Configuration Checklist and Key References

Configuration Checklist

This checklist is a comprehensive guide to completing all necessary configurations for your Structured Planning. Navigate to Maintenance > Admin and complete the following tasks:

Under Configuration Tasks

• General Financial Configuration: This section includes tasks related to defining the foundational financial structure of your Planful application. It covers defining financial segments (dimensions), budget entities, fiscal year parameters, budget parameters, currency parameters, and workforce planning criteria. Learn more about General Financial Configuration here. 
• Ivy: Ivy is Planful’s proprietary framework for unified, smarter, and faster data handling across data integrations, planning, consolidation, and close processes in the Planful Structured Planning application. Learn more about Ivy configuration here.
• Data Integration Configuration: This section focuses on how you will load data into the Planful structure. It covers various options for data integration, including Web Service Access and Cloud Services. You can configure security access and data loading options for data integration. Learn more about data integration configuration here.
• Define Reporting Areas: This task is associated with configuring reporting cubes. Reporting cubes are multi-dimensional structures used for data analysis and reporting. The configuration of reporting areas is automatic when associated configuration tasks are complete. Learn more about reporting areas here.
• Workflow Setup: Enable Enhanced Workflow for scenarios from this page. Once you enable workflow and start the process, the automated tasks and multiple authorization functionalities are activated. Learn more about Workflow Setup here.

Under Maintenance > Admin

• Define application access security settings in the Security Administration page.

Under Maintenance

• Currency: Currency is assigned at the budget entity level within planning. So, if working in a multi-currency environment, the assigned currency applies to that entire budget entity. Refer to the guide to know all currency and currency-related functionality, no matter which module uses it. Learn more about currency here.
• Hierarchies and Entities: Entities are a combination of dimensions. This combination of dimensions forms entities that make a hierarchy called the Budget Entity Hierarchy. The Budget Entity hierarchy is important because you will create budget templates and map them to each entity within the hierarchy. Entities are dependent upon templates. You cannot enter data (budget) against an entity without templates. Entities and templates are dependent upon scenarios. Learn more about hierarchies and entities here.
• Attributes and Attribute Hierarchies: Attribute hierarchies are created for reporting purposes and provide a way to summarize members. An Attribute Hierarchy can be used as an alternative common chart of accounts hierarchy. Learn more about attributes and attribute hierarchies here. 
• Load Data to Planful: When you complete the Configuration Tasks, you are essentially telling the system how you want your application structured (you defined the chart of accounts, fiscal year, and so on). Now, data needs to be loaded to that structure. Learn more about how to load data here. 
• Scenario Setup: Create different types of scenarios, which represent versions of a budget or forecast for a fiscal year. For Planning, you'll create an entity hierarchy in addition to your finance hierarchy. Templates are created and mapped to entities so budget users can input data against the entity. Learn more about the scenario setup here.
• Process Reporting Area: The Process Reporting Area page allows you to process reports or templates whenever you add new data or update existing data. This functionality helps you to reflect the latest data in reports or templates. Learn more about the process reporting area here.
• Dimension Security: Security for dimensions must be activated, and users must be granted security to specific dimensions for reporting purposes. Dimension Security is applicable for attributes, attribute hierarchies, point-of-view reporting, reports, and report sets. Learn more about Dimension Security here.
• Standard Reports: Planful delivers presentation-quality financial reports, budget workflow, and administrative reports. Deploy Standard reports to make them active and available to users. Users can only generate standard reports for entities/data to which they have access by their assigned Budget Approval Role or within Dimension Security. Learn more about Standard Reports here.

After all of the configurations above, complete template setup. 

Key References

The following are the other articles you can refer to for Structured Planning:

• Simulation Engine: This is an automated way of saving templates. This process re-computes and saves template data based on changes to the reference data or other global drivers. For example, salary is often referenced from the Workforce template in the department operating expense template. Learn more about simulation engine here.
• User Management:  This allows you to add and maintain Planful users and provide access to application pages and data security for those users. Learn more about user management here.
• Cloud Scheduler: This is used to automatically run data load rules, report collections, the Consolidation process, Financial Package reports, scenarios, Simulation Engine, translations export at a scheduled date and time. Learn more about cloud scheduler here.