How Date-Based Project Phases Work (Intra-Month Scheduling, Stage Gates, and Capitalization)

This article explains how Project Phases behave when your instance is configured to use date-based phases, and how this configuration affects phase selection and capitalisation.

A Fluid instance can be configured to use one of two phase models:

• Month-based phases

  With month-based phases, phases are defined using a start month and an end month rather than specific dates. A phase automatically starts on the first day of the start month and ends on the last day of the end month, meaning it always applies to full calendar months.

• Date-based phases (Intra-Month)

  With date-based phases, phases are defined using explicit Start Date and End Date values and are evaluated day by day.

  This means that phases can:

  • start or end on any day within a month

  • overlap within the same month, allowing multiple phases to apply during a single calendar month

Because phases are evaluated daily, the system can accurately determine which phase applies on each date — even when phases overlap or change mid-month. This daily determination underpins Current Phase reporting, stage-gate behaviour, and phase-driven capitalisation (CAPEX / OPEX).

This article focuses specifically on Date-Based Phases (Intra-Month) and explains:

• how the Nominal Phase is determined for a given date based on phase dates

• how the Current Phase is derived from the Nominal Phase, including the impact of overlapping phases, gaps in phase dates, and Stage Gates blocking

• how phase configuration influences capitalization (CAPEX / OPEX), which is calculated per transaction date and independent of stage-gate behaviour

When determining which phase a project is in on a given day, the system uses the timezone configured in General Settings to establish the current date.

When using Date-Based Phases, Fluid distinguishes between two related but different concepts: the Nominal Phase and the Current Phase.

Nominal Phase (date-driven)
The Nominal Phase represents the phase a project is expected to be in based purely on phase dates.

• It is determined by identifying which phase(s) cover a given date.

• If multiple phases cover the same date, the phase with the highest Order (as per the phase definition) is selected.

• Stage gates and approvals are not considered when determining the Nominal Phase.

In other words, the Nominal Phase answers the question:
“Based on dates alone, which phase should this project be in today?”

The Nominal Phase is used for:

• date-driven behaviour, and

• capitalisation (CAPEX / OPEX) calculations, which are applied day by day based on the phase expected to apply on that date.

Current Phase (reported and governed)
The Current Phase represents the phase the project is actually reported as being in.

• It is derived from the Nominal Phase, but may be held back by stage-gate rules.

• When Stage Gates blocking is disabled, the Current Phase simply matches the Nominal Phase.

• When Stage Gates blocking is enabled, the Current Phase reflects the furthest phase the project is allowed to be in, given completed and incomplete gates.

The Current Phase is used for:

• project status and reporting,

• governance and stage-gate visibility,

• understanding where the project is formally positioned in its lifecycle.

Keeping Nominal Phase and Current Phase separate allows Fluid to:

• apply financial logic (such as capitalisation) consistently based on planned phase dates, while

• enforcing governance controls that may legitimately prevent a project from being reported as having progressed.

To determine the Nominal Phase for a given day, the system evaluates phase dates only.

The calculation works as follows:

• The system identifies all phases where Start Date ≤ today ≤ End Date (inclusive).

• If more than one phase applies on that day, the phase with the highest Order is selected, based on the sequence defined in the phase configuration.

If no phases cover today’s date, no Nominal Phase is set for that day.

The Nominal Phase is recalculated dynamically as dates change and is used as the input for:

• deriving the Project’s Current Phase, and

• applying date-driven behaviour such as capitalisation.

Note: Order defines the sequence of phases in your methodology; a higher value represents a later phase.

The Current Phase represents the phase the project is reported as being in, taking governance into account.

While the Nominal Phase indicates where the project is expected to be based on dates, the Current Phase reflects whether the project is allowed to progress, depending on whether Stage Gates blocking is enabled.

The rules that determine the Current Phase apply in situations such as:

• phases overlapping on the same dates,

• gaps in phase dates, and

• the presence or absence of blocking stage gates.

When blocking is disabled, the Current Phase follows dates only:

• The Current Phase always matches the Nominal Phase.

• If no Nominal Phase exists for today, the Current Phase remains blank if not set.

In this mode, overlapping phases are resolved purely by phase order, and stage gates do not restrict progression.

When Stage Gates blocking is enabled, a project cannot advance to a later phase until the required stage gates are completed.

In this mode:

• Phase dates indicate where the project is expected to be (the Nominal Phase).

• Stage gates determine whether the project is allowed to move forward.

The Nominal Phase is still calculated in the same way as before, but the Current Phase may be held back by incomplete (blocking) gates.

The following principles apply:

• The system never moves the Current Phase backwards.

• Stage gates only affect forward movement.

If no Current Phase has been set on the project yet:

• If the Nominal Phase is the first phase, or all earlier phases have no missing blocking gates, the Current Phase is set to the Nominal Phase.

• Otherwise, the Current Phase is set to the earliest phase (by Order) that has missing blocking gates.

If a Current Phase is already set on the project and a Nominal Phase exists for today:

• If Current Phase = Nominal Phase, it is kept.

• If the Current Phase has missing blocking gates, it is kept.

• If there are missing blocking gates in any phase between the Current Phase and the Nominal Phase (including the Nominal Phase), the Current Phase is set to the earliest such blocking phase.

• If no blocking gates exist between the Current Phase and the Nominal Phase, the Current Phase advances to the Nominal Phase.

If no Nominal Phase exists for today (for example, because today falls outside the Start and End Dates of all phases)

• If the project End Date is in the past

  • If no phases have missing blocking gates, the Current Phase is cleared.

  • Otherwise, the Current Phase is set to the first phase (by Order) with missing blocking gates.

• If the project Start Date and all phase Start Dates are in the future

  • The Current Phase is not set.

• If only the first phase has a date

  • The Current Phase is set to the first phase, regardless of whether that phase has missing blocking gates or not.

• If the project has no phase dates

  • If no phase gates exist, the Current Phase is not set.

  • If phase gates exist, the Current Phase is set to the first phase (by Order) with missing blocking gates.

• If phases have dates, but none cover today

  • If no phase gates exist, the Current Phase is not set. The project will move into a phase only when a phase’s dates apply.

  • If phase gates exist:

    • If one or more phases have missing blocking gates, the Current Phase is set to the first phase (by Order) with missing blocking gates, regardless of the Start Date of that phase.

    • If no phases have missing blocking gates, the Current Phase is set to the last phase.

      This handles cases where the project is progressing sequentially but today falls into a gap between phase dates, allowing the project to move forward rather than being held back by date gaps.

Yes. A phase is considered active on both its Start Date and its End Date.

This inclusivity is applied consistently when determining the Nominal Phase, the Current Phase, and any date-driven calculations (such as capitalisation).

Example 1: Overlapping phases (Stage Gates blocking disabled)

• P2 (Order 2) and P3 (Order 3) both apply today.

• Stage Gates blocking is disabled.

• The Nominal Phase for today is P3 (the highest-Order phase covering today).

• Result: Current Phase = P3.

This shows:
When blocking is disabled, the Current Phase simply follows the date-driven Nominal Phase. Overlapping phases are resolved purely by phase Order.

Example 2: Overlapping phases with blocking gates between phases (Stage Gates blocking enabled)

• A Current Phase is already set on the project: P2.

• P2 has no missing blocking gates.

• P2 through P4 all apply today; the Nominal Phase is P4.

• Phase P3 has a missing (blocking) gate.

• Result: Current Phase becomes P3.

This shows:
When blocking is enabled and the Current Phase is not itself blocked, the system advances only as far as the earliest phase with missing gates between the Current Phase and the Nominal Phase.

Example 3: No phase covers today (Stage Gates blocking disabled)

• Today falls outside the Start and End Dates of all phases (no Nominal Phase).

• Result: Current Phase is not set.

This shows: When Stage Gates blocking is disabled and no phase covers today, the system does not report a Current Phase. Phase reporting is driven purely by dates in this mode, so if there is no Nominal Phase for today, the Current Phase is left blank, regardless of any previously reported phase.

Example 4: No phase covers today (Stage Gates blocking enabled)

• Today falls outside the Start and End Dates of all phases (no Nominal Phase).

• The project has not ended.

• Stage Gates blocking is enabled.

Case A: No Current Phase has been set on the project yet

• Some phases have missing blocking gates.

• Result: Current Phase is set to the first phase (by Order) with missing blocking gates.

• If no phases have missing gates, the Current Phase remains blank.

This shows:
When there is no date-based phase and no previously reported phase, the system anchors the project to the earliest phase that still requires gated work, ensuring governance is not bypassed.

Case B: A Current Phase is already set and has missing blocking gates

• For example, Current Phase = P2, and P2 has a blocking gate.

• Result: Current Phase remains P2.

This shows:
A phase with incomplete gates cannot be advanced, even when phase dates do not apply.

Case C: A Current Phase is already set and has no missing blocking gates

• For example, Current Phase = P2, and P2 has no blocking gates.

• There is a next phase in sequence (P3).

• Result: Current Phase advances to P3; otherwise it remains P2.

This shows:
When dates provide no guidance due to gaps between phases, and governance does not block progression, the system allows the project to continue sequentially rather than being held back by phase date gaps.

Most organisations link capitalisation policy to project phases. Capitalisation is determined per transaction date, using the phase the project was planned to be in on that date, independent of the project’s Current Phase or any stage-gate blocking.

Daily determination

• For each transaction date, the system determines which phase was planned to apply on that date, based purely on phase Start and End Dates.

• The capitalisation policy associated with that phase is applied to costs booked on that transaction date.

• If no phase applies on the transaction date, costs are classified as OPEX.

Overlapping phases

• If multiple phases overlap on a given transaction date, only one phase is used for capitalisation.

• The phase with the highest Order planned to apply on that date is selected.

• This prevents double-counting or mixed CAPEX / OPEX treatment for the same cost.

Changes to phase dates or capitalisation policies

• If phase dates or capitalisation policies are updated, capitalisation is re-evaluated only for transactions dated after the capitalisation lock.

• This ensures historical totals and financial reports remain consistent with the updated phase configuration.