OPEX¶
OPEX (Operating Expenditure) items are your recurring IT costs: software licenses, cloud subscriptions, maintenance contracts, and services. This is where you plan budgets, track actuals, and allocate costs across your organization.
The OPEX workspace helps you manage each spend item from initial budgeting through execution and reporting -- all in one place with year-by-year budget columns, flexible allocation methods, and direct links to suppliers, contracts, applications, and projects.
Getting started¶
Navigate to Budget management > OPEX to see your list. Click New to create your first item.
The workspace opens in creation mode, with the Properties panel open on the right. Type the product name in the title at the top, fill in the properties, then click Create.
Required fields: - Product name (the title): What you are spending on (e.g., "Salesforce Licenses", "AWS Compute") - Paying company: Which company pays for this spend (required for accounting) - Account: The general ledger account for this spend. Only accounts from the paying company's chart of accounts appear - Currency: ISO code (e.g., USD, EUR). Defaults to your workspace currency; you can override per item - Effective start: When this spend begins (DD/MM/YYYY)
Optional but useful: - Supplier: Who you are paying. Links to your suppliers in master data - Cost center: Who owns the spend. See Cost centers. When the paying company is still empty, picking a cost center fills it with the cost center's company - Run or build: Run for spend that keeps existing services running, Build for spend that creates or changes them - Analytics dimensions: One field per dimension, named after it, for custom grouping in reports (e.g., "Licenses" on Nature). The default dimension shows as Analytics dimension until it is renamed. See Analytics dimensions - End of validity: The date this spend stops. Leave it blank if there is no end. After it, the item is disabled and later years no longer count in the budget views - IT owner / Business owner: Who is responsible - Description and Notes: Free text on the Overview tab
Once set, Paying company and Account can be changed but not emptied. Supplier can be cleared at any time.
When you change the paying company of an item that has an account, and the new company uses another chart of accounts, the account is cleared in the same save. Account then shows as required, with the list on the new company's chart. Pick the new account to finish.
Once the item is created, the workspace unlocks all four tabs: Overview, Budget, Allocations, and Relations.
Tip: You can create items quickly and fill in budgets and allocations later. Start with the essentials and iterate.
Working with the OPEX list¶
The OPEX list (at Budget management > OPEX) is your main view for browsing, filtering, and navigating spend items.
Default columns: - Product name: The item name (links to the Overview tab) - Supplier: The supplier name - Paying company: Which company pays for this item - Contract: The latest linked contract name (links to the Contract workspace) - Account: The GL account number and name - Allocation: The allocation method label for the current year (links to the Allocations tab) - Budget Y and Expected landing Y: The current-year amounts of the default column and of the last shown column (links to the Budget tab for this year). With the standard settings these are Budget and Expected landing. When the default column is also the last shown one, a single amount column appears. See Budget columns - Task: The latest task title (links to the Overview tab, where the Tasks panel sits)
Additional columns (hidden by default, toggle via the column chooser): - Amount columns: Every shown budget column for Y-1, Y, Y+1 and Y+2, under the names your organisation chose. The header gives the column, the year relative to today and the calendar year, for example Revision Y+1 (2027). Amounts are in the reporting currency. Hidden columns are not offered - FTE columns: The FTE of every shown budget column for Y-1, Y, Y+1 and Y+2, under the names your organization chose, right after the amount columns in the column chooser. The header gives the column and the calendar year, for example Budget FTE (2026). An item's FTE is the sum of the FTE of its lines in that column. See FTE. The cell is empty when the column has no lines - Enabled: Item status (enabled or disabled) - Description: Item description - Currency: ISO currency code - Effective start: Start date - End of validity: Date the item stops (blank means no end) - IT owner / Business owner: Responsible users - Analytics dimensions: One column per enabled dimension, named after it, with the item's value. The default dimension's column comes first (Analytics dimension until it is renamed), then the other dimensions in their order - Cost center: The code and name of the cost center. Hover it to see its full path in the tree; click it to open the cost center - Budget holder: The budget holder of the item's cost center. It is derived from the cost center, not stored on the item: change the budget holder of a cost center and every item on it follows - Run or build: Run or Build - Project: Names of the projects linked on the Relations tab - Notes: Internal notes - Created / Updated: Timestamps
Filtering:
- Quick search: Searches the reference, product name, description, supplier, paying company, account, contract, project names, allocation, owners, analytics values, cost center (code, name and path), budget holder, notes, currency and status. Filters the list in real time as you type, ignoring accents and case
- Column filters: Click the filter icon in any column header. Supplier, Paying company, Account, Allocation, Currency, IT owner, Business owner, each analytics dimension, Cost center, Budget holder, Run or build and Enabled use checkbox set filters (multi-select). The Enabled filter offers Enabled and Disabled and narrows the list when Show is set to All. Clicking Clear in it, or unticking both values, lists nothing, whatever Show says
- All but a few: Tick All, then untick the values you want to leave out: the filter keeps everything except those (the header reads, for example, All but 3), and a value created later is included automatically
- Amount filters: Every amount column has a number filter. A number typed in the box under the header keeps the items with at least that amount. Open the filter menu for the other conditions: greater than, less than, equal, not equal, or between two amounts
- FTE filters: Every FTE column has a number filter with the same conditions, plus blank and not blank. Blank keeps the items whose column has no lines
- Date filters: Effective start, End of validity, Created and Updated have date filters. Pick a date in the box under the header to keep the items on that date, or open the filter menu for before, after, between, blank or not blank
- Text columns use text filters, ignoring accents and case. On Ref, type the number or the full reference, for example 12 or OPX-12
- Status scope: Use the Show: All / Enabled / Disabled toggle above the grid (defaults to Enabled)
- Sharing a view: Your sort, search and filters are kept in the page's web address, so reloading the page or sharing the link reopens the same view. A link whose filters are no longer available shows "The filters of this link are no longer available."
Sorting: - Click a column header to sort ascending/descending. Every column sorts, including every amount and FTE column. Items without an FTE come last in ascending order - Text columns sort in natural reading order: an accented name sorts next to its unaccented spelling (for example "Électricité" next to "Electricite"), and lowercase comes before uppercase when letters are otherwise equal - Default sort is by the default column of the current year, highest first (Budget Y with the standard settings). The Prev and Next buttons of the workspace follow the same order - The list remembers your last sort, search, and filters when you return
Totals row: - The pinned row at the bottom shows the total of every amount column, in the reporting currency - Each shown FTE column shows the sum of the items' FTE. When some items have no FTE, the count follows the total, for example "3.50 · 12 unknown". Hover it for the full sentence: "Unknown for 12 lines". When no item has an FTE, the total is blank and only the count shows - Totals respect your current filters and search
Deep linking: - Clicking any cell opens the workspace on the most relevant tab: - Product name, Supplier, Paying company, Account, and other general columns: Opens the Overview tab - Amount columns (Budget Y, Expected landing Y, Revision Y+1, etc.) and FTE columns: Opens the Budget tab pre-set to the column's year - Allocation: Opens the Allocations tab for the current year - Task: Opens the Overview tab, where the Tasks panel sits - Contract: Opens the linked Contract workspace directly (not the OPEX workspace) - Cost center: Opens the cost center workspace
Actions:
- New: Create a new OPEX item (requires opex:manager)
- Import CSV: Bulk-load items from CSV (requires opex:admin)
- Export CSV: Export items to CSV (requires opex:admin)
- Delete selected: Bulk-delete selected items (requires opex:admin; select rows via checkboxes). An item with amounts in a frozen column cannot be deleted: the others are deleted, and the message names each refused item with its reason
Prev/Next navigation: - When you open an item, the workspace shows Prev and Next buttons - These navigate through the list in the current sort order, respecting filters and search - Moving to another item saves your pending edits first - Your list context (sort, filters, search) is preserved when you close the workspace
Tip: Use column filters + quick search to build focused views (e.g., "All cloud spend over 10k"), then navigate item-by-item with Prev/Next to review budgets.
The OPEX workspace¶
Click any row in the list to open the workspace. It has four parts:
- Header: the item reference (e.g.,
OPX-12) with a copy button, the product name (click it to rename the item), Prev / Next, Send link, and the close button - Metadata bar under the title: Status, IT owner, and Business owner, each editable in place. When the item's cost center has a budget holder, Budget holder follows them. It is read only and derived from the cost center, not stored on the item: hover it to see which cost center it comes from, and change it on the cost center (see Cost centers)
- Four tabs: Overview, Budget, Allocations, and Relations (the Relations tab shows how many links the item has)
- Properties panel on the right: the item's main fields. Open or close it with the properties button; the workspace remembers your choice
Autosave: - Every change saves automatically. A Saving... / Saved hint shows in the header - Switching tabs, moving to the previous or next item, or closing the workspace saves pending edits first. If a save fails, you stay where you are and an error explains why, so no edit is lost silently - Ctrl+S (Cmd+S on Mac) saves immediately - If a save cannot go through right away because another save is in progress on the same data, KANAP retries it for you - If a bulk budget operation is running (for example a column copy or reset in Budget Administration), edits here are paused with the message "Another budget operation is running. Try again when it has finished." Try again once it is done
Editing at the same time: - Two people can work on the same item at once without stepping on each other. Editing different fields, different budget months, or different budget columns never conflicts, even on the same item at the same moment - When someone else changes the same field, the same budget column, or the allocation while you are editing it, a banner shows their value and yours, with who changed it and when. Choose Keep their value to take theirs, or Apply yours to keep what you typed. For a budget column, the choices are Reload the column or Overwrite; for the allocation, Reload the allocation or Overwrite - Only the field, column or allocation that was changed waits for your choice; everything else keeps saving as usual - A choice waiting for you is kept when you switch tabs. It is lost, after a warning, if you leave the item or change the year - If the earlier change was your own, from another window or tab, the banner says so instead of naming someone else
Overview¶
The Overview tab holds the free-text fields and the tasks of the item.
What you can edit: - Description: What the spend covers - Notes: Free-form internal notes
Tasks panel:
- Lists every task linked to this OPEX item, with Title, Status, Priority, Due date, and Actions columns. The panel title shows the number of tasks
- Status filter: All (default), Active (not done), Open, In progress, Pending, In testing, Done, or Cancelled. The clear button resets it
- Click Add task to open a new task already linked to this item. Fill in the title, description, priority, assignee, and due date in the task workspace
- Use the open icon to go to a task, and the delete icon to delete it (you confirm first)
- Tasks have their own permissions (tasks:member to create and edit). OPEX manager access does not grant task editing rights on its own; check with your admin if you cannot create tasks
- Tasks can also be viewed and managed from Portfolio > Tasks, which shows all tasks across your organization
Properties panel: - Supplier, Cost center, Paying company, Account (filtered by the paying company's chart of accounts), Currency (only the currencies allowed in your workspace), one field per analytics dimension, Run or build, and Effective start - Lifecycle: the status switch, labelled with the current state (Enabled or Disabled), and the End of validity date. See Status and lifecycle - Created and Updated dates (read only) - Type in Supplier, Paying company, Account, IT owner, Business owner or an analytics dimension field to search by name. Matches appear as you type, so you can find any value even in a very long list; a line under the list reads "Type to narrow down: more results" when there are more matches than shown
Cost center: - The list shows the cost center tree. Groups are shown to help you find your way and cannot be picked. Search by code, name or group name - A disabled cost center is marked Disabled. It stays on the items that already have it, and cannot be picked for another item - When you create an item and the paying company is empty, picking a cost center fills the paying company with the cost center's company, so the Account list opens on that company's chart of accounts. Until you pick a company or an account yourself, choosing another cost center updates the company too - When the paying company differs from the cost center's company, both are kept. A hint under the field says "This cost center belongs to" followed by the company name - An item saved through the API with a cost center and no paying company takes the cost center's company. For CSV files, see CSV import/export
Run or build: Run, Build, or Not set. Use it to split the budget between keeping services running and changing them.
Analytics dimensions: - Each enabled dimension has its own field, named after the dimension, in dimension order. Pick a value or clear the field; the change saves at once - Each field lists the enabled values of its dimension. A disabled value stays on the items that already have it, and cannot be picked for another item - The field cannot create a value: create it in Analytics dimensions, or let a CSV import create it - If the dimensions cannot be loaded, one line replaces these fields: "Dimensions could not be loaded."
Tip: When you create an item, an "Obsolete account" warning means the selected account does not belong to the paying company's chart of accounts. Choose a different account to resolve the warning. An existing item whose account is outside its company's chart can still be edited: the chart is checked only when the company or the account changes.
Budget¶
The Budget tab is where you enter financial data per year. It supports multiple budget columns and two input modes, shown as tabs: Flat (annual totals) and Monthly (monthly breakdown).
Year selection: - Use the year tabs at the top to switch between Y-2, Y-1, Y (current year), Y+1, and Y+2 - Each year has its own version, mode, and amounts - Switching years saves your pending edits first
Budget columns: - The tab shows the columns your organisation shows, under their names, always in the same order. The standard columns are: - Budget: Initial annual budget approved at the start of the year - Revision: Mid-year budget update (e.g., after a reforecast) - Forecast: An additional planning column, hidden by default - Actuals: Actual spend, as it is recorded during the year - Expected landing: Your best estimate of the year-end figure - A budget administrator can rename the columns, hide some and choose the default column in Budget management > Administration > Budget columns (see Budget columns). A hidden column keeps its amounts
Period of a column: - Every column has a period inside the year, for example April to December - A month counts when the period covers its 15th. A period that starts on April 10 includes April; one that starts on April 20 begins in May - A column with no amount and no period yet gets a suggestion: the item's Effective start and End of validity, limited to the year. An item that starts on April 1 suggests April to December - A column that already holds amounts and has no period reads as the whole year, so existing data behaves as before
Flat vs Monthly: - Flat: Enter one total per column. The total is spread evenly over the months of the column's period, and the months outside it are set to zero. The period shows under each total before you type, for example "9 months, April to December". Only the total you edit is saved. The other columns keep their monthly amounts. - Click the pencil icon next to the period under a total (Change period) to open the spread panel on that column, with its current total. If the item's dates leave no month in the year, the total is disabled and reads "No month of 2026 is within the item's dates." Click the pencil icon next to it (Choose the period) to set one yourself. - Click the calculator icon next to the pencil (Quantity and price) to open the same box on the lines of that column. See Quantity and price. - A column that follows its lines (its amounts were computed from its Quantity and price lines) has a read-only total. Click the total, or press Enter on it, to open Quantity and price on that column. The pencil does the same. Hover the total to read "Calculated from its lines. Open Quantity and price to change it." - Monthly: Enter amounts per month (Jan-Dec) for each shown column. Quarter subtotals and a yearly total are shown. Only the months you change are saved. - Both tabs show the same columns: Forecast appears in Flat too when it is shown. - Switch between modes with the Flat and Monthly tabs. Switching does not change your amounts. - Your choice between Flat and Monthly is kept in your browser, for you only: switching does not change what other users see when they open this item. Until you choose, a column opens in the mode its amounts were last entered in.
Freeze behavior: - If a year's budget columns are frozen (via Budget Administration), the corresponding inputs become read-only and show a lock icon - You can still view frozen data; admins can unfreeze via Budget management > Administration > Freeze / unfreeze data - Each column can be frozen independently
Spreading an amount: - The panel box has two tabs: Spread an amount and Quantity and price. This part covers the first one - The spread panel is always visible in the Monthly tab. In the Flat tab it opens from the pencil icon under a total, and its close button closes it - Choose a Column among the shown columns, check the Amount, pick a Distribution (Flat or 4-4-5), and set the From and To dates. The dates start from the column's current period, and the distribution from the column's own - The panel opens on the default column. The amount starts with the column's current total, in both tabs, and follows when you choose another column. It is empty when the column has no amount - Every change saves at once: the amount when you leave the field or press Enter, the distribution and the dates as soon as you change them. There is no button to click. A blank or zero amount saves nothing - Apply the distribution to all columns is a switch, on by default: every column that follows it gets the same distribution and period, and each keeps its own current total. Turning it on spreads those columns at once, and it stays on for your next changes. Turning it off changes nothing by itself: the next changes apply to the selected column only. By default every column follows. A budget administrator chooses which ones in Budget columns. Frozen columns never change. Hover the switch to see which columns follow and which keep their own period - A column that does not follow the switch spreads alone: the switch does not appear when you spread it. The switch is also hidden when no other following column can change - Columns that follow their lines are left out of the switch: they keep the amounts of their lines, and a sentence names them, for example "Forecast keeps its lines." When every other column follows its lines, the switch does not appear - To bring a column back to a flat spread over twelve months, choose Flat and set the dates to January 1 and December 31 - Totals typed in the Flat tab still apply to their own column only - The From and To dates show the period. When some months fall outside it, the panel says which ones will be set to zero ("January to March will be set to zero."). A whole-year period shows no line. Hover the info icon next to the panel title to see the 15th rule - With 4-4-5, the weights of the months that count are scaled up so the whole amount lands on them - A soft warning appears when the period goes beyond the item's dates. The spread is still saved - While a date is missing or no month counts, the panel says why and saves nothing - A column that follows its lines shows its current values in the fields, greyed, under the sentence "The amounts come from the 4 lines of Quantity and price." Click Spread an amount instead to unlock the fields for that column. The sentence then reads "A spread replaces the amounts of the lines. The lines stay as a reference." The lock comes back when you change the column, the year or the box - A spread over a column built from lines keeps its lines as a reference. See Quantity and price
How each column was produced: - A short label tells you where the amounts of a column come from. In the Monthly tab it sits under the column header (hover it to see the period). In the Flat tab it sits next to the period - Spread flat, Spread 4-4-5 or Spread by quarter: the amounts come from a spread - Copied from Budget 2025 +2%: the amounts come from Copy budget columns in Budget Administration, with the percentage shown when there is one - Quantity and price · 3 lines · 1.00 FTE: the amounts come from lines, with their number and, when the lines count people or days, the column's FTE. The FTE is the full-year average. Hover the label to see the lines, for example "Project manager: 1 person × 1,200 per day, 5 days per month, Feb to Jul" - Edited by hand: a month was changed in the grid or by a budget file import - A column with no label kept the data it had before periods existed
When someone else is editing the same column: - Two people can fill in different months or different columns of the same item at once with no conflict - On a monthly entry, if someone else changed one of the same months, those months wait for your choice; the column's other months save as you typed them - If someone else changed the column's total, its spread, or its quantity-and-price lines while you were working on them, the whole column waits: a banner offers Reload the column or Overwrite. The column's amounts, spread panel and lines stay read-only until you choose - Saving reloads the year, so you always see the latest figures for every other column; the cell or column you are editing is not disturbed
Monthly tools: - Clear column: the icon next to a column header sets every month of that column to zero, for example before entering the whole amount in a single month. When the column holds amounts, you confirm first. It counts as an edit by hand. To remove both the amounts and the period of a column for every item, use Reset budget column in Budget Administration
Multi-year trend: - A chart below the grid shows every shown column across years, Forecast included when it is shown, and updates as you type
How to use it: 1. Select the year you are planning for 2. Choose the Flat or Monthly tab 3. Fill in the relevant columns (Budget for initial planning, Actuals for tracking, Expected landing for the year-end figure) 4. Your changes save automatically; a Saving... / Saved hint shows next to the year tabs
Tip: For most items, Flat mode is faster. Use Monthly mode when the spend varies significantly by month (e.g., seasonal licensing, one-time setup fees).
Quantity and price¶
Build a column from lines instead of typing its amounts. Each line reads as a sentence: a quantity, a unit, a unit price, how often, when, and on which calendar. For example, one project manager 5 days per month at 1,200 a day from February to July, and 50 licences at 12 per piece per month. The months of the column are the sum of its lines. The amounts of a column have one source at a time: its lines, or a spread, a month typed by hand, or a copy. The other source stays visible as a reference and is read only, with a link to switch.
Opening the tab: - Flat tab: click the calculator icon next to the period under a total. The box opens on Quantity and price for that column. On a column that follows its lines, the pencil and the total open it too - Monthly tab: click Quantity and price at the top of the panel box. Choosing a column that follows its lines, or having one as the default column, switches the box to Quantity and price - Choose the Column at the top of the tab. Frozen columns cannot be picked
The lines:
| Column | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Description | What the line pays for, for example "Project manager". Optional, up to 200 characters |
| Quantity | How many, in the unit of the line. Zero or more, up to 3 decimals |
| Unit | people, days or pieces. The unit decides what the price is for, how often it counts, how the amount lands on the months, and the FTE |
| Unit price | The price of one unit, in the item's currency. Up to 4 decimals. A negative price is accepted, for a credit. What the price is for shows right after it: per day for days, per piece for pieces, and for people a small list to choose per day or per month |
| How often | It follows the unit. People priced per day: a Full time checkbox and, when it is not ticked, the days per month they work on the item (more than 0, up to 31, with up to 3 decimals). People priced per month: "per month". Days: "over the period". Pieces: a list to choose per month or once |
| From / To | The period of the line, inside the year. A month counts when the period covers its 15th, as for a spread. Pieces bought once take a single Date instead and land in its month. When every line takes a date, the header reads Date |
| Calendar | Shown for a price per day only: people priced per day, and days. The working-day calendar whose days count. The list offers the enabled calendars, plus the calendar a line already uses if it was disabled since, marked "(disabled)". When there is no calendar yet, the tab reads "No working-day calendar yet.", with an Add a calendar link for those who can create calendars. See Working-day calendars |
| Amount | The total of the line, once it is saved. Read only |
Each line has a number in the margin. When the column has several lines, the notes under the table use it, for example "Line 2: Enter a quantity and a unit price to save this line."
When the tab is wide enough, each line fits on one row. On a narrower panel, each line takes two rows. The first reads as a calculation: Description, Quantity, Unit, × Unit price and Amount. The second reads as a sentence: How often, "from" a date "to" a date (or one Date), "calendar" and the Calendar. On a medium-width panel, How often moves up to the first row. Closing the Properties panel gives the lines more room.
Click Add a line under the table to add a line, and the cross at the end of a line to remove it. A column holds up to 50 lines.
Units and prices:
| Unit | Price | How often | Amount of each month of the period | FTE of each month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| people | per day | Full time | The month's working days in the calendar × quantity × unit price | The quantity |
| people | per day | 5 days per month | 5 × quantity × unit price | Quantity × 5 ÷ the month's working days in the calendar |
| people | per month | per month | Quantity × unit price | The quantity |
| days | per day | over the period | Quantity × unit price, counted once and split evenly over the months of the period | The month's share of the days ÷ the month's working days in the calendar |
| pieces | per piece | per month | Quantity × unit price | None |
| pieces | per piece | once | Quantity × unit price, in the month of the date | None |
- Use people for staff who work on the item month after month. Priced per day, say how much they work: tick Full time to count every working day of the calendar from the start to the end of the line, or enter the days per month. For example, a project manager 5 days per month at 1,200 a day from February to July costs 6,000 a month. On a calendar with 21 working days in March, that month counts 5 ÷ 21, about 0.24 FTE. A consultant full time at 400 a day costs the month's working days × 400 each month, and counts 1 FTE
- Priced per month, people cost the quantity × the unit price each month, for example 1 person at 8,000 per month
- Use days for a number of days bought for the period, as one bundle. For example, 30 days at 1,200 a day from February to July give 36,000, that is 6,000 a month. Each month holds 5 days: in a month with 20 working days, the line counts 0.25 FTE
- Use pieces for licences, devices or subscriptions. Per month, they count in every month of the period: 50 licences at 12 per piece give 600 a month. Once, they take one date and land in its month: a laptop at 2,000 on March 15 lands in March. Pieces never count as FTE
- Each month is rounded to the cent. When an amount is split over the period, the rounding difference lands on the last month. The months outside a line's period get nothing from it
- Changing the unit adapts the rest of the line. People keep a price per month when you chose it, and are priced per day otherwise. Days are priced per day, over the period. Pieces are priced per piece and bought once, dated the start of the column's period. Switching pieces from once to per month gives them the column's period again
A new line starts with the unit people, a quantity of 1, a price per day, Full time unticked with the days per month to enter, the period of the column (the whole year when the column has none) and the default calendar. The default calendar is the standard calendar of the paying company's country, else the first enabled calendar. Enter the unit price and the days per month, or tick Full time, and the line saves. Without an enabled calendar, a new line starts with a price per month.
Saving: every field saves as you leave it, press Enter, or pick a value or a date. There is no button to click. Each save sends every complete line of the column, and the months of the column follow at once. The Saving... hint next to the year tabs shows while it works. - A line is complete when it has a quantity, a unit price, a valid period or date, the days per month or Full time for people priced per day, and a calendar for a price per day. Until then it stays on screen with a hint, for example "Enter a quantity and a unit price to save this line.", "Enter the days per month, or tick Full time." or "Choose a calendar for a price per day.", and the saved lines do not change - Removing the last line removes the lines of the column, and its amounts stay as they are. A column computed from its lines then counts as amounts entered by hand. A spread or copied column keeps its spread or copy - When a save is refused, the reason shows under the table in red, and what you typed stays in place. For example, "Head office staff has no working days for 2027. Add them on the Working-day calendars page." when a custom calendar does not hold the year yet - On a frozen column, the lines are read only. They are also read only while the column keeps them as a reference, see the next part
Under the table: - The FTE of the lines, when a line counts people or days, for example "FTE over the period 0.24 · Full-year average 0.12". See FTE. The total of the column shows in the column itself - Where the amounts come from, when they no longer come from the lines: one of the sentences in the next part - Notes when they apply: "The period goes beyond the item's dates.", a calendar disabled since, for example "Head office staff is disabled. The lines still use it.", and working days changed since the last save of the lines - Apply these lines to all columns: a switch for the same columns as the spread tab's switch, off by default here. Turning it on writes the lines to every column that follows at once, and it stays on: each later save writes the lines to those columns too. Turning it off changes nothing by itself
When the amounts change another way: the lines stay with the column as a reference, and the tab says where the amounts come from now, followed by a Use the lines again link. The lines are then read only: you cannot add, remove or edit a line, and the tab shows no amount per line, no FTE and no Apply these lines to all columns. The link saves the lines as they are and computes the column from them again, and the lines become editable again. To change a line kept as a reference, click Use the lines again first, then edit it. - A month typed in the Monthly tab: "Amounts were entered by hand. Use the lines again." - A spread: "Amounts come from a spread. Use the lines again." - Copy budget columns in Budget Administration: "Amounts were copied from Budget 2025. Use the lines again." When the source amounts were not calculated from lines, the copy brings the source column's lines as a reference. A column calculated from its lines stays calculated, with its prices raised by the percentage. See Copying a column built from lines - A calendar's working days changed: "Working days changed since the last computation: March: 20 days, now 19." Nothing changes on the column until you click Use the lines again. The lines stay editable meanwhile - Reset budget column in Budget Administration removes the lines with the amounts. See Reset budget column - A budget file changes the months of a column and leaves its lines. See Load a budget from a spreadsheet
FTE¶
FTE (full-time equivalent) says how many people a column pays for. It comes from the lines: each month adds up the FTE of its lines (see the table above). Two figures follow, each rounded to 2 decimals: - Full-year average: the sum of the twelve months divided by 12. It is the column's FTE, shown in the label of the column and in the FTE columns of the OPEX list - FTE over the period: the sum of the months with people or days, divided by the number of those months. Pieces do not count, so licences or a laptop never lower it. It shows under the lines while the amounts come from them. After an edit by hand, a spread or a copy, it is not shown until you use the lines again
For example, a consultant full time from February to October counts 1 FTE in each of those 9 months: 1.00 over the period, and 9 × 1 ÷ 12 = 0.75 for the full year. A project manager 5 days per month from February to July counts about 0.24 over the period, and 0.12 for the full year. Licences over the whole year or a laptop in December on the same column leave both figures as they are.
- Counted: a column with lines in people or days
- Zero: a column whose lines are all in pieces. Its FTE is 0
- Blank: a column without lines, an item without a version for that year, or a year after the item's end of validity. Its FTE cell stays empty, because KANAP cannot tell how many people it pays for
- The FTE stays with the lines. After an edit by hand, a spread or a copy, the column keeps the FTE of its lines. A copy brings the FTE of the source column
Allocations¶
The Allocations tab distributes the spend across your companies and departments. This drives chargeback reports and cost-per-user KPIs.
Year selection: - Works the same as Budget: use year tabs to switch between Y-2, Y-1, Y, Y+1, Y+2 - Each year can have a different allocation method - The year total of the default column shows on the right, for example Budget, year total, and the table shows each share as a percentage and as an amount
Allocation methods:
| Method | How it works |
|---|---|
| Headcount (default) | Splits spend proportionally by each company's headcount for the selected year. No manual selection required -- percentages are computed automatically from company metrics. This is the standard default. |
| IT users | Splits spend proportionally by each company's IT user count for the selected year. |
| Turnover | Splits spend proportionally by each company's turnover (revenue) for the selected year. |
| Manual by company | You select which companies receive this spend and choose a driver in Allocate by (Headcount, IT users, or Turnover) to calculate percentages among the selected companies only. |
| Manual by department | You select specific company/department pairs. Percentages are calculated from each department's headcount. Useful when a spend item benefits only certain departments (e.g., a CRM used by Sales). |
| Manual percentages | You pick the companies and type each percentage yourself. The percentages must add up to 100%. |
Default vs pinned methods: - The default entry -- shown as Headcount (default) until your organisation configures another method -- follows the setting in Budget management > Administration > Default allocation method. Every item left on the default is re-driven when an admin changes that setting - That setting can also restrict the default to a selection of companies (for example the entity that carries the IT budget): the driver then applies to those companies only, and the option reads Default (n companies) - Headcount, IT users and Turnover pin that method on the item: a pinned method keeps working even if the organisation default changes later - Items with a manual allocation are never affected by the default setting
How percentages work: - For automatic methods (Headcount, IT users, Turnover): percentages are computed from the latest company metrics across your enabled companies. You do not edit them directly - For Manual by company and Manual by department: you pick the companies or departments, and the system calculates percentages from your chosen driver and the current metrics - For Manual percentages: typing a percentage pins that row, and the remaining rows share what is left. Split equally gives every row the same share; Clear manual pins releases the pinned rows - Percentages reflect live data. If you update a company's headcount, allocations recalculate
How to use it: 1. Select the year 2. Choose an allocation method in Method 3. For a manual method, use Add row to add companies (or company/department pairs) and the remove icon to drop one. For Manual by company, pick a driver in Allocate by 4. Changes save automatically
Common issues: - Missing metrics: One or more companies have zero or missing headcount/IT users/turnover for the selected year. Fill in the metrics in Master data > Companies (Details tab) - "Manual percentages must sum to 100%.": Adjust the rows, or click Split equally
When someone else is editing the allocation: - The method, driver and rows save together. If someone else changed the allocation while you were editing it, a banner offers Reload the allocation or Overwrite - Changing the year while a choice is waiting asks for confirmation first
Tip: Use Headcount (default) for most items -- it is the simplest and updates automatically. Reserve manual methods for spend that benefits specific companies or departments only.
Relations¶
The Relations tab links this OPEX item to related objects: Projects, Applications, Contracts, Contacts, Relevant websites, and Attachments. Everything on this tab saves automatically.
Projects: - Use the autocomplete to link one or more projects from your Portfolio - This helps group spend by project in reports and enables project accounting - The project names appear in the OPEX list Project column, and the quick search finds them - Remove a project by clicking the X on its chip
Applications: - Use the autocomplete to link one or more applications or services from your IT catalogue - This helps track which OPEX items fund which applications or services
Contracts: - Use the autocomplete to link one or more contracts - When linked, the contract name appears in the OPEX list Contract column for quick reference - Contracts can link to multiple OPEX items (many-to-many relationship) - Remove a contract by clicking the X on its chip
Contacts: - Link contacts to this spend item: pick a contact, then pick its role (Commercial, Technical, Support, or Other). Choosing the role adds the contact - The table shows the role, first name, last name, job title, email, and mobile. Hover the role to see whether the contact comes from the supplier or was added manually - Remove a contact with the remove icon - Useful for tracking who to reach out to for renewals, support issues, or negotiations
Relevant websites: - Click Add URL to add a link (e.g., vendor portals, documentation, admin consoles, internal wikis). Each link has a Name and a URL - Click a link row to edit it, or use the delete icon to remove it
Attachments:
- Upload files related to this spend item (e.g., contracts, invoices, quotes, SOWs, technical specs)
- Drag and drop files into the attachment area, or click Select files to browse
- Click a file chip to download the file
- Delete an attachment with the delete icon on its chip (you confirm first; requires opex:manager)
Tip: Link contracts to track renewals across multiple OPEX items. Add vendor portal URLs for quick access. Upload quotes and invoices as attachments to centralize all spend-related documentation.
CSV import/export¶
Export CSV and Import CSV sit in the toolbar of the OPEX list. Both need administration rights on OPEX (opex:admin).
Export CSV writes the OPEX budget file for the lines the list shows. Import CSV reads a file back: it is checked first, and nothing is written until you click Load.
The file holds one row per line, the line's details, its amounts as columns and kanap_token. Load a budget from a spreadsheet describes the columns, what a cell means, and the two import steps.
Status and lifecycle¶
Every OPEX item has a status (Enabled or Disabled) and an optional End of validity that controls when it appears in reports and selection lists. It is the only end date of an item.
How it works: - Enabled: The item is active and appears everywhere (lists, reports, allocations) - End of validity: The date the item stops. Leave it blank if there is no end. When the end of validity passes, the status switches to Disabled on its own within the hour - After the end of validity: - The item no longer appears in selection lists for new contracts or allocations - It is excluded from reports for years strictly after the end of validity - Historical data remains intact; the item still appears in reports covering years when it was active
Setting status: - When you create the item, you can set its End of validity in the Properties panel - Later, change the Status in the metadata bar, or use the Lifecycle field in the Properties panel (the status switch and End of validity). Switching an item to Disabled without a date sets its end of validity to today - You can schedule a future end of validity (useful for planned end-of-contract items)
Viewing disabled items: - By default, the OPEX list shows only Enabled items - Use the Show: All / Enabled / Disabled toggle and pick Disabled or All to see disabled items
When to disable vs delete: - Prefer disabling: Keeps history intact, ensures reports remain consistent, and supports audit trails - Delete only if: The item was created by mistake - An item with amounts in a frozen column cannot be deleted. Unfreeze the column first, or set an end of validity date instead - Deleting an item also removes its budgets, allocations, tasks, relevant websites, attachments (with their files), and its links to contracts. If one of its tasks was turned into a request, the request is kept: it has its own copy of the title, description, and attachments, and only its link to the task goes
Tip: Use the End of validity to sunset OPEX items when contracts end or services are discontinued. Do not delete unless it is a true mistake.
Tips and best practices¶
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Start simple: Create items with just the essentials (product name, paying company, account), then add budgets and allocations as you plan.
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Use the default allocation method: For most items, Headcount (default) is enough. Reserve manual allocations for spend that benefits specific companies or departments only.
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Link contracts: If you manage spend via contracts, link them in the Relations tab. It makes renewals easier to track.
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Link applications: Associate OPEX items with the applications or services they fund. This provides a clear cost-to-application mapping.
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Upload documentation: Use the Attachments feature to store vendor contracts, quotes, invoices, and SOWs.
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Add vendor portal links: Use Relevant websites to link to vendor admin consoles, support portals, and documentation for quick access.
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Track contacts: Add supplier contacts with roles (Commercial, Technical, Support) so your team knows who to call for each spend item.
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Leverage analytics dimensions: Give items a value on each dimension (for example Licenses on Nature, Workplace on Program) to group spend in reports.
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Keep company metrics up to date: Allocations depend on company headcount, IT users, and turnover. Outdated metrics cause allocation errors.
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Use CSV for bulk setup: If you are migrating from another system or have hundreds of items, start with CSV import. Export a fresh file, fill in your rows, and check it before loading.
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Disable, do not delete: Preserve history by disabling items when they are no longer active. Delete only if it is a mistake.
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Review the totals row: Before finalizing budgets, check the pinned totals row in the list to ensure your spend adds up as expected.
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Use deep linking: Click directly on a budget column in the list to jump to the Budget tab for that year. Click the Task column to jump to the item's tasks on the Overview tab. This saves navigation time.
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Freeze budgets after year-end close: Use Budget Administration to freeze prior-year budgets once actuals are finalized, preventing accidental edits.
Permissions¶
OPEX access is controlled by three levels:
opex:reader-- View the OPEX list, open items, see budgets and allocations (read-only), download attachmentsopex:manager-- Create and edit OPEX items, update budgets and allocations, upload and delete attachments, manage relations and linksopex:admin-- All manager rights plus CSV import/export, budget operations (freeze, copy, reset), and bulk delete
Additionally:
- Tasks have separate permissions (tasks:member to create/edit tasks on OPEX items)
- Users with tasks:reader can view tasks but not create or edit them
If you cannot perform an action (e.g., Import CSV button is missing, cannot upload attachments), check with your workspace admin to review your role permissions.
Need help?¶
- CSV issues: Export a fresh file from the list and check it again. The report names the line and the column of every error, and Load a budget from a spreadsheet explains what each cell means
- Allocation errors: Check that all companies have the required metrics (headcount, IT users, turnover) for the selected year
- Obsolete account warning: The account does not belong to the paying company's chart of accounts; pick a different account
- Missing buttons or tabs: Your role may not have the required permission level (manager or admin). Contact your workspace admin