Preloaded Budget

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The preloaded budget scenario is used in the following use cases:

  • To load data created outside of Planful into the system for reporting purposes

  • To generate scenarios based on historical data using Predict Projections

  • To do flux analysis at actual or different rates

  • To reference data from different scenarios in Planful and carry analysis with or without changing exchange rates

The above use cases can be achieved using the following methods:

Prerequisites

Before creating a preloaded budget scenario, ensure that the application has data loaded through the month immediately prior to the prediction month. You can adjust the prediction month up to 3 months earlier or 3 months later than the current calendar month using the Select Current Month option on the Planful: Predict configuration page.

Example: Consider the current calendar month is February 2026:

  • If data is available through January 2026, select System Default or @CURMTH@ to generate predictions for February 2026.

    • @CURMTH@ is a substitution variable. Set the value of @CURMTH@ to current month (February 2026).

  • If Data Is Available for Earlier Months

    • Data available through December 2025, then select @CURMTH-1@

    • Data available through November 2025, then select @CURMTH-2@

    • Data available through October 2025, then select @CURMTH-3@

  • If Data Is Available for Future Months

    • Data available through February 2026, then select @CURMTH+1@

    • Data available through March 2026, then select @CURMTH+2@

    • Data available through April 2026, then select @CURMTH+3@

How to Create a Preloaded Budget Scenario for Loading data via DLRs?

To create a Preloaded Budget scenario to store data created outside of Planful, follow the steps below:

  1. Navigate to Maintenance > Administration > Scenario Setup.

  2. Click the Add button to open the Add Scenario page.

  3. In the General Information section, select Preloaded Budget from the Scenario Type drop-down list.


  4. Select the Fiscal Year for which the preloaded budget is being created. By default, the current fiscal year is displayed.

  5. Enter a Scenario Code.

  6. (Optional) Enter a Scenario Name. 

  7. Click Save.


    To load Data Via DLRs, see DLR.

How to Create a Preloaded Budget Scenario with Predict?

The Predict Scenario feature incorporates AI projections into your scenario, prefilling the template automatically with these AI projections. This facilitates data-driven planning by establishing a reliable baseline for decision-making. 

To enable Predict Scenario, a minimum of 2 years of historical data for Signals and Projections is required. If there are more than 2 years of historical data, the respective year can be chosen in the General Settings column by navigating to Maintenance > Administration > Configuration Tasks > Planful: Predict. 

Utilizing the historical data available, it generates the Predict data for all the intersections available for the chosen period. To pre-populate a template with AI projections for the Preloaded Budget Scenario, perform the following steps.

  1. Navigate to Maintenance > Administration > Scenario Setup.

  2. Click the Add button to open the Add Scenario page.

  3. In the General Information section, select Preloaded Budget from the Scenario Type drop-down list.

  4. Check the Predict Scenario check box; this will prefill the Scenario Code with a prefix of Predict_Scenario_. You can then add a meaningful suffix to identify the scenario.

  5. Select the Fiscal Year for which the preloaded budget is being created. By default, the current fiscal year is displayed.

  6. (Optional) Enter a Scenario Name. 

  7. Click Save.

Notes:

  • You can then use this scenario during the data seeding of other scenarios to populate templates with AI projections. Also, you can use the preloaded Predict scenario in Dynamic Reports for further analysis.

  • Using this preloaded Predict Scenario, you can populate scenarios with AI Projections.

To learn more about Predict Projections, see Predict Projections.

How to Create a Preloaded Budget Scenario with Source Scenario?

Users can choose data from a Source Scenario to the Preloaded Budget Scenario. The Preloaded Budget Scenario can be seeded with data from different source scenarios and source periods.

Enabling the Seed ETL Direct CC Data ensures that data is seeded in its original form from the source scenario. By default, this feature is disabled, and in such cases, the system automatically performs currency conversions for the loaded data, i.e., if the user loads data in local currency, it will be automatically converted to the common currency based on the provided exchange rates.

To create a Preloaded Budget scenario with Source Scenario, follow the steps below.

  1. Navigate to Maintenance > Administration > Scenario Setup.

  2. Click the Add button to open the Add Scenario page.

  3. In the General Information section, select Preloaded Budget from the Scenario Type drop-down list.

  4. Select the Fiscal Year for which the preloaded budget is being created. By default, the current fiscal year is displayed.

  5. Enter a Scenario Code.

  6. (Optional) Enter a Scenario Name.

  7. Go to the Data Seeding tab.

  8. Enable Seed ETL Direct CC Data, if necessary.

  9. Select the Source Scenarios and Source Periods in the Scenario Periods section.

  10. Click Save.

Required Steps After Creating a Preloaded Budget Scenario

Update Exchange Rates: After creating the preloaded budget scenario, if you have both the Local Currency (LC) and Common Currency (CC) setup, ensure to update the exchange rates for all the currencies for all the future months. To learn how to set up the exchange rates for the created scenario, click here.

Process the Scenario: Once the exchange rates are updated and saved, you must process the scenario to apply the exchange rates changes. Click the Scenario Process icon on the top toolbar, select the desired scenario, and click Process Now.