Creating a New Project in Diligent

Overview

Projects in Diligent represent the core unit of work—such as a deal, portfolio company, or business entity. Each project serves as the container for its cubes, data, and reports. Creating a new project is usually one of the first steps when getting started.

This guide walks through how to create a new project, what settings to choose, and what you can manage inside the project once it’s set up.

Steps to Create a New Project

1. Open the Project Selector
   From the top of your screen, click Choose another project.
   Then select the New Project button on the right side of the page.
   
   

2. Enter Project Details
   A window will appear prompting you to enter the following:

   • Project Name: Choose a short, unique code name (e.g., Eagle). Avoid using your company name.

   • Calendar Type:

     • Calendar Year – Starting January

     • Fiscal Year – Select Month (choose the month your fiscal year begins).
       
       

3. Confirm Setup
   Click Confirm. You’ll see a message that the setup is in process. This may take a few minutes.

   Tip: If your project does not appear right away, click the Diligent logo in the top left to refresh, or clear your browser cache.

4. Locate Your Project
   Once created, your project will appear in the My Projects list.
   
   

Understanding the Project List

On the My Projects page, you’ll see key details for each project:

• Pin Icon (left side): Lets you select and switch to a different project quickly.

• Status (Active/Inactive):

  • Active means the project is live, with background jobs running and member access enabled.

  • Inactive disables all background jobs and prevents member access.

• Last Edited: The date the project was most recently updated.

• Created: The date the project was first set up.

Managing Your Project

Once your project is created, you can begin configuring its settings under Project Management.

Add or Edit Members

Admins can control who has access to the project under the Members tab.

• Admins: Can manage users, projects, and cubes.

• Members: Can view and work with cubes and data, but cannot edit structure or add/remove projects.
  
  

Work with Scenarios

Scenarios are 12-period blocks of data within your project. They allow you to organize and compare actuals, budgets, forecasts, and other views of your financial data.

Types of scenarios include:

• Actuals – Automatically created when data is submitted, representing full-year results based on your chosen calendar type.

• YTD (Year-to-Date) – Represents partial-year data; you can add these through the Add YTD Scenario option.
  
  

• TTM (Trailing Twelve Months) – Represents a rolling 12-month view. Useful for trend analysis.
  
  

• Budgets & Forecasts – In some cases, users may also want to set up budget or forecast scenarios. These are possible, but not available out of the box. If you need these, please contact our team to help configure them.

Next Step

After your project is created and members/scenarios are set up, the next step is to build a cube to load and analyze data. See Creating a New Cube for details.

Related and Next Up

• Before this: Access, Login, and Installation
• Next article: Creating and Managing Cubes
• Also helpful: Loading and Managing Data

Creating a project in Diligent is a simple process—choose a name, set your calendar type, and confirm. Within minutes, your new project will be available in the project list. From there, you can add members, set up scenarios, and prepare to create your first cube.