Apliqo FPM uses driver based planning. For Revenue and Expense planning a Driver Method is used to plan the full year result of an account, and Phasing Method that spreads the full year estimate over the remaining months of the financial year to achieve the full year result. For Balance Sheet planning the closing balance of the account is planned using a Driver Method.

Standard Planning Page

On the filter-bar the Planner can select the Version to plan and the financial year to be planned. The Months controls the number of months being displayed in the Phasing widget. This does not change the calculation of the Driver Method which is always based on a financial year. The Plan Account filter changes the accounts that are displayed on the rows. The Select Segment allows you to change the segment that is being planned. Selecting a business segment changes the Company, FIN BSEG 1 Plan, FIN BSEG 2 Plan, FIN BSEG 3 Plan, and FIN BSEG 4 Plan filters. After select a business segment select the Company, FIN BSEG 1 Plan, FIN BSEG 2 Plan, FIN BSEG 3 Plan, and FIN BSEG 4 Plan.

Open

Planning Filter-bar

The standard Planning page is divided into three sections. The Planning Driver section is were the Driver Method and Planning Value can be enter for the planning version. Additional Planning Parameters can be accessed in the [Driver] popup. The Comparison section compare the full-year amount for the account against other versions. Variances and percentage changes between versions can be calculated. The third section has the Phasing Method and the monthly value of the account. The first three months greyed-out to indicate that these month are actual month and can not be changed.

Open

Sample Planning page.

Change the Comparisons

The comparison only show the Last Year Actual (FY2022). In would be helpful to have a variance and a percentage change between the Planned Forecast and Last Years Actuals. Go to Apliqo Settings / Time and Versions to create at Variance.

Once the variance has been created, add the variance the planning Comparison. In the Time and Versions page select [Subset] then [Static] to open the static subset popup.

The Planning pages should not show a comparison between the Forecast and Last Year Actual.

Seeding the Plan

In the ordinary course of business the forecast would be completed with due diligence using the planning drivers and phasing that represent the behaviour of the account over the financial year. Using the [Set Planning Drivers] function the planning drivers and phasing can be quickly populated. In this walk-through we are using the Pervious Year Estimate plus % to calculate a 5% increase on last year’s revenue. The full year estimate is going to be spread over the forecast months using last year’s monthly phasing.

A similar process can seed the drivers for Year 2 of the Forecast.

Why filter the seeding of the drivers by Version and Year? Apliqo FPM will evaluate any account that has a Driver Method. Even if the full year estimate is zero. The more business segments and accounts that have a Driver Methods the more processing time required to get a result. As the Previous Year Estimate plus X% driver method only has a non-zero result when the previous year has a non-result result I can use the previous year’s actual/forecast to identify which accounts will have a non-zero result in the current year.

Submitting the Plan

Once the plan has been completed in needs to be submitted. Submitting the Revenue and Expense forms the Profit and Loss report in the General Ledger and the Balance Sheet Plan. Submitting the Balance Sheet completes the balance sheet and cash flow reports in the General Ledger.

Expense Planning

Repeat the same driver seeding process for Expense planning. Open the Expense Planning page at Menu: FP&A Planning / Expenses / Expense Entry. Then submit the expenses to the General Ledger.

Publishing the Plan

Once the plan has been submitted it can be published. Go to menu: Apliqo Setting / Time and Versions.