How to enable the feature
This feature is applicable to Project Operations Core and Project Operations Integrated with ERP. In feature management, enable the feature Enable Multiple Project Budget Drafts.
Problem
Project managers were limited to maintaining a single draft version of a budget that had to be submitted for approval.
In real-world planning scenarios, project managers often need to evaluate multiple budget alternatives based on different assumptions such as resource mix, pricing, timelines, and cost structures. However, the absence of native support for multiple draft versions forced them to take the data outside Project Operations, perform offline analysis, and manually reconcile changes back into the system.
This approach was not only time-consuming but also introduced risks of inconsistencies, version control issues, and manual errors, ultimately reducing productivity and confidence in budget accuracy.
Solution
This feature introduces support for multiple draft budgets, enabling project managers to create, maintain, and iterate on alternative budget versions directly within Project Operations. By allowing multiple drafts to coexist, project managers can now experiment with different planning scenarios without losing prior work or overriding existing drafts. This serves as a foundational capability for more advanced budget management scenarios.
Additionally, the user interface has been enhanced to provide clear visibility into multiple draft versions, making it easier for project managers to navigate, review, and manage different budget iterations efficiently.
This capability also sets the groundwork for upcoming enhancements, including in-product comparison across draft budgets, which will further streamline decision-making and scenario evaluation. We call that what-if analysis of a project budget.
Impact
Enables creation and management of multiple draft budget versions within the system.
Eliminates the need for offline analysis and manual re-entry of budget changes.
Reduces the risk of manual errors, inconsistencies, and version control challenges.
Improves planning agility by allowing exploration of multiple budget scenarios.
Enhances overall efficiency and productivity for project managers.
Establishes a foundation for future capabilities such as draft comparison and advanced budget analytics.
Business Value:
Project managers creating project budgets, whether from estimates, contracts, quotes, or from scratch, were limited to a single draft version that had to be submitted for approval. When they needed to explore or compare alternative budget scenarios, the only option was to take Dynamics 365 Project Operations data, perform offline analysis, and manually update changes back into the system. This process was time-consuming, error-prone, and inefficient.
This feature introduces support for multiple draft budgets, enabling project managers to create and manage alternative budget versions directly within Project Operations. This lays the foundation for in-product comparison of draft budgets, which will be introduced in a subsequent release.
To support this capability, the user interface has been enhanced to allow project managers to easily view and manage multiple draft versions of a budget. As a result, this feature enables creation of multiple draft budget versions, eliminates the need for offline analysis and manual re-entry, reduces risk of manual errors, and improves efficiency and decision-making for project managers.
Enabled for:
Enabled by admins/makers/marketers for end users
GA date: September CY2027
Preview date: August CY2026