Projections in Budget Manager Experience

What is Predict Projections?

Predict Projections helps plan your budget/forecast scenarios in a data-driven approach as part of Structured Planning. Predict Projections generates future projections using Planful’s proprietary AI/ML algorithms through the Predict Projections AI engine.

How Predict Projections works?

The Projection's AI engine processes historical data from actual scenarios available in the system to understand the trend, seasonality, and statistical properties embedded in them by amalgamating standard AI Algorithms and Planful’s proprietary algorithms and techniques. It is built using Human-in-the-loop (HITL) design that can take your annual budget as input and distribute the amount across the months of a fiscal year while adhering to the time-series properties found in the data by the AI engine.

AI Engine of Predict Projections

The Projection’s AI Engine is completely automated and off the shelf. You can use it like any other spread method in Structured planning. It is equipped with a robust AI pipeline that handles the entire data science cycle, from data pre-processing to model deployment and management.
The model training phase in this pipeline is built with many time-series algorithms, statistical methods, and Planful’s proprietary algorithms and techniques to ensure consistent and reliable projections. In addition, the model training time is optimized to a maximum extent using multi-threading and parallel executions. You cannot change the algorithmic settings for the Model training as they are designed to adapt to varied customer data.

Advantages

• Efficient planning: Projections consider the historical trend and seasonality and potentially do better than formula-based planning in less time.
• Reduced Cost: The number of planning resources required is reduced.
• Increased business performance: With more data-driven planning empowered by AI, it generates more reliable projections for the business.
• Augmented human intelligence: Projections allow users to moderate the AI-generated values for the organizational decisions or exceptions without compromising on the usage of historical insights generated by the Projection’s AI engine.

Predict Projections in Budget Manager Experience

The Predict option is available on the menu bar of Budget Manager Experience. Click the option and select any one of the following to leverage Predict Projections:

• Fill Selected Lines
• Advanced Fill

You can also select any cell in the template, and right-click on it to access the Predict Projections options.

Fill Selected Lines

You can use the Fill Selected Lines feature to automatically fill system-generated AI projections into the selected lines for the entire duration of the budget or forecast. This option fills only the supported L-type lines. Among the L-type lines, it fills only the ones with an adequate amount of Flow MTD account for historical actuals. This feature does not allow you to adjust or change the value of the projections. This feature supports the generation of AI projections for a maximum of 10 lines at a time.

Advance Fill

You can use the Advance Fill feature to understand how the projections are generated.

You can also adjust the annual projections total according to your budget by still leveraging the AI engine.

So, irrespective of the previously generated AI projections, if you have a specific budget in mind, you can choose the Adjusted Projection option from the Advanced Fill pop-up window and redistribute the figures for the open periods in a data driven fashion that will still adhere to the trend and seasonality present in the data.

Following are the various features available in the Advance Fill pop-up window.

1. Template Dimensions: The dimensions of the selected template are displayed.
2. Input Row: You can use this row to change the selected row/line, change the year for which the Projections are being displayed, and view the Current Total budget and the Projected Total budget.

You can also use this row for providing the Adjusted Projection.

Adjusted Projections

You can adjust the current projection by a certain percentage or by a certain value. Once you have provided your input in this field, you must click Apply.

Finally, you will see the Update Template and Reset buttons in the input row.

You must always click the Update Template button to save your changes to the Projections in the Advance Fill tab and fill them in the template. Else, all changes made in the Advance Fill pop-up window will be lost.

The Reset button can be used to reset the adjusted projection to the previous values as per the template.

Data Table and a Graph: The graph visually displays the same information intuitively, displaying the Projections. The graph has the upper and lower ranges and the forecast scenario by default. Still, it lets you see the historical actuals on it by clicking on the actual data label displayed below the graph. The pop-up window displays data for all the months in the entire fiscal year to demonstrate the trend and seasonality present in the data; this helps better understand the Projections.

Refer to How to Use Predict Projections to know about terms and conditions while using Predict Projections.