> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.dash360.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How to Set Up Spread Profiles and Calendars

> Choose how a risk's exposure is distributed across its window, build a custom spread profile, and set the working calendar the schedule simulation steps through.

Two settings decide *when* things land rather than *how much* they cost: the spread profile that distributes a risk's exposure across its active window, and the working calendar that decides which days count.

<Warning>
  **Both of these feed Risk Pro features.** Spread profiles drive the time-phased and burn down charts, and the working calendar drives the schedule simulation; the **Risk Analytics Burndown** and **Schedule Monte Carlo** are both **Pro**. On Lite you can configure both, and the Spread Type field on each risk still records your choice, but nothing on the Lite pages reads it yet.

  See [Getting Started with Risk](/user-guide/risk/getting-started) for the full tier comparison.
</Warning>

<iframe src="https://www.loom.com/embed/b0ca3c49505a44baa872d26f5aac01e6" title="Loom video player" frameborder="0" className="w-full aspect-video rounded-xl" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen />

## Spread profiles

Every project ships with four profiles: **Linear**, **Front-Loaded**, **Back-Loaded**, and **Bell Curve**. Most projects never need more than these, so check whether one fits before building your own.

A profile stores a shape, not a schedule. Positions run from the start of a risk's window to the end of it as proportions, so the same profile works on a six week risk and a three year one.

### Build a custom profile

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the Spread Types tab">
    Go to **Admin > Projects**, click the pencil icon on the project, and select the **Spread Types** tab.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Click Add Custom Spread Profile">
    Enter a **Profile Name** and set **Number of Periods**, which controls how finely the shape is drawn (5 to 100, defaulting to 20). Set the period count first, because changing it clears any weights already entered.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Shape the distribution">
    Click **Distribute Evenly** for a flat starting point, then type a percentage under each bar in the preview. **Normalize to 100%** rescales what you have entered while keeping the proportions.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Check the total, then click Save Profile">
    The running total under the preview must read 100% before the profile will save.
  </Step>
</Steps>

The new profile appears in the **Spread Type** dropdown on the risk form immediately.

<Warning>
  Deleting a custom profile does not check whether risks still use it, and a risk left pointing at a deleted profile will fail when the system time-phases it. Move those risks to another profile first.
</Warning>

## The working calendar

The calendar decides which days count as working days, which is what makes a simulated 30 day activity land where it actually lands rather than 30 calendar days out.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the Calendar tab">
    On the same Edit Project screen, select the **Calendar** tab. The project, resource file, rate file, and project dates are shown read-only at the top for reference.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Click Add Calendar and set the work pattern">
    Give it a name, confirm the **Start Date** and **Finish Date**, set **Hrs/Day**, and tick the **Weekly Work Days**. Quick Select offers Mon-Fri, Mon-Sat, and All Days.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Tick Set As Default">
    This is the step that is easy to miss, and the one that decides whether the calendar is used at all.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add holidays, then click Generate Calendar">
    Add each holiday in the panel beside the period table, ticking **Is Yearly Holiday** for dates that repeat. Generate afterward, because the period table is built from the settings as they stand at that moment.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Warning>
  **With no default calendar, the schedule simulation quietly falls back** to a standard five-day work week with no holidays. This happens both when a project has no calendars and when it has calendars but none is flagged as default, so a calendar that exists but was never set as the default has no effect on results.
</Warning>

### Rate sets

The same period table generates the project's Hours and FTE rate sets. Click **Save Hours Rate Set** or **Save FTE Rate Set** and give the rateset a name. Choosing an existing name deletes and recreates every rate in it, with a confirmation step first.

<Warning>
  Running **Generate Calendar** again on an existing calendar rebuilds its periods and the values derived from them. Use it when you mean to rebuild, not to refresh the display.
</Warning>

## Next

That completes Risk setup. Hand the project over to the team and point them at:

* The [Risk Register](/user-guide/risk/risk-register) for writing and tracking risks.
* [Risk Analysis](/user-guide/risk/risk-analysis) for running the simulation.

Full field reference: [Spread Profiles](/user-guide/admin/spread-profiles) and [Project Calendar](/user-guide/admin/project-calendar).