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Plan User (Planner) Training Guide
Last Updated November, 2006
Adaptive Planning, Inc.
Planner Training Guide
Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW ........................................................ 1
WHO IS INVOLVED ..................................................................................... 1
The Plan Implementer.......................................................................... 1
The Plan Administrator ......................................................................... 1
Plan Users .......................................................................................... 1
THE PLAN STRUCTURE ................................................................................. 2
Access Control .................................................................................... 2
2. GETTING STARTED: LOGGING INTO A PLAN ....................................... 2
3. USER INTERFACE: USING TABS TO GET AROUND ............................... 3
HOME .................................................................................................... 3
MULTIPLE PLAN VERSIONS ............................................................................ 3
4. SHEETS ............................................................................................... 5
PLAN ACCESS ........................................................................................... 5
PLAN ROLLUPS .......................................................................................... 6
VIEW VS. EDIT MODE FOR ROLLUPS ................................................................. 7
STANDARD SHEETS..................................................................................... 8
MODELED SHEETS ...................................................................................... 9
How Modeled Sheets Work ................................................................... 9
ACCOUNTS............................................................................................. 11
Splits ............................................................................................... 11
SHEET NOTES ......................................................................................... 12
Sheet Note Functionality Details .......................................................... 13
View All Notes from Subplans ............................................................. 13
PRINTABLE VIEW ..................................................................................... 14
5. HEADCOUNT PLANNING .................................................................... 15
EXISTING HEADCOUNT............................................................................... 15
ADDING NEW HEADCOUNT .......................................................................... 16
HEADCOUNT FIELDS .................................................................................. 16
VIEWING BENEFIT CALCULATIONS ................................................................. 16
VIEWING EMPLOYEE EXPENSE DATA ............................................................... 17
6. ENTERING DATA ON STANDARD SHEETS ........................................... 18
EDITING A CELL....................................................................................... 18
FORMULAS ............................................................................................. 19
COPY AND PASTE ..................................................................................... 20
Selection of Data to be Copied ............................................................ 20
Copying ........................................................................................... 20
Pasting ............................................................................................ 21
Selection Involving Splits ................................................................... 22
Adaptive Planning, Inc.
Planner Training Guide
Table of Contents
7. DIMENSIONS, PATTERNS, AND ASSUMPTIONS ................................. 24
DIMENSIONS .......................................................................................... 24
PATTERNS ............................................................................................. 24
ASSUMPTIONS......................................................................................... 24
EXPENSES CALCULATED USING ASSUMPTIONS ................................................... 24
LOCALS ................................................................................................ 26
8. CAPITAL PLANNING .......................................................................... 27
9. REVENUE PLANNING ......................................................................... 28
PROJECTED SALES AND RELATED FIELDS.......................................................... 28
SALES SUMMARY SHEET ............................................................................. 29
10. REPORTS ........................................................................................... 30
SHARED REPORTS .................................................................................... 30
MY REPORTS .......................................................................................... 30
GLOBAL REPORTS .................................................................................... 30
CREATING REPORTS .................................................................................. 31
Report Type...................................................................................... 31
Include Groups of Data ...................................................................... 33
Apply Filters ..................................................................................... 34
Comparison Reports .......................................................................... 35
Align Start and End Dates of Compared Versions ................................... 35
Compare Time Periods within Same Version .......................................... 36
Time Ranges of the Comparison Report ................................................ 37
Display Options ................................................................................. 37
REPORT DRILL DOWN ................................................................................ 38
FORMATTING IN PRINTABLE VIEW .................................................................. 40
11. WORKFLOW ...................................................................................... 43
12. SHEETS OVERVIEW PAGE .................................................................. 44
PLAN STATUS ......................................................................................... 45
In Progress ....................................................................................... 45
Submitted for Review ........................................................................ 45
Approved ......................................................................................... 45
Rejected .......................................................................................... 45
Locked ............................................................................................. 46
DATE AND USER STAMP ............................................................................. 46
WHAT A PLAN OWNER (WITH NO SUBPLANS) CAN DO .......................................... 47
WHAT A PARENT PLAN OWNER CAN DO ........................................................... 48
13. THE WORKFLOW TAB ........................................................................ 51
Adaptive Planning, Inc.
Planner Training Guide
Table of Contents
14. APPENDIX A: EXERCISES ................................................................. 53
EXERCISE 1: ADD A HEADCOUNT ................................................................. 53
EXERCISE 2: ADD A NON-HEADCOUNT EXPENSE ............................................... 54
EXERCISE 3: ADD A HEADCOUNT-DRIVEN EXPENSE............................................ 55
EXERCISE 4: ADD A LOCAL ASSUMPTION ........................................................ 56
EXERCISE 5: ADD AN EXPENSE ITEM DRIVEN BY THE LOCAL ASSUMPTION .................. 57
EXERCISE 6: ADD A CAPITAL PURCHASE ......................................................... 58
EXERCISE 7: ENTER FORECASTED SALES DATA ................................................. 59
EXERCISE 8: CREATE A NEW BASIC REPORT .................................................... 60
EXERCISE 9: CREATE A NEW DIMENSION REPORT .............................................. 62
EXERCISE 10: CREATE A NEW REPEATING REPORT............................................. 63
Adaptive Planning, Inc.
Planner Training Guide
1. Introduction and Overview
A plan is a hierarchical structure that models the operations of a business, for the purpose of
planning future income and expenses, and balance sheet items.
Who Is Involved
The Plan Implementer
The Plan Implementer is the person or team responsible for creating the company plan with the
Adaptive Planning System.
The Plan Administrator
The Plan Administrator is the person who has the ongoing responsibility of maintaining and
modifying a company plan and its data. This person may also be the Plan Implementer.
The responsibilities of the Plan Implementer and the Plan Administrator include determining:
What are the plan versions, and which plan will be the working version for all planners.
Examples of plan versions include the 2006 three-year plan; or a reforecast for the second
half of the current year; or a what-if plan for evaluating the effects of a of a business
transaction. (More, below, under ―Plan Versions.‖)
How the plan is structured, including such things as the subplans and how they roll up into
the corporate plan, and which accounts are to be used for planning.
Who participates in planning activities, such as the Plan Administrator and department
planners.
When the plan is effective.
When the plan is due.
Plan Users
Plan users, also called planners, or planning managers, have budget-making authority. They log
in to Adaptive Planning to enter and manage the planning data for those parts of the business for
which they are responsible. Some planners will be responsible for individual departments, or cost
centers, or projects, etc. Other planning managers will roll up data from planners who report to
them, in addition to being responsible for their own planning.
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The Plan Structure
A plan may be composed of a corporate plan and subplans.
Subplans are lower-level plans, representing, for example, departments or projects. Subplans
can include their own lower-level plans. For example, the Sales plan may have subplans for each
sales region, or a specific project may have subplans for each team involved in the project.
The corporate plan is the top-level plan. It is a roll-up of all the subplans.
Sheets are the tools planners use to enter planning information, and where information is
grouped in ways meaningful to planners. For example, an expense sheet is used to enter
planning information for various expense accounts, such as travel or office supply expenses.
Planning accounts are in large part the same as those found in the general ledger chart of
accounts; these accounts share the GL names and codes. Only the accounts meaningful to
planners are used as planning accounts. Accounts are also used to hold imported actual data, in
order to compare plan against actual.
Access Control
Planning managers can view all the plans to which they have been given edit access. The Plan
Administrator gives planning managers access to plans, sheets, and accounts when configuring
the corporate plan.
The sheets and accounts selected by the Plan Administrator for each subplan depend upon the
function of the plan and level of planning detail required by the Plan Administrator. For example,
only departments responsible for generating revenue, such as Sales or Professional Services,
require access to the Sales Sheet and its associated accounts.
2. Getting Started: Logging Into a Plan
To login to a plan, go to www.adaptiveplanning.com, and select Customer Login. The next
screen will be the Home page of the company plan. Here is an opportunity to take a quick tour of
the plan features.
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3. User Interface: Using Tabs to Get Around
The application functionality is divided into key segments, represented by Tabs. The three tabs
that all users will see are Home, Sheets, and Reports. (There are additional tabs that may be
seen by some users, depending on their level of access.)
Home
On the Home tab, in the upper right corner, the following is displayed:
Profile This is a clickable link that takes presents a screen where
the user’s password can be updated.
Help This opens online Help.
Logout This is where the user can logout of the application.
The User Name and Company Name are displayed on the left side of the Adaptive Planning
Home page.
Multiple Plan Versions
Different versions of a plan can be created for different
purposes. The Plan Administrator creates the different plan
versions. A version represents a particular planning scenario,
such as the 2006 budget, or a reforecast for 2006 following the
first six months of the year, or the 2006 three-year (long-range)
plan, or a what-if plan for evaluating the effects of a business
transaction.
The Administrator determines which version is the current working version. This version is
displayed here on the Home page.
Clicking on the current working version presents a dropdown list of all available versions. Users
can change versions directly from here.
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Next to each version name is shown the version status. The status possibilities are ―Active‖ and
―Locked.‖ Active means that the planner can switch to this version and make changes to it.
Locked means that the version is closed and can not be edited.
The word ―Version‖ is itself also a link; clicking it displays a popup listing all of the available
versions and their descriptions.
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4. Sheets
Click on the Sheets Tab
Sheets are where planning information is entered, and where information is grouped in ways
meaningful to users. Sheets follow familiar formats such as revenue, expenses, and balance
sheet.
The sheet names are listed across the top, in the dark blue bar. A typical user will likely see
these sheets, which are all explained in sections below:
Overview
Expenses
Personnel
Capital
Sales (if the user is responsible for revenue planning)
Locals
The Sheets Overview page is open when the Sheets tab is selected, as shown here.
Each of the sheets can be accessed by clicking on its name in the Overview page, or by clicking
on its name in the dark blue bar.
(The Plan Submission section of the Overview page will be discussed below, in the Workflow
section.)
Plan Access
At the top right of every sheet, there is a Plan
Selector.
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Here, users can view their subset of the plan structure. This is a hierarchical structure composed
of a top-level corporate plan, and subplans – typically representing the corporate organizational
structure, projects, or some other structure meaningful to the corporation for planning purposes.
The model in the Express Edition has departments as its key organizational unit.
A planner might have responsibility for one or more departments. For
example, a Marketing manager might be responsible for planning both the
Advertising and the Public Relations departments. Both of these
departments would be listed in his plan selector, as shown here:
A different planner might have responsibility for a parent plan,
containing child plans (also called subplans.) For example, the
VP of Marketing is responsible for managing and rolling up the
plans of all of the marketing departments. This VP would see
something like this in his Plan Selector:
The entire plan structure, visible to the Plan Administrator
and any other user who needs to see the plan for the entire
corporation, might look like this:
The working plan is defined as the plan the planner is currently working in. When a planner is
editing sheets, the name of the working plan always appears in top right corner.
Planners can use the plan selector to change the plan they are working in. Plans can be
switched from any sheet.
Plan Rollups
A plan rollup is the collection of planning information from subplans (e.g. Marketing, as shown
above). As discussed above, the rollup structure is established and maintained by the Plan
Administrator.
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The Adaptive Planning application automatically rolls up values according to the planning tree.
The values in cells of each account for each time period in the plan are automatically summed as
the values roll up the plan structure, resulting in subtotals for and grand totals on the corporate
plan.
View vs. Edit Mode for Rollups
Any plan with subplans operates in two modes:
View Rollups mode for viewing plan rollups
Edit Plan mode for entering or editing values in the plan itself
Continuing the example above:
The VP of Marketing is responsible for overseeing the planning of all marketing expenses, and
purchases for the entire Marketing organization. The VP has delegated most planning
responsibility to product managers. However, the VP is responsible for planning his own
business travel and other expenses. The Marketing plan is therefore both a rollup of the plans
underneath it, and a planning center of its own. To enter travel expenses at the marketing plan
level, the VP must switch the Marketing plan to Edit Plan mode to enter the estimated travel and
expenses for the planning period. (More on this, below, in ―Entering Data via Standard Sheets.‖)
The Marketing plan, shown on the list above, is therefore a combination of the rollup of all the
product managers’ plans, plus expenses planned in ―Marketing‖ by the VP.
Planners can switch modes by clicking the View Rollups or Edit Plan radio button top
left of any sheet.
In View Rollups mode, cells cannot be edited. Buttons become inactive and the color of the cell
changes, indicating that cells cannot be edited.
There are two different types of sheets:
1. Standard Sheets
2. Modeled Sheets
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Standard Sheets
Click on Sheets, Expenses
The Expenses sheet is a standard sheet. Standard sheets display a grid, showing accounts
down the side and time periods across the top. The cells are used for entering numeric values or
formulas into accounts. Following are some examples of standard sheets:
Expenses sheets for planning monthly expenses
Business metrics sheets for tracking customer satisfaction, call center response, etc.
Balance sheets and cash flow statements
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Modeled Sheets
Modeled sheets contain underlying business logic for modeling financial events. There are three
types of modeled sheets:
Personnel sheet: for defining or updating
headcount details, and calculating monthly
salaries and benefit expenses
Sales sheet: for defining projected sales and
calculating bookings, accounts receivable, COGS, and
revenue
Capital Sheet: for defining planned capital purchases,
and calculating their depreciated values
How Modeled Sheets Work
Modeled sheets are created by the Plan Administrator to accept inputs from planners. Planners
enter forecasted drivers of revenue and/or expense, such as headcount, capital spending, and
sales orders. These drivers can be tagged with dimensions such as job code and product line.
Modeled sheets also allow planners to attach patterns to these drivers; patterns spread the
dollars out over future time periods (e.g. depreciation, revenue recognition.)
Behind the scenes, these inputs are used to automatically calculate revenue and expenses, e.g.
payroll and related expenses; depreciation; bookings, etc. These calculations are placed in
holding (modeled) accounts, e.g. ACCT.SalesSheet.Revenue. At this point, these calculated
values are stored in the database but are not yet displayed anywhere.
In order to view these calculated values in meaningful ways, the Plan Administrator links these
modeled accounts to the appropriate financial planning accounts, which will appear on sheets
and reports, e.g. Revenue. Then, for example, sheets can be created to show departmental
expenses; these will contain the calculated Payroll and Benefits, and Depreciation expenses. Or,
a Sales Summary sheet can be created to display and summarize forecasted units, bookings,
and revenue by product line.
Please see the supporting diagram, below.
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Personnel, Capital and Sales Sheets How Modeled
Sheets Work
Planners Input Drivers
Input Drivers, e.g.
Headcount
Attach Patterns, e.g.
Capital Spending
Depreciation spread
Sales Orders
Timing of invoicing of orders
Price Lists
Timing of revenue
Discounts
recognition
Tag Drivers, e.g.
Job Code
Benefits
Category
Project
Product
Region
P& L Accounts
Balance Sheet Accounts
Plan Administrator links holding
accounts to the appropriate planning
Inputs are used to automatically accounts, which will appear on
calculate payroll and related sheets and reports, e.g.
expenses; depreciation; Revenue
revenue, etc.
These calculations are placed in
holding (modeled) accounts,
e.g.
ACCT.SalesSheet.Revenue
Expense Sheets, Balance Sheets, Reports
Planning Accounts Shown Here
Sheets can be created to show Departmental
Expenses; these contain Payroll and Benefits,
and Depreciation expenses
P&L Reports can be created to show
revenue and expenses
Balance sheets can be created to show Accounts
Receivable and Fixed Asset balances
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Accounts
Adaptive Planning is a relational database. The key elements that each database record must
contain are plan (department), account, and time period. Accounts in Adaptive Planning are
used in ways above and beyond the traditional use of ―account‖ in a General Ledger. Accounts
can be used to display the results of modeling calculations, as described in ―Modeled Sheets,‖
above. Accounts can also be used to hold assumptions, or metrics, as described below.
Each sheet displays rows, representing accounts. Planners only see the accounts they have
been given permission to edit or view (―Read Only.‖) Many of the planning accounts are the
same as those found in the general ledger chart of accounts; these accounts will share the GL
names and codes. Some accounts may have sub-accounts. For example, the Utilities account
may have Phone, Internet, and Electric sub-accounts. The accounts and sub-accounts are set up
within the plan at the beginning, by the Plan Administrator.
Cumulative accounts, found on the balance sheet, can be planned either by changes in the
account, or by ending balances.
Within sheets, planning data is entered for specific time periods for each account.
Splits
A split provides a useful way for planners to enter additional detail or supporting calculations
within accounts. Using splits, multiple lines can be created within any given account. This can
eliminate the use of separate spreadsheets or notes to support budget numbers.
Split Example:
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For example, a marketing manager may have many different factors that affect Travel expense.
These might include travel related to trade shows, seminars, speaking opportunities, training, etc.
Using splits, this manager can create as many lines as necessary within the travel account,
detailing all of these different travel spending plans. These splits will add up to the total travel
budget for his department. This makes it easy for planners to document their planning
assumptions within the plan itself.
Splits roll up to a specific account. A user can enter any number of splits within an account, but
splits cannot be added to splits. Splits can be deleted and renamed, but not reordered. Splits
can be viewed by any user with access to this plan, but will not appear in the rolled-up corporate
plan. (So, for example, the manager’s VP who has access to this plan will be able to see these
splits, but they will not be seen in the total corporate rollup.)
Sheet Notes
Sheet Notes allow a user to add a note to a sheet and save it with that sheet for later viewing.
This provides an opportunity for explanation or additional detail about the numbers on the sheet.
Each sheet may have multiple notes, but the notes are associated with the sheet, not with the
user. Therefore, the notes are not private, in the sense that multiple users can see the same
notes. After a user makes notes on a sheet, any other user who has access to that sheet (at that
plan level or at a plan rollup level) will see and be able to edit the same notes. For example, a
note that the Advertising manager adds to the Expenses sheet will be seen by his manager, by
the VP of Marketing, and by any user with access to the total company plan.
Each note is stamped with the last updated date and user name.
The usefulness of this note feature will likely be in two main areas:
1. Users have a way to provide explanations for unusual numbers (e.g. ―Advertising
expense in August is high due to the Chicago trade show. ―)
2. Users have a way to leave notes to themselves or others regarding the budgeting
th
process (e.g. ―Not final; plan to finish by August 30 ; waiting on Sales numbers.‖)
Managers responsible for many departments rolling up together will be able to see all notes for a
sheet from all subplans, in one place. An example of how this would be useful: one manager
notes ―Assuming the merger.‖ Another notes ―Assuming no merger.‖ The manager viewing the
rollup of both will see both these conflicting notes in one convenient place.
The Notes section can be found at the bottom left of any sheet, as shown here:
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Sheet Note Functionality Details
1. Notes are unique to a sheet within a plan.
2. One note is available per sheet.
3. Notes on a sheet can be edited by any user with edit access to the access to that sheet
(at that plan level or at a plan rollup level.) To edit, a user can delete or add free-form
text to the notes box.
4. Length of note is significant (number of characters allowed is approximately 4,000.)
5. Three lines of text are visible at one time. Scroll
capability for the text box is available if text character
length is longer than the three lines.
6. The note box can be shown or hidden (expanded or
collapsed).
7. A new note can be added to a sheet which previously had none.
8. Each note, when saved, will be stamped with the last updated date and user name. (The
stamp is in the time zone of the server.)
9. Notes are version-specific.
10. When a version is copied (e.g. create a Forecast from a Budget), the notes will copy with
it.
11. Notes can be printed.
12. Notes can be viewed and printed at the rollup level.
13. In the Printable View of a sheet, the note is included at the bottom.
View All Notes from Subplans
Clicking on ―View All Notes‖ opens a popup window, where a rollup of all subplan notes can be
viewed and printed.
If the user is currently viewing a subplan that does not rollup other subplans, this ―View All Notes‖
link will not be available. Only if the user is viewing a plan with subplans will this link be shown.
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In the upper left corner of the View Notes window is a Sheet Selector drop-down list. The drop-
down will default to the sheet the user was in when the View All Notes link was clicked. The
drop-down will also include the names of other sheets which are available to this user in this plan
(except for Assumptions or Locals.)
The Plan Selector drop-down list is located on the top right in of the View Notes window. The
drop-down default is to the plan that was selected on the sheet when the View All Notes link was
clicked. The plan drop-down also includes the names of the other plans to which the user has
access.
Printable View
Every sheet has a ―Printable View‖ button that appears at both the top and bottom of the sheet.
This can be used to send the contents of the entire sheet, as it is shown on the screen, to Excel.
This can be useful for formatting the sheet contents in different ways, or including the data in
monthly reports outside of Adaptive Planning, etc.
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5. Headcount Planning
Click on Sheets, Personnel
Personnel sheets are used to plan headcount and drive related expenses, such as salaries and
benefits. (Personnel sheets are modeled sheets, containing underlying business logic for
modeling the monthly salary and benefit expenses of employing personnel.)
Personnel sheets are used to define or maintain headcount plans, and view headcount details.
The associated expense is seen elsewhere, on the Expense Sheet (more on this, below.)
Existing Headcount
Existing personnel records are entered by the Plan Administrator when setting up the corporate
plan, and can be modified by planners. When planners receive their plans for the first time, the
plans are already populated with existing headcount.
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Adding New Headcount
Planners can create new personnel records to plan for future employees by inserting new rows in
the personnel sheet.
The ―New‖ button in the lower left corner is used to add a new headcount.
A new headcount line is automatically created with some field defaults, which can be modified.
Headcount Fields
Whether maintaining existing headcount or adding new headcount, following are the fields that
may be edited or selected by the planning manager:
Last and first name. New personnel records have a default last name of TBH (To Be Hired,)
and the first name is the next ordered number available.
Other dimensions as set up by the Plan Administrator, such as ID, Title, Level, Job Code.
These are then available as drop-down lists. (For more information, see section called
―Dimensions,‖ below.)
Benefits: Various benefit rules are established by the Plan Administrator, and are then
available from a drop-down list. Examples include ―Yes,‖ ―No,‖ ―Tax, No Benefit,‖ ―Canada.‖
This enables planning managers to select the appropriate tax and benefit scenario for each
future employee.
Start and end date: the end date can be useful if an existing employee is planning to leave.
Hours per week: the default is 40.
Pay Rate and Per: the Planner can enter either an annual salary or an hourly wage, e.g.
$50,000 per year, or $15 per hour.
Viewing Benefit Calculations
Any Planner can view the benefit rules used to calculate benefit expenses on the personnel
sheet, by clicking on the lower right corner within a personnel sheet.
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A page displaying all benefit rules appears. These
rules are established and maintained by the Plan
Administrator.
Viewing Employee Expense Data
The personnel sheets, as explained above, contain the underlying assumptions about each
present and future headcount. To view the payroll expenses related to headcount, the user
must go to the Expenses sheet, where payroll expense numbers can be seen.
Click on Sheets, Expenses
When a personnel (headcount) record is created, the personnel sheet calculates salary, benefits,
and headcount and places those values in the following accounts:
Personnel.headcount account: contains the head count of each personnel for each month in
the plan for all plans.
Personnel.salary account: contains the calculated monthly salary of each individual for each
month in the plan for all plans.
Personnel.benefits account: contains the calculated benefit expense of each individual for
each month in the plan for all plans.
The calculated salaries, benefits, and headcount from the Personnel sheet are normally then
displayed in other accounts in the corporate plan, such as the Payroll account on the Expenses
sheet. The Plan Administrator determines how salary and benefit expenses are shown in these
accounts. (See section above, ―How Modeled Sheets Work,‖ for more information.)
Department planners can see the headcount drivers by returning to the personnel sheet, and they
can see the benefit calculations by following the Benefits link from the personnel sheet, as
described above.
Please see Appendix A,
Exercise 1: Add a Headcount
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6. Entering Data on Standard Sheets
Click on Sheets, Expenses
The section above describes how headcount-related expenses are driven by the Personnel
Sheet, modeled by the application, and displayed on a standard sheet (Expenses.) There are
other modeled expenses that users may see on standard sheets, for example, depreciation or
cost of goods sold. These expenses and the way they are calculated are described in sections
below, ―Capital Planning‖ and ―Revenue Planning.‖
But most accounts on standard sheets contain data that is entered by a user. There are several
ways that users can enter or edit data via standard sheets. They include:
Entering values
Entering formulas
Copying values forward
Editing rollup values
Copying and pasting from within or outside the application
Splitting one account into many rows of detail
Editing a Cell
Not all cells can be edited. The cells are color coded to indicate whether data can be added to a
particular cell.
White: Cell can be edited
Tan: Cell value represents a roll up; can be edited
Grey: Cell cannot be edited
Users can enter data directly into an editable cell, in the following ways:
1. Enter values and formulas: numeric values can be entered directly into a cell; a
formula can be entered into the cell edit box (or can be entered using the Formula
Assistant.) More on this, below.
2. Copy values forward in the plan: Copying values forward provides the opportunity to
copy the contents of the selected cell into future periods of time. Copying values forward
is useful when accounts are expected to stay the same or to increase or decrease at a
defined rate over time.
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Numeric values or formulas can be copied forward from any cell that can be edited,
including rollups.
3. Insert rows to create splits: A split is a supporting calculation for accounts. See
―Splits,‖ above, in ―Accounts.‖)
4. Edit time period rollups: Editing a time period rollup (e.g. Q1) is quick
way to update totals and redistribute the new total among time periods
(e.g. Jan, Feb, Mar.)
Editing a time period rollup may present the user with one of the
following dialogue boxes:
Formulas
Formulas allow the calculation of numeric values in cells. Formulas cannot be used in cells
containing dates, text, and list boxes. A formula can be entered directly into the selected cell,
from the cell edit box, or by using the Formula Assistant.
The Formula Assistant helps planners construct syntactically correct formulas. It is used primarily
for inserting valid accounts, assumptions, qualifiers, and functions into a formula.
Note: if a formula is written in improper syntax, for example, using a circular reference, the cell
being edited will display a pink box as shown here:
If the pink cell is selected, there will be an explanation at the bottom of the page, describing the
error; for example:
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Copy and Paste
Users can copy and paste arbitrary blocks of cells into, out of, or within the application.
1. Users can copy one or more rows of data at once, for pasting into Excel spreadsheets or
other applications. (Note: if a formula is selected to be copied, it will be the formula, not
the result of the formula that is pasted. If the result of the formula is required, Printable
View is a better choice than copy/paste.)
2. Users can copy one or more rows of data or formulas from an Excel spreadsheet and
paste them into an Adaptive Planning grid.
3. Users can also copy blocks of data from Adaptive Planning and paste them elsewhere in
Adaptive Planning.
Selection of Data to be Copied
Users can select a block of cells by clicking on one cell and dragging the mouse while holding the
button down, thereby selecting a rectangle of cells. A single click on a cell will select only that
cell. (This functionality also allows for selecting multiple rows on a modeled sheet, then deleting
all the selected rows at once.)
The live cell is the one cell in a selection which is live for keyboard entry (or Formula Assistant)
purposes. If a user selects a large block of cells and types a number (e.g. "2"), the number typed
is placed only in the live cell. The rest of the selection is not affected, and remains selected.
Column headers or row headers cannot be selected, even in multi-select blocks. However,
text or dimension cells in modeled sheets which are not part of the headers can be selected.
Copying
The CTRL-C key combination is used to trigger the copy. There is no other button or menu item
with this capability.
When columns or rows are collapsed, CTRL-C copies the underlying columns and/or rows,
and acts as though the area being copied was fully expanded both vertically and horizontally,
even if it is not. For example, a user is in a standard sheet and collapses all the months and
quarters so that only the year rollups are visible as columns. He then copies a block of cells. The
clipboard will include the data from all the months that are inside the years which have been
selected, and will not contain columns for the year rollups themselves. In another example, the
user has collapsed the dimension columns on a sales sheet. He then selects a block which
covers that area. The hidden dimension values are included in the copy, and the visible "..."
column is not. (As mentioned above, the Printable View feature shows the data collapsed in the
way that it is currently displayed on the screen.)
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Similarly, the ―paste‖ command inserts data into all cells in the range, regardless of whether they
are visible or collapsed.
In general, clicking on a column or row header on a sheet will not do anything with respect to
copy and paste (nothing will be selected, etc.)
For cells containing formulas, the copying places the formula, not the numeric result of the
formula, on the clipboard. For text cells (e.g. dimension values,) the text is what is copied.
Blank cells will be copied as blankness (the empty string), not as zeroes.
Pasting
The CTRL-V key combination is used to trigger the paste. There is no other button or menu item
with this capability.
Pasting into Adaptive Planning does different things depending on the area currently selected to
be pasted into:
1. When a single cell is selected, CTRL-V pastes the entire contents of the clipboard
starting at that cell, overwriting downward and/or rightward as needed. If a particular
clipboard entry is numeric, it is pasted as a number; if it is text, it is pasted as a formula.
Pasting when a single cell is selected also behaves differently depending on what sheet a
user is in:
If the user is currently in a standard sheet or a capital sheet, and pasting the
clipboard contents would extend into a rollup row, an asset class row, or a read-
only row; or would extend "off the bottom" of the sheet, then CTRL-V pastes
where it is possible to do so, and does not paste into the non-pastable areas (the
rollup or read-only row), discarding any numbers or data in those slots of the
paste. For example, a user copies four rows of data in Excel and tries to paste it
into a three-row Standard sheet. Only the first three rows of the sheet are
replaced with the first three rows of Excel data; the fourth row of Excel data is
ignored.
If the user is currently in a sales or personnel sheet, and the clipboard contents
would extend "off the bottom", then rows are added to contain the additional
contents. If new rows are created and no values are included in the paste for
those columns, default values are used for the new row settings (the same as if
the user had clicked the New Row or New Personnel button); otherwise, the
values in the paste are used.
2. When a range is selected, CTRL-V pastes the top left rectangle of the clipboard data into
the selected range, overwriting the selected range.
Pasting into a read-only row will silently fail (the paste will not occur, but no error
will be shown.)
In general, paste skips time rollup columns (time rollup columns and "hidden rule columns" on a
Sales Sheet are treated as though they were fully expanded, even if they are not.)
When pasting into a menu cell (a cell that has a dropdown menu of possible values, like a rule
selection), the paste must be a valid selection for the menu. Otherwise an error message will be
displayed, and the paste will not work.
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If the clipboard contents are too small to fill the current grid selection, the clipboard contents will
be pasted as far as they will go, and the rest of the selection will be left unchanged.
When pasting in such a fashion that new rows are thus created, any cells in the newly
created rows that are not being filled in by the paste itself are padded, unless those cells
are dimension or pattern cells with default values, in which case they are "padded" with
their default values.
Note: Since column A on a standard or capital sheet (the row header column where
account names and split labels exist) can never be selected, it can never be pasted into.
Note that pasting only occurs in columns which are part of the current target selection
(though pasting may, at its discretion, add new rows if needed on some sheets.)
Selection Involving Splits
If a selection contains only split rows within a single account, the existing buttons for splits will
remain active. The content of the clipboard and contents of selected rows have no effect on
whether these operations are allowed:
"Add" will add new splits, except it will add n new splits, where n is the number of split
rows currently selected.
"Delete" will delete all the selected splits.
The "Copy Row" button (found on Sales and Personnel sheets) will copy the selected splits, but
not to the clipboard. The copied splits will be added to the bottom of the current split set.
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Please see Appendix A,
Exercise 2: Add a Non-Headcount Expense
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7. Dimensions, Patterns, and Assumptions
Dimensions, Patterns, and Assumptions are created and managed by the Plan Administrator.
They are available for use by other planners, but can be created and modified only by the Plan
Administrator.
Dimensions
Dimensions are fields which are defined by the Plan Administrator. A dimension is an attribute
with a list of possible values. Dimensions are used in modeled sheets to allow users to tag and
view data in different groupings, such as personnel by job title, or sales by product, or sales by
region. Please see ―Headcount Planning,‖ above, and ―Revenue Planning,‖ below, for examples
of dimensions.
Patterns
A pattern specifies the spread of an account's data over time. The concept of patterns is
demonstrated, below, in the section titled ―Revenue Planning.‖
Patterns can be useful in modeling revenue recognition, invoicing, depreciation, pre-paid
expenses, etc. Patterns are set up by the Plan Administrator and can then be used in Modeled
sheets.
Example:
Assumptions
Assumptions are values or calculations that the Plan Administrator creates and assigns to a
particular expense or other financial event. These assumptions are global, in the sense that
although they cannot be modified by planners, they are available to planners to use in sheet
calculations.
Expenses Calculated Using Assumptions
Some expenses have calculations driven by
Assumptions. Planners may see their plans
already populated with such calculated
expenses, set up ahead of time by the Plan
Administrator, to establish uniform
assumptions across the company.
For example, see ―Supplies‖ expense:
The Plan Administrator has created the
formula:
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=ACCT.Personnel.Headcount*ASSUM.Supplies_per_Employee
This means that the headcount for this department in this month (pulled from the Personnel
Sheet), multiplied by an assumption called ―Supplies per Employee‖, calculates the supplies
expense for the month. (Note: This methodology can be used by planners to drive any
appropriate expense from headcount. Use the Formula Assistant to multiply
ACCT.Personnel.Headcount by a variable or by an assumption.)
Similarly, calculated expenses such as Allocation In or Allocation Out may be set up by the Plan
Administrator using formulas and/or assumptions; these cells typically would not be editable by
other planners.
The way that planners access these assumptions is through the Formula Assistant, within sheets.
A planner can create a formula which includes an assumption created by the Plan Administrator,
as in the example below:
Assumptions can take many forms, including the following:
As absolute values, e.g. ―Supplies per Employee Per Month‖ = $25
As calculations, pulling components from different accounts within different subplans, e.g.
―Total Allocation Expense‖ =ACCT.Salary[plan=IT]+ACCT.Benefit_Load[plan=IT]
+ACCT.Contractors[plan=IT]+ACCT.Marketing[plan=IT]+ACCT.Travel[plan=IT]+ACCT.Rent
[plan=IT]+ACCT.Supplies[plan=IT]
As a stepping stone to provide information to planners, numbers to which they would not
otherwise have access. For example, a planner might not have the access necessary to see
total depreciation expense for the entire company. But the Plan Administrator can create a
global assumption with this formula:
=ACCT.Total_Depreciation[rollup=yes]
And then any planner could use the total company depreciation expense to drive sheet
calculations.
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Locals
Individual planners can also create their own assumptions, using the Locals sheet. These
assumptions are then available only in that plan. (But any user who has access to this plan can
see the Local.)
Please see Appendix A,
Exercise 3: Add a Headcount-Driven Expense
Exercise 4: Add a Local Assumption
Exercise 5: Add an Expense Item Driven by the Local Assumption
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8. Capital Planning
Click on Sheets, Capital
The Capital sheet provides a place to enter planned capital expenditures, such as furniture or
software purchases. Behind the scenes, the Capital sheet models the financial events associated
with capital purchases that depreciate over time.
The Capital Sheet is similar to the Personnel sheet, in that both are Modeled sheets, whose data
and assumptions are used to drive expenses that appear on the Expenses sheet. Here, planned
asset purchases are assigned a depreciation schedule (a ―pattern‖), and the resulting impact is
shown on the Expenses sheet.
Behind the scenes, and setup at the beginning by the Plan Administrator, the Capital sheet
places input values and resulting calculations in four accounts for each type of asset in the
Capital Sheet, where account_name is the name of the asset account, such as computer,
furniture, or equipment:
Account_name_price account: contains the cost per unit of planned purchases for all plans.
Account_name_quant account: contains the planned number of units purchased during for
each month in the plan for all plans.
Account_name_value_account: contains the extended total purchase price for units
purchased during each month in the plan for all plans. The purchase price is calculated by
multiplying the price per unit by the quantities purchased. This is the account that will be
referred to on the balance sheet and cash flow statement.
Account_name_deprec account: contains each purchase’s depreciation spread over time
according to the selected depreciation pattern. (To view the resulting planned depreciation
expense, the planner must go to the Expenses sheet and view ―Depreciation Expense.‖)
Planners define planned purchases by inserting a split into an asset account, entering the cost of
purchasing one unit, selecting a depreciation pattern, and entering or calculating the number of
units planned to be purchased for each time period. (Note: instead of entering the projected unit
x cost per unit, the cost can be set to $1, and the total projected spending can be entered as
units. This would make more sense in certain types of planning, such as for Leasehold
Improvements.)
In the example pictured here, the
planner inserted a split into the
Hardware account, then entered the
description ―Laptop,‖ followed by the
cost, $1,500, then chose ―3 Yr
Spread‖ as the depreciation pattern:
Please see Appendix A,
Exercise 6: Add a Capital Purchase
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9. Revenue Planning
Click on Sheets, Sales
Sales sheets are used to plan for the future sales of products and services over the life of the
plan. Sales sheets model the financial events associated with generating revenue — from the
initial booking to revenue recognition — based on the sales units entered into each month of the
plan.
The Sales sheet is similar to the Personnel and Capital sheets, in that all are Modeled sheets,
whose data and assumptions are used to drive calculations that will be displayed on Expenses or
P&L sheets. (Please see section above, ―How Modeled Sheets Work,‖ for more information on
this.) In this case, each time a planner defines and saves a projected sale, the Sales sheet
gathers the sales units entered in each month in the unit account, and then calculates the
bookings, accounts receivables, COGS, and revenues generated each month. For example:
Units account: contains planned units sold during each month for each projected sale in all
plans.
Booking account: contains the calculated bookings generated during each month in the plan
for each projected sale in all plans.
Invoicing account: contains the calculated change to accounts receivable generated during
each month in the plan for each projected sale in all plans.
COGS account: contains the calculated cost of goods sold for each unit sold during each
month for each projected sale in all plans.
Revenue account: contains the calculated revenue generated during each month in the plan
for each projected sale in all plan, based on the selected revenue recognition patterns.
Please note that the Plan Administrator names and establishes these accounts, so variations may
occur from plan to plan.
Projected Sales and Related Fields
Sales Sheets allow the user to apply Dimensions, Patterns, Price Lists, and COGS selections that
have been established by the Plan Administrator.
When a Planner enters a projected sale into the Sales sheet, by inserting a split, following are
examples of the fields that may be edited or selected:
Row Label: Contains descriptions of the unit being sold, e.g. Widget 1 or Service 2
Other dimensions as set up by the Plan Administrator, such as Product, Region or Type.
These will then be available as drop-down lists. (For more information, see section called
―Dimensions,‖ above.)
Patterns as set up by the plan Administrator, such as Revenue Recognition (e.g. One Year
Spread); Invoicing (e.g. Upfront); Price (e.g. Widget 1); COGS (e.g. Widget 1). (For more
information, see section called ―Patterns,‖ above.)
Other fields where values can be entered, such as Discount %.
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A numeric value or formula is entered in each time period to specify the estimated planned
units plan to be sold during each of those periods. (A formula may drive the units from an
assumption, such as a planner’s quota.) Note: the units x price methodology does not have
to be used; instead, a price of one can be entered, with the total dollar forecast entered into
the units field.
When creating a new sale item, planners can view the details of dimensions and patterns by
selecting the link from the Details area below the sheet. These patterns can be viewed, but not
modified by planners; only the Plan Administrator can modify patterns.
Sales Summary Sheet
The Plan Administrator may also set up a sheet called Sales Summary, whose purpose is to
summarize units sold, bookings, and revenue by the different dimensions in the plan. Example:
Please see Appendix A,
Exercise 7: Enter Forecasted Sales Data
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10. Reports
Click on the Reports Tab
The Reports tab is available to all planners. Reports provide useful analysis, because they can
bring together data from many different areas of the company, and that data can be sorted and
subtotaled in several different ways. (Sheets, on the other hand, relate to a specific department,
cost center or project.) Many reports are created for planners by the Plan Administrator, but
planners have the ability to create their own reports as well.
Reports are templates, or ways of looking into the database and gathering data in meaningful
ways, so most reports contain no actual data. They are like windows into the planning database.
Filters or time ranges can be changed to modify the view of the data. Each planner will only see
the data to which he has been given access.
Because most reports are ways of looking into the database, and contain no actual data, they can
be created and deleted without affecting the underlying data. They can also be changed
dynamically, with the changes evident immediately, because reports don’t have to be ―run‖ like
they do in a General Ledger.
Shared Reports
The Plan Administrator can create these report templates to organize expenses in the ways that
most departmental planners are used to seeing their data. All planners can open the same
Shared Report template, but each will see only the data to which he has been given access.
My Reports
Planners can create their own reports, to view their own data in meaningful ways, but these
reports will not be available to other planners.
Global Reports
Global reports, also created by the Plan Administrator, are made available to all planners, but
these reports actually contain data. The data in these reports is typically high-level, rolled up data
that the Administrator would like all planners to see, but to whose underlying detail they have no
access, e.g. the corporate P&L statement. Planners can see the high-level data in these reports,
but cannot drill down into the supporting detail.
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From the Reports page, existing reports can be selected, or new reports can be created.
Within the main Report menu, each existing report
name has a down-arrow next to it. When this arrow
is selected, a menu will appear, allowing the user to
choose from three different options for the report,
as shown here:
These same options are available by clicking on the report name; this menu simply provides a
shortcut. For example, a report can be modified without first being generated and viewed.
Creating Reports
All planners have access to the Reports tab, and can create
new reports. Following are some things to understand about
creating new reports:
The report must be named, but this can wait until the end of the report-creation process.
Report Type
A report type must be chosen.
A basic report shows accounts down the left side, and time periods across the top.
Accounts can be chosen by preset groupings, or in custom ordering chosen by the
planner. A P&L Statement is in basic report format.
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A dimension report shows dimensions down the side, and time periods across the top.
One or two dimensions must be chosen, and accounts can be chosen in any
combination as in the basic report. The first column of the report is the first dimension;
the values in the report are the chosen account values for each dimension displayed by
time period. The second dimension, if selected, is the second column and its values are
repeated for each value in the first dimension. Some examples of dimension reports
include expenses by department, revenue by product, revenue by region, and revenue
by sales representative.
A pattern report shows patterns down the side, and time periods across the top. This
report shows how a depreciation, revenue recognition, or invoicing pattern spreads
values from one account to another over time. The source time range and the output
time range must be chosen. The report shows the source time range down the left side,
and the output time range across the top. That data is for one account, e.g. hardware
depreciation expense. This report shows, for example, how hardware purchased in one
time period affects depreciation expense in other time periods.
A cash flow report shows chosen accounts down the left side, and time periods across
the time. Accounts can be chosen by preset groupings, or in custom ordering chosen by
the Planner. This report shows the cash flow impact of activity in various accounts.
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Include Groups of Data
Once the report type is chosen, the next screen allows the planner to specify which groups of
data are to be included in the report. By default, Account Group appears in the list. This group
can be removed, or changed. There must be at least one group, and each group must have at
least one account. Any number of groups can be added to a report (except for a Dimension
report, which can have only one group.)
For a basic report type, Group Details can be used to rename the group, make the group a report
heading (e.g. Expense), and show group subtotals. Dimension reports do not have headings or
subtotals.
There are two check boxes that display heading and subtotals. Checking them will cause the
name of the group (in this case, ―Expenses‖) to be displayed on the report, as will the grand total
of all the accounts that have been selected to fall under the ―Expense‖ group. This may be
redundant if the sheet was created to contain a pre-established group, such as PL expense.
Displaying headings and subtotals is a better choice if accounts have been individually added to a
sheet, or if new groups have been created just for this sheet
Example of sheet WITHOUT ―Display
Heading‖ and ―Display Subtotals‖ checked.
Note that the group ―PL Expense‖ still
displays its own heading and total.
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Example of sheet WITH ―Display
Heading‖ and ―Display Subtotals‖
checked. Note that the group ―PL
Expense‖ still displays its own heading,
but the additional heading ―Expenses‖
also appears. This report did not need
these choices to be selected.
Apply Filters
Once the accounts have been chosen for the report, the next screen presents Filter choices
which allow planners to specify a version, a time range, or to filter a report by plan, account, or by
any dimension created by the Plan Administrator.
The filters will be useful when
the report is complete, and a
planner wants to use the report
to drill down into underlying
detail (see section below,
―Report Drill Down.‖)
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When ―Change Available Filters‖ is selected, the following view appears, allowing the user to
choose the filters that are relevant to the report being created:
When creating a report and applying filters, the user should consider the different ways that data
will be sorted and analyzed, using this report.
―All Owned Plans‖ can be selected if the report creator intends to share this report with others.
This way, whichever planner uses the report will see all of his owned plan data when viewing the
report. This is a good choice to make when a report is going to be shared with many users; if
specific plans were selected instead, the report would not even appear in the shared report
section for users whose plans were not included in the selection.
Comparison Reports
The next screen presents an opportunity to make the report a Comparison Report. (This entire
section can be skipped if comparison is not desired, by clicking ―Next‖ at the bottom of the
screen.)
Align Start and End Dates of Compared Versions
If Version Comparison is selected, the current version can be compared to other versions, which
are chosen from a pick list. In this example, the current version will be compared to actuals. The
―Align Versions‖ box presents opportunities to move the alignment of start and end dates
backwards and forwards by month or year.
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Clicking on the left and right year and month buttons provides an opportunity to move the
alignment of both versions’ start and end dates backwards and forwards until their dates are
matched appropriately.
Compare Time Periods within Same Version
Sometimes users want to compare time periods within one plan version. For example, the
Budget for 2005 needs to be compared to the plan for 2004. To accomplish this, Version 1 and
Version 2 are the same, and the dates are lined up appropriately, as shown below:
When comparing different time periods within the same version, the two best ways to choose the
versions are:
1. Choose ―Always use the current version‖ twice. This report will always compare different
years within the current version, whatever the current version is.
2. Explicitly choose the same version twice, e.g. #1 = ―Budget 2005‖ and #2 = ―Budget
2005,‖ instead of using the ―Always use the current version‖ default. This report will
always compare different years within Budget 2005, no matter what the current version
is.
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Unintended consequences could result down the road if #1 were to equal ―Always use the current
version,‖ and #2 = Budget 2005. The report would produce the intended result at the moment,
when the current version is Budget 2005. But later, when the current version becomes something
else, this report would no longer compare Budget 2005 to Budget 2005.
Time Ranges of the Comparison Report
The time range of the comparison report is always driven off the first version. Any portions of the
second version that do not align with the first version (overhang at either the beginning or the
end) will not be shown on the report. If there are time periods in the first version that do not align
with any dates in the second version, the report will show those time periods with numbers from
the first version and ―N/A‖ in place of numbers from the second version.
When filters are applied, choose Jan-05 (in this example) so that the report will begin with this
month.
Even though the time range of the report is driven off the first version, data from outside this
range can be displayed from the second version depending on how it is aligned. In this example,
the date range of the first version is narrowed to be Jan 2005 through Jan 2007. But since the
user has set up Jan 2004 of the second version to align with Jan 2005 of the first version, this
2004 data is included on the report, as shown here:
Display Options
After the Report Comparison screen, the next screen provides an opportunity to choose the way
a report is displayed, as shown here:
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At this point, the report can be viewed on the screen by clicking ―View Report.‖ The ―View
Repeating‖ option will lay out the report differently in Excel, creating a separate tab for each
department or other value selected from the drop-down list, as shown here:
Report Drill Down
Once a report has been created, and it is open on the screen, clicking on the ―Analyze‖ button in
the upper right corner will cause the report to have underlying detail, which can be drilled into.
When report values are highlighted, a line
appears underneath the value, indicating that a
mouse click will provide drill-down into
underlying values.
A menu at the top of the report shows the dimension of the next
drill-down. In this example, clicking on any of the report values,
such as relocation expense, will provide Plan detail underlying
this number.
The Filter choices on this report were specified when the report
was created.
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Once a user has drilled down into underlying detail, he can drill back up the same path.
For example, once the user has drilled into the $12,574 relocation number and has discovered
that this has been planned by World Wide Operations and Manufacturing, he can drill back up to
the account summary level, then drill down into other numbers as desired.
The drill-down dimension order can be changed from a pick
list. For example, starting at the highest level, expenses by
account, a user can drill down into department detail, as shown
above. Alternatively, he can choose a different dimension as
shown here:
At any point during the drill down, filters can be re-chosen. In this example, the filter is driving
which account is being displayed.
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For example, the user has drilled into the department detail of the relocation expense number, as
shown above. Now he would like to see similar department detail for a different expense number,
e.g. the Travel & Entertainment account, Air Fares. He could drill back up to accounts, select the
Air Fares account, and click on it. Or, instead and more efficiently, he could choose ―Change
Filters,‖ navigate to Air Fares, and the report changes to show the department detail within this
account.
Formatting in Printable View
Any report can be viewed in Excel by choosing
―Printable View‖ from within the report choices.
Now, format changes to the Printable View, made
in Excel, can be saved as a Template, which can
be reused whenever the report is viewed.
Note: The report must be first saved in order to have an associated template.
Any saved report can be opened, and ―Printable View‖ will be one of the report choices:
Once the Printable View of the report is opened in Excel, changes can be made to the formatting,
such as font color, the Excel file can then be saved. (The user should make a note of the file
name and location.)
Then, the user can go back to the report from within Adaptive Planning, and click on the ―Change
Template‖ button in the upper right corner:
The Excel file that was just saved, the one with the changed format, can be located as shown
here:
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After choosing ―View Report,‖ and answering ―yes‖ when prompted to Save, the following screen
will be shown, to indicate that the report’s template is now updated to be the saved Excel file:
What this means is that the next time the report is sent to Printable View, it can be opened in
Excel using the template that was just created and saved. This allows users to set up a report
format and designate it as the default format. This can be useful, for example, if users have
regular month-end reporting packages that they are required to submit to upper management, in
certain formats.
There are a few things that users should understand about this new reporting format functionality:
1. A user might want to format specific cells on a report, to call attention to a certain
number. For example, the report template may have cell F15 formatted in a different
color to call attention to it, as in this example:
If the report later changes in some way so that it has a different number of rows or columns, and
the report is viewed in Excel using this template (from Printable View), the blue cell F15 may no
longer have the same meaning that it did before. Cell F15 will hold the blue formatting, even if
the Marketing number shown above is now in cell F17, due to more rows now being on the report.
Therefore, if a report setup changes, the template should be reviewed to make sure that it is still
formatted appropriately.
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2. When a report is sent again to an existing template, the previous content of the report is
erased, leaving the format intact. The new content reflects the results of the report at this
moment. Since the content is erased each time the report is viewed from within the Excel
template, any text that has been added (e.g. comments) will also be erased.
Here is an example of text that has been added by the user, but would be erased next time the
report is viewed from this Excel template:
If a user wants to add rows or columns from within the Excel template, or add text or comments,
as shown here, one solution is to add another tab to the Excel template. The data in this
additional tab can be linked to the first tab. In this type of report, Adaptive Planning writes its data
into the first tab, and leaves all other tabs unaffected. The second tab can have a different
structure, with additional rows, columns, and text as needed. The linked values will be updated
whenever the report is generated, and all formats and comments will be preserved.
3. If a report is viewed as a Repeating report, when it is sent to Printable View, the resulting
Excel file will automatically have multiple tabs. In this case, a user would NOT want to
add new tabs to the template, because each time the report is re-sent to the template, it
will erase content from all tabs, and re-send the new content. Tab formats are saved
each time, but the content is erased from all tabs.
For example, a Repeating report might have a different tab for each Department included in the
report. Such a report might result in an Excel file that has four tabs, one for each included
department. The next time the report is viewed, perhaps it includes only three departments.
When the report is now viewed from within the saved Excel template, the content of the original
four tabs is erased, and only three tabs now contain data.
Please see Appendix A,
Exercise 8: Create a New Basic Report
Exercise 9: Create a New Dimension Report
Exercise 10: Create a New Repeating Report
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11. Workflow
As department managers complete their portions of the plan, they can submit them for approval
to their managers, who can then submit them further up the hierarchy, until the entire version is
approved by the appropriate planner.
This workflow functionality is included in the new Enterprise edition of Adaptive Planning, but all
current Adaptive Planning customers (as of October, 2006) will be granted access to the
Enterprise features under the terms of their existing agreements.
There are two new screens to support the new Workflow functionality: a Sheets Overview page
(accessed via the Sheets tab,) and a Workflow page (accessed via its own tab).
For illustrative purposes, this document explaining Workflow functionality will present examples
using the following simple plan tree and user responsibility:
Notice that the Advertising plan, managed by Glenn Walton, rolls up under Marketing
Communications, managed by Meredith Bay. Marketing Communications, in turn, rolls up under
the entire Marketing function, owned by Mary Jansen.
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12. Sheets Overview Page
Click on the Sheets Tab, then on Overview
The Sheets Overview page (available to all users) lists all of the existing sheets available to this
plan. (Sheets can be accessed either from this bulleted list, or by clicking on the sheet name in
the upper dark blue bar.) The Overview page also provides the current workflow status
information for the current plan.
Below the list of sheets is a Plan Submission area.
Here, the current plan name is displayed; this is the same plan that is selected in the plan drop-
down in the top right corner.
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The Plan Submission area shows the status of the current plan. The user can enter a note,
which is saved by clicking the "Save Note" button, or by clicking any of the possible Action
Buttons. The actions available to a subplan owner are Submit and Recall. The actions available
to a parent plan owner are Submit, Recall, Approve, and Reject (more on this, below.)
Plan Status
The possible plan statuses are:
In Progress
This plan can be edited by the owner or anyone above the owner on the rollup tree.
This is the normal state of a plan. In this state, plans are fully editable by users with
rights to edit the plan, if the version is still marked as ―In Progress.‖
Example: Glenn Walton is still working on his Advertising plan, which is .
His manager, Meredith Bay, can also make changes to it.
Submitted for Review
This plan has been submitted by the owner or to the parent plan owner. Once submitted,
the plan can not be edited by the owner, but it can be edited by the parent or anyone
above the owner on the rollup tree.
The owner of a parent plan can not submit his plan unless all subplans are approved.
A plan owner can recall a submitted plan (―un-submit‖ it, so they can continue editing it,)
but only if the parent plan is still "In Progress" or is "Rejected."
Example: Glenn Walton has submitted his Advertising plan to his manager, Meredith
Bay, for review. The Advertising plan status is now
Approved
This plan was previously submitted, and an owner of a parent plan has approved this
plan.
This plan can no longer be edited (unless the plan is subsequently un-submitted).
A plan owner can recall an Approved plan (so they can continue editing it,) but only if the
parent plan is still "In Progress" or is "Rejected."
Example: Meredith Bay has approved the Advertising plan. The status is now .
Glenn cannot make any changes to the plan unless he first recalls it.
Rejected
This plan was previously submitted, and an owner of a parent plan has rejected this plan.
This plan can still be edited.
In all ways, the "rejected" state acts as though the plan were in "In Progress" state,
except for the visual appearance of the state.
Plan owners can still "submit" rejected plans, at which point the state returns to
"Submitted".
Example: Meredith Bay did not approve the Advertising plan; it still needs some work.
Instead of ―Approved,‖ the status is
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Locked
This plan was previously approved, and an owner of the parent has subsequently
submitted the plan.
This plan can no longer be edited at all, unless it is moved back to Approved state by the
parent plan owner; the current plan owner cannot take any action to unlock this plan. A
plan can only become unlocked if the parent plan owner recalls the plan, at which point
the plan switches back to Approved state.
A plan owner can not recall a Locked plan.
Example: After further revisions, Glenn Walton resubmits his Advertising plan to his
manager, Meredith Bay. Meredith approves it and submits it along with the rest of
Marketing Communications to the VP of Marketing. Since it has been approved two
steps up the planning tree, the status of the Advertising plan is now
Date and User Stamp
The application stores the date of and the user responsible for the most recent status change.
The date stamp is rendered in the server time zone. The name stamp is clickable; clicking on it
creates a new email to this user.
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What a Plan Owner (with no Subplans) Can Do
On the Sheets Overview page, the plan owner has the ability to enter notes, save those notes,
and perform the following actions:
1. Submit the plan.
The ―Submit Plan for Review‖ button is
available if the plan is in the ―In Progress‖
state.
Once the plan is submitted, the plan status will
change from ―In Progress‖ to ―Submitted.‖
Once the plan is submitted, the ―Submit Plan‖
button changes to ―Recall Plan Submission.‖
At this point the plan in read-only.
Example: Glenn Walton has been working on the Advertising plan, which is ―In
Progress.‖ He finishes his planning, and submits it for review by the Meredith, his
manager and owner of Marketing Communications.
2. Recall the plan submission.
The plan status will change from ―Submitted‖ to ―In
Progress.‖
Once the plan is recalled, the ―Recall‖ button reverts
to ―Submit Plan for Review.‖ At this point the plan can
be edited.
Note: the plan owner can recall a submitted plan
only if that plan has not already been submitted
by the parent plan owner. If the parent plan has
been submitted, the current plan switches to the
―Locked‖ state and cannot be recalled.
Example: Glenn remembers something he forgot to include. Since his manager has
not yet submitted the overall Marketing Communications plan to the Marketing VP for
review, Glenn can ―Recall Plan Submission‖ and make the changes to the
Advertising plan.
Also, if the current plan has been approved by a parent owner
and the parent owner has not yet submitted this plan,
The current plan status will be ―Approved.‖
The ―Recall Plan Submission‖ button will be available.
Example: Glenn submitted the Advertising plan to the
Marketing Communications manager, who approved it
(but has not yet submitted the entire Communications
rollup to the VP of Marketing.) Glenn can still ―Recall
Plan Submission‖ to make additional changes.
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If the current plan is approved and the parent owner has submitted the plan,
The current plan status will be ―Locked.‖
No action button will be available.
Example: Glenn has resubmitted the
Advertising plan to Meredith, who has
approved it and has submitted the entire
Marketing Communications plan to her
manager, the VP of Marketing. Meanwhile,
Glenn, the Advertising manager, checks to
see if he can make changes to the Advertising
plan. He cannot; the Advertising plan is
Locked.
If the current plan is rejected by a parent plan owner,
The current plan status will be ―Rejected.‖
The ―Submit Plan for Review‖ button will be
available, and the plan can be edited.
Example: The VP of Marketing has reviewed
the Marketing Communications plan, and has
decided it needs work. The plan was rejected.
Now Meredith, the manager of Marketing
Communications, can rework the plan and re-
submit it.
What a Parent Plan Owner Can Do
As above, the following details are illustrated using the Advertising plan, owned by Glenn Walton.
His manager, Meredith Bay, is the owner of the parent plan of this plan, Marketing
Communications.
A user who is also the owner of a parent plan of subplans is able to change the status of
subplans which roll up underneath his plan. This parent may also edit a subplan’s contents, even
when it is in the ―Submitted‖ state. The subplan’s contents may not be edited once it has been
―Approved‖ or ―Locked,‖ but it may be edited if in ―Rejected,‖ In Progress,‖ or ―Submitted‖ states.
Example: Meredith can make changes to the Advertising plan as long as she has not approved
that plan, and has not submitted her Marketing Communications rollup to her manager.
The parent can also recall all of the plans that roll up to his parent plan, thereby sending them all
back to ―In Progress.‖
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Using the Sheets Overview page, a user who is also the owner of a parent plan of subplans
may perform the following actions:
1. If a subplan is currently in the ―In Progress” state,
The "Submit Plan for Review" button is active.
Example: Glenn is still working on the Advertising plan,
and has not yet submitted it for review. His manager,
Meredith, can make changes to the Advertising plan at
this point, and she can also submit it to herself.
2. If a subplan is currently in the ―Submitted” state,
An "Approve Plan" and ―Reject‖ buttons are active.
Clicking the ―Approve‖ button approves this plan and moves
it to state ―Approved,‖ and stores a record of the date and
person who did the approving.
Clicking the ―Reject‖ button moves the plan to the state
―Rejected,: and stores a record of the date and person who
did the rejecting.
Example: Glenn has submitted the Advertising plan for
Meredith’s approval. She can either approve it, or reject it.
3. If a subplan is currently in an ―Approved” state,
A "Reject Plan" button is active.
Clicking that button rejects this plan and moves it to
―Rejected‖ state, and stores a record of the date and
person who did the rejecting.
Example: Meredith has approved the Advertising plan.
She can now change her mind, and reject it.
4. If the parent plan is in the ―In Progress‖ state,
No additional buttons are available other than the ―Submit‖ button.
Example: All of Meredith’s subplans have been submitted to her, and
approved by her. Her parent plan, Marketing Communications, is
now ―In Progress.‖ The only button available for the parent plan is
―Submit.‖
5. If a subplan is in a “Locked” state,
No buttons are available.
Example: The Advertising plan has been submitted by Glenn
and approved by his manager, Meredith. Meredith has
submitted her parent plan for Marketing Communications to her
manager. The status of the Advertising plan is now locked, since
it has been submitted up two levels of the plan tree.
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With these added capabilities, the owner of a parent plan may combine actions to achieve many
effects. For instance, a parent can move a subplan directly from ―In Progress‖ to ―Approved,‖ by
first clicking the ―Submit Plan for Review‖ button and then clicking the ―Approve Plan‖ button.
Except for the ability of a parent to edit a subplan in the ―Submitted‖ state (described above,)
even owners of parent plans are restricted in the same ways as Plan Owners, as described
above in the section ―What a Plan Owner Can Do.‖ For example, if a plan is locked, it cannot be
recalled. However, owners of parent plans may be able to use their greater powers to work
around these restrictions. For example, a parent plan user could recall his own parent plan. At
that point, the subplan is no longer locked, and can be recalled itself.
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13. The Workflow Tab
Login, and stay in the Adaptive Planning Home Page
In addition to the Sheets Overview page, there is a new Workflow tab which provides access to
the same functionality in a slightly different format.
The Workflow tab is available to all users who have access to parent plans that roll up subplans.
Users who are not responsible for rolling up plans will not see the Workflow tab in their user
interface.
Continuing the example above, Glenn Walton, owner of the subplan
Advertising, does not see the Workflow tab.
But Meredith Bay, owner of the parent plan
Marketing Communications, does see the
Workflow tab.
The Workflow tab provides parent users a place, above and beyond the Sheet Overview page, to
view and change plan status. A parent user responsible for many subplans will find the Workflow
tab a convenient place to manage the status of multiple plans.
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Click on the Workflow Tab
On the left is a list, in tree form, of all the plans and subplans to which the user has access.
This list is similar to the Plans list shown under Admin, ―Manage Plans,‖ except that here, the plan
owner is not shown.
A standard plan search box appears above the plan tree, just as in the Admin/Manage Plans
page.
When a user selects a plan in the tree, the plan status and submission data are displayed in the
plan submission area on the right side of the page.
The plan status data includes:
The name and date of the last user who changed the plan status
The plan name
The plan status
A text field for entering notes
A save button for saving the note text
Action buttons, if applicable
This plan status box contains everything that would be found on the bottom half of the Sheets
Overview page for that plan.
The action buttons on the right act as though the user were on the Sheets Overview page for that
plan: the buttons appear here if they would appear there, and they perform the same actions.
Clicking the ―Save Note‖ button, or any of the action buttons, performs that action immediately
and refreshes this page.
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14. Appendix A: Exercises
Exercise 1: Add a Headcount
In this exercise, a new employee will be planned to start on April 1, 2004, full time, with benefits,
at a salary of $80,000 a year.
1. Choose the Sales plan.
2. Click Sheets, and go to the Personnel sheet.
3. Click the New Button at the lower left of the screen.
4. Choose a Job Code and Sales Type from the drop down lists.
5. Choose Yes in the other choices for Benefits.
6. Enter the appropriate date in the Start Date cell (e.g. 04/01/06).
7. Enter the annual salary in the Pay Rate cell (e.g. 80,000).
8. Accept the defaults for all other data.
9. Click Save.
View the Resulting Employee Expense Data:
After the headcount has been added to the personnel sheet, the updated payroll expense
numbers can be seen by opening the Expense Sheet.
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Exercise 2: Add a Non-Headcount Expense
In this exercise, additional T&E expense data is entered directly into a cell, copied forward for one
year, then incremented 2% per month:
1. Go to the Sales plan.
2. Click the Sheets tab. Click on the Expenses Sheet.
3. Locate the Travel & Entertainment account. One item has already been already been
established by the Plan Administrator to drive T&E from headcount. Click in the first cell
(Jan 04), and view the formula in the formula bar above.
4. In order to create an additional T&E expense item, this first item must be turned into a
split. Click in the first cell (Jan 04).
5. Click on the ―new split‖ button.
6. Name this existing line ―Variable Travel,‖ because this expense varies with headcount.
7. Insert another new split. Name it ―Fixed Travel.‖
8. Type 100 in the cell.
9. Click Apply.
10. Click the Copy Forward button.
11. Specify the time period (one year) and the incremental increase of 2%.
12. Click Apply to apply the data.
13. Click Save.
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Exercise 3: Add a Headcount-Driven Expense
1. Go to the Field Service plan, in the Expenses sheet.
2. Locate the Travel & Entertainment account.
3. One item has already been already been established by the Plan Administrator. In order
to create an additional T&E expense item, this first item must be turned into a split. Click
in the first cell (Jan 04).
4. Click on the ―new split‖ button. Name this existing line ―T&E.‖
5. Click in the first cell (Jan 04) of this line, click on the ―new split‖ button. Name this new
split ―Local Travel.‖ The purpose of this split will be to plan additional travel for local trips.
This item will be headcount driven.
6. Click on the first cell (Jan 04) of this new split. Click on the Formula Assistant, and
choose Accounts ―Modeled – Cumulative.‖ Choose Total Headcount from the list.
(Headcount is planned on the Modeled Sheet called Personnel.)
7. Use the Mathematical Operators to choose ―*‖ (or simply type this symbol in the formula
bar). Follow this with the value 50. The result of this formula will be to take current
month total headcount for this department, and multiply it by $50.
8. Click on the copy forward button and choose how many time periods in the future to copy
this formula. The default is for the rest of the current year.
9. Click on Save to view the results of the formula.
10. To drive the expense from the previous month’s headcount instead of the current month’s
headcount, click on the value in the second month, and modify the formula. Choose the
Formula Assistant, and again choose Accounts ―Modeled – Cumulative,‖ then choose
Total Headcount from the list. Selecting Month: This -1 (to use the previous month
headcount as multiplier, instead of the current month headcount.) Click Insert.
11. Click the Apply button, then Save to see the results of the formula in the cell.
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Exercise 4: Add a Local Assumption
1. Stay in the Field Service plan. From the Locals Tab, Click the Add New button.
2. Name the new assumption: Local Travel per Head.
3. Enter the Code: Trav_Per_Head (this is what will appear in the Formula Assistant if the
Planner wants to use this assumption in a calculation).
4. Enter 50, and use the copy forward button to copy this until the end of 2004.
5. Click Save.
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Exercise 5: Add an Expense Item Driven by the Local Assumption
1. Stay in the Field Service plan. Go to the Expenses Sheet.
2. Locate the Travel & Entertainment account. There should be 2 splits already there, from
the previous exercises.
3. Click in the first cell of the last split (Jan 04.)
4. Insert a new split. Name it ―Local Sales Travel.‖
5. Click in the first cell of this new split (Jan 04.) Click the Formula Assistant button.
6. Using the Formula Assistant, choose Account Type: Local. Select the new Local from
the bottom of the list. Click Insert.
7. Use the Mathematical Operators to choose ―*‖ (or simply type this symbol in the formula
bar). Choose Accounts ―Modeled – Cumulative.‖ Choose Total Headcount from the list.
The formula now multiplies the new assumption by total headcount in Sales.
8. The sheet must be saved before the results of the formula will be displayed.
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Exercise 6: Add a Capital Purchase
1. Select the Field Service Capital Sheet.
2. Under Hardware, click the first cell of an existing asset. Then click the ―Insert Split‖
button in the lower left corner. Enter a description of the new asset, e.g. Laptop.
3. Enter the price of the purchase in the Cost cell.
4. Select the Depreciation cell to drop down the Depreciation schedule menu.
5. Select a pattern, e.g. 3 Yr spread.
6. Enter the quantities to be purchased in appropriate months.
7. Click Save.
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Exercise 7: Enter Forecasted Sales Data
1. Select the Sales plan.
2. Select the Sales sheet.
3. Click Insert Row.
4. Name the unit to be sold.
5. Click in each cell to select Dimensions, Patterns and Rules. Below are some examples
of the drop-down menus that might appear within each dimension field. These have
been set up in advance by the Plan Administrator.
6. Click Save.
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Exercise 8: Create a New Basic Report
1. Under the Reports Tab, click the Create New Report link, and name the report.
2. Select Basic report type.
3. Under Group Details, change the Account Group heading to ―Expenses‖.
4. Click Display Headings.
5. Click Accept.
6. Under Select Accounts, choose Type Expense.
7. Select the Expenses-PL Expenses account. All the associated sub accounts will be
included.
8. Click Add to Group.
9. Click Next.
10. The next screen provides an opportunity to choose the Plan Version, to set the time
range, and to choose Filters, if appropriate. Filters can be used to later to assist in drill-
down. Change the available filters to be the ones that make sense for this report, e.g.
Plans and Region.
8. After choosing version, time range, and filters, click Next. The next screen allows the
user to create a comparison report, either of versions, or as a percentage of a chosen
account
Select Version Comparison. The current version can be compared to other versions, which are
chosen from a pick list. In this example, the current version will be compared to actuals. Notice
the “Align Versions” box, presenting opportunities to move the alignment of start and end dates
backwards and forwards by month or year.
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Clicking on the left and right year and month buttons provides an opportunity to move the
alignment of both versions’ start and end dates backwards and forwards until their dates are
matched appropriately.
Once the comparison versions’ start and end dates are aligned appropriately, click ―Next.‖
9. The last screen provides an opportunity to choose a decimal precision between 0 and 4.
For example, choosing 1 will display one place after the decimal. It also asks the user to
choose time columns to display, as well as offering the choice of a YTD column.
At the bottom if this screen is a summary of the report details that have been chosen.
10. Choose View Report.
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Exercise 9: Create a New Dimension Report
1. Under the Reports Tab, click the Create New Report link, and name the report ―Payroll
Expense by Job Code.‖
2. Select the report type Dimension.
3. Group by Plans, then by Job Code.
4. Under Select Accounts, choose the correct expense accounts Salary (add to group) and
Benefit Load (add to group.)
5. Click Next.
6. After choosing version, time range, and filters, if appropriate, click next. The next screen
allows the user to create a comparison report, either of versions, or as a percentage of a
chosen account. Click Next when ready to continue.
7. The last screen provides an opportunity to choose a decimal precision between 0 and 4.
For example, choosing 1 will display one place after the decimal. It also asks the user to
choose time columns to display, as well as offering the choice of a YTD column.
At the bottom if this screen is a summary of the report details that have been chosen.
8. Choose View Report.
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Exercise 10: Create a New Repeating Report
1. Under the Reports Tab, click the Create New Report link, and name the report ―Payroll
Expense by Department.‖
2. Select the report type Basic.
3. Under Select Accounts, choose the payroll and related expense accounts, and add them
to the group.
4. Click Next.
5. After choosing version, time range, and filters, if appropriate, select a small subsection of
plans, perhaps one function like Product Marketing and the departments within it. Click
next.
6. The next screen allows the user to create a comparison report, either of versions, or as a
percentage of a chosen account. Skip this by clicking Next.
7. In the next screen, use the default display options, and click View Repeating.
8. The next screen tells you that each value that you select below will become a separate
tab in the new report. Leave the default value as ―Plans.‖ This will produce a report with
a separate tab for each plan.
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9. Click ―View Repeating.‖ In the lower left corner, you will see the progress as the reports
are generated: Generating 1/5, 2/5, 3/5, etc. When the report is finished generating, it
will produce an Excel file. This file will have a separate tab for each department/plan that
was chosen in the report creation, as shown here:
Note: Microsoft Internet Explorer may prevent the downloading of the Excel file for security
reasons. If this is the case, when the report is finished generating, the browser will display a
message at the top of the screen like this:
Clicking on this message, and then selecting ―Download File‖ will allow the Excel file to be
downloaded and opened.
Alternatively, the Internet Explorer security options can be changed to allow downloading without
going through this step.
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