Financial Management Overview

The Financial Management module in the BMC Helix Portfolio Management app enables users to track financial transactions and dataset balances efficiently. It provides essential tools for maintaining financial transparency, ensuring data accuracy, and making informed financial decisions.

Key Functionalities

The Financial Management module equips users with end-to-end capabilities to handle, monitor, and analyse financial data effectively. It enables organisations to define and manage Financial Datasets across various scopes and financial years, with full support for dataset versioning. Each dataset acts as a container for financial transactions and balances, offering a structured and auditable record of financial activity. Users can also group Financial Accounts under Financial Positions, and further map those into Financial Statements like Profit & Loss for higher-level reporting and analysis. For more information, see Configuring Financial Management.

The feature also includes Summarisation options enabling financial visibility across Portfolios, Programs, and Demands—helping decision-makers understand both detailed and aggregated financial performance. For more information, see Viewing and updating portfolio details.

Here we will be discussing the core functionalities under the Financial Tab, which include: 

Financial Transaction Recording

The Financial Transaction Recording functionality allows users to view and manage financial transactions within a selected financial dataset. Users can

• Select a Financial Dataset, Financial Year, Transaction Scope, and Period to retrieve a list of recorded transactions and view all past transactions related to the selected criteria.
• For new datasets, users can also add new financial transactions.

Dataset Balances

The Dataset Balances functionality provides insights into financial dataset balances, helping users monitor the financial standing of different accounts. Users can:

• Select a Financial Dataset to view associated Account Balances and Position Balances.
• Ensure financial datasets reflect correct balances for strategic planning and decision-making.

Scenario

Managing Financials in a Tech Company by using Helix Portfolio Management's Financial Management.

A Tech company uses the HPM Financial Management module to systematically manage and monitor its costs and revenue streams throughout the fiscal year. HPM provides the company with a powerful, hierarchical structure to track transactions, organise financial data, and generate meaningful insights.

For this, under HPM’s Financial Management, the company:

• Creates one or more Financial Datasets with predefined 14 periods. For more information about Financial Datasets, see Configuring Financial Datasets.
• Creates and manages Financial Accounts. For more information, see Configuring Financial Accounts.
• Records Transactions within the Financial Accounts. For more information, see Managing Financial Transaction.
• Tracks Data Balances records for each transaction for later analysis. For more information, see Dataset Balances Console.
• Group accounts into meaningful categories called Financial Positions. 
• Structure Financial Positions into higher-level Financial Positions
• Track overall Profit or Loss and much more by defining Financial Statements

Let’s understand with the following example:

Financial Datasets

The company defines multiple Financial Datasets for different purposes, such as:

• 2025-Budget-Version1
• 2024-Actuals-Version1

The names are a combination of three key elements:

• Financial Year (for example, 2025, 2024): Indicates the fiscal year the dataset is associated with. For more information, see Configuring Financial Year.
• Transaction Scope (for example, Budget, Actuals): Represents the purpose of the dataset — whether it's for planning, forecasting, or recording actuals. For more information, see Configuring Transaction Scope.
• Version (for example, Version1, Version2): Helps distinguish between different iterations of the same year and scope combination.

Each Dataset is a distinct financial tracking space where Transactions are logged and Balances are calculated without affecting other datasets.

Periods

Each Dataset includes predefined Periods, which allow for time-based tracking. Periods follow a structured format:

• 00: Opening
• 01–12: Monthly periods
• 99: Closing/Adjustment

A license purchase in February 2025 would fall under Period 02 of the 2025-Budget-Version1 or 2024-Actuals-Version1 Dataset. For more information about the Financial Dataset, see Configuring Financial Dataset.

Accounts

Accounts are the most granular tracking units in the system. Each expense or income transaction is recorded under a specific account.

Examples are defined in the table below for a better understanding of the hierarchy.

Lower Level Financial Position

Similar or related accounts are grouped into Financial Positions for clearer reporting and analysis.

Examples are defined in the table below for a better understanding of the hierarchy.

Higher Level Financial Position

The Higher-Level Financial Positions group relates Financial Positions into broader categories.

Examples are defined in the table below for a better understanding of the hierarchy.

Financial Statement

At the top of the hierarchy is the Financial Statement, which can be used to analyse the net outcome.

An example is defined in the table below for a better understanding of the hierarchy.

Transaction

Every transaction occurs between an Account and a Contra-Account, belongs to a specific Financial Dataset and Period, and—when needed—can be linked to a Root Object (e.g., Portfolio, Project, Demand, or Task) within the Portfolio Management application.

Example:

• Transaction 1: 10 PSA Licenses purchased
• Account: PSA Licenses
• Contra-Account: Licensing Expense
• Dataset: 2025-Budget-Version1
• Period: 02
• Amount: USD 10,000
• (Optional) Associated HPM Object: Project ABC

The linkage to a root object enables tracking financial performance per Root Object, allowing deeper insight into how each Project or Portfolio is performing financially.

Data Balance

The above transaction will generate the following Account-level Data Balance entries:

• Positive amount in Period 2 for Account (PSA Licenses)
• Negative amount in Period 2 for Contra-Account (Licensing Expense)
• Positive Total value for Account (PSA Licenses)
• Negative Total value for Contra-Account (Licensing Expense)

Note: If the transaction is associated with an HPM Root Object (like Project ABC), the system creates an additional set of Root Object-specific Data Balances:

• Positive and negative entries for the period, tagged with the Root Object
• Positive and negative total entries, also tagged with the Root Object

This enables users to analyse financial data not only in general (across the organisation) but also specifically for each Root Object, making it easier to assess financial performance at the project, demand, or portfolio level.

Position Balance

Given that the accounts involved in the Transaction (for example, BMC Licenses and Licensing Expense) belong to a Financial Position (for example, Licensing Cost), the application automatically computes the Position-level balances for the relevant Financial Position. This enables users to:

• View consolidated balances at a grouped level
• Perform higher-level financial analysis
• Simplify reporting by focusing on categories rather than just individual accounts

Example Flow

1. In Dataset 2025-Budget-Version1, during Period 02, the company records a Transaction:
   • Buy 10 PSA Licenses
   • Account: PSA Licenses
   • Contra-Account: Licensing Expense
   • Dataset: 2025-Budget-Version1
   • Period: 02
   • Amount: USD 10,000
2. The transaction creates entries in the Account Balance.
3. These accounts roll into Financial Position Licensing Cost, which belongs to a higher-level Financial Position Operating Expenses and is a part of the Profit & Loss Statement.
4. Given that the accounts involved in the Transaction belong to a Financial Position, with the Account balance, the system also generates Position balance entries.
5. Simultaneously, the company also logs income in Accounts like Consulting Services, Training Services, and Development Services, which fall under the Financial Position Service Income and further into higher-level Financial Position Revenue.
6. The user can then use the Profit & Loss Financial Statement to compare total revenue vs total expense to determine financial health.
7. This enables the company to: 
   • View detailed breakdowns per account (for example, PSA Licenses, BMC Licenses)
   • Or analyse high-level spend like total Operating Expenses
   • Or compare total Revenue vs Expenses at the Financial Statement level