Running a Monthly Check-in

The monthly check-in is how you record what actually happened on each engagement: revenue received, costs incurred, KPI results, and hours worked. It takes 20-30 minutes per engagement, depending on how many line items you track.

What You’ll Need Before Starting

• Templates assigned — Finance, performance, and/or capacity templates must be assigned to the engagement
• Monthly targets set — Planned values should be in place so DigitalCore can calculate variance
• Actual data — The real numbers from the month: invoiced amounts, costs, KPI readings, hours logged

Step 1: Open the Engagement Workspace

Navigating to Operations → Workspace → Engagement

From the left sidebar, go to Operations → Workspace. Find your engagement using the search bar or engagement list. Click into it to open the engagement workspace.

Selecting the Period Range

At the top of the check-in tab, use the period range picker to select the months you want to work with. Presets include Last 3 months, Last 6 months, Year to Date, or Custom Range. The grid shows columns for each selected month.

Step 2: Enter Finance Actuals

Using the Multi-Period Finance Grid

The Finance tab shows a grid with rows for each finance template item (revenue lines, cost lines) and columns for each month. For each cell, you can see the planned value and enter the actual value.

Entering Revenue, Costs, and Other Line Items

Click into a cell and type the actual amount. Revenue items show income, cost items show expenses. The grid auto-saves as you move between cells.

Understanding Auto-Populated Labour Costs

Some cost cells may already have values — these are labour costs automatically calculated from capacity hours (entered in Step 4 or a previous check-in). Auto-generated entries are visually distinguished from manual entries.

Step 3: Enter Performance Metrics

Using the Multi-Period Performance Grid

Switch to the Performance tab. The grid shows rows for each KPI and columns for each month. Each cell has the target value displayed alongside the actual input field.

Recording KPI Actuals

Enter the measured value for each KPI in each month. For example, enter 99.2% for Availability or 3.5 hours for Average Response Time.

What Happens When an SLA Is Breached

If the actual value you enter breaches the SLA threshold defined in the engagement’s linked contract, DigitalCore immediately:

1. Detects the breach based on the threshold and operator
2. Calculates the penalty amount (fixed, percentage, or tiered)
3. Logs a penalty event for audit purposes
4. Creates a cost entry in the finance domain (if auto-create is enabled)

You’ll see the RAG indicator change to red, and the penalty amount appears in the finance grid.

Step 4: Enter Capacity Hours

Using the Multi-Period Capacity Grid

Switch to the Capacity tab. The grid shows rows for each role and columns for each month. Enter the actual hours worked by each role.

Recording Hours per Role

Enter the total hours for each role on this engagement for the month. For example: Senior Consultant — 160 hours, Service Desk Analyst — 80 hours.

Watching Labour Costs Appear in Finance

As you enter hours, DigitalCore multiplies them by the applicable hourly rate and creates a corresponding cost entry in the finance grid. Switch back to the Finance tab to see the auto-generated labour costs.

Step 5: Review the Results

Opening the Domain Summary

After entering data across all three domains, open the Domain Summary to see the consolidated view: total revenue, total costs, margin, KPI status, and utilisation metrics for the period.

Understanding RAG Status Changes

Each item and each domain now shows an updated RAG indicator based on the variance between plan and actual. Green means on track, amber means needs monitoring, red means significant deviation.

Checking Attention Items on the Dashboard

Return to the Dashboard to see updated attention items. Any engagement with significant variance, SLA breaches, or overdue data will appear in the Attention Required section.

Tips

Compact vs. Comfortable View Density

Toggle between Compact (more rows visible, less whitespace) and Comfortable (easier to read, more spacing) view modes depending on your preference and screen size.

Using Period Presets (Last 3, Last 6, YTD, Custom)

Use period presets to quickly focus the grid on the relevant months. Last 3 is ideal for monthly check-ins. YTD is useful for quarterly reviews.