The Financial Aid tab in PORTAL is not designed to be an all-inclusive manager for the FA process. It is intended to track a specific set of data for the current year only. To better track year-on-year activity and overall FA budgets, you will need the optional FA MODULE. Please see this page for more details about the FA Module.
The Financial Aid screen in PORTAL tracks the receipt of tax and other needed forms, who asks for FA Forms, who applies, the FA decision and the amount. There are related FA lists available from the Lists/Forms Org screen.