Summer18 Release Notes

Summer18 Update

To address some functional changes related to the Summer18 release, we are delivering a software update. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

What's In the Update?

• Update to Budget Review Column Behavior

• Simulation Engine Update Behavior Change

• Guardrail for Notes in Dynamic Reports

• Removal of Field Called Budgeted Annual Salary

Update to Budget Review Column Behavior

WE ARE MODIFYING THIS FEATURE

The feature called Enter Salary Raise as Amount allowed for the adjustment of employee salary not only by percent, but also by Amount for single employees; as shown on the Employees List page below (accessed via template input from the Planning Control Panel)

When you changed the Budget Review Amount for a single employee on the Employee list screen, the Budget Review % was recalculated.

You can still select Amount for the Budget Review In field from the Employee list screen for a single employee. However, if you select Amount for Budget Review In and enter the amount in the Budget Review Amount field, the Budget Review % does not recalculate. For example (using the image above) if you change the Budget Review Amount for Employee 162 to 5000.00, the Budget Review % field will still show 3.00%. This field will not be recalculated with the updated percent based on the changed Budget Review Amount.

Simulation Engine Update Behavior Change

WE ARE REMOVING THIS FUNCTIONALITY

We modified the behavior of Simulation Engine so that it does not process locked templates; this is the updated default behavior. For instance, when a template is opened by a user or is under Maintenance, it is in a “locked” state; meaning that it cannot be accessed by any other user or any user at all if under Maintenance.

NEW BEHAVIOR

The behavior of Simulation Engine template processing will be as it was prior to the Summer18 release if the Maintenance feature is off. The behavior will be different if Maintenance is on. Both situations are described below:

Behavior When Maintenance is ON

• Application will consider the template to be locked.

• Simulation Engine will NOT process the template if it is under Maintenance.

Behavior When Maintenance is OFF

• Application will revert to the behavior prior to the Summer18 release; meaning that templates in a locked state will be processed by Simulation Engine.

• Simulation Engine will run even if the template is in use by a user (opened in Input Mode) or in a forwarded state.

Guardrail for Notes in Dynamic Reports

For template notes in Dynamic Reports, we are enforcing a guardrail. When you display notes in a Dynamic Report, The maximum number of characters displayed in the notes field is 1024, which includes the username and date/time stamp AND you can have up to 250 notes per report.

Removal of Field Called Budgeted Annual Salary

See Enter Salary as Amount

The following statement from the Summer18 Release Notes is now invalid as we have removed the Budgeted Annual Salary field.

...We have also added a field that shows the final adjusted salary after a percentage or amount increase. This field is called Budgeted Annual Salary...

Re-Launch of Host Academy

Host Academy has been re-launched and now it's even easier to access. Simply clicking the Training link in the Planful application will provide you with direct access to the academy.

The Host Academy is more intuitive and makes finding the content that you need much easier. Content is categorized by product area, role, type, and level. Whether you're a Planful User, or looking to extend your knowledge of the platform, click on the Training link today.

MyPlan: Ability to Add a User to Multiple Configurations

Add a user to multiple MyPlan configurations and set different configurations for different scenarios, which will allow additional flexibility with how data, graphs or charts are displayed. Having multiple configurations allows you to produce “what if” analyses for the same scenario. For example, an Admin user creates 2 configuration profiles for the Forecast 2018 scenario, (Forecast 2018 A and Forecast 2018 B) and gives a user access to both configurations. Now, that user can perform a different set of actions in one configuration independently of the actions performed in the other configuration; providing the user with insight to different forecasted outcomes.

We’ve added a list-box to the MyPlan interface so that a user with access to multiple configurations can select a configuration to work with (as shown below) and swap between the profiles as needed.

In Practice:

Add a user to multiple configurations:

1. Navigate to Maintenance > Overview > MyPlan Configuration.

2. Select a configuration under the Configurations pane.

3. Under Mapped Users, click Manage and add the user.

4. Click Save.

5. Continue to add the user to other configurations.

MyPlan: Enhanced Asset Add/Edit Capabilities

Now you can add assets to a budget entity when the entity does not have existing assets. Prior to this release, if a budget entity did not have existing assets, there was no option to add an asset (as assets added via MyPlan are based on existing assets).

This functionality allows you to add an asset for a budget entity when the asset definition exists, but is not yet budgeted for, as well as when the asset definition does not exist. Having to add assets to budget entities using Advanced Planning is now a thing of the past.

In Practice: How to Add an Asset for a Budget Entity When the Asset Definition Exists

1. In MyPlan, click the Wrench icon and select Add Asset for a Capex account.

2. Click the Select Asset list-box. Notice that assets are divided into 2 types; BUDGETED ASSETS and NOT BUDGETED ASSETS.

3. Select an asset from the NOT BUDGETED ASSETS list.

   

4. Now, select a Finance Mode. In the image below, the Adobe source asset (that is not budgeted) is selected and the Computer Software Finance Mode.

   

5. Change the asset name and other parameters as needed.

6. Click Update.

7. Click the Activity Manager icon, the added asset is shown. If you want to change parameters or adjust the asset that was just added, navigate back to the dashboard, click Edit and the Edit Asset screen will appear where you can further edit the asset details, or, click Revert in the Activity Manager, to reverse the addition of the asset.

In Practice: How to Add an Asset for a Budget Entity When the Asset Definition Does Not Exist

1. In MyPlan, click the Wrench icon and select Add Asset for a Capex account.

2. Click the Select Asset list-box.

3. Click the + New Asset link shown below.

   

4. The New Asset screen appears (shown below). Select any existing asset category in which you want to create the new asset.

   

5. Enter the Code and Name of the Asset. Asset life defaults from the category selected.

6. Click Add, you will see the screen adjust to show the finance mode.

7. Select the Finance Mode.

8. Enter the Purchase Month, Units and Rate.

9. Next, select Update.

MyPlan: Workforce Enhancements

There are 3 capabilities, which are:

• The ability to add more than one employee at a time

• The ability to add a headcount based on an existing headcount and edit the details

• The ability to edit the employee position start date

Add Multiple Employees at Once

We have introduced the ability to add multiple employees at once for MyPlan. Easily add up to 10 employees at one time.

In Practice: Add Multiple Employees

1. Access the MyPlan dashboard.

2. For an HR account, click the Wrench icon.

3. Select Add New Headcount. The Add New Headcount pane appears.

4. Select the source employee as a base the new employee.

5. For No. Of Employees, enter any number up to 10. In the image below, 9 is entered.

   

6. Enter a name (or placeholder name) for the new employees (It is best practice to use TBH for the name, you can always go back and edit each name later in you want, show below).). For this example, TBH was entered.

7. Click Update.

In Practice: Edit Multiple New Hires

1. Select the Wrench icon again and click Edit Headcount.

2. On the Edit Headcount pane, select any of the newly added TBH employees as shown below. Notice that additional headcount with the same name is appended with an underscore and the number.

3. Edit each of the 9 employees as needed and click Update.

   

Add a Headcount Based on an Existing Headcount and Edit Details

Add a headcount based on an existing headcount and edit the headcount details. This functionality allows you to rapidly create and budget for headcount. Additionally, you can edit or revert the added headcount directly from Activity Manager.

In Practice:

1. Start by simply adding a new headcount. In MyPlan, click the Wrench icon and select Add Headcount.

2. The Add New Headcount screen appears. For Source Employee, select an existing employee as a basis for the new headcount.

3. Change the New Employee Name to the name for the new headcount. In the image below, Brad Perlioni is the source employee and the new headcount is for CK Blevins.

   

4. Adjust other parameters such as Salary and click Update.

5. Click the Activity Manager icon. The newly added headcount is shown. You can click Edit and the Edit Headcount screen will appear where you can further edit the headcount details, or, click Revert to reverse the addition of the headcount.

Edit the Employee Position Start Date

Edit the Employee Position Start Date for a more favorable variance. For example, let’s say you hire an employee on January 1st 2018 with a February 1st start date. However, the start date needs to be delayed until March 1st for a more favorable variance or because the employee needs to extend the start date. You can change the position start date for the employee in MyPlan without having to access Advanced Planning.

In Practice

1. In MyPlan, click the Wrench icon for an HR account and select Edit Headcount. The Edit Headcount page appears.

2. Edit the Employee Position Start Date as needed. As you change the start date, the variance is updated and displayed.

3. Once you have a favorable variance and selected the new start date, click Update.

MyPlan: Refresh Functionality

Refresh functionality ensures that when the underlying data has changed from the planning side of the application, you have the latest data displayed in your MyPlan dashboard. Clicking the Refresh icon (shown below) allows the system to query and recalculate the most recent data, which may include changes to accounts or any underlying data directly connected with the information you are working with.

The Refresh icon is also available within each OPEX template opened in MyPlan as shown below.

MyPlan: Template Locking

We’ve updated the functionality which affects opening budget entities when you have a MyPlan template opened, and then you decided to open another tab and template with the same budget entity combination in Advanced Planning (shown below).

If this action was to take place with the prior functionality, the MyPlan session would terminate. Now, the MyPlan session continues, however, the newly opened template is placed into a locked state, which prevents input and also prevents other users from accessing that template and budget entity combination. The template will remain locked until the user that created the lock logs out of the application.

Planning: Template Usability Enhancements

To continue to improve user experience, we are releasing the following enhancements for Planning templates:

• User Specific Data Filters

• Ability to Change Content Display in the Template Line Name Column

User Specific Data Filters

Users who access Planning templates from the Planning Control Panel can set data filters specific to their needs; creating a more customized look and feel. In the past, only Admins could set data filters to display specific data for end users. This enhancement allows end users to set personalized filters that show data relevant to the activities they have to perform within a template. For example, a template has office expenses and travel expenses, but you only want to work with the office expenses so you filter out travel expenses, displaying the relevant data (make sure the template is saved). The next time you access the template, only office expenses is shown because the filter setting has saved your selection. Similarly, another user could apply a filter to only display travel expenses for the same template.

In Practice: Setting Data Filters

1. Access the Planning Control Panel, select a scenario, budget entity, and template.

2. Click Input. The template is displayed.

3. Click More and select Show Data Filter.

   

4. The columns display the Data Filter icons. Click the Data Filter icon.

   

5. Filter data as you would in Microsoft Excel.

6. Once all data is filtered, click Save. Saving the template will also save the data filters applied.

To remove data filters, click the More list-box and select Hide Data Filter.

This functionality is not available for following areas:

• Offline Planning templates

• MyPlan templates

• Actual Data templates

• Initiatives templates

• Template Based HR

• Template Copy - Data filters will be lost if Timesets are modified during template copy

Ability to Change Content Display in the Template Default Line Name Column

Default Line Name is a selection available when setting up Planning templates. Admin users now have the flexibility to customize the Default Line Name for templates. The change will be reflected once the template is opened and closed or processed via the Simulation Engine.

When an Admin specifies a default line name (such as the Account segment as shown in the image below) on the Template Add page, it translates to the template on the Template Setup page (also shown below).

This functionality allows Admin users to customize the Template Line Name column as needed. For example, an Admin might configure the Line Name column to display account or product name. Additionally, Admin users can hide the Line Code column so that unnecessary information is not displayed to the end user.

In Practice:

To change the Default Line Name for a template:

1. Navigate to Maintenance > Templates > Template Setup.

2. Select a template and click the Edit icon.

3. Change the Default Line Name and then click Save. It is recommended that this action is performed in the Default scenario and ensure the updated template is mapped to other scenarios.

4. Next, navigate to the Planning Control Panel. Open and close (manually or via simulation engine) the template to process the change so that the Default Line Name is updated.

Planning: Enter Salary Raise as Amount

In Detailed HR, users can now adjust employee salary not only by percent but now by amount. This option (Budget Raise Amount) is shown in the image below. We have also added a field that shows the final adjusted salary after a percentage or amount increase. This field is called Budgeted Annual Salary.

When an Admin adjusts an employee’s raise by amount, the system calculates the percentage automatically based on amount entered. In the example below, raise is entered for a single employee as an amount versus percentage. The results is that the system keeps the yearly raise constant and adjusts the percentages accordingly.

In the example below, budget raise amount is entered for multiple employees.

Budget Raise as Amount functionality is available on the Employee Add/Edit pages (for single and multiple employee raise amount) and Employee List page (for single employee raise amount). Also, Admins can access the Employee Add/Edit pages from the Maintenance menu (accessed by navigating to Maintenance > HR > Detailed HR). End users can access the Employee Add/Edit and List pages via the template opened from the Planning Control Panel.

When entering data for a single employee, budget raise as amount displays on the Employees List page (accessed via template input from the Planning Control Panel) as shown below.

Budget raise as amount is not available on Employees List page when budget raise amount is entered for multiple employees as shown below.

Planning: Maintenance

The Maintenance option allows Admin users to control when Maintenance is performed on a Scenario and/or Template. Template and/or Scenario Maintenance includes any type of modification to the setup. For example, an Admin might want to enable compare scenarios, add additional compare scenarios, or change the scenario due date for a scenario. For templates, an Admin user might want to change the look of the template by adding borders or change the number of decimals displayed.

Prior to this release, if an Admin user wanted to edit a scenario and/or template, all users were required to exit the scenario and/or template. Tracking down each user was time consuming. If any one user did not exit the scenario and/or template, Maintenance could not be performed.

With the Maintenance functionality, Admin users have the ability to perform Maintenance on a scenario and/or template without having to track down every user and ensure each user has exited the template and/or scenario. Admin users control when Maintenance is performed on a template and / or scenario.

In Practice: Scenario / Template Maintenance

Follow the steps below to perform Maintenance on a scenario and/or template:

1. Navigate to Maintenance > Admin > Scenario Setup.

2. Select the scenario that you want to perform maintenance on. In this example it is the 2017 Plan scenario (shown in the image below).

3. Click the More list-box and select Maintenance.

   

4. Select the amount of time (in minutes) prior to the start of Maintenance.

5. Enter a message to application users in the Message text box. An example is shown below.

   

6. Click Trigger Maintenance. The message is sent to all users who are working with the scenario. It will display on their screen informing the users about the upcoming maintenance activity. Users will be asked to Save and Exit the scenario prior to the commencement of Maintenance.

   An example of a message displayed in a template when Maintenance is triggered is shown below:

   

   An example of a message displayed in MyPlan when an Admin triggers Maintenance is shown below:

   

   Once Maintenance starts, the scenario is locked preventing users from performing additional actions. The icon shown in the image below indicates that the scenario is under Maintenance.

   

   An example message displayed in a template once Maintenance is underway:

   

   If a user tries to perform an action on a template that is under Maintenance, a message (like the one shown below) is displayed:

   

7. The Admin user can now perform Maintenance on the scenario selected and/or mapped templates as needed.

8. Once updates are complete, save all changes and adjustments, and return to the Scenario List page.

9. Select the scenario and click More > Maintenance.

10. A message is displayed asking if you want to end scenario maintenance. Click STOP MAINTENANCE (shown below). Ending maintenance unlocks the Scenario / Template. At this point, users can work on the Scenario / Template.

    

Planning: Seeding Enhancements - Preview

With all built-in logic, we are enhancing the entire data seeding process by making it more robust. We are taking a phased approach towards completing our overall vision for seeding, which is built around three concepts, usability, flexibility, and scalability. With this release, we are providing you with a preview of phase 1 functionality. Over the next several releases, we will continue to provide enhanced functionality.

Phase 1 enhancements address:

• Seeding of non-template data

• Seeding of formulas and sublines

• Seeding of overlapping periods and mismatching template structures

Topics:

Introduction

Seeding Mismatched Template Structures and Overlapping Periods

Seeding Formulas

Seeding Non Template Data

Seeding Sublines

How to Seed Overlapping Periods

Limitations

Introduction

When data is seeded from one scenario to another, you have the option to bring different types of data from the source to the target scenario. For example, you might select to seed templates, notes, sublines and dynamic journals. You might want to copy the formulas and values within a template from the source to the target scenario. Additionally, you might also want to copy over currency exchange rates, global field values, and attributes and attribute values. Phase 1 functionality addresses the seeding of subline data and formulas. Subline data exists in the Subline area of a template, which is referenced from a line within a Planning template. Templates are typically defined with formulas. For example, a template might be built with a formula to retrieve the previous year value and add 10% to that value. With the Data Seeding built-in logic, the system now knows how to handle these types of cases. When seeding is done, the formulas are automatically adjusted for the templates in the target scenario.

Not only do you select the type of data (templates, notes, sublines, dynamic journals) you want to seed, but the type of source scenario you want to seed data from. For example, you might seed all data and metadata from one reference scenario. Or, you might seed data for different periods from multiple source scenarios. Phase 1 functionality addresses the seeding of data for different periods from multiple source scenarios. We’ve enhanced the functionality with built-in logic so that the system now knows how to handle the seeding for a new period from a scenario where the template structure does not match with the present template structure, or where there are overlapping periods.

Seeding Mismatched Template Structures and Overlapping Periods

When the template structure does not match or there are overlapping periods, the application automatically adjusts template structure and formulas so that the structure of the first year in the source scenario matches the structure in the target (new) scenario. For example, let’s say you have a scenario called Forecast 2018. Forecast 2018 starts in 2018 and ends in the year 2020. Now, you want to create a new scenario called Forecast 2019, which starts in the year 2019 and ends in 2021. You want to seed the data and the template structure from Forecast 2018 to Forecast 2019. The result is shown below. Data from the Forecast 2018 scenario, year 2018 seeds to year 2019 of the Forecast 2019 scenario. Year 2019 in the source seeds to 2020 in the target. And, 2020 in the source seeds to 2021 in the target.

To seed a scenario where there are overlapping periods, see the How to Seed Overlapping Periods section.

Seeding Formulas

The Data Seeding logic ensures that the formulas are automatically adjusted. For example, when there is a formula in the first period of 2018, that same formula will reflect in the first period of 2019.

When data is manually entered in a template and then the related scenario is seeded, the data is copied to the appropriate target scenario template. For example, if a user entered 10 dollars in the first period of 2019, the same 10 dollars reflects in the seeded target scenario in the first period of 2019. The same holds true for currency exchange rates and Detailed HR data. This logic is shown below.

Simulation Engine must be executed on the templates seeded from the source to the target scenario so that the formulas and values are properly calculated. Optionally, you can just open and save each template and it works the same way.

Seeding of formulas can be done from any source scenario; reference or varying scenario and period selections.

Best Practices for Seeding of Formulas

• Execute/schedule a Simulation Engine process after the target scenario is saved (seeded) on the Add Scenario page.

• Use simple formulas in templates versus complex. An example of a complex formula is to perform a Get (i.e. Get 2017 data + 10%). An example of a simple formula is to compute the previous year same period + 10%.

Seeding Non Template Data

The data seeding logic supports the seeding of data entered via other sources. For example, enter data via Data Load Rules or Journals and it will be seeded.

Seeding of non template data can be done from any source scenario; reference or varying scenario and period selections.

Seeding Sublines

The seeding of subline data entered in the subline template is supported. For example, enter data in a subline for Template ABC, Entity 1, and Forecast 2019 Scenario. Now, seed everything from Forecast 2019 to Forecast 2020. Run Simulation Engine. The subline data is copied over to Template ABC, Entity 1, Forecast 2020 Scenario.

Seeding of subline data can be done from any source scenario; reference or varying scenario and period selections.

How to Seed Overlapping Periods

There is an option on the Data Seeding tab (when adding or editing a scenario) called Reference scenario with overlapping periods (Preview). Select this option when adding a scenario. Then, select the source scenario and period. Save the scenario and run the Simulation Engine.

Access the Scenario Add or Edit page by navigating to Maintenance > Admin > Scenario Setup. Click the Add or Edit button.

Limitations with Time Sets

• Custom Time Sets are not supported at this time. Default Time Sets are supported, which is data at the monthly level.

• Time Set structure in the source and target scenarios must match.

Planning: Simulation Engine Update

We’ve modified the behavior of Simulation Engine so that it does not process locked templates; this is the updated default behavior. For instance, when a template is opened by a user or is under Maintenance, it is in a “locked” state; meaning that it cannot be accessed by any other user or any user at all if under Maintenance (see examples below of when a template is in a locked state).

Now, when Simulation Engine runs and encounters a locked template, it will not process the template (no matter if the template is locked because a user is working with it or Maintenance is being performed). Because Simulation Engine will no longer process locked templates, an error will result. The Simulation Process detailed log will list the templates that failed due to a lock (or for any other reason).

When is a template in a locked state?

A template is in locked state:

• When a user is working on the template for a given budget entity

• When the Simulation Engine does not have access to the template

• When a user does not have template input access

• When the budget entity is in forwarded state where Input is not allowed

• When the template is Marked Complete

• When Maintenance is being performed on the template

Persistent Processing of Simulation Engine within Cloud Scheduler

Even though we have updated the Simulation Engine behavior as it relates to locked templates, Admin users still have the ability to control this feature when a Simulation Engine process is created within Cloud Scheduler. If you select Yes for Persistent Processing (shown below) on the Simulation Process Add or Edit page, Simulation Engine will ignore the locked templates and continue to process unlocked templates.

If you select No for Persistent Processing, Simulation Engine will stop processing as soon as it encounters the first locked template.

The image below shows the error message displayed when Simulation Engine fails due to locked template(s). The scenario, entity, and template names are provided.

Best Practices

Select Yes for Persistent Processing unless a specific use case requires Simulation Engine to stop when the first locked template is encountered during processing.

Consolidation: Journal Upload Feature

This feature expedites the migration and creation of Consolidation Journals by allowing you to upload Standard, Recurring, and Dynamic journals in xlsx format directly to the Consolidation module. We’ve also created a sample template that you can download for ease of use when performing the upload.

In Practice: Uploading Standard Journals (with Failed and Completed Examples)

1. Access the Consolidation module.

2. Click the Standard Journals process. Standard Journals appear in the center pane as shown below.

   

3. If no Standard journals were created or uploaded then this pane will be blank. You can opt to upload or enter journals or do a medley of both. Click the Upload icon shown below.

   

4. When you click the Upload icon, the Standard Journals Upload dialog appears. It is best practice to use the sample Excel template as it instructs you exactly how to organize your journal data to load it successfully. Click Download sample Excel template.

   

5. The template is downloaded to your computer. Open the template.

   

6. The template displays and indicates the required fields. It also provides information to ensure the correct data is entered where needed. Copy and paste the template into a new file.

   

7. Enter a journal code, the period for which you want to load the journals, and the posting type as shown below.

   

8. Enter Adjustments (CC) or Adjustments (LC) for reporting, Yes or No for auto-reversing and enter notes as needed.

9. Now, you’re ready to copy and paste journals to the spreadsheet. Notice how the grid names in the Excel template match the names within the application Journal Add page. Prior to copying and pasting data to the Excel file, make sure you delete all the tips located in the sample file.

   

   

10. Save the xlsx file to your computer.

11. Click Choose File.

    

12. Select the file you just saved to your computer.

    

13. Click Submit to perform the upload. A message will appear once submitted (as well as once the upload is complete) where you can click through to the Detail View (shown below) to view the status of the upload. Additionally, clicking Submit will create a Job Manager process called Standard Journals Upload (also shown below).

    

14. If the upload failed, click the Status field link (Click Here) to download an Excel file with information on why the failure occurred. An example of a failed upload is shown below. Fix the errors and upload the file again.
    

    Once journals are uploaded successfully, the Detail View will display Success in the Status field and the uploaded Standard journal will display in the Consolidation Control Panel (shown below).

    

    

In Practice: Uploading Recurring Journals

1. Access the Consolidation module.

2. Click the Recurring Journals process. Recurring Journals appear in the center pane.

3. If no Recurring journals were created or uploaded then this pane will be blank. You can opt to upload or enter journals or do a medley of both. Click the Upload icon shown below.

   

4. When you click the Upload icon, the Recurring Journals Upload dialog appears. It is a best practice to use the sample Excel template as it shows you exactly how you need to organize your journal data to load it successfully. Click Download sample Excel template.

5. The template is downloaded to your computer. Open the template.

6. The template displays and indicates the required fields. It also provides information to ensure the correct data is entered where needed. Copy and paste the template into a new file.

   

7. Enter a journal code, the period for which you want to load the journals, and the posting type.

8. Enter Adjustments (CC) or Adjustments (LC) for reporting and enter notes as needed.

9. Now, you’re ready to copy and paste journals to the spreadsheet. Prior to copying and pasting data to the Excel file, make sure you delete all the tips.

10. Save the xlsx file to your computer.

11. Back in the Consolidation Control Panel, click Choose File.

12. Select the file you just saved to your computer and click Submit. Once processing is complete, the uploaded Recurring Journal will appear in the center pane.

13. If the file fails to upload, download the failed file to view the cause(s) of the failure, fix the file, and upload again.

In Practice: Uploading Dynamic Journals

1. Access the Consolidation module.

2. Click the Dynamic Journals process. Dynamic Journals appear in the center pane.

3. If no Dynamic journals were created or uploaded then this pane will be blank. You can opt to upload or enter journals or do a medley of both. Click the Upload icon shown below.

   

4. When you click the Upload icon, the Dynamic Journals Upload dialog appears. It is a best practice to use the sample Excel template as it shows you exactly how you need to organize your journal data to load it successfully. Click Download sample Excel template.

5. The template is downloaded to your computer. Open the template.

6. The template displays and indicates the required fields. It also provides information to ensure the correct data is entered where needed. Copy and paste the template into a new file.

   

7. Enter a journal code, the period for which you want to load the journals, and the posting type.

8. Enter Dynamic JE (CC) or Dynamic JE (LC) for reporting and enter notes as needed.

9. Now, you’re ready to copy and paste journals to the spreadsheet. Prior to copying and pasting data to the Excel file, make sure you delete all the tips.

10. Save the xlsx file to your computer.

11. Back in the Consolidation Control Panel, click Choose File.

12. Select the file you just saved to your computer and click Submit. Once processing is complete, the uploaded Dynamic Journal will appear in the center pane.

13. If the file fails to upload, download the failed file to view the cause(s) of the failure, fix the file, and upload again.

Consolidation: Actual Scenario Data Locking by Entity

Introducing the ability to lock Entities at the month level. Entity locking ensures that no data entry or other data changes can be made once a specific entity and month combination is selected and locked. This functionality allows different entities with the same period to have different statuses. For example, you can have a combination of both locked and unlocked entities in the same rollup for the same period.

In Practice:

1. Access the Lock Data application page by navigating to Maintenance > Reports > Lock Data.

2. Click the Lock Data tab.

3. Select the period for which you want to lock data.

   

4. The Company hierarchy is displayed. Expand and collapse the hierarchy to locate the entity you want to lock or unlock. Or, use the Search bar to conveniently search for entities.

5. In the example below, the 1000- Corporate Mgmt Group entity is locked for January through April of 2018. The red square indicates the period is locked.

   

6. Select the 4 red cells, and then right click. The Unlock icon appears. It is also displayed on the toolbar.

   

7. Click Unlock. The periods change from red to green.

   

8. To lock a period or periods for an entity, select the cells and click the Lock icon.

9. Make sure you click Save.

   Yellow cells indicate that one or more members of the rollup has been locked, as shown below.

   

Unlock the rollup members to change the cell from yellow to green.

The remainder of the documentation in this section discusses use cases when entities are locked and best practices:

• Actual Data Templates

• Data Load Rules

• Consolidation/Consolidation Process

• Best Practices

How Entity Locking Works in Actual Data Template

In the example below, two Companies in the Actual Data Template have different locked periods. The Company in first row is locked until April 18 and the Company in second row is locked until May 18.

Data entry is not allowed for the Company in the first row until April 18 and data entry is not allowed for the Company in the second row until May 18. Cells highlighted in yellow allow user entry.

How Entity Locking Works in Data Load Rules

In the example below, data is loaded for two companies; one which is locked and the other is unlocked. Because one company is locked, the data load will fail.

Data cannot be loaded for a locked Company and if data is loaded for a combination of locked and unlocked Companies, then the data load will fail.

How Entity Locking Works in Consolidation/Consolidation Process

In Consolidation, icons are displayed (as shown below) for locked and partially locked companies in Member Selector for the period selected.

Rollups with a combination of locked and unlocked Companies will show as partially Locked in this screen. The Companies for which no icon is displayed are in an unlocked state for that period.

The Consolidation Process will fail and display a list of locked Companies in the Detail View for the process in Job Manager (shown below).

Best Practices / Tips

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  >For existing users using the Lock Datascreen; periods locked before the Summer18 Release will show up as locked for all Companies after the Summer 18 Release. If required, users can navigate to Lock Data screen, select Companies, and unlock the periods for which changes need to be made.                          

  
  

• Click the column title to select the complete period to lock for the entire Company hierarchy. Likewise, the Company rollup or an individual company can be selected; this way all periods would be selected and can be locked.

• Use the Search option (shown in the image below) to conveniently search for a company Click the column title to select the complete period to lock for the entire Company hierarchy. Likewise, the Company rollup or an individual company can be selected; this way all periods would be selected and can be locked.

  

• Select multiple Companies and right-click to lock or unlock; or use the Lock and Unlock icon on the top ribbon.

• Update Exchange Rates for currencies before locking entities for any period. Once a period is locked for a Company, the currency associated with the Company does not allow the Exchange Rates to be changed for that period. In case the Currency Exchange Rate is being used by more than one Company and if one or more Companies linked to that Currency have been locked, then no changes to that Exchange Rate of that Currency would be allowed until the locked Company(ies) are unlocked for that period.

• Scheduled Data Loads that have been configured to load for a period should be checked and configured to ensure only data for unlocked entities is being sent. A data load will fail if it contains data for locked entities.

• Run Elimination for a Company rollup hierarchy before locking any of its leaf member. Once a leaf member is locked, the Eliminations will fail for the rollup even if the Company which has been locked does not have any Elimination entries that require to be posted.

Reports: Report Collection Sort Order and Distribution

There are three enhancements for Report Collection Sort Order and Distribution:

1. Retained Order of Member Selections on Bursting Dimensions

2. Ability to Reorder Member Selections on Bursting Dimensions

3. Distribution List, Report Collection Output Files and Reports Retain the Order of Member Selections

Retained Order of Member Selections on Bursting Dimensions

The order of the selected members for each bursting dimension is now retained in Report Collection output. For example, in the image below the bursting dimension is Scenario. The members selected are Actual, Capital Budget, Template Delete Budget, and Capital Forecast. The placement of these members will now be retained when the Report Collection runs.

Ability to Reorder Member Selections on Bursting Dimensions

On the Reports tab of a Report Collection, you can now reorder the members selected on a bursting dimension. For example, you can move the Capital Budget member to the top place for the Scenario dimension as shown below. The placement of these members will be retained when the Report Collection runs.

Distribution List, Report Collection Output Files and Reports Retain the Order of Member Selections

Now, it doesn't matter how you distribute the Report Collection, the order of the dimension members selected and displayed on the Reports tab for a given dimension is retained. In the example below, if your output format is Excel, an Excel file of the Report Collection output (reports) will generate with the mapped dimension members displayed in the order they are set. Please see the screenshot below.

In the output example below, the Company member was selected as the bursting dimension and the members selected were Everest Holding Group and Mgmt Ops Rollup. Everest Holding Group was placed first followed by Mgmt Ops Rollup. This placement is retained as shown below.

Reports: Enhanced Drill Through Reporting

Existing customers (prior to the Summer18 release) must contact Planful Support to enable this feature. This feature is enabled by default for new customers.

We continue to enhance drill through for Financial Reporting . With this release we’re providing a 360° view of data by extending drill through in reports to retrieve information beyond Operational Planning, Translations and Transactions. Now, you can drill into Workforce Planning data from GL data, and into Data Load Rules data. Additionally, Operational Planning drill through is extended to Preloaded and Forecast type scenarios.

Topics:

Drill Through Reporting on Preloaded and Forecast Scenarios Populated with Seeded Data

Drill Through Reporting on Closed Period (History) Data for Forecast Scenarios

Drill Through Reporting on WFP Data Populated from Detailed HR

Drill Through Reporting on GL Data Loaded via Data Load Rules

Drill Through Features Included and Excluded in this Release

Drill Through Reporting on Preloaded and Forecast Scenarios Populated with Seeded Data

To populate Preloaded and Forecast scenarios, it is likely that you will seed data from another source or sources. Once the scenarios are seeded (populated) with data, you can use the Scenario dimension and the Preloaded and Forecast scenario dimension members in your Dynamic report. In the image below, the Forecast scenario is used at the row level along with Account.

For Preloaded scenarios, Entity, Doc Ref, Lines, and Sublines do not exist so they will not be seeded or displayed in a Dynamic report.

For Forecast scenarios, Doc Ref is set to Data Seeding. Lines and Sublines are displayed if they are seeded from the source scenario (depending on Scenario Setup), otherwise they are empty. If populated, in the Operational Planning tab (shown below), you can optionally turn off Ref Lines and Sublines. The report will be re-rendered to remove associated rows and columns. To turn off Sublines and Ref Lines, uncheck the boxes under Setup (shown in image below) and click Apply Changes.

When you drill on a Preloaded or Forecast scenario, the seeded data is displayed under the Operational Planning or GL Data Loads tab depending on where the data is input from.

For Preloaded scenarios, if the Seed ETL Direct CC Data option (shown below) is selected when adding the scenario, both LC (local currency) and CC (common currency) data is displayed in the drill through. If not selected, only LC data with currency conversions (if applied during the data load) is displayed.

Access the Scenario Add page by navigating to Maintenance > Scenario > Scenario Setup > Add.

Drill Through Reporting on Closed Period (History) Data for Forecast Scenarios

History or Closed Period data is available for Forecast scenarios only and can be drilled upon in Dynamic Report output. The data can be populated from Actual, Budget, Forecast or Preload scenarios.

When you drill on a Forecast scenario the history/closed period data is displayed under the Operational Planning tab. Doc Ref is set to Closed Periods Data. Entity, Lines, and Sublines are not applicable for Closed Periods.

Drill Through Reporting on Workforce Planning Data Populated from Detailed HR

Workforce Planning data is available under a tab called Workforce Planning in the Drill Through report (as shown below).

Workforce Planning data can be loaded for Budget and Forecast scenarios. GL segment combination, Home Entity, Position Entity, Employee, Employee Type, Position, Compensation Item, Currency, Month, and Amount are displayed in the Workforce Planning Drill Through report.

The ability to turn on/off Doc Ref is disabled for the Workforce Planning Drill Through report.

Drill Through Reporting on GL Data Loaded via Data Load Rules

GL Data can be loaded for all Scenario types (Actual, Budget, Forecast, and Preloaded) via Data Load Rules. GL Data loaded using Data Load Rules is displayed under a tab called GL Data Loads in the Drill Through report as shown below.

GL segment combination, Doc Ref, Currency, Month and Amount columns are displayed in the GL Data Loads tab on the Drill Through report. The Data Load Rule Label (2017 Actuals in the example below) is displayed under the column Doc Ref.

You can turn on/off the Doc Ref. If turned off, data is aggregated for a given segment and currency combination across all Data Load Rules. Click the Settings icon to turn Doc Ref on or off. Select or deselect the checkbox and click Apply Changes. See the example report below.

Drill Through Features Included and Excluded in this Release

The following table an overview of the Drill Through features included and excluded for the Summer18 release.

Reports: Cell Formatting in Dynamic Reports

Existing customers (prior to the Summer18 release) must contact Planful Support to enable this feature. This feature is enabled by default for new customers.

With cell level formatting, dynamic reporting is more flexible than ever. This enhancement allows you to control the look and feel of report output down to the cell level. With cell level formatting , you can apply formatting to the entire report, a row/column, a range of cells, or an individual cell. Additionally, you can:

• apply formatting when using the insert formula row/column in a report

• format a formula exception value

• vertically top/center/bottom align headers and numbers in a report

This functionality applies to all existing and new Dynamic Reports across all browsers. It is available for all reporting areas (Financial, Sales, Scorecard, Workforce).

For this release, this functionality is enabled only for Dynamic Reports that are designed using dimensions or attributes. Dynamic Reports where Report Sets are used are not supported.

The default format for a Dynamic Report is:

• Column headers are center aligned and bold

• Row headers are left aligned and bold

• Drill down members are shown with indents

• Numbers are right aligned

• Font = Arial, size = 8, color = black, fill color = no color

Formatting is applied to all cells within the body of the report and:

• Applies to row and column headers, numbers/data values in the report

• Applies to merged cells (when multiple dimensions are used on the column axis)

• Notes, Insert Formula row/column, Formula Exceptions

Formatting is retained when exporting a Dynamic Report, when it is included as an email attachment, linked report, and when used in a Report Collection or FPP.

When the structure of the report is modified by adding or removing dimensions from the row or column axis, formatting has to be readjusted for accuracy.

In Practice

1. To apply cell level formatting to a Dynamic report, open the report, and click the Format icon (an example is shown below).

   

2. The Format pane appears as shown below. There are 3 tabs; Text, Data, and Other. Ensure the Text tab is selected.

   

3. Select a cell and apply different styles. The same report shown above has been modified and is shown below.

   

   To select a range of cells as shown below, drag the cursor as you would in Excel.

   

4. Change the font type and size. In the report below, 2016 font size is increased.

   

   Planful supports a range of font types, which are enabled in Static Report Sets. Select the list-box to view all supported font types. Fonts size 8 through 32 px are supported. The default is set to 8 for all existing and new Dynamic Reports across all the lines. Based on the font size the row height automatically adjusts.

5. Select alignment and indentation options. In the report shown below selected cells are vertically aligned to the bottom of the cell. Select horizontal alignment (left, center or right). Select vertical alignment (top, center or bottom). Select to indent left or right. Indents, horizontal, and vertical alignment also applies headers and data values.

   

6. Apply borders to the report. Select a cell or cells, select a border color and click the border type to be applied. In the image below, a yellow border is applied to a cell.

   

   Here is the border color and border type selection pane. There are many options to choose from including, no border, left and right border, and top and bottom border.

   

7. Click the Data tab.

   

8. For Display As, select to display the cell contents in number, currency, or percentage format. When currency is applied to a cell or cells, the Currency Alignment options displays as shown below.

   

   Select how you want the currency symbol displayed in the cell. There are two formats; Accounting and Currency. With the Accounting format, the currency symbol is displayed in the left-most position within the cell. With the Currency format, the currency symbol is displayed directly in front of the number in the cell.

   When multiple formats are applied to the report, only the most recently applied format gets applied to each cell in the report. When multiple cells with different formatting are selected, format of the first cell is displayed in the pane. Formatting is not supported when Properties are added to the report.

   

   The Currency symbol displayed is based on your location settings.

9. For Show Zero As, select how you want to display zero values (as dashes, empty, or as 0) for a selected cell, cell range, or the entire report. Selecting 0 applies to all data values in the report including Excel calculations, insert formulas, and formula exceptions.

10. Select the number of decimal places for a selected cell, cell range, or report. In the example below, 2 decimal places is selected for a cell. You can select 0 to 6 decimal places.

    

11. Select a Thousand Separator option. Display of the thousand separator is driven based on user location settings.

12. Finally, click the Other tab and select to hide or display empty rows and columns.

    Don’t forget to click Apply and Save!

Resetting Formatting Selections

If you want to return to the default formatting, click the Reset icon. The Reset icon on the top of the Format pane resets the format values to the defaults.

Situations When Formatting is Disabled or Can't be Applied

In certain situations, formatting might become disabled or has to be reapplied. The remainder of this topic discusses these situations.

Drill Down Rows and Columns

Formatting is disabled for drill down rows and columns. The images below depicts the behavior.

Prior to Drill Down Formatting is Applied to Cells

Click the Mountain Bikes Drill Down and Formatting is Not Applied to Members

Running Borders and Currency Format

Running borders and data formatting is inherited from the parent member and applied to the drill down rows and columns. The images below depicts this behavior.

Running Border and Currency Format Applied

Running Border and Currency Format Also Applies to Drill Down Members

Number Scale

Number Scale is disabled when you SELECT ALL or do a CTRL+A. In the image below, a CTRL+A was performed.

Then, a number scale was selected, but is not applied to the report when all report cells are selected.

Font Color When On a Mac

The drop down for negative numbers does not apply a Red font color in the drop down (shown below) on a Mac.

Reports: Currency Display in Dynamic Reports

Existing customers (prior to the Summer18 release) must contact Planful Support to enable this feature. This feature is enabled by default for new customers.

Display a currency value (such as EURO) aside from LC or CC (Local Currency or Common Currency) in a Dynamic report. Displaying the currency value in a Dynamic Report improves usability and report interpretation.

Prior to this release all currency in a Dynamic report displayed as CC (common currency), LC (local currency) or Interim Currency as shown in the image below.

The same report (shown above) can now be displayed in other currency values as well. The LC and CC is replaced with the actual currency value, the companies are AUD and Euro, and the currency related to each company is shown in the Reporting column.

Additionally, you can display a Reporting dimension in the header or footer of the Dynamic Report by name, code, or label. In the example below, the Reporting dimension is on the report header.

Click the Dimension Display icon.

Display the Reporting dimension in the header by code, name or label as shown below. With this enhancement, it is now easier to identify the currency of the report data.

This feature applies to Financial and Scorecard Reporting Areas (cubes) only. The currency value will be displayed when the Dynamic Report is generated using alternate hierarchies, attributes, attribute hierarchies, and substitution variables. The currency value is displayed for Common, Local, Interim and Reporting currencies.

You must select the Company dimension to appropriately display the local and interim currencies in a Dynamic report. Common currency is obtained from Maintenance > Admin > Configuration Tasks. The Reporting currency data is obtained from the Hierarchy Management screen/setup for the Reporting dimension. Common and Reporting currencies are independent of the Company dimension.

Default Members, Pick List, user point of view (POV) and Bursting/Page selections in a Report Collection and Financial Package reports are all honored for the Company dimension in order to display the appropriate currency in a Dynamic report.

Currency display applies to exports and e-mail attachments as well as Dynamic Reports run through a Report Collection, Financial Package, and/or Mapped Reports.

When this feature is not enabled, the current behavior is retained and there are no changes to the Consolidated CC or LC (or any Reporting dimension member) labels displayed in the headers.

When this feature is enabled, report data is retrieved based on the Reporting dimension member selected in the report. However, the report header/footer and row/column headers always display the appropriate Currency property associated with the Reporting dimension member for a leaf member selected on the Company dimension.

In Practice: How to Create a Dynamic Report with Currency Displayed

1. Contact Planful Support to enable this feature if you are an existing customer (prior to the Summer18 release).

2. Navigate to Maintenance > Admin > Configuration Tasks and select the Define Currency Parameters task. This is where your common currency is defined. Enter the common currency code and name information and save.

3. Navigate to Maintenance > Hierarchy > Hierarchy Management. For Type, select Finance Hierarchies, for Dimension and Hierarchy, select the Reporting dimension.

4. Click Show. This is where you will set up Reporting members.

5. Select the Company Dimension and Hierarchy. Use the Properties tab to select local and interim currency for each member. For example, for a French (based in France) company, select Euro as the local currency. Optionally select an Interim currency. For example, if you select GPB for Interim currency, you can report in GPB for the French company.

6. In the File Cabinet, click the Add icon to add a new Dynamic Report.

7. The Reporting Area selection screen appears. Select either the Financial or Scorecard reporting area as the other reporting areas are not available with this functionality.

8. On the page, column or row, drag and drop the Company dimension. For example, drag and drop the Company dimension and select the French company. The currency displayed in the report for this company member will be EURO. Several examples are provided below.

Examples

Example 1: In the image below, the Reporting dimension is used on the page axis or header/footer section of the Dynamic Report.

Example 2: The Reporting dimension is used on the row/column axis of the Dynamic Report. Notice that for Reporting dimension members with currency conversions from LC to CC, LC and CC are replaced with the appropriate currency value. In the image below, approved Initiatives (LC to CC) is displayed as approved Initiatives (CAD to USD) in the report headers.

Example 3: This example shows how the currency displays when drilling down on a Reporting dimension.

In all the above examples, currency Code/Name/Label is displayed based on the configuration applied to the Reporting dimension.

Contact Planful Support to enable Code/Name/Label display configuration in your Dynamic Reports.

You can change the Code/Name/Label display for the header/footer section using the Dimension Display screen.

Best Practices / Tips

The information below applies to Local and Interim currencies only and does not apply to other Reporting dimension members; including Common and Reporting currencies.

• If multiple members are selected from the Company dimension on the page axis and the Reporting dimension is included into the report header/footer section, the report displays the Reporting dimension member (e.g. Consolidated LC) selected on the page axis and does not replace with the appropriate currency value.

• If at least one rollup member exists for the Company dimension on the page/row/column axis, currency value is not displayed.

• Currency is not displayed if the Reporting dimension members are renamed in the hierarchy or they are used in Static Report Set line names and edited.

• Currency is not displayed if the Reporting dimension members are used in Static Report Set line names where Single Dimension Multiple Members, Multiple Dimension Single Member and Advanced Rules are defined.

• Currency is not displayed if the Reporting dimension members are used in a Dynamic Report Set where Advanced Rules are defined.

• Currency is not displayed when each of the Company and Reporting dimensions are used on the row and column axis. For example, if Company is used on the row axis and the Reporting dimension is used on column axis (or vice versa).

• Code/Name/Label display configuration is not available in Report Sets.

• Limitations exist for Local and Interim currencies when Attributes or Attribute hierarchies are used in a report.

Reports: Reporting / Workiva API Enhancement

Last April, we released the Reporting/Workiva API. This API allows you to extract the metadata (the report structure) and the data (the data within the report) directly from Planful and load the extracted data to the WDesk platform.

Now, we are releasing an enhanced version of this API, which saves times and provides more flexibility. This version is capable of overriding partial page filters applied to a Dynamic Report. So, for example, in the Success Request sample code below, the Scenario in a Dynamic Report is set to 100. You can change the parameter in the API request to run the report for Scenario 102 without making a change to the Dynamic Report or other filters.

The sample code below shows how the Success Response returns Account and Time data on the row and column. In the Failed Request, the sample code includes a request for Company, which does not exist in the report.

SUCCESS

Request:

{

"ReportCode" : "page filters report1",

"Lineage" : "File Cabinet\\Host Analytics Training",

"CubeName" : "RepCube",

"PageFilters" :

[

{ "DimensionName": "Scenario" , "MemberIds" : [100]},

{ "DimensionName": "Reporting" , "MemberIds" : [20]}

],

"ApplyPageFilters" : "true"

}

Response:

{

"RowHeaders": [

[

{

"Label": "Balance Sheet",

"DimensionName": "Account",

"MemberId": "2"

}

]

],

"ColumnHeaders": [

[

{

"Label": "2018",

"DimensionName": "Time",

"MemberId": "2018"

}

]

],

"Data": [

[

"-1217991.666666"

]

],

"Status": "Success",

"StatusMessage": ""

}

FAILURE

Request:

{

"ReportCode" : "page filters5",

"Lineage" : "File Cabinet\\Host Analytics Training",

"CubeName" : "RepCube",

"PageFilters" :

[

{ "DimensionName": "Scenario" , "MemberIds" : [189]},

{ "DimensionName": "Company" , "MemberIds" : [104]},

{ "DimensionName": "Reporting" , "MemberIds" : [20]}

],

"ApplyPageFilters" : "true"

}

Response:

"Report does not contain dimension for the row."

Reports: Dynamic Report Usability

Now, Dynamic Reports will automatically adjust based on the screen resolution. When you switch from a wider monitor to a smaller one or vice versa, your Dynamic Reports adjust automatically without having to reload the page.

Common: Data Integration Services

The Data Integration Services feature allows you to manage the Integration Process with Boomi from within the Planful application. This feature is designed to allow you to execute an Integration Process on-demand from Planful without needing to intricately understand Boomi, and, without the help of an IT professional.

Use the Integration Service to execute a custom Integration Process to load metadata, summary data, transactions data, and operational data to Planful. This feature provides complete visibility into the type of data source and the data that is being loaded to the application and has full auditing capabilities as well as the detailed status of each integration process.

First, you will need to configure the Integration Service on the Configuration Tasks - Cloud Services page and then you’ll configure the process for execution on the Integration Service page under Data Integration (DLR). Admins are required to provide navigation access to users who will need to access the Integration Service page. The steps below walk you through the setup and execution. There are three tasks you will need to perform, which are:

• Complete the Integration Services Configuration Task

• Provide Navigation Access to the Integration Services Application Page

• Set Up an Integration Service Process

Complete the Integration Services Configuration Task

Setup the parameters for the integration as well as authentication information.

In Practice

1. Navigate to Maintenance > Admin > Configuration Tasks.

2. Open the Data Integration Configuration - Cloud Services task.

3. On the Cloud Services page, click the Integration Service task.

   

4. Enter the Account ID provided by Boomi.

5. Planful supports HTTP (RESTful) APIs that publish data in JSON format. Enter the request in the Rest API URL field.

6. Enter the username and password to authenticate the Rest API URL call.

7. Click Submit. The welcome screen appears.

   

8. Click Add. The Configure Process screen appears.

   

9. The Rest API URL is populated based on the URL you already entered during step 5. For Process Type, select the type of data you are loading. See examples in the screen below. For this example, Data - GL Data is selected.

   

10. Enter an Atom ID provided by Boomi. The Atom contains all the components required to execute your processes from end to end, including connectors, transformation rules, decision handling, and processing logic. This ID is provided by Boomi.

11. Enter an ID or your choice to identify the process.

12. Enter a name of your choice to identify the process.

13. Select the source vender, Boomi, (where your data is stored) for the Data Source field.

    Here is an example using SFTP:

    

14. Enter a description of the process and click the Add button (optional) to launch the Custom Parameters page where you can set additional parameters. You might want to set additional parameters when you want to load data from different subsidiaries, for example, and need to identify each (Subsidiary A or B).

    

15. You can select a single textbox to display or a dropdown where a user can select to load data from subsidiary A or B, for example. You can also opt for a combination of textbox and dropdown.

    

16. Click Done.

Here are some examples of configured processes. You can edit or delete the configured process from this screen. You can also select to add another configured process.

Provide Navigation Access to the Integration Services Application Page

Provide a user with access to the Integration Services application page where the user can set up processes for execution (to load data).

In Practice:

1. Access the Navigation Access page by navigating to Maintenance > Admin > User Management.

2. Click the Navigation Role tab and select the Navigation Access button to launch the Navigation Access page for a selected navigation role.

3. Select the Integration Services checkbox and click Save.

   

Set Up an Integration Service Process

Define the data type you want to load and select the vendor you want to load data from.

In Practice:

1. Access Integration Services by navigating to Maintenance > DLR > Integration Services.

2. The Integration Service screen appears. Select a process to execute.

   

3. The Process Name list-box is populated based on the processes set up on the Configuration Tasks - Cloud Services page. In this case the process configured is called Load for GL Data. Select it.

   

4. Because a dropdown was configured for this process, select to load data for subsidiary A or B.

   

   Here is an example where a textbox was selected and named “1a”. The user executing the process might want to enter details in the textbox as shown below.

   

5. Click Execute Process to load the data.

   

   If the process fails, the following message appears:

   

   If the process is a success, the following message appears:

   

   Click See Details or select the History tab and the page below appears.

   

Best Practices

To avoid failures during process execution, an Administrator must be meticulous when configuring Account and Process (as these are text fields).

Common: Audit Log Enhancements for the Finance Hierarchy

Audit Log enhancements are available for changes made to the Finance Hierarchy in Hierarchy Management. All changes will now be searchable under the Hierarchy Audit Area except for Attribute Setup performed via the Setup link in Hierarchy Management. Attribute Setup changes will be displayed as User Defined Attributes.

We’ve enhanced Application Auditing by:

• Adding 3 information columns to the results table. These columns are Source, Old Value, and New Value, these new columns provide more detailed information about the actions performed by an end user.
• Updating the Audit Description column to include details on the field modified by a user. Parent information is provided as well.
• Providing an even better user experience by simplifying the categorization of audit actions. All actions will now be categorized as Add, Edit or Delete.
• Including information on session timeout and reasons for login failures.

In Practice:

1. Navigate to Maintenance > Audit > View Audit Log.

2. Select search/filter criteria.

3. Click View Logs. The results are returned as shown below.

   

The Source column provides information on the way in which the change was made. For example, a user performed “input”. The Old Value column provides information on the original value prior to the change the user performed. For example, the user changes the member code from xyz to abc. So, xyz is shown as the Old Value. The New Value column provides information on the updated value. So, if the user changes the member code from xyz to abc, abc is shown as the New Value.

The images below show how we’ve simplified the categorization for audit actions.

Common: Improved Flexibility for Security Administration

We have added the ability to configure the number of previous password that should not be used during password reset.

In Practice:

1. Access the Security Administration page by navigating to Maintenance > Admin > Security Administration.

2. In the new field shown in the image below, enter the number of previously used passwords that cannot be used when a user is resetting their password. In this example, 12 passwords previously used by a user cannot be reused.

3. Click Save.

   

Common: Ctrl+E Shortcut Key

A shortcut key is available. Press and hold the Ctrl+E keys to export to Excel. This shortcut key is enabled for most application pages where exporting to Excel is available.

Common: Ctrl+Home Shortcut Key Change

Prior to this release, if you were in an Planning template, for example, and selected Ctrl+Home on your keyboard, the cursor would go to the first cell on the screen (shown below) no matter where the freeze pane was located.

Now, to be consistent with standard Microsoft Excel behavior, selecting these keys returns you to the first cell in the freeze pane (shown below).

Modeling 2.6: Improvements to Cascade Reporting

In this release, Cascade Reporting has added support for many options:

• Support for Excel Formulas

• Support for Additional Filters

• Support for Subtotals

• Support for Saving Data, Saving Data and Running a Calculation, and Breakback

• Support for Drill-Through

• Support for Suppress Rows and Columns

• Support for Attributes

• Formatting Tips in Cascade Reporting

Cascade Reporting is a method of report design that eases ongoing maintenance by letting you indicate that you want a dimension and all its children, or all its members, rather than specifying each member explicitly in the report. When members are added, deleted, or moved in the dimension, the changes take effect the next time the report is run.

Cascade Support for Excel Formulas

Excel formulas in the report are now honored in a Cascade report in the following circumstances:

• The formulas are inside the block.

• The formulas are on the row immediately following the block.

The following example shows Excel formulas inserted into columns showing the percentage of the total.

When the report is run, the formulas are calculated using the data retrieved from the model. The formulas are retained.

The following example shows Excel formulas inserted in the row below the data.

When the report is run, the formulas are calculated using the data retrieved from the model. The formulas are retained.

Cascade Support for Additional Filters

Additional filters are now available, so you can precisely specify which members of the cascaded dimension should appear in the report.

Select all cells in the report and click Design Manager. On the Cascaded dimension, click the Selection icon, then select Filters. You can choose from the following filters:

• None – Only the member selected is displayed.

• Children of <Member> – The children of the specified member are displayed in the report. The specified member is not displayed.

• Sel + Children of <Member> – The children of the specified member are displayed in the report, as well as the specified member. The specified member is listed at the top of the report.

• AllChildren of <Member> - The children, grandchildren, and all other descendants of the specified member are displayed in the report. The specified member is not displayed.

• Sel + AllChildren of <Member> - The children, grandchildren, and all other descendants of the specified member are displayed in the report, as well as the specified member. The specified member is listed at the top of the report.

• Leaves of <Member> - The leaf members in the hierarchy under the specified member are displayed in the report. The specified member is not displayed.

• Sel + Leaves of <Member> - The leaf members in the hierarchy under the specified member are displayed in the report. The specified member is listed at the top of the report. Note that no other parent-level members under the specified member are included in the report.

Cascade Support for Subtotals

Subtotals are now available for cascaded dimensions. When you insert a Subtotal, a row is added to the report with subtotals of the data in the columns. The Subtotal disregards the rollup operators on the members and simply does a sum of all the numbers in each column.

To delete the Subtotal, select the Subtotal row in the Design Manager, use the Selection icon and click Delete.

After you click Update, you see the Subtotal row added to the report.

After you run the report, you see Subtotals under each block of cells.

Cascade Support for Saving Data, Saving Data and Running a Calculation, and Breakback

Cascade reports now support saving data, whether through data entry or through Breakback operations. You can use the standard Calculation on Save options, including saving data in multiple models, running a calculation after saving the data, and running a calculation without saving data. As with non-cascade reports, data can be saved only on leaf-level cells. Dimension security is honored.

In the following example, a report has leaf members on the page axis and column axis. The row axis has the dimension Product, and the filter selected is Leaves of Product. This ensures that leaf-level data appears in the report. Report Properties allow data to be saved and a calculation to be run. Additionally, note that Suppress Rows and Columns is set to No since the user may want to enter data into those cells.

When the report is run, the Save Data and Breakback buttons are provided on the menu ribbon. The user can enter data and click Save Data when complete.

Cascade Support for Drill-Through

When creating a report using data from a Master model, you can use Drill-Through from any of the data cells in a cascading report.

Cascade Support for Suppress Rows and Columns

Cascaded dimensions will automatically have blank rows suppressed. You may want to specify to suppress Zero rows in the report properties.

In the following example, the highest-level parent in the Account dimension has no data because it was defined with a null rollup operator (~). Account is a cascaded dimension defined as Sel+ Children of Account.

If Suppress Rows and Suppress Columns are set to None, when the report is run, you see blank data for Account and #DIV/0 for the percentage calculations.

If Suppress Rows is set to Suppress Both - Zero and Blank, when the report is run, you no longer see the #DIV/0 errors, but you also lose the top row of each block because Account is blank.

The solution is to specify that the Account dimension be cascaded as Children of Account so that the Account member is not included. With Suppress Rows set to Suppress Both - Zero and Blank, when the report is run, you see a complete set of data.

Cascade Support for Attributes

Cascade Reporting now supports attributes in two ways:

• An attribute can appear on the page or column axis in a report with cascaded dimensions on the rows.

• An attribute can be cascaded on the row axis.

In the following example, Region is an attribute on the Company dimension. Region appears in the row axis and is cascaded.

Formatting Tips in Cascade Reporting

When designing a cascading reporting, here are some formatting tips.

• You can rename the Subtotals cell to be more descriptive, and use cell formatting on the data cells.

• You can add merged cells in the heading and additional text above the block. Any text cells on the right side of the block will not be repeated with the block. Think of the block as the box from column A to the rightmost column of data cells with the red cell-comment indicators. Anything to the right of the box is ignored.

  When the report is run:

  

• When starting with a view and then creating a report, it is a best practice to remove excess rows from the report design and let the Cascade feature fill in the rows. For example, you start with this view and then create a report from it.

  When setting up the Cascading functionality, select all cells and then click Design Manager. Delete all the excess rows under Net Income and let Cascade Sel+ All Members display the hierarchy.

  

Modeling 2.6: Connecting to the Financial Reporting Area

Support for models with Direct Access to PCR Financial Reporting data was introduced in the May release, but it was available only for selective customers. With this release, this functionality is available for all customers, but it is not enabled by default. You must call Planful Support to request access to this feature. The Planful Support team will configure your environment. Once this functionality is enabled, you can create models with direct access to financial reporting area and access PCR data from SpotlightXL.

Overview

Modeling users can access Planful Planning, Consolidation, and Reporting (PCR) applications data from Spotlight or SpotlightXL without any need to download data or build a map, formula, or calculation.

To use this feature, PCR users must have a license for either Spotlight or Modeling. (A Spotlight license provides access for reporting and analysis. A Modeling license provides access to all the features of Modeling.)

Key Benefits

• One-time setup to connect from Modeling to PCR; the administrator must do this step.

• Reduced learning curve with two easy steps to set up a model in Spotlight that provides read-only access to the Financial Reporting Area; users with Designer or Admin privilege can do these steps.

• All dimension security defined in PCR is honored in Spotlight. However, all metadata for the Financial cube is visible to the users in Spotlight. For example, if a user has access only to the East region, they will see all the other regions in the Dimension list boxes but will see only data for the East region.

• Full access to Modeling's robust reporting capabilities, slice-and-dice, and analysis in Views, Reports, Excel-based Reports, and Snapshots, from the web or Excel.

• No need to refresh metadata or data since it is a live connection to the original data; this reduces ongoing maintenance.

• Data access from Modeling is read-only and primarily intended for use with analysis and reporting. For writing data changes back to PCR and also for other modeling use cases, users can continue to use the option of downloading metadata and data into other models.

Modeling 2.6: Support for PCR Attributes, Attribute Hierarchies, and Alternate Hierarchies in Models with Direct Access to PCR

Support for models with direct access to PCR financial reporting data was introduced in the May release. In this release, we are providing support for PCR attributes, attribute hierarchies, and alternate hierarchies.

If you are using attributes, attribute hierarchies, or alternate hierarchies in PCR, you can now see them in models with Direct Access to PCR.

Adding Attributes, Attribute Hierarchies, or Alternate Hierarchies to Existing Direct Access Models

Creating a Direct Access Model with Attributes, Attribute Hierarchies, or Alternate Hierarchies

Viewing Attributes, Attribute Hierarchies, or Alternate Hierarchies in SpotlightXL Model Setup

Viewing Attributes, Attribute Hierarchies, or Alternate Hierarchies in Spotlight Model Manager

Adding Attributes, Attribute Hierarchies, or Alternate Hierarchies to Existing Direct Access Models

Find the model you previously created that has direct access to PCR. For example, we have a model named Products 2015. There are two quick steps to add the PCR attributes and alternate hierarchies to the model: Clear Model, then Generate Model. You can do those steps manually or another option is to run the default calculation that was created automatically when you created the model.

Here's how:

1. In SpotlightXL, go to Model, Setup and select the model name from the Model drop-down. You see the list of dimensions but no attributes or other hierarchies. The model is generated and locked.

   

2. Click Clear Model.

3. Click Generate Model. The list of dimensions, attributes, and alternate hierarchies appears on the Model Setup screen, and they are now available for your use.

   

You can view attributes and attribute hierarchies from Model, Attribute. You can view alternate hierarchies from Analyze and Report.

Here is the same procedure in Spotlight on the web.

1. In Model Manager, locate the model from the grid or list view. Notice that there are Dimension artifacts but no Attribute artifacts yet.

   

2. Click the More menu, then select Clear Model. The icon next to the model changes to an incomplete circle.

3. From the More menu, select Generate Model. The screen refreshes and shows the model locked again. Now you have both dimension and attribute artifacts.

   

Creating a Direct Access Model with Attributes, Attribute Hierarchies, or Alternate Hierarchies

A user with Designer or Admin privilege can do the following steps. When creating and generating a model with direct access to PCR, the attributes and alternate hierarchies are automatically created with the model.

1. While logged into Planful applications, select Model from the Modeling icon.

   

2.  Click the + Circle icon to create a new model.

3. Give the model a name.

4. Click the option for Direct Access to Planning.

   

   A list of dimensions appears.

5. Scroll down and click Save.

   

6. Now you see the model in the Model Manager window.

   

7. Click the More menu, and select Generate Model, then confirm Yes. Now you see that the PCR Attributes have been added to the model box, and they are now available for your use.

   

Viewing Attributes, Attribute Hierarchies, or Alternate Hierarchies in SpotlightXL Model Setup

In SpotlightXL, to see the PCR dimensions, attributes, attribute hierarchies, and alternate hierarchies, go to Model, Setup. Select the model from the Model drop-down.

Viewing Attributes, Attribute Hierarchies, or Alternate Hierarchies in Spotlight Model Manager

In Spotlight Model Manager, to see the PCR dimensions, attributes, attribute hierarchies, and alternate hierarchies, go to the grid or list layout view.

1. Select the model or model box.

2. On the More menu, select Model Artifacts.

3. Click Attributes to see the list of attributes and the dimension they are associated with.

   

4. Close the Artifact Browser and click Dimensions from the main layout screen to see the list of dimensions, alternate hierarchies, and attributes.

   

   

Modeling 2.6: Dimension Names Appear in Models with Direct Access to PCR

If you have not used Direct Access to PCR prior to this (August) release, you can disregard this item.

For customers who had started using Direct Access to PCR in the May release, please note the following change in terminology. When dimensions were automatically loaded into Modeling from PCR, some dimensions were named Sys Hierarchy. These dimensions will now have their proper name in Model Setup, Model Manager, the Model Map, and default Views.

Modeling 2.6: View Enhancement for Models with Sparse Data

In this release, the Analyze task is updated with an option on the menu ribbon. When using Zoom In on your views, you can now Zoom In to Data Leaf Levels.

This option is available for all models except those with direct access to PCR, and is particularly useful if you have a model with very large dimensions but sparsely populated data.

This command zooms in on all the dimensions in the row axis, not just the dimension that is selected. Normally, Zoom In expands only the dimension selected.

For example, if you have several dimensions on the row axis of the view as follows:

If you want to see only the rows that contain data, we recommend the following steps:

1. Design the view and set view properties to Suppress Zero rows, then save the view.

2. Run the view and select one of the dimensions on the row axis.

3. Select Zoom In, Data Leaf Levels. (This command always suppresses blank rows.)

   

   All dimensions are expanded to show all leaf-level members that contain non-blank and non-zero rows.

   

Modeling 2.6: Data Download Performance Optimization

In this release, the optimization of Data Download is enabled for all customers. Data Download is a process whereby data is downloaded from PCR to Modeling using a command in a calculation. Downloaded data is stored in a Source model called HACPM_Financial.

Before data is downloaded from PCR, the system checks to see when the partitions in PCR were last processed. If there was any change in the PCR partitions since the last data download, the system downloads only the changes. This optimization can speed up the data download process considerably.

This feature is enabled by default for all customers.

Modeling 2.6: Attribute Support in Maps and Formulas

Support for Attributes in Maps and Formulas was introduced in the June release. This feature is now enabled for all customers by default and there is no need to call Planful Support for access.