Proposals and project cost estimates, especially for complex programs of millions of dollars, go through a series of iterations and changes driven internally or by the customer. Each time a completed estimate is changed there is a decision whether a new version is recommended. Typically this decision is based on:

• If the change is externally-driven and might be reversed then create a new  version, making it easy to "go back" to the earlier version at any time
• If the change is incremental, small or a correction of a previous error then do not create a new version. There is a change log for you to audit or review who changed what at a later time
• Other changes e.g. major milestones or internally driven changes which are major in nature - create a new version if you anticipate needing to "go back" to the earlier version later on, or don't if the changes won't get reversed.

When you create a new version you 'save the current version as something else' meaning that a snapshot of the current version is stored as a separate file and you continue to work on the current version. You can flip or switch between versions as explained below.

A proposal version is literally a copy of all project data - the WBS or project structure, line items/assets, requirements, phases/options, the  bill of material, labor, material, travel and other direct and indirect cost estimates and of course the project key data.

• Bear in mind that each new version you create is "frozen" by default and will not get updated with future changes.
• So if you want changes to apply to multiple versions at the same time you have to make the same changes to each and every impacted version by first opening that version and secondly by making it active (to allow you to change it)
• Only one version of a project is 'active'. You cannot edit inactive versions (you must make them active first).

The only data which is not automatically copied for each proposal version is the risk register; risks may or may not be copied to a new version depending on your proposal/project type configuration settings.

To create a new proposal open your proposal and click on "Save as" from the "Versions" option in the "More" toolbar button menu on the top right, as shown and highlighted in the screen image below.

This gives a popup when you can enter the new version description, label and/or code and confirm (to create the new version) or cancel.

Try to following a standard version naming convention in your company, for example if versions are created at key milestones during the proposal or project cost estimating process then name each version after its milestone.

Following the decision to save the current version as a snapshot under a new name, the original version remains open and remains as the active version.

1. The title or description of the current version in the main header now has the version title after it in parenthesis. In this case the current version was not given a title so it is called "Original". You can edit this version name under Versions > Rename Current menu
2. To open your new version, click again on the "Versions" more button menu and click on "Open" from the sub-menu. You will see a list of all current project versions, and selecting a version from the menu will open it.

Select the new  version from this  'Versions' > 'Open' menu to open it. The system will:

1. Open the new (selected) version showing the new version title in parenthesis after the proposal description in the main header. Since the selected version is not the current active version it will be opened in display-only mode (you cannot edit inactive version data)
2. To make the selected version into the "active version" select 'Versions' > 'Make current version active' from the "more" toolbar button menu. This option only appears when you have an inactive version open, as shown below.

The "active"  version is the one which you can actively edit estimates, risks and other data for. When you go to the proposal or project list, or estimates list you will only see active versions in these lists. Making a version into the active one allows you to edit it and means that you ensure this new active version and its estimates are what now appears in the search lists.

To open an inactive version you need to open the active one first, and then select 'Versions' > 'Open' and select the inactive version from the menu.

The active version is the one you are actively editing. Inactive versions are essentially frozen "memories" of your project at a previous points in time. Changes to the active version are not automatically applied to inactive versions.

You can also:

1. Rename the current open version for example to add a new code or label to it
2. Delete the current version if it is not the active one (make a different version active first)
3. Copy the current version (active or inactive) to a new version

Remember that all proposal or project data (aside from risks and opportunities for certain system set-ups) gets copied to each version.

If you have created estimates in several versions of the same proposal or project you can compare these in the cost/price review > workbench tab. Select "Version" (#1) from the list of dimensions dragging it to either the top right (#2) columns or lower left (#3) rows definition. Click here for more information on changing pivot table rows and columns in this workbench.

The version comparison report is shown (and highlighted) above, and can be either selected from the gear menu top-right of this pivot, or by selecting version as a report-by dimension.