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New 'Janus' Budget Application Getting Lab
Roll-Out

A new application for helping Lab budget managers keep track of expenditures and projections has been rolled out to over 70 users. Called "Janus" after the ancient Roman god with two faces, the application allows users to "see" in two directions - looking back at actual expenditures and looking ahead at planned outlays. Since April, 70 employees have been trained in using the application. The next training sessions are scheduled for June 13, July 11 and August 8.

"One of the major features of Janus is that all budgeting is centralized," said Linda Suarez, the lead technical person for the project. "This will allow users to do a spending plan analysis and compare their budgets with actual costs."

Janus also includes links to other business applications and financial management systems used at the Lab. For example, a link to one database provides real-time salary information for developing accurate budgets for the coming year.

The Lab decided to develop Janus after a survey of off-the-shelf applications and software developers determined that none of the commercially available software packages met the Lab's requirements. Janus took about one year to develop and the development team is continuing to add features.

Chuck Axthelm is the project lead for Janus and the project includes a committee of representatives from around the Lab. Also on the team are Margretta Campbell, Bill Coleman, Neil Johnson and Robert Lantry. Mary Clary created the documentation. Mary Clary also teaches the Janus training class. To sign up for a class, write to MMClary@lbl.gov.