IFS Copilot for Project Forecast

What is It?

The IFS.ai Copilot for Project Forecast delivers real-time insights into a project's financial health, enabling more accurate forecasting and proactive decision-making. Instead of manually reconciling spreadsheets or chasing updates, project teams can use natural-language prompts to instantly access budget, margin, and risk data. 

This tool is designed to support roles such as Financial Controllers and Project Managers by helping them indicate prior decisions for re-verification, anticipate budget risks, and maintain clear visibility over financial performance - all while reducing the typical administrative burden. 

Its primary purpose is to reduce the effort and delays involved in gathering project financial data. By surfacing key metrics and exceptions on demand, the Copilot helps maintain visibility and control over project performance. 

The IFS.ai Copilot uses IFS Cloud project data from the the Projects (PROJ) and Project Budgeting and Forecasting (PROJBF) modules. 

Where to Find It?

The Copilot is automatically activated on:

• Project Forecast Page : (Project Management / Budgeting and Forecasting / Project Forecast )

How it Works?

The Copilot relies on backend service functions to deliver results using forecast and budgeting data from IFS Cloud. It accesses values stored in the Projects (PROJ) and Project Budgeting and Forecasting (PROJBF) components and performs financial insight queries through the following methods: 

• GetActiveBudgetForProject - Returns the Forecast ID of the active budget for a given project ID. 
• GetMarginMovement - Returns current margin, budgeted margin, and margin movement over time. 
• GetForecastExceptions - Returns all forecast exception entries for the selected project. 
• GetCostOverruns - Returns a list of cost overrun lines. 
• GetCurrencyRate - Retrieves the correct conversion rate based on date and base currency. 
• ActiveBgtPotentialBudgetOverrun - Returns potential budget overruns based on the active budget. 
• LatestFcstPotentialBudgetOverrun - Returns potential overruns based on the latest approved forecast.   

Built-in Prompts

The Project Forecast page includes predefined prompts to guide users in asking common queries. These prompts are not part of the IFS.ai Copilot's internal logic but are embedded into the page. 

They serve as reminders, shortcuts, or inspiration for the types of financial insights the Copilot can provide. 

Prompt	Description
What are the key forecast insights?	Returns insights that help efficiently assess the project's financial status and identify emerging risks and trends.    Copilot Response:  Here are the key financial insights for your project:  Project Margin - current margin based on actuals and forecasts.  Budgeted Margin - margin as per the original budget.  Margin Movement - tracks how the margin has changed over time.  Forecast Exceptions - highlights unusual or flagged forecast values.  Cost Overruns - Major cost overruns with relevant details. In addition, a total number of cost overrun items are displayed.
Analyze project margin - Please give me a project margin analysis	Returns figures that help evaluate whether the project is on track financially and how margin performance has shifted since the start.  Copilot Response:    Project Margin - current margin based on actual costs and forecasted values.  Budgeted Margin - the original margin planned at the beginning of the project.  Margin Movement - a summary of how the project margin has changed over time, highlighting positive or negative trends.
List any exceptions in the project forecast	Returns all exceptions in the project forecast, including unusual or flagged values.
Which forecast lines have the highest cost overruns?	Returns: Lists the five highest cost overruns with relevant details. Provides the total number of cost overruns identified in the project.
Show potential budget overruns- Show potential budget overruns based on the active budget.  Show a detailed view of potential budget overruns- Show a detailed view of potential budget overruns based on the active budget	Returns either a summary or a detailed list of potential budget overruns in the project forecast.  Follow-up questions Copilot may ask:  "Do you want this based on the Active Budget or the Latest Approved Forecast?"  "Would you like me to show how the potential budget overrun is calculated?"  Note: For the potential budget overrun prompts, you may get follow up questions. These are optional to answer.