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 the selected 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.

The standard Planning page is divided into three sections. The Planning Driver section is where the Driver Method and Planning Value can be entered 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 months are actual month and cannot be changed.

For Expense Planning, expenses may be planned as positive or negative numbers. The expenses are then converted to negative numbers when submitted to the Profit and Loss report.

Driver Based Planning for Revenue Planning and Expense Planning is for a full-year estimate of the account which is then phased over the planning months. Driver Based Planning for Balance Sheet Planning is an estimate of the closing balance of the account. The movement is calculated from the opening balance less the estimated closing balance. There is no phasing for Balance sheet planning.

Version and Year Filters

The selected Version is the version that is being planned. There can be more than one plan version. The number of planned versions and the purpose of each planning version is set by the FPM Module Administrator.

Each version will have a start year and can include one or more future years that are to be planned. The planning start year and the number of years to plan is set by the FPM Module Administrator. This information can be viewed in the Version Parameters popup found on the toolbar.

Driver based planning is completed in 12-monthly increments. For Revenue and Expense Planning, the Planning Driver calculates a full-year estimate for the account. The full-year estimate is then phased across the remaining planning months within the 12-month period. Some Planning Driver Methods, allow data entry of the monthly amount and are the exception to the 12-month Planning Driver rule.

There is no phasing for Balance Sheet Planning. Most of the Planning Drivers for Balance Sheet planning calculate the closing balance to end of the year. The movement is calculated from the opening balance less the estimated closing balance. However, some Planning Drivers allow the Balance Sheet account to be planned as a movement.

The first planning year is made up of Actual and Planning months. Actual months are months that have passed. The value of an Actual month is derived from the trial balance that has been loaded by the FPM Module Administrator. Actual months are indicated by the grey colour monthly columns in the Monthly Phasing widget. The Phasing Drivers used in the first planning year considers, the year-to-date Actual and phases the remaining full-year amount over the remaining Planning months.

Months Filter

The Months filter changes the number of months that are displayed in the Monthly Phasing widget.

Planning Account Filter

The Planning Chart of Accounts is divided into three parts: Revenue Planning accounts, Expense Planning accounts and Balance Sheet Planning accounts. Depending on what is being planned, the Plan Account filter will show the accounts for the plan. Selecting a node in the Plan Account filter will show the accounts under the selected account node in the Driver and Phasing widgets.

Select Segments Filter

Planning is done by Business Segments. Depending on how ApliqoFPM is implemented, up to four Business Segments can be used for Revenue Planning, Expense Planning and Balance Sheet Planning. Different Business Segments can be used for Revenue Planning, Expense Planning and Balance Sheet Planning. If a Business Segment is not used, then the non-applicable business segment is used for that Business Segment. The segments that are being used for planning is defined by the FPM Module Administrator.

The FPM Module Administrator can create Business Segment Groups that reflect how the organisation is to plan. The Select Segments filter changes the Company filter and Business Segments filter to the relevant companies and planning business segments for the selected Segment Group. To start planning, select the segment group from the Select Segment filter. Then select the company and business segment that is to be planned from the Company filter and Business Segments filter. Planning is done at the lowest level of the Company and Business Segment hierarchy.

Comparison Filter

The Driver widget compares the full-year estimate with the full-year estimates of other versions. Variances and percentage change to the comparison version is calculated. The FPM Module Administrator defines what versions are to be compared for a given planning version. Multiple comparisons can be defined for the planning version. The Comparisons shown in the Driver widget can be changed using the Comparison filter.

Driver Based Planning

Driver Based Planning is using a driver that calculates the full-year estimate for the account. To set a Driver for an account, pick the appropriate Driver Method from the drop-down menu in the Method column. Many driver methods allow the Planner to change the base calculation by a whole amount or a percentage change. The amount of the change can be entered in the X, X% column. Important to note is that percentage changes are entered as whole numbers. A negative amount reduces the base amount.

In the above example, for account 5010 – Salaries, a driver method of “Previous Year Estimate plus X%” has been selected and a percentage change of -1%. The Baseline Plan result is 99% of previous year’s full year estimate.

There are five groups of Driver Methods that can be used for planning.

Driver Methods that set the full-year estimate for the account. The full-year estimate can be set as a full-year target using the Full Year Entry driver method. Or entered by month using the Entry per Month or Month Entry Per Item driver methods.
Drivers based on another version or estimate. The Previous Year Estimate plus X driver method uses the previous year’s full-year estimate for a given version. The Current Year Estimate plus X% driver method uses the full-year estimate of another version for a given year.
Based on another account or statistic. The % of Reference Account driver method uses another account within the same year and version for the basis of the driver method calculation.
Driver Methods that are based on the monthly moving average of the account. The moving average is calculated from the last Actual Month for the planning version.
Based on another module of ApliqoFPM. ApliqoFPM has separate sub-modules for Workforce Planning, Travel and Entertainment Expenses and Marketing Campaigns. The results of these modules must be linked to the account using the appropriate driver method for the sub-modules to form part of the plan.

For more information on specific Driver Methods go to Apliqo Settings > Planning > Planning Profiles and Methods > Planning Methods.

For Revenue and Expense Planning, the full-year estimate is phased across the Planning months for the year using a Phasing Driver.

There are three different types of Phasing Drivers.

Static Phasing Drivers are standard phasing drivers. The Even Phasing driver spreads the full-year estimate evenly over the planning months. The Working Days phasing driver spreads the full-year estimate based on the number of working days in the month.
Phasing based on another version’s monthly amounts. The Last Year Actual phasing driver phases the full-year estimate in the same proportions as the last full-year actual monthly amounts. The Current Year Budget phasing driver phases the full-year estimate in the same proportion as the Final Budget for the same year.
Custom phasing for the year. The Planner can enter the desired monthly phasing for the account.

For more information on specific Phasing Drivers go to Apliqo Settings > Planning > Planning Profiles and Methods > Seasonality.

The first planning year is made up of Actual Months and Plan Months. Actual months are months that have passed. The value of an Actual month is derived from the trial balance that has been loaded by the FPM Module Administrator. Actual months are indicated by the grey colour monthly columns in the Monthly Phasing widget. The Plan Months are the remaining months of the year that the remaining full-year estimate is to be phased across. The remaining full-year estimate is the full-year estimate calculated by the Driver Method less the year-to-date amount of the Actual months for the account.

Driver Popup

Some Driver Methods may have additional parameters that are used to calculate the full-year estimate. Additional parameters can be set in the Driver popup.

Across the top of the Driver Popup is the year, company, business segment that is being planned. If you are planning multiple years, the Year can be changed.

The next section is the Planning Drivers for the account. If the account does not have a Planning Method set, only the Planning Method field is available. Selecting a Planning Method will make available the parameters for the driver method.

In the example above, the % of Reference Account driver method has been selected. This has revealed the Reference Account, Reference Business Segment, the Input Value, the Phasing and Rounding Unit fields in the Driver popup. The Reference account can be selected from the drop-down menu. The list of Reference Accounts is set by the FPM Module Administrator. The Reference Business Segments can be selected. If the Reference Business Segments are not selected, then the reference amount is relative to the Business Segment that is being planned. The Input Value is the percentage of the reference account’s full-year estimate. Important to note is the percentage amounts are entered as a whole number. 60% of the Reference Account is entered as 60 in the Input Value field. The Phasing is how the full-year estimate is to be phased over the Planning Months. The Rounding Unit sets the significance of the monthly amount.

Depending on the Driver Method you may see the reference account’s planning drivers.

The Monthly Phasing section is the monthly amounts for the account. If the Driver Method is Entry Per Month, the monthly amounts can be entered here. Monthly amounts can also be entered in the Phasing widget in the planning page.

The final section is for any comments for the account being planned.

Monthly Detail Popup

If the Driver Method is Month Entry Per Item, the Detail Popup icon is available for the account.

The Detail Popup allows for the entry of itemised expenses or revenue and their expected monthly cost. For each Actual month the itemised expenses or revenue is overwritten with zeros as they no longer apply to the account.

Apliqo FPM Documentation

2.5. Driver Based Planning