A savings initiative records a saving and the milestones you'll track it against. This article walks you through the four creation steps: Savings Summary, Milestone Builder, Milestone Creation and Overview.

Before you start

Only users with permission to create savings can see the Create Savings Record button. More than one milestone per saving, and savings approvals, need the Savings Plus plan. To check your permissions, see Viewing Your Access Rights.

Enter the savings summary

Click Create Savings Record

Go to Savings Management > Savings Initiatives and click Create Savings Record above the table.

Fill in the mandatory fields

  • Savings Initiative Title: up to 100 characters.

  • Saving Currency: the read-only Exchange Rate next to it shows the currency's current rate from Settings > Currencies.

  • Saving Status: Not Started, In Progress, Completed or Cancelled.

💡 Tip: If the exchange rate is wrong, ask an administrator to update it in Settings > Currencies before you create the milestones. Each milestone keeps the rate it was created with, though you can edit it per milestone later.

Add the optional details

Complete any of Saving Description/Notes, Savings Type, Saving Category (you can choose several), Saving Sub-Category, Location and Department.

To link a supplier, choose it in Supplier Name; the saving then appears on that supplier's Savings tab. Associated Contract only lists contracts for the selected supplier. If a value, supplier or contract doesn't exist yet, you can add it from the field.

Click Next

oboloo saves the saving as a Draft, so you can leave and finish it later from the Savings Initiatives table.

Build milestones automatically

Use this when your milestones are regular periods with equal amounts.

Choose Automated Milestone Builder

On the Milestone Builder step, select Automated Milestone Builder.

Enter the milestone settings

  • Savings Start Date: the first milestone's start date.

  • Frequency of Milestone: Monthly, Quarterly, Bi-Annually or Annually.

  • Number of Milestones: 1 to 60. Choosing more than one on the free plan opens Upgrade to Savings Plus.

  • Total Baseline Spend, Projected Cost Reduction (across all milestones) and Projected Cost Avoidance (across all milestones). Total Projected Savings is calculated for you.

💡 Example: A Savings Start Date of 01/01/2026, Monthly frequency and 12 milestones creates Milestone 1 to Milestone 12, one for each month of 2026, with the baseline spend and projected savings split evenly between them.

Click Next and review the milestones

On the Milestone Creation step, click Edit on any milestone to change its Name, Start Date, End Date, Total Baseline Spend, Cost Reduction or Cost Avoidance, then click Save. For example, rename them "Q1 Savings", "Q2 Savings".

Click Next

Continue to the Overview step.

Build milestones yourself

Use this for irregular periods or uneven amounts.

Choose Custom Milestone Builder

On the Milestone Builder step, select Custom Milestone Builder.

Choose the number of milestones

Select the Number of Milestones (1 to 60) and click Next. More than one needs Savings Plus.

Enter each milestone

On the Milestone Creation step, click Edit on each milestone and enter its Name, Start Date, End Date, Total Baseline Spend, Cost Reduction and Cost Avoidance. Click Save.

Click Next

Every milestone needs a name, start date and end date before you can continue.

Review and create the saving

Check the overview

The Overview step shows the saving's financials and its start and end dates. Click Previous to go back and change anything.

Choose whether it needs approval

To have the saving approved before it counts towards your reporting, turn on Does this saving need to be approved? and choose an Approver. See Approving Savings.

Set the record access

Under Record Access, choose No restriction, Only owners can edit or Only owners can view and edit. See Record Access.

Click Create Saving

The saving is created and appears in the Savings Initiatives table.

What happens next

  • Savings Owners: you're added as the saving's first owner. Add more on the Savings Owners tab. See Savings Owners.

  • Milestones: appear on the record's Milestones tab, where you edit them and mark them as complete. Each stores the exchange rate it was created with.

  • Approver: if you turned on approval, they're emailed and notified. The saving doesn't count towards the dashboard until it's approved.

  • Dashboard: once approved (or if no approval was needed), the saving's milestones count towards the tiles and charts. See Understanding the Savings Dashboard.

Troubleshooting

I see Upgrade to Savings Plus

More than one milestone, and savings approvals, need the Savings Plus plan. See What's Included on the Free Plan and Plus Plans.

I can't click Next on the Milestone Creation step

Every milestone needs a name, start date and end date. Click Edit on any milestone with a blank field and complete it.

The contract I want isn't in Associated Contract

The list only shows contracts for the supplier in Supplier Name. Check the supplier, or link the contract to that supplier first.

How do I finish a draft?

On the Savings Initiatives page, click the draft's title (status Draft). The creation steps reopen where you can finish them.

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📌 Need Further Help?
If you need further assistance, please contact your internal platform administrator for support. Otherwise please reach out to oboloo's support team. If you are unable to view the above area in the oboloo platform, please check your user permissions and access rights.