Release Updates

Latest from Planful! Check out this month's Release Notes. 

Budget Manager Experience: Introduced BME Shared Status Standard Report for Shared Templates

Generate and export a comprehensive report that consolidates all templates shared with Budget Managers using the BME Shared Status report.

Platform: Update Only Leaf Node Roll-Up Operator for Segment Hierarchy Data Loads

We have introduced a new opt-in feature that provides more control over segment hierarchy updates performed via Data Load Rules (DLRs). When the Update Only Leaf Node Roll-Up Operator flag is enabled and the Allow Property Change checkbox is selected in the Define Overall Rule Settings, the system ensures that only leaf node members are updated in Hierarchy Management, while parent node roll-up operators remain unchanged.

By default, when uploading a leaf member of a segment hierarchy via a DLR input file with Allow Property Change enabled, the system updates all properties, including the parent’s roll-up operator, based on the value specified for the leaf node.

This feature is especially useful when you want to update all properties of leaf nodes during a DLR upload without affecting parent node roll-up operators.

Notes:

• This feature is opt-in and applies only to the Main Hierarchy.

• Contact Planful Support to enable this functionality.

• This impact applies to both new and existing leaf nodes loaded to DLRs.

How It Works:

To update only the Leaf Node’s roll-up operator and not the parent node roll-up operator, the following conditions must be met:

Note:

If any required condition is not met (e.g., an entry set to No in the leaf node column), the system reverts to default behavior where parent roll-up operators are updated based on the uploaded file.

Default Behavior (When Feature Is Disabled or Conditions Aren’t Met)

If the feature is not enabled or any of the required conditions are not met, the system defaults to existing DLR behavior:

• The parent node's roll-up operator will be updated based on the roll-up operator specified for the leaf node in the uploaded file.

Dynamic Planning: Spotlight for Google Sheets Now Supports Excel Formulas

With this release, we have introduced support for Excel formulas in Spotlight for Google Sheets. This enhancement ensures that formulas embedded in Excel Spotlight reports, such as SUM, LOOKUP, and other commonly used functions, are now interpreted correctly when the report is opened in Google Sheets. This streamlines the cross-platform reporting experience and maintains consistent report behavior, regardless of where the report is accessed.

Key Capabilities:

• Formula Preservation: Retains original Excel formulas when the report is accessed in Google Sheets via Spotlight.

• Cross-Platform Compatibility: Ensures formulas function identically in Excel and Google Sheets, eliminating inconsistencies.

• Relative Placement: Maintains the original formula cell references and layout alignment across platforms.

• Error Handling: If a formula is not supported or only partially translated, a clear fallback message or indicator is shown.

Predict: Signals Overview Excel Export

With this release, we have introduced the ability to export data from the Signals Overview directly into Excel with a single click. This feature enables users to extract, analyze, and share anomaly data more effectively.

Key Benefits:

• One-click export of all visible Signals data, including dimensions, roll-ups, and Signal counts.

• Compatible with user-specific filters, including dimension filters and ignoring dimensions.

Planful AI Help and Analyst: Support for Favorite Questions

With this release, Planful AI now allows users to mark frequently asked questions as Favorites in both Help and Analyze modes. This enhancement improves productivity by providing quicker access to commonly used queries.

Key Benefits:

• Mark Questions as Favorites: Each user-submitted question displays a Favorite icon (star icon), allowing users to mark or unmark it as a favorite with a single click.

• Favorite Questions Limit: Users can save up to 20 favorites questions for quick access. To add more as a favorite, remove an existing one.

• Easy Access & Reusability:

  • A Favorite icon in the top toolbar of the AI drawer shows a sorted list from oldest to newest.

  • Clicking a favorite question automatically populates it into the prompt bar.

  • Users can then edit and submit the question as needed.

• Smart Suggestions While Typing: When a user types at least three characters, related favorite questions appear in a dynamic list above the prompt bar, offering quick suggestions.

• Visual Cues & Maintenance:

  • When entering a question that matches a saved favorite, the Favorite icon appears filled, indicating it is already marked.

  • Users can remove favorites by clicking the delete icon in the Favorite menu or clicking the filled Favorite icon to unmark it directly from the conversation.

• Clarification Mode Support: The Favorite feature is supported only for the initial question. It is not supported for follow-up questions.

Planful AI Analyst: Dimension Members Selector

With this release, Planful AI introduces a powerful enhancement to the clarification experience for natural language questions involving data. Users can now search and select specific dimension members such as departments, accounts, or products using a dedicated Dimension Members Selector, while asking questions related to refining data in case of ambiguous or missing inputs.

Key Benefits:

• Search and select Dimension Member for data-related questions: Users will now see a Refine your search here link along with similar dimension member names as in the question. Clicking this opens a dialog where you can search and choose the required dimension member.

• Intuitive Search Dialog:

  • Typeahead search: Suggestions appear after typing three or more characters.

  • Hover Tooltip: Displays the full dimension member name with its hierarchy path.

Planful AI Analyst: Support for Large Data Responses

With this release, Planful AI now supports large data tables generated for data-related questions or analysis actions such as Drill Down and Analyze By. This enhancement ensures users can access the full dataset, even when results exceed the display capacity of the Planful AI drawer.

Key Benefits:

• Seamless Export of Large Result: When the result data set for a question contains more than 500 cells, the data is automatically exported to an Excel file.

• Download Includes Full Data and Headers: The exported Excel file contains the complete data set, including headers, formatted for immediate review and analysis.