Using Planning Control Panel

Exploring the Planning Control Panel

The Planning Control Panel is where users will perform budgeting workflow tasks, it is where budget entities are organized in a hierarchy, where users select templates for input or to view, as well as run reports. Navigate to Structured Planning to open the Planning Control Panel.

Planning Control Panel 

The Planning Control Panel is organized in 3 panes; Budget Hierarchy (left pane), Template (middle pane), and Actions | Reports | Approvers (right pane).

Menu 

Scenario list- Scenarios represent a version of a budget or forecast during a fiscal year. Scenarios are set up by Admin users.

Scenario Description icon - Click the icon to the immediate right of the Scenario list. Enter a detailed description of the scenario.

Attach icon - Attach documents to the scenario.

Edit Scenario icon- Edit the selected scenario and template.

Status Report icon - Provides a summary status for all budget entities a user has access to. For more information on working with reports, click here. 

The Admin user will provide users with access to scenarios, budget entities, and templates. The list is populated based on user access.

Budget Hierarchy

Once the user selects a scenario, the budget hierarchy associated with the scenario is displayed in the Budget Hierarchy pane. The Budget Hierarchy is set up by your Admin and is comprised of organized budget entities. The budget entities the user has access to within the hierarchy are displayed on the screen.

Budget Entities

Budget entities represent business segments. For example, the marketing segment of an organization. In the example below, the budget hierarchy is called Total Company and it has a Sales & Marketing rollup. Under that rollup are leaf level entities. The Sales entity has several associated templates, which are displayed in the middle pane as shown below.

Templates

When selecting the posting (or lowest level) member of a hierarchy, the mapped templates appear in the Template pane.

When selecting a template in the middle pane, specific actions will be available depending on the selected template. The following actions may be accessible based on user permissions:

• Input - Open budget templates in Input mode, which allows data input. Users access to input data depends on their specific configuration.
• View - Open budget templates in read-only mode. Users may or may not have access to this action as access is based on user set up. There are two types of View modes (based on the date the application was configured and if opted in to an update in February 2019). Read all about each type of View mode here.

The following actions will be available based on how the admin user set up the application and approval role assigned:

• Forward - Forward a template for approval
  
  Note

  Templates that have been forwarded are locked and cannot be edited. Once all required information has been input, the template can be forwarded.
• Approve - Approve a template that has been forwarded
• Send Back - Send back a forwarded template for changes or updates
  
  Note

  Templates can be sent until they are approved. The Send Back option is available after the template has been forwarded and before it receives an approval.
• Mark Complete - Flag a template as completed
  
  Note

  Completed templates cannot be opened in Input mode.
• Mark Not Complete - Clear the Completed flag against a selected template
  
  Note

  Once the completed flag is cleared, the template can be opened in Input mode.
• Initiative Approval - Available for Initiative Budgets only

Planful offers various template types to budget for Human Resources, Initiatives, Capital Expenditures, Operating Expenses, and more. The template you open in Input or View mode will look different based upon the template type you select in the middle pane.

Snapshot

The Snapshot feature allows finance teams to take a backup of a template for the selected budget entity. Using this feature, finance teams can easily take a backup and restore the version of the template if needed.

Example

John from the finance team takes a Snapshot of the "Operating Expense" template and shares this template with a budget manager named Michel and wants him to update "T&E Accounts". Michel updates "T&E Accounts" but accidentally deletes some existing data. John gets a notification about the status of the template and verifies it. John observes some data discrepancies.

Now, with the Snapshot feature, John can use the backup of the template he created before sharing it with Michel and easily restore the backup version as the main version of the template and completely avoid using the template that came back from Michel.

How to Create a Snapshot?

Perform the below steps to create a snapshot:

1. Navigate to Structured Planning to open the Planning Control Panel
2. Select a Scenario, Budget Entity, and a template.
   
   
3. Click the Snapshot icon. A dialog box will appear on the screen.
   
   
4. In the Create New tab, provide a name for the backup version of the template and click Save.
   
   
5. Click the Saved tab to view the backup version. The latest backup version is saved at the top.
   
   
6. Click the Export to Excel icon if you want to download the backup version of the template.
   

How to Restore a Snapshot?

Perform the below steps to restore a snapshot:

1. Navigate to Structured Planning to open the Planning Control Panel. 
2. Select a Scenario, Budget Entity, and a template with at least one snapshot.
   
   
3. Click the Snapshot icon. A dialog box will appear on the screen.
4. Click the Saved tab to view the list of backup versions.
5. Click the Restore button associated with the snapshot to be restored. A confirmation message will appear asking for permission.
   
6. Click Yes to restore this version of the template.
   
   Notes:

• A snapshot of the entire template can be taken, but only L-type lines will be restored when the template is restored
• Only the most recent backup of the template can be restored; older versions can be downloaded using the Export to Excel icon
• The modified date and time for the template are visible in the history window on the Template Input screen
• The backup version cannot be restored if the template is open in input mode; all instances of the template must be closed before restoring its backup version
  
  
• When structural changes are made to the template in the Template Setup mode, such as adding a new line type or updating a calculation formula, the latest backup version of the template will become invalid. Click here to learn more about structural changes
  
  
• The audit logs record all the activities performed related to the Snapshot feature
  

Snapshot Restore Guidelines

The snapshot feature allows finance teams to take a backup of a GTSC template for the selected budget entity. Using this feature, finance teams can easily take a backup and restore the version of the template if needed. Access to the GTSC template in Input mode is required to be able to restore a snapshot. The following are cases where a Snapshot can be restored:

1. Latest Snapshot of the template or the restorable version of the template can be restored and has the delete option disabled. 
2. When the restore option is clicked, the Planful system automatically generates a backup version of the snapshot which can be restored. 
3. Only L-type lines are restored from the snapshot, while RA lines (Single & Multiple), RC lines, C-type Lines, and History account lines are not restored since these lines consist of data from a different template. 
4. Once a snapshot is restored, it can not be reverted and it can be downloaded in Excel format. 
5. If a template is open in the setup or input mode, the scenario will be locked and restoring a snapshot of the same template will not be available. 
6. Only data from the template is restored from the snapshot while the format changes from the template are retained.

How to Schedule a Template Snapshot in Cloud Scheduler?

The Template Snapshot feature allows users to create a recurring schedule for the template snapshot creation. Once scheduled, the Cloud Scheduler will automatically create snapshots. This ensures the template is consistently backed up at the roll-up level without continuous user intervention. It also maintains the history of template versions, providing easy comparison, analysis, and recovery.

To schedule a template snapshot in the cloud scheduler, do the following:

1. Cloud Scheduler can be accessed either from Maintenance > Administration > Cloud Scheduler.
   
   Or when users take a snapshot from the leaf level in the Planning Control Panel.
2. Click Cloud Scheduler to be directed to the Cloud Scheduler page.
   
   Note:

   Access to Cloud Scheduler is restricted to users with the appropriate permissions. If users do not have access, please contact the administrator for assistance in getting access to Cloud Scheduler.
3. Click Add from the Process Flow page.
   
   Three tabs are displayed on the Add Process Flow page: General Information, Tasks, and Scheduler.
4. Fill in all the details in the General Information.
   
5. Now, go to Tasks > Add Task, and on the New Task popup, select Template Snapshot from the Task Type.
   
6. Enter the Task Name, Scenario, Entity, Template, and Dependencies (this is an optional field) and click Save.
   
7. Use the Scheduler tab to run the process flow at a scheduled date, time, or a selected frequency.
   
8. Click Save or Save & Schedule to save the task. Click Run to run the scheduler immediately.
9. Go to the Job Manager to view the completed process and the status of each run.

Planning Control Panel: Available Reports and Mapped Templates

Run a report (deployed by the Admin) from the Planning Control Panel by clicking the Reports tab (shown below).

Reports may also be mapped to a template when your Admin sets up the template. 

Approvers

Approvers are set up by an Admin user to approve budgets via the Planning Control Panel workflow. Click the Approvers tab to see a list of users that can approve budgets.

Enhanced Workflow and Automated Task Creation

Admin users can configure this feature directly from the Planful application. Please note that once this functionality is enabled within the production environment, it cannot be disabled.

If the Workflow functionality is not enabled, the Planning Control Panel continues to function as per the existing behavior. However, if the Workflow functionality is enabled, the application behavior is as follows:

• If Workflow Setup is enabled for a scenario and the process has been started, the automated tasks and multiple authorization functionalities are activated
• If Workflow Setup is not enabled for a scenario, the Planning Control Panel will work as usual without automated tasks and multiple authorization functionalities
• Irrespective of whether Workflow Setup is enabled for a scenario or not, Workflow Actions for Templates are activated. This means that the Forward and Approve actions are available for templates