Create and Manage Document Templates

Create standard documentation formats for distribution using Cost Management's document template capabilities. Templates use variables (fields in brackets) that are automatically populated with data from the system when documents are generated.

Project administrators can create templates for:

Contracts
Budget payment applications
Cost payment applications
PCOs, RFQs, CORs, OCOs, and SCOs

In this article:

Create a Document Template
Customize Your Template
- Payment Application Templates
- Use Percentages in Templates
Set a Template as Default
Best Practices
- Embed Fonts in Your Template
- Template Design Tips
Troubleshooting
- Review Invalid Variables
- Common Issues
Related Articles

Tip:

Members with account administrator permission can manage document templates at the account level. Create a template once and use it across all projects by adding it to the library. See Cost Settings in the Library to learn more.
Learn about variables to create effective document templates.

Create a Document Template

To create a document template:

Go to Project Admin > Cost Management > Services.
Switch to the Budget, Cost, or Change Order tab.
Scroll down to the Document templates section.
Click Add in the section where you want to add a template.
Select Sample to download a customizable Word or Excel template.
Customize the content as needed, using available document variables. See Customize Your Template for guidance.
Once customized, update the template name and click Save.
Drag or browse for your created document to upload it as the template.
Select Save to save and exit.

Customize Your Template

When customizing your template, do not edit the content within the brackets - these are variables that the system uses to auto-populate data when generating documents. Learn more about variables.

Sample template showing variables in brackets

Payment Application Templates

Payment application templates include extra rows in the payment details table that allow you to define hierarchy levels, parent node background colors, and fonts.

Excel payment application template showing hierarchy options

Tips for payment application templates:

To remove the word SAMPLE, click the document header.
Summaries can be placed at the top or bottom of a document to increase visibility of summary items.
Templates support native Excel format cells such as Number, General, and Currency.

Use Percentages in Templates

There are two ways to incorporate percentage format into document templates.

Option 1: Automatic interpretation

Format cells as General in Excel. During import, Cost Management will automatically interpret the value as percentage (for example, 12.39 becomes 12.39%).

Excel format cells dialog showing General format

Excel showing percentage values

Tip: To add a % character to each cell, format the cell as General and manually add the % to the variable, for example: {payment.columnView.percentTotalCompleted}%.

Option 2: Native Excel percentage format

Use Excel's native Percentage format cells by defining a percentage formula. For example, for the total completed percentage column of a Cost Payment Application:

{completed | divide: revisedValue}

Excel showing Format Cells dialog and percentage formula

Learn more about Variable Formatting.

Set a Template as Default

Set a document template as default to display it first in the list of available templates when generating documents.

Document generation showing default template first

To set a template as default:

Go to Project Admin > Cost Management > Services.
Switch to the Budget, Cost, or Change Order tab.
Scroll down to the Document templates section.
Click Edit in the upper left corner of the section.
Click the More menu next to the template.
Click Set as default.

Note: The first template created for a given category is automatically marked as default.

Best Practices

Embed Fonts in Your Template

If you experience formatting issues with generated documents (such as fonts appearing differently than expected), embed the fonts in your Word template file. This ensures the document displays correctly regardless of which fonts are installed on the recipient's system.

On Mac:

Open the template in Microsoft Word.
Go to Word > Preferences.
Select Output and Sharing > Save.
Enable Embed fonts in the file.

On Windows:

Open the template in Microsoft Word.
Go to File > Options.
Select Save.
Enable Embed fonts in the file.

Template Design Tips

Keep variable names exactly as provided—do not modify content within brackets { }.
Test your template by generating a sample document before deploying it to your team.
Use consistent formatting throughout the template for a professional appearance.
Consider creating separate templates for different use cases (for example, internal vs. external distribution).

Troubleshooting

Review Invalid Variables

When variables in a template become invalid (due to system updates or errors), you'll see the Warning icon icon next to the affected template. To resolve:

Click the More menu next to the invalid document template.
Choose Review issues.
The template downloads automatically. Open it to see comments next to invalid variables.
Resolve the issues within the document.
Upload the corrected template.

Common Issues

Issue	Solution
Fonts look different in generated document	Embed fonts in the template file
Variables not populating	Ensure brackets `{ }` are not modified and variable names are spelled correctly
Percentage values incorrect	Check cell formatting—use General format or define a formula. See Use Percentages in Templates
Template shows warning icon	Use Review issues to identify and fix invalid variables