag the handle icon to reorder items in the table.	Draggable Icon
Use	Toggle this checkbox to enable or disable the selected phase. Disabled items remain visible in the budget but are excluded from total calculations.	Checkbox
Phase	Set the name of the phase for use in the budget. Default phases can not be renamed.	Text
Description	Provides a description for the Phase. This field is optional.	Text
Assigned Pay Hours	Assigns one of the four pay hour categories defined in Preferences > Core Data for use in hourly pay calculations.	Dropdown
Labor	Displays the overall real-time total value of all Labor lines assigned to this phase in the budget.	Numerical
Purchase	Displays the overall real-time total value of all Purchase lines assigned to this phase in the budget.	Numerical
Rentals	Displays the overall real-time total value of all Rental lines assigned to this phase in the budget.	Numerical
Allowance	Displays the overall real-time total value of all Allowance lines assigned to this phase in the budget.	Numerical
Total	Displays the overall real-time total value of all lines assigned to this phase in the budget.	Numerical
In Use Lines	Displays the number of budget lines assigned to this phase. Clicking the report icon generates a detailed breakdown.	Numerical
Options (Three-Dot Icon)	Opens a dropdown menu with additional actions for the selected phase, including renaming and deleting.	Dropdown

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Options Menu

Clicking the three-dot icon in the Options menu reveals additional actions available for the selected element.

• Copy to Library - copies the selected Phase to the Element Library.
• Rename - renames the selected Phase.
• Delete - deletes the selected Phase from the budget.

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Deleting a Phase

Rules: System default Phases cannot be deleted.

• Behavior:
  • When deleting a custom Phase that is not in use on any lines in the budget, it is deleted immediately.
  • If the Phase is in use, the user is prompted with a confirmation warning.

• If the user chooses to continue with deletion:
  • The phase is removed from the budget.
  • All lines that previously used that phase are reset to blank in the Phase column in the details level.