Using the Archibus Enhanced Global Feature Set with Properties and Leases

By default, the following application parameters are set to enable the Archibus Enhanced Global Feature Set. To disable these features, the Archibus Administrator can change these settings using the System Administration / Archibus Administrator - Application Configuration / Edit Application Parameters task.

The following application parameters control the Archibus Enhanced Global Feature Set:

• AbCommonResources-AbCommonResources-BudgetCurrency. This parameter designates your Budget Currency. There is only one Budget Currency for each project. If the parameter is not defined, or if the value does not exist in the Archibus Currencies table, the Archibus core sets its value to the currency of the default application server locale.

Note: To ensure data integrity, once you set the Budget Currency it is not recommended to change it. If you change the Budget Currency, cost transaction records entered using the previous Budget Currency will not have their Budget Currency values updated to the new currency.

• AbCommonResources-ConvertAreasAndLlengthsToUserUnits. By default it is set to "1" to enable multiple area units (Metric or Imperial) per project. Setting this parameter to "0" disables multiple area units.

• AbCommonResources-EnableVATandMultiCurrency Enable VAT and multicurrency. These features are enabled by default. To disable these features, you set the application parameter to "0." Setting the parameter to "1" enables the features. Enabling VAT and multicurrency adds the Archibus security group so users can access these features.

The Archibus Administrator also defines the following:

• The currencies you use for cost transactions and for your organization's budget.
• Currency exchange rates. Enter the factors used to convert currencies.
• VAT percent values by cost category and country. The system uses this default percentage to calculate VAT unless you manually override this percentage.

• The Locale field in each user's User Profile. The currency associated with the Locale you enter determines the User Default Currency for the user. This currency is used by default when a user enters new cost transactions or generate reports.

  Note: The Archibus Users table's Locale field is designed as an enumerated list; LOCALE (afm_users.locale) values need to match user locale values in the afm-config.xml file. The afm-config.xml file is also used to obtain the user country, based on the user LOCALE setting. Ensure that the afm-config.xml file contains the Locales associated with the currencies and countries you want to use.

• User Display Unit of Measure field in the User Profile for each user. This controls the unit of measure (Metric or Imperial) that the user will see for area fields.

Enter cost transactions using multiple currencies and entering Base Costs for these transactions

Generate reports that include Base Costs, VAT Costs, and Total Costs for financial reporting.

Validate costs against lease agreement.

Access accurate cost data based on updated conversion rates, and easy access to costs that were actually paid: VAT Costs, Base Costs (excluding VAT), and Total Costs (including VAT).

Access reports that summarize cost transactions to their organizations' Budget Currency for benchmarking across the entire portfolio, and for analyzing budget consumption at the organization level.

Accurately project costs using automatic conversions based on updated exchange rates.

Create automatic budget projections using the Budget Exchange Rate. The Budget Exchange Rate is a static conversion rate between Payment Currencies and the organization's Budget Currency. This exchange rate is generally updated at a predetermined frequency (for example, fiscal year or quarterly). The organization exchange rate is used for future budgeting purposes.

Manage local budgets by automatically converting costs between currencies using the Payment Exchange Rate. The Payment Exchange Rate is a dynamic conversion rate between currencies. Using external sources, you typically update this conversion rate frequently - daily or weekly - as it is used to manage real-time cost transactions.