Vivid Reports 2.0 Budget User Guide

Transcription

1 B R I S C O E S O L U T I O N S Vivid Reports 2.0 Budget User Guide Briscoe Solutions Inc PO BOX 2003 Station Main Winnipeg, MB R3C 3R3 Phone Toll Free Copyright Briscoe Solutions Inc. All Rights Reserved This document must be used in accordance with the Vivid Reports license agreement at all times

2 NOTICE This material is for informational purposes only. Briscoe Solutions Inc. disclaims all warranties and conditions with regard to use of the material for other purposes. Briscoe Solutions Inc. shall not, at any time, be liable for any special, direct, indirect or consequential damages, whether in an action of contract, negligence or other action arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of the material. This material is subject to change without notice. According to international copyright legislation it is against the law to reproduce any part of this material in any form or by any means without the permission of Briscoe Solutions Inc. The software described is supplied under license and must be used in accordance with the license terms and conditions. COPYRIGHT NOTICE Copyright Briscoe Solutions Inc. All rights reserved. TRADEMARKS Vivid Reports is a Trademark of Briscoe Solutions Inc. Microsoft, Windows, Windows NT, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, SQL Server, Excel, Outlook are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Any rights not expressly granted herein are reserved. Published by Briscoe Solutions Inc. DocID: v enus-bug

3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents... i Figures... iii Tables... iv Overview... 1 Before You Begin... 1 The Budget Module Toolbar Buttons... 2 Creating Your Budget Sets... 3 Adding Budget Data Types... 3 Deleting Budget Data Types... 4 Adding Budget Sets... 4 Loading Budget Sets... 4 Copying Budget Sets... 6 Deleting Budget Sets... 6 Closing/Opening Budget Sets... 7 Exporting Budget Sets... 7 Configuring Your Filters For Budgeting... 8 Account Filter Budget Input Option... 8 Setting Up Budget Accounts... 8 Editting Budget Accounts... 9 Creating New Accounts Export Budget Assumptions and Accounts Options Setting Up Your Budget Templates Row and Column Definition For Budgeting Column Budget Input Option Row Budget Formula Option Budgeting Dimensions Setup Account Period Year, Data, Database Currency Saving Your Budget Copyright Briscoe Solutions Inc.

4 Common Budget Save Errors Working and Updated Budgets Comparing Working and Updated Budgets Committing your Working Budget Budget Audit Budget Assumptions Creating and Viewing an Assumption Viewing Assumptions From DrillDowns Budget Distributor Using the Budget Distributor Creating Custom Drivers Driver Sets Default Drivers Managing Users Setting Restrictions Miscellaneous Protecting a Worksheet Best Practices Copyright Briscoe Solutions Inc.

5 FIGURES Figure 1 - Main Menu Budget screen... 3 Figure 2 - Budget Setup window... 9 Figure 3 - Add New Account window Figure 4 - Row and Column Definition budget options Figure 5 - Save Budget window Figure 6 - Budget Assumption window Figure 7 - Budget Distributor window Copyright Briscoe Solutions Inc.

6 TABLES Table 1 - Budget dimensions configuration Copyright Briscoe Solutions Inc.

7 OVERVIEW The Vivid Reports Budget Module allows you to set up templates in Excel based on your existing report formats. The templates will be used to capture and save budget information back to the Vivid Reports database which can then be used in your reports with actual information. This guide will demonstrate how you can set up forecasts and plans based on a mix of existing budgets and actual history, how to keep different versions of your budget, and how to track budget changes between versions. Once your budgets are set up you will be able to consolidate and analyze the budget changes users make in real-time, see a history of changes that were made as the budget is developed and document the related budget assumptions and comments. BEFORE YOU BEGIN The Budget Module uses your account structure to store the budget amounts entered in your templates. This allows your budgets to be used in any report format that you define and not just the templates you have used to prepare the budget. Before setting up your budget, you first need to decide the level of detail you want to budget at. For example, you can budget at the lowest level which is at the individual account level (trial balance) or you can budget at a higher more summarized level (statement level). Budgeting at a lower level will give you more details in your drill-down and help better explain variances, however it can also make the budget process more time consuming. You need to find a balance between the time required to develop your budget and the level of detail that you require. 1 Copyright Briscoe Solutions Inc.

8 THE BUDGET MODULE TOOLBAR BUTTONS Once you have the Budget Module assigned to your user, you will notice that there are new buttons available from the Vivid Reports toolbar. Note - Some buttons may not be available based on your user settings. Saves the budget amounts from your template to Vivid Reports. Refer to Saving Your Budget Opens the Budget Audit window. Refer to Budget Audit Opens the Budget Assumption window. Refer to Budget Assumptions Opens the Budget Distributor window. Refer to Budget Distributor 2 Copyright Briscoe Solutions Inc.

9 CREATING YOUR BUDGET SETS The first step in being able to save your budgets to Vivid Reports is to create your Budget Data Types and Budget Sets through the Main Menu. The Budget Module will add a new screen to the Main Menu called Budget which will allow you to create and administer budgets within Vivid Reports. ADDING BUDGET DATA TYPES Figure 1 - Main Menu Budget screen To budget in Vivid Reports a new Budget Data Type must be added. To add a Budget Type: 1. Click. 2. Enter a name. 3. Click Save. Important - Vivid Reports Data Types must not overlap with existing Data Types. 3 Copyright Briscoe Solutions Inc.

10 DELETING BUDGET DATA TYPES Vivid Reports Budget Data Types may be removed by first selecting the budget data type and then clicking. Important - Data Types currently attached to a Budget Set cannot be removed. ADDING BUDGET SETS Budget Sets are a combination of Database, Year and Data Type. Budgets amounts can only be written to existing Budget Sets. To add a Budget Set: 1. Click. 2. Select a Database, Data Type and Year and click Save. LOADING BUDGET SETS Budget Sets can be loaded from existing Fiscal Sets. This allows you to pre-load values into a Budget Set. The following describes the steps to load a Budget Set. 1. Select a Budget Set. 2. Click. 3. Select the periods from the available Fiscal Sets that you want to load into the Budget Set. 4. If required enter a filter expression to remove any accounts from being applied. 4 Copyright Briscoe Solutions Inc.

11 5. Select a row and column category. It is required to select a row and column category. Only account categories with filters set for Budget Input will be shown. Combinations of row and column filters will be used in conjunction with the selected periods and Fiscal Sets to load budget values into the Budget Set. 6. Select the number of decimal places to round to. 7. Select the appropriate option for Budget Assumptions. Destination Keep Assumptions - Keeps the assumptions of the destination Budget Set. Destination Remove Assumptions- Clears the assumptions of the destination Budget Set. Copy Assumption From Source Overwrite Disabled - Copies the assumptions from the source Budget Set but will not overwrite existing assumptions in the destination Budget Set. Copy Assumption From Source Overwrite Enabled - Overwrites the assumptions in the destination Budget Set with assumptions from the source Budget Set. Destination Remove Assumptions + Copy Assumptions From Source - Clears all assumptions of the destination Budget Set and copies all the assumptions from the source Budget Set. 8. Click Run. 5 Copyright Briscoe Solutions Inc.

12 9. When complete a listing of complete valid budgets, incomplete accounts, no account and no budget segments and related account filters will be displayed. You may review the budget data to be written by clicking the review button. Clicking the duplicates button will display any filters that write to the same account. 10. Click the commit button to write the values to the Budget Set. COPYING BUDGET SETS Budget data can be copied from one Budget Set to another Budget Set using the following steps: 1. Select a Budget Set to copy from. 2. Click. 3. Select Budget Sets to copy to. Important - Only empty Budget Sets can be copied to. 4. Select Copy Audit or Copy Assumptions to copy audit data or assumptions to the budget set selected in Step Click Save. DELETING BUDGET SETS 1. Select the Budget Set you wish to delete. 2. Click. 3. Place checks on the periods to delete and desired options. Delete Budget Set Removes the whole Budget Set including budget balances and corresponding Budget Assumptions. Delete Assumptions Removes only the Budget Assumptions for the Budget Set. 4. Click OK. 6 Copyright Briscoe Solutions Inc.

13 CLOSING/OPENING BUDGET SETS Budget Sets can be set to be Open or Closed. Open Budget Sets can be written to while closed Budget Sets cannot be written to. To open or close a Budget Set click beside the budget set to toggle between the two settings. Note Loading and copying Budget Sets disregards the Budget Set s status. EXPORTING BUDGET SETS 1. Select a Budget Set. 2. Click. 3. Select the desired export options. 4. Click Export. 7 Copyright Briscoe Solutions Inc.

14 CONFIGURING YOUR FILTERS FOR BUDGETING The Filter Builder window is used to set up your filters for budgeting. The Budget Module adds several new options and functionality to the Filter Builder. This chapter will discuss the following: Account Filter Budget Input option Setting up Budget Accounts Export Budget Assumptions and Budget Accounts options ACCOUNT FILTER BUDGET INPUT OPTION Each Account Filter has a Budget Input option which allows you to control which filters are active for budgeting. When this option is enabled any template containing the filter will be able to save budget changes. You can use this option to disable updating the budget for a filter (row or column) in all templates as the budget is completed. Example: Your sales or wages have been completed you can now disable Budget Input for those filters preventing users from making further changes. You can also disable Budget Input for filters used in columns such as department or location filters as each of these are completed. Tip - Another application of the Budget Input option is to disable it for any filters where amounts are budgeted by head office. SETTING UP BUDGET ACCOUNTS Before a template can be created for budgeting you will need to set up the Budget Accounts where the budget information will be saved to. This is done in the Filter Builder using the Budget Setup window. 1. From the Defined tab select the category or individual filters that you wish to set up and click to open the Budget Setup window. 8 Copyright Briscoe Solutions Inc.

15 Figure 2 - Budget Setup window 2. Select the categories containing the filters you want to pair with. If you are setting up a category containing the row filters, you would select the categories containing your column filters, or vice versa. Important Make sure you have set up the Budget Input options for the filters in the categories you have selected. Important You only need to setup a Budget Account once per filter pair. 3. Select the desired Budget Input option. This allows you to enable or disable Budget Input for all the filters in the category that you are in or filters that you have selected. 4. Click OK to run. The Budget Setup will automatically select the first account found from the combination of the filter expressions that have Budget Input enabled. You can view the filters and accounts selected under the Budget Accounts tab. Note Filters that have Budget Accounts attached will have a beside them under the Defined tab. This flag will change to if they contain budget amounts. EDITTING BUDGET ACCOUNTS After the initial set up of your filters Budget Accounts you might want to make some changes to the default Budget Accounts that were selected. Since the default is to always use the first account you might have a situation where you would prefer another account. To select a different Budget Account for a filter, select the account you wish to change from the Budget Accounts tab and click to open the Edit Budget Account window. Select the new Budget Account from the list of valid accounts displayed, and press Save. To remove a Budget Account, select it and click. 9 Copyright Briscoe Solutions Inc.

16 CREATING NEW ACCOUNTS If you want to budget into an account that does not exist in your Chart of Accounts you can create it in Vivid Reports through the Main Menu. Important Not available for all systems. You can create a new segment value first if the segment value you want to use for the new account does not exist in your Chart of Accounts. Under the Segments screen, click to open the Add New Segment window. Select the database and segment number, enter the desired segment value and description, and click Add. Figure 3 - Add New Account window To create new accounts go to the Accounts screen and click to open the Add New Account window. Select the database you want to add accounts to. You can add new accounts individually or specify a range of accounts to add. To add a single account select the Single Account tab. Select the desired segment values for the account and enter a description. Click Save to add the account. 10 Copyright Briscoe Solutions Inc.

17 To add a range of accounts select the Multiple Accounts tab. Enter an expression for the account range in the Filter box. Enter an account description or use a mask in the Description box. Click Run to generate the accounts. Click Save to add the accounts. EXPORT BUDGET ASSUMPTIONS AND ACCOUNTS OPTIONS When exporting a category you will notice two new options, one to Export Budget Assumptions and another to Export Budget Accounts. Export Budget Assumptions will export all Budget Assumptions that have been recorded with filters that belong to the category. Export Budget Accounts will export all Budget Accounts tied to the filters in the category. 11 Copyright Briscoe Solutions Inc.

18 SETTING UP YOUR BUDGET TEMPLATES After the Budget Accounts for your filters have been set up and have been enabled for budget input, you are now ready to use them in Excel to create your templates. This chapter will discuss the following: Row and Column Definition for budgeting Budget dimensions setup ROW AND COLUMN DEFINITION FOR BUDGETING The Row and Column Definition window is used to add rows or columns to your template in the same way you would create a normal report. The Budget Module adds a couple of new options to the Row and Column Definition for budgeting. COLUMN BUDGET INPUT OPTION Under the Main tab under Column there is a new option for Budget Input. This must be enabled for a column to be able save the budget amounts to Vivid Reports. The Budget Input option also controls where the budget is read from depending on the stage of the budget. When this option is enabled it will read and write from the Working Budget. When it is disabled it will read from the Updated Budget but will not write to it. Figure 4 - Row and Column Definition budget options 12 Copyright Briscoe Solutions Inc.

19 ROW BUDGET FORMULA OPTION A new option called Budget Formula is available for Rows. This option allows a budget amount to be saved back to Vivid Reports but not refreshed. This prevents amounts from being refreshed into a template row where an Excel formula exists so that it is not overwritten with the amounts. Important - Only cells that are on rows with Budget Formula enabled and under columns with Budget Input enabled will not be refreshed. BUDGET FORMULA WITH EXCEL AS THE MASTER COPY You can also enable Budget Formula for all rows if you want your template to only be able to save to Vivid Reports but not refresh back. This allows you to use Excel to store the budget amounts and be the primary source for the budget information. Use this when you only need users to do periodic saves back to Vivid Reports but do not need to refresh the budget information. The same thing can be accomplished from the column perspective where you keep the Budget Input option enabled but disable the Refresh option. Tip - You can use the Budget Input option to place two identical columns side by side where one column has Budget Input enabled and the other does not. This will allow you to compare the last Updated Budget to the latest Working Budget. Tip An easy way to get started with a new template is to begin with a copy of an existing Vivid Reports Excel file and replace or add columns for the budget periods to accept the input amounts. BUDGETING DIMENSIONS SETUP Before you can save budget information back to Vivid Reports you will need to ensure your Budget Dimensions are correctly configured. The dimensions, on either the row or column (or a mix) must be configured as in Table Copyright Briscoe Solutions Inc.

20 Dimension Account Period Year Data Database Currency Required Information Rows and Budget Input columns must both have Account Filters. The pair of filters that form the intersection must have a Budget Account together. A period from the Single Periods category is selected. Year must belong to an enabled Budget Set. Data type must belong to an enabled Budget Set. Database must belong to an enabled Budget Set. Must match the functional currency of the database that is selected or be Not Filtered. Table 1 - Budget dimensions configuration ACCOUNT A check will be performed against the Account Filters of the rows and the Budget Input columns to verify that all intersections have a Budget Account. If no Budget Account is found a message will be displayed and the amount from the cell will not be saved. PERIOD You can only save budget information for Single Periods (period category 1). This records the monthly amount or change in balance. Tip - When you budget Balance Sheet account balances at each period you will have to use a formula to calculate the change in balance. Period 0 can also be used to store the opening or beginning balance. Tip - If you want to produce a quarterly budget where you enter quarterly totals then you still need to select a single period but select one period from each quarter to store the quarterly values. When you apply a quarterly filter in your reports the budget will match to actuals accordingly. YEAR, DATA, DATABASE The Year, Data, and Database dimensions correspond to the Budget Sets that you define. The combination of these three dimensions must result in a valid Vivid Reports Budget Set and the Budget Set must have an Open status. CURRENCY You can only budget in the functional currency of the database or leave the currency as Not Filtered and it will default to the database s functional currency automatically. Once 14 Copyright Briscoe Solutions Inc.

21 the budgets have been saved and updated in Vivid Reports you can set up currency conversion just like any other data type and year. 15 Copyright Briscoe Solutions Inc.

22 SAVING YOUR BUDGET Once you have set up and filled in the budget amounts in your template you are now ready to save the amounts back to Vivid Reports. The following will describe how to save your budget amounts. 1. Click on the Save Budget button on the Vivid Reports toolbar. The Save Budget window will begin processing your template. Figure 5 - Save Budget window 2. The results will be displayed when the analysis is completed and ready to be committed. If errors were found in your template they will be displayed. After you have fixed the errors you can click Re-run. If there were no errors you can review your data, view if you have any duplicates, or commit the amounts by clicking Commit. Important You can still commit the amounts even if there are errors if you are confident that the errors can be ignored, such as being restricted to saving to a Budget Account due to your Budget Restriction. Important Cells that are left blank will not be saved, if you want to clear the budget amount for the account you must place a 0 in the cell. COMMON BUDGET SAVE ERRORS Row/Column skipped - Account filter not set up for budget input this indicates that a filter being used in either the row or column does not have Budget Input enabled. 16 Copyright Briscoe Solutions Inc.

23 No account found this indicates that a Budget Account has not been configured for the intersecting Account Filters. No account found due to budget user restriction this indicates that a user s Budget Restriction prevents them from saving to the Budget Account. WORKING AND UPDATED BUDGETS Each Budget Set you create can exist in two stages referred to as the Working and Updated Budget stages. The Working Budget is a copy of the budget in Vivid Reports that is live and open to changes by users. This allows your users to enter and modify budgets without changing the amounts that will be used on the production reports you run. It also allows you to compare the changes made in the Working Budget against the Updated Budget since it was last updated. COMPARING WORKING AND UPDATED BUDGETS You can view the differences between your Working and Updated Budget by going into the Update screen of the Main Menu and clicking on of the Budget Set. This will open the Budget Statistics window which will display the number of values that have been added and the number of values that have changed between the Working and Updated version of the budget. The Budget Accounts that have changed will be shown along with the old and new amounts for comparison. COMMITTING YOUR WORKING BUDGET Once you are satisfied with the changes made to the Working Budget you can commit it. You commit a Working Budget by updating it through the Main Menu just like any other fiscal set that you update. When the update is completed the Working Budget and Update Budget versions will match. The Working Budget is then available for making further changes again. BUDGET AUDIT The following will describe how to view the budget audit: 1. Select the balance amount in your template that you want to see the audit for. 2. Click on the Budget Audit button on the Vivid Reports toolbar to open the Budget Audit window. 17 Copyright Briscoe Solutions Inc.

24 BUDGET ASSUMPTIONS CREATING AND VIEWING AN ASSUMPTION The following will describe how to create an assumption: 1. Select the balance amount in your template that you want to create an assumption for. 2. Click on the Budget Assumption button on the Vivid Reports toolbar to open the Budget Assumption window. Figure 6 - Budget Assumption window 3. If there is already an assumption for that account it will be displayed. If you want to edit or create an assumption enter your new assumption, and click Save. Note Only one assumption can be created for each account in a Budget Set. VIEWING ASSUMPTIONS FROM DRILLDOWNS When you perform a Drilldown, Drill Compare, or Drill All a will be displayed on the account rows that have Budget Assumptions attached to them. You can view the assumptions by clicking on the View Assumption button in the drill windows. 18 Copyright Briscoe Solutions Inc.

25 BUDGET DISTRIBUTOR The Budget Distributor window is a tool that you can use if you want to distribute budget amounts based off past years trends or drive them based off factors such as weeks, units sold, head counts, or other statistical amounts. The Budget Distributor also allows you to drilldown, view trends graphically, and enter assumptions all in one window. USING THE BUDGET DISTRIBUTOR Figure 7 - Budget Distributor window To use the Budget Distributor, select a cell on a line that you want to budget inside your template and click on the Budget Distributor button on the Vivid Reports toolbar. The top portion of the window has three modes, which can be controlled using the three radio buttons: Data Entry This is the mode you will use to enter and distribute amounts. The Budget and Fiscal Sets contained in your template will be displayed in the grid along with the balances for each period. Rows that have a are budget rows and the white cells are periods that are open for budgeting (columns that have Budget Input enabled). You can enter an amount directly into the open periods or you can enter an amount in the Total cell and distribute that amount using the selected driver. The values and percentages of the selected driver are displayed at the bottom of the grid. You can change the driver using the dropdown list or enter an adjustment percentage in the provided box, and re-distribute the total amount by pressing the button. Click Apply to write the values onto your template. Use the or buttons to navigate to the next or previous row to budget. 19 Copyright Briscoe Solutions Inc.

26 Note The Budget Distributor only applies amounts horizontally across the row on your templates. Per Driver View In this mode the grid will display the entered amounts divided by the values of the selected driver, and the average for each row. This is useful if you want to view your data in terms of $/Week, $/Units Sold, $/Head Count, etc. Year to Date View In this mode the grid will display the year to date amounts for each period, based on the amounts entered. The bottom half of the window contains three tabs: Drilldown gives you a drilldown view of the selected a row from the top grid. A will be displayed beside the Budget Account. Click on the Transactions button to view the transactions for a selected balance. Graph displays a graphical representation of the data in the top grid. Assumption identical to the Budget Assumption window. Allows you to view or enter an assumption for the selected budget row. CREATING CUSTOM DRIVERS You can create a custom Driver Set based on a line in your template, such as weeks, units sold, head count, etc. The custom drivers will appear in the driver dropdown list the next time you open the Budget Distributor window. You can use the Driver Set as a default driver for a line if you know that particular line should be driven off another line in your template. Important - Driver Sets and Default Drivers must be defined in column A. DRIVER SETS In column A of the row that you want to use as a driver enter DSID-Name, where ID is a 2 digit number between 00-99, and Name is the name you want displayed in the driver dropdown list. For example, DS01-Weeks, DS02-Units Sold, DS03-Head Count. Important - Each Driver Set must have a unique ID. DEFAULT DRIVERS In column A of the row you want to set the default driver for enter DDID, where ID is the ID of the Driver Set you want to use. For example, DD01, DD02, DD03, etc. You can 20 Copyright Briscoe Solutions Inc.

27 use the same default driver more than once on a template. If a Default Driver is not set for a row Even Distribution will be selected. 21 Copyright Briscoe Solutions Inc.

28 MANAGING USERS You can limit the budget functionality of each user by enabling or disabling the appropriate toolbar buttons for the user. You can set this under the Users screen of the Main Menu, by double-clicking on the user, or selecting the user and clicking on the Details button. Under Functional Options there are options for Save Budget, Budget Audit, Budget Assumption, and Budget Distributor. Enable or disable the options as needed and click Save. SETTING RESTRICTIONS You can restrict the accounts each user can save budget amounts to by setting their budget restriction. This can be done by going to the Users screen of the Main Menu, selecting the user and clicking the Restrictions button to open up the Filter Builder. Set the expression of the user s restriction under the Budget Restriction tab, and click Save. 22 Copyright Briscoe Solutions Inc.

29 MISCELLANEOUS PROTECTING A WORKSHEET Before protecting an Excel worksheet there are several steps to follow in order for Vivid Reports to function properly. 1. Unlock all the cells that are going to be written to by your users or Vivid Reports. This includes the cells where amounts, filter names, and filter IDs/numbers will be written to Note - Cells containing Vivid Report comments do not need to be unlocked. To unlock cells in Excel, select the cells and go to Format -> Cell -> Protection -> uncheck the Locked checkbox. 2. Enable row formatting and object editing when protecting the worksheet. To protect the worksheet go to Protection -> Protect Sheet -> place checks on Select locked cells, Select unlocked cells, Format cells, Format rows and Edit objects. BEST PRACTICES Excel formulas used in rows that have Budget Formula enabled should always include a round function. This is important because you normally don t want to have cents in your budget but it will also prevent fraction of cents from being saved. Color code rows in templates to help users identify which amounts are prebudgeted by head office, formula rows, etc. Make input cells a different color to easily identify them. When adding subtotals for master templates it is recommended that you use a formula such as =IF(ISERROR(SUM(A1:A2), 0, SUM(A1:A2)). This will prevent Excel reference errors when rows are deleted from the template. 23 Copyright Briscoe Solutions Inc.