Skip to main content
All CollectionsFinout FeaturesInform
Financial Plans
Financial Plans
Updated over 2 weeks ago

Financial Plan Overview


Every organization manages yearly budgets to plan annual spending. In cloud environments, every small change impacts cost, and it's essential to have the necessary budget data to foresee future costs and plan for your company's yearly budget. Managing cloud spending effectively involves addressing challenges such as uncontrolled costs due to pay-as-you-go models, lack of usage visibility, and complex pricing structures. Additionally, issues like difficulty in cost allocation, inefficient resource management, and decentralized governance further complicate cost management.

Finout’s solution enables you to plan your company's annual financial plan and expected budgets so that you can allocate accordingly by planning, managing, and monitoring cloud spending. This ensures alignment with business goals and prevents budget overruns. Financial plans enable you to create a budget per unit cost to address the fluctuation of unit-based pricing and cloud spend. For example, if your organization has numerous teams and groups that require budget management, you can utilize Finouts virtual tags to create a structured financial plan tailored to your organization and effectively manage the annual budget.

You will learn how to:

  1. Create a Financial Plan - Configure your financial plan, arrange its hierarchy, and set up forecasting models.

  2. Input Data to your Financial Plan - Add budget and forecast values via manual entry or bulk upload.

  3. Manage your Financial Plan - Manage your financial plan by filtering and adding custom lines.

Create a Financial Plan

Start creating your financial plan by following the configuration, hierarchy, and forecast steps below.

Note: Only Admins can create a financial plan.

To add a financial plan:
​

1. Financial Plan Configuration

  1. In Finout, navigate to Financial Plans.
    ​

  2. Click Add Financial Plan on the top right of the page.
    The Financial Plan Configuration window appears.
    ​

  3. Configure your financial plan:

    1. Financial plan name: Enter a financial plan name.

    2. Financial plan duration: Select the duration of your financial plan by year.

    3. Start period: Select the start period by year and month.

    4. Financial plan cost type: Select a financial plan cost type. For more information, see Cost and Usage Types.

    5. ACL permissions:
      ​

      • ACL permissions are disabled by default, meaning all users can view or edit based on their specific role or access. See Role-Based Access Control for more information.

      • Optionally enable ACL permissions to define read and write permissions on a financial plan for specific users and groups.

        Note: Enabling ACL on an object overrides user role permissions, except for admins.

        There are three modes with ACL permissions:

        • Public: Everyone in your organization has this permission to the object.

        • Private: Only admins have this permission to the object.

        • Shared: You must define users and/or groups.

    6. Financial Plan Alert - This feature is coming soon.

  4. Click Next.
    The configuration of your plan is completed. The next step is to structure the hierarchy of your plan.

2. Financial Plan Hierarchy

  1. Click Select Keys.
    The available keys appear for selection.
    ​

  2. Select the desired keys and click Select.

    Note: You can choose up to five keys.

    The keys appear in the Financial Plan Keys & Hierarchy window.
    ​

  3. You can arrange the keys by dragging and dropping each one. This order defines the hierarchy of the keys in the financial plan.

    ​Note: Hierarchy order cannot be changed once the plan is created.

  4. Under Financial Plan Cost Filters, click Filters.
    The filter component window appears.
    ​

  5. Choose to include or exclude the costs of specific items on the financial plan.

    ​Note: Filters cannot be changed once the plan is created.

    Hover over a key to include or exclude it in the plan:

    • Mark an item to include it in the plan.

    • Exclude an item to remove its cost from the row.

  6. Click Apply Filters.

    Note: Excluded filters will still appear in the financial plan's line items, but their costs will be filtered out.

    The financial plan hierarchy is complete.

3. Forecast Configuration

Note: You can skip this step if you prefer to use your own forecasts.

  1. Click Select Period.
    The period dropdown appears.

  2. You can select one or more months from the past twelve months to establish the baseline forecast for the initial month of your financial plan. This baseline is the initial set of data that serves as a reference point for projecting the first month of each line item in the financial plan.
    ​

  3. View the displayed preview, which includes three line items from your new plan and their forecast for the first month.
    ​


    ​Forecast Algorithm Overview:
    The Finout forecasting algorithm leverages historical data to predict future budgets in your financial plan.
    This algorithm calculates month-over-month percentage fluctuations for each line item over the past twelve months to establish a pattern of seasonal changes. These historical percentage changes are then applied to forecast each month in the upcoming financial plan.
    ​
    ​Example:
    It is August 2024, and you are planning for 2025. You want Finout to create a forecast using the baseline reference period from June and July 2024.
    ​
    ​
    1)Baseline Calculation
    Finout takes the average value of the months chosen to establish the baseline.
    ​
    - Line Item: Sub Service
    - June 2024 Amount: $9,500
    - July 2024 Amount: $10,500
    - Baseline: $10,000
    ​
    ​
    2)Monthly Growth Rate Calculation
    Finout calculates the month-over-month percentage change for each line item based on historical data of the past twelve months (August 2023 to July 2024).

    Each month in the forecasted year (2025) is projected using the percentage fluctuation from the corresponding month of the previous year to factor in seasonality.
    ​
    ​For Example: The percentage fluctuations for line X in the previous year were:
    - February 2024 : 6% fluctuation
    - March 2024: 5% fluctuation
    - April 2024: 4% fluctuation
    - This continues per month for the rest of the year
    ​
    3) Forecast Calculation
    Finout uses the Baseline and percentage fluctuations to project a forecast for 2025 for each line item.

    Note: January’s forecast is the calculated baseline.

    For Example: The forecast for line X will be calculated as follows:
    - January 2025 Forecast: $10,000 (Baseline)
    - February 2025 Forecast: $10,000 + ($10,000 x 6%) = $10,600
    - March 2025 Forecast: $10,600 + ($10,600 X 5%) = $11,130
    - April 2025 Forcast: $11,130 + ($11,130 x 4%) = $11,575.2
    - This calculation is repeated for each subsequent month, using the updated value from the previous month and applying the growth rate to build a complete forecast for 2025.
    ​

  4. You can optionally choose the following actions:

    1. Toggle on Automatically fill in the budget values with the forecast numbers.
      ​

    2. Click Skip and Create if you would like to add your own forecasts and not rely on Finouts’s automatic forecasting. This is available only if no reference period was selected.

      Note: Forecast configuration cannot be changed once the plan is created, but you can always override a forecast and manually add your own forecasts. See Inputting Data to Financial Plans.

  5. Click Create.
    Your financial plan is created.

Input Data to Financial Plans

After creating your financial plan, you can add budget and forecast values in the following ways:

  • Inline edit - Manually insert the necessary data per line item.

  • Bulk upload - Bulk upload data using a CSV. API for this feature is coming soon.

Note: Only an Admin can bulk upload.

  • Edit budgets in a line item - Editing budgets in a line item within a financial plan allows you to update and manage the financial allocations for specific entries or distribute them evenly throughout each month.

Financial Plan Permissions

By default, only admins have access to edit financial plans. You can provide edit permissions for users and groups in the following two ways:

  1. Define group permissions by using Virtual Tag Value Metadata API

    While all users have read permissions, you can specify who has permission to edit a particular line item within a financial plan. This can be done by determining who can edit line items in a financial plan using your account groups. To use the groups in a financial plan, you need to set group metadata on the values of the lowest virtual tag in your financial plan hierarchy.

    Once groups are defined based on the values of the lowest virtual tag, you need to sync your plan to reflect those changes. Once done, only users in the group associated with the line item can edit the line. See Virtual Tag Metadata API.
    ​
    ​Example: Suppose you have two groups—Group 1 and Group 2.

    1) Define Groups:
    Enrich your virtual tag values with group metadata as follows:

    • Data is associated with Group 1.

    • App is associated with Group 2.

    2) Set Permissions:

    • Only users in Group 1 or admins can edit lines associated with Data.

    • Only users in Group 2 or admins can edit lines associated with App.

    Note: You can only view custom metadata added to a value of the lowest virtual tag in your hierarchy.

  2. ACL Permissions

    ACL permissions are disabled by default, meaning all users can view, and only admins can edit. You can optionally enable ACL permissions to define read and write permissions on a financial plan for specific users and groups.

    Note: Enabling ACL on an object overrides user role and group permissions, except for admins.

    • Public: Everyone in your organization has this permission to the object.

    • Private: Only admins have this permission to the object.

    • Shared: You must define users and/or groups.

To enable ACL permissions:

  1. Navigate to Financial Plans.
    You are brought to the Financial Plans list.
    ​

  2. Choose a financial plan.
    You are brought to the Financial Plan Details tab.
    ​

  3. Click by the financial plan name.
    The Settings popup appears.
    ​

  4. Toggle on Enable ACL Permissions.
    ​

  5. Select one of the three modes in ACL permissions:

    1. Public: Everyone in your organization has this permission to the object.

    2. Private: Only admins have this permission to the object.

    3. Shared: You must define users and/or groups.

  6. Click Save.
    Your Permissions are updated.

Edit Line Item Values

Inline editing enables you to add budget values by manually inserting the necessary data into your financial plan.


​To enter edit mode within the financial plan:

  1. Navigate to Financial Plans.
    You are brought to the Financial Plans list.
    ​

  2. Choose a financial plan.
    You are brought to the Financial Plan Details tab.
    ​

  3. Click the rows that you want to edit.
    ​

  4. Click .
    Inline editing is enabled for the selected rows.
    ​

  5. Make your changes and click Apply.
    Your plan is updated.

Bulk Upload Line Item Values

Bulk upload data by uploading a CSV to your financial plan. API for this feature is coming soon.

Note: Only an Admin can bulk upload.

To bulk upload data to your financial plan:

  1. Navigate to Financial Plans.
    You are brought to the Financial Plans list.
    ​

  2. Choose a financial plan.
    You are brought to the Financial Plan Details tab.
    ​

  3. Click to download the view as a CSV file.
    A CSV of the financial plan is downloaded to your computer.

    Note: The download will only show what is in the current view. You can filter the view to customize the downloaded CSV file.

  4. Enter the budget and forecast values in the downloaded CSV file.

    Note:
    - Ensure your data matches the downloaded CSV template.
    - Use full numerical values (Ex: 10,000, not 10K).
    - In the type column, indicate if the line is custom or not.
    - In the Status column, indicate whether the line item is ignored or included.
    - If you want to add a custom line, make sure to mark it as custom in the type column.

  5. Import the CSV file to Finout by clicking Import CSV File.
    The Import CSV File window appears.

  6. Upload the CSV file.

    Note: The values uploaded in the CSV file will override any existing budgets and forecast values. Cost and delta values are not updated.

  7. Click Update.
    The data from the CSV has been updated in your financial plan.

Edit Budgets in a Line Item

Editing budgets in a line item within a financial plan allows you to update and manage the financial allocations for specific entries or distribute them evenly throughout each month. This ensures that your plan remains accurate and up-to-date.

Note: Updated budgets will override existing budget values.

A budget can be split in two ways:

Split Manually - Manually enter the monthly budget.

Split Evenly - The budget amount of the whole line item will be divided equally across the financial plan period.
​
​

To manually split budgets in a line item:

  1. Navigate to Financial Plans.
    You are brought to the Financial Plans list.
    ​

  2. Choose a financial plan.
    You are brought to the Financial Plan Details tab.
    ​

  3. Clickfor the line item whose budget you want to edit and click Edit Line’s Budget.
    The Edit Line’s Budgets popup appears.
    ​

  4. Under the Updated Budget column, enter your updated budget values.

  5. Click Save.
    The Confirm updates popup appears.

    Note: Updated budgets will override existing budget values.

  6. Click Apply.
    ​    Your new budgets are updated.

To evenly split budgets in a line item:

  1. Navigate to Financial Plans.
    You are brought to the Financial Plans list.
    ​

  2. Choose a financial plan.
    You are brought to the Financial Plan Details tab.
    ​

  3. Clickfor the line item whose budget you want to edit and click Edit Line’s Budget.
    The Edit Line’s Budgets popup appears.
    ​

  4. Click the Spilt Evenly tab.
    ​

  5. In Total Budget, enter the total budget for the line you want to be evenly divided across each month.

  6. Optionally press Calculate to see the budget amounts in the Updated Budget column.

  7. Click Save.
    The Confirm updates popup appears.

    Note: Updated budgets will override existing budget values.

  8. Click Apply.
    ​    Your new budgets are updated.

CSV Import Errors and Solutions

Various errors can prevent a successful upload of CSV files to financial plans. The following table describes common CSV import errors and solutions to resolve them. By understanding these error messages and their solutions, you can troubleshoot any issue and ensure a smoother import process.

Upload Error Reason

Error Solution

Some cells in your file that are supposed to contain numerical values for budgets or forecasts have text instead.

Ensure that all these cells have only numbers.

The column headers in your uploaded file do not match the headers in the Financial Plan.

Check and ensure that the headers are identical.

The months provided in your file are not within the range specified in the financial plan.

Adjust the months to fall within the correct range.

Some numbers in your file are not in full numerical format.

Ensure that all numbers are fully displayed and formatted correctly.

A custom line item you are trying to upload already exists in the Financial Plan.

Remove or rename the duplicate item.

A line item appears more than once in your CSV file.

A line item appears more than once in your CSV file. Ensure that all line items are unique.

A month is listed more than once in your CSV file.

Each month should be unique and only appear once.

A custom line item is not marked as "Custom" in the Type column.

Ensure that custom items are correctly labeled in the Type column.

Some line items in the Type column are not specified as default or custom.

All line items in the Type column must be either default or custom. Correct the Type column to include only these two options.

Your uploaded file is empty or lacks the necessary data.

Ensure that the file contains the required information.

The file you are trying to upload is too large.

Reduce the file size to within the 2MB limit.

You are trying to upload multiple files simultaneously.

Only one file can be uploaded at a time.

The file type you are trying to upload is not allowed.

Ensure that the file type is in CSV format.

File reading has failed.

Try uploading the file again.

An unknown error has occurred.

Try uploading the file again.

All the line items in your uploaded file are custom.

Change the format of the key cells in the Excel file to a string instead of a number.

Manage Financial Plans

Managing your financial plan in a streamlined and efficient way by using three key tabs. Utilize these tabs to effectively manage your financial plan and ensure that it is accurate, comprehensive, and aligned with your financial goals.

  • Financial Plan Details: This is where you manage the budgets and forecasts for your financial plan. You can apply various filters to focus on particular data sets, add custom line items to account for unique or anticipated future expenses, and sync your financial data to ensure all data is up-to-date. This level of detail ensures that your financial plan is comprehensive and tailored to your specific needs.

  • Dashboard: The dashboard provides a visual representation of your financial plan through widgets that display actual costs and budgets. This view allows you to quickly assess your financial status at a glance, identify any discrepancies between planned and actual expenditures, and make informed decisions based on real-time data. The visual nature of the dashboard makes it easier to understand complex financial information and track your progress.

  • Plan Completion Rate: This view helps you track the percentage of line items with budget values in your financial plans. By monitoring the completion rate, you can ensure that all necessary items are accounted for and budgeted. This view is essential for maintaining the accuracy and completeness of your financial plan, as it highlights any areas that may need attention or adjustments.

Financial Plan Details

Financial plan details enable you to dive into the specifics of your financial plan. You can apply various filters to focus on particular data sets, add custom line items to account for unique or anticipated future expenses, and sync your financial data to ensure everything is up-to-date. This level of detail ensures that your financial plan is comprehensive and tailored to your specific needs.
​
Each month in the financial plan details tab consists of the following five columns:
​

Budget: Represents the financial allocation for a specific month for each line item. It outlines the financial targets set for the selected month which helps guide financial planning and budgeting.

Forecast: The Finout forecasting algorithm leverages historical data to predict future budgets in your financial plan.

Actual Cost: Reflects the total expenditures accumulated over month and for the applied filters, providing a real-time view of how much has been spent during the specified timeframe.

Run Rate: Projects the estimated end-of-month cost based on the past 30 days of spending. It allows users to monitor whether their projected spend for the month will exceed or stay within budget, providing actionable insights to adjust usage or allocations and ensure better financial management throughout the month.

How the Calculation Works:

- The total cost from the past 30 days is used to estimate the spending trend.

- This trend is then projected forward for the remaining days in the current month, giving an estimate of the total expected spend by month-end.

- Once a month ends, the run rate shows the actual end-of-month spend.
​Example: Suppose a company's total spend for the past 30 days is $45,000. If today is the 20th day of a month that has 31 days, then there are 11 days remaining. The total spend for this month is $43,500.

  1. Calculate Daily Average Spend: $45,000/30=$1,500

  2. Estimate Spend for the Remaining Days of the Month: $1,500×11=$16,500

  3. Calculate Total Projected Spend by Month-End: $43,500+$16,500=$60,000

According to the run rate, the estimated end-of-month spend will be $60,000. This projection helps you monitor whether you are on track to stay within the budget or if adjustments are needed.
​

Delta: Indicates the difference between the budget and run rate for the month and filters.This column helps assess whether you are expected to end the month over, or under the allocated budget, enabling quick identification of financial variances.
​

  1. Search Bar - Free search using keywords to find specific information.

  2. Time frame - Filter for specific months, quarters, halves, or years.

  3. Key Filters - Filter keys that you chose in the configuration process.
    ​
    Keys operate based on cascade filtering and ensure that filters are progressively refined according to the hierarchy established during configuration.
    When filtering for a specific department, users will only see the relevant groups in the filters. Selecting a department will show only the applicable group names.
    ​
    ​Example:
    Imagine the financial plan hierarchy is structured as follows:

    1. Department
      TLV

      NYC

    2. Group Names

    If you filter by a specific Department, you will only see the groups within that department (TLV and NYC).
    If you select TLV, you will only see the following group names in the filter:

    • TLV Department

      • Data

      • Core

    This hierarchical approach simplifies filtering data by ensuring that each step is more focused and manageable.

  4. Settings - View and edit your financial plan configurations. See Edit Financial Plan Settings.

  5. Aggregate By - You can aggregate the data by keys you chose in the configuration process.

  6. Export - Download a CSV file of the current view.

  7. Import - Import Data to your financial plans. See Input Data to Financial Plans.

  8. Add a Custom Line Item - Custom line items let you add rows not included in the automatic setup based on your chosen keys. This allows you to anticipate future relevance and budget for these items as part of your financial plan. See Input Custom Line Items.

  9. Duplicate Plan - Duplicate your financial plan with all its settings and configurations and use it as a basis for making a new customized plan. If a sync is required, you can update the plan by duplicating it. See Duplicate your Financial Plan.

  10. Columns Management - Choose which columns to show or hide.

  11. Show Deltas - Choose to show or hide Delta columns.

  12. Show Actual Costs- Choose to show or hide Actual Cost columns.

  13. Show Forecasts- Choose to show or hide Forecast columns.

  14. Show Run Rates - Choose to show or hide the run rate column.

  15. Show Only Lines with Missing Budgets - Filter for missing budgets only.

  16. Show Only Custom Lines - Filter for customs lines only.

  17. Show Ignored Line Items - Shows ignored line items in the financial plan details tab.

  18. Edit Budgets in a Line Item - Editing budgets in a line item within a financial plan allows you to update and manage the financial allocations for specific entries or distribute them evenly throughout each month. See Edit Budgets in a Line Item.

  19. Ignore Line Items - Ignore individual or multiple line items to ensure they are not part of your plan. See Ignore Line Items.

  20. Comment on a Line Item - Commenting on a line item lets you add notes, feedback, or explanations directly to individual budget entries within a financial plan. See Comment on a Line Item.

Input Custom Line Items

Custom line items allow you to add rows not included in the automatic setup based on your chosen keys. You may add a custom line if you anticipate its relevance in the future and want to budget for it as part of your financial plan.

To add custom line items:

  1. Navigate to Financial Plans.
    You are brought to the Financial Plans list.
    ​

  2. Choose a financial plan.
    You are brought to the Financial Plan Details tab.
    ​

  3. In your financial plan click and then click Add Custom Line Item.
    The Add Custom Line Item window appears.
    ​

  4. Select values for the keys or add your own values, then click Add Line Item.

    Note: When adding your own values, you can choose to add values to one or all of the keys.

    The line item appears in the financial plan list with an indicator.
    ​

To show only custom line items:

  1. Navigate to Financial Plans.
    You are brought to the Financial Plans list.
    ​

  2. Choose a financial plan.
    You are brought to the Financial Plan Details tab.
    ​

  3. In your Financial Plan, click and then toggle on Show Only Custom Lines.
    Only your custom line items appear in the financial plan.

  4. Toggle off Show Only Custom Lines to return to the full financial plan list.

Ignore Line Items

Ignore individual or multiple line items to ensure they are not part of your plan. The line item is not deleted, but its data will not be included in the financial plan calculation.

Note: Only Admins can ignore items, view ignored items, and reinclude them into the plan.

To ignore one line item:

  1. Navigate to Financial Plans.
    You are brought to the Financial Plans list.
    ​

  2. Choose a financial plan.
    You are brought to the Financial Plan Details tab.
    ​

  3. In your financial plan, find the line item you want to ignore and toggle it off.
    The line item and its data are ignored.

    Note: Ignored lines are not shown in the view.

To ignore multiple line items:

  1. Navigate to Financial Plans.
    You are brought to the Financial Plans list.
    ​

  2. Choose a financial plan.
    You are brought to the Financial Plan Details tab.
    ​

  3. In your financial plan, find line items you want to ignore. Mark the checkbox at the beginning of each line item.
    The Change Status bar appears at the bottom of the financial plan.
    ​

  4. Click Change Status.
    A dropdown appears.

  5. Choose to Ignore the chosen line items.
    The line items are ignored.

    Note: Ignored line items are not shown in the view.

To show ignored line items:

  1. Navigate to Financial Plans.
    You are brought to the Financial Plans list.
    ​

  2. Choose a financial plan.
    You are brought to the Financial Plan Details tab.
    ​

  3. In your financial plan, click and then toggle on Show Ignored Line Items.
    Your ignored line items reappear.

Comment on a Line Item

Commenting on a line item enables you to add notes, feedback, or explanations directly to individual line items within a financial plan, facilitating clear communication and better financial management.

To comment on a line item:

  1. Navigate to Financial Plans.
    You are brought to the Financial Plans list.
    ​

  2. Choose a financial plan.
    You are brought to the Financial Plan Details tab.
    ​

  3. In the comment column of your financial plan, click for the line item you want to comment on.
    The commenting popup appears.
    ​

  4. Write a comment and then click Save.
    ​    Your comment is saved.

    Note: You can sort the column so lines with comments will appear at the top by clicking > Sort Descending by the comments column.

To edit a comment:

  1. Navigate to Financial Plans.
    You are brought to the Financial Plans list.
    ​

  2. Choose a financial plan.
    You are brought to the Financial Plan Details tab.
    ​

  3. In the comment column of your financial plan, click for the comment you want to delete.
    The commenting popup appears.
    ​

  4. Make your changes to the comment and click Save.

To delete a comment on a line item:

  1. Navigate to Financial Plans.
    You are brought to the Financial Plans list.
    ​

  2. Choose a financial plan.
    You are brought to the Financial Plan Details tab.
    ​

  3. In the comment column of your financial plan, click for the comment you want to delete.
    The commenting popup appears.

  4. Click Delete.
    The Delete this comment popup appears.
    ​

  5. Click Delete.
    The comment is deleted.

Edit Financial Plan Settings

Edit your plan settings to optimize functionality and meet specific objectives efficiently.

To edit plan settings:

  1. Navigate to Financial Plans.
    You are brought to the Financial Plans list.
    ​

  2. Choose a financial plan.
    You are brought to the Financial Plan Details tab.
    ​

  3. In your financial plan, click next to the financial plan name.
    The edit settings popup appears.
    ​

  4. You can edit the following:

    1. Financial plan name: Enter a financial plan name.

    2. ACL permissions:
      ​

      1. ACL permissions are disabled by default, meaning all users can view or edit based on their specific role or access. See Role-Based Access Control for more information.

      2. Optionally enable ACL permissions to define read and write permissions on a financial plan for specific users and groups.

        Note: Enabling ACL on an object overrides user role permissions, except for admins.

        There are three modes with ACL permissions:

        • Public: Everyone in your organization has this permission to the object.

        • Private: Only admins have this permission to the object.

        • Shared: You must define users and/or groups.

    3. Financial Plan Alert: This feature is coming soon.

  5. Click Save.
    Your changes are implemented into the plan.

Sync your Financial Plan

Changes made to virtual tags or Megabill keys can alter the keys that define your financial plan. If the values of the keys that define this financial plan have changed, a ‘Sync required’ icon will appear. Duplicate your financial plan to enable a sync with all the new key values.

Note: Only Admins can duplicate financial plans.

To sync your financial plan:

  1. Navigate to Financial Plans.
    You are brought to the Financial Plans list.
    ​

  2. Choose a financial plan.
    You are brought to the Financial Plan Details tab.
    ​

  3. In your Financial Plan, click, and then click Duplicate Plan or click at the top right of the plan.
    The Duplicate Financial Plan window appears.
    ​

  4. Mark Duplicate and include recent updates; optionally add a new name and click Duplicate.
    Your financial plan is duplicated and synced.

Sync FAQ:

  • Question: Why does my financial plan require a sync, and what causes it to be out of sync?

    Answer: Changes to virtual tags can alter the line items defined in your financial plan. If a financial plan's virtual tags values or metadata have been changed, a ‘Sync required’ icon will appear, indicating that the plan needs to be updated.

  • Question: What happens to a line item after a sync if its virtual tag value has been deleted?

    Answer: After the sync, the old line item will still appear with the budget value, and the cost will stop populating. For example, if a virtual tag value is removed, the associated line item will no longer accrue costs but will remain visible in the plan.

  • Question: What happens when renaming a virtual tag value?

    Answer: When you rename a virtual tag, a ‘Sync required’ icon will appear, indicating that the plan needs updating. To sync with the new name, you must duplicate your financial plan. After duplicating, the old value will remain, and a new entry will be added for the new name.

  • Question: Can I remove a line item entry that is not relevant anymore?
    ​Scenario:

    You have a financial plan with the following keys:
    - Org
    - Team
    - App
    After syncing, you notice two line items in the financial plan:
    - Org 1 - Team A - App A (old entry)
    - Org 1 - Team B - App A (new entry)
    I want to remove the old entry and only keep the new one.
    ​Answer: You can ignore an old line item by toggling it off. The line item data will not be deleted, but its data will not be included in the financial plan calculation. See Input Custom Line Items.

Duplicate your Financial Plan

Duplicate your financial plan with all its settings and configurations and use it as a basis for making a new customized plan. This approach saves time and streamlines your workflow, making revising projects, adapting to new scenarios, or optimizing processes more efficient.

Note: Only Admins can duplicate financial plans.

To duplicate your plan:

  1. Navigate to Financial Plans.
    You are brought to the Financial Plans list.
    ​

  2. Choose a financial plan.
    You are brought to the Financial Plan Details tab.
    ​

  3. Clickand then click Duplicate Plan.
    The Duplicate Financial Plan window appears.
    ​

  4. Add a new name and click Duplicate.
    The plan is duplicated.

To delete your financial plan:

  1. Navigate to Financial Plans.
    You are brought to the Financial Plans list.
    ​

  2. Clicknext to the financial plan you want to delete and then Delete Financial Plan.
    The Delete Financial Plan pop-up appears.
    ​

  3. Click Delete.
    The Financial Plan is deleted.
    ​
    ​

Dashboard

The dashboard view provides a visual representation of your financial plan through widgets that display actual costs and budgets. This view allows you to quickly assess your financial status at a glance, identify any discrepancies between planned and actual expenditures, and make informed decisions based on real-time data. The dashboard's visual nature makes it easier to understand complex financial information and track your progress.

  1. Time frame - Filter for specific months, quarters, halves, or years.

  2. Key Filters - Filter keys that you chose in the configuration process.

  3. Aggregate By - You can aggregate the data by keys you chose in the configuration process.
    ​

  4. Cost Summary: This enables you to compare actual spending against budgeted targets, track performance, and make informed adjustments to stay within financial goals. This widget includes:
    -Actual Cost: The total accumulated expenditures for the selected period and filters. It provides insight into how much has been spent within the specified timeframe.
    -Budget: This displays the total accumulated budgeted amount for the same period and filters. It represents the financial targets set for the selected timeframe.
    -Delta: Highlights the difference between Actual Cost and Budget for the specified period and filters. This metric indicates whether spending is over or under budget, helping to identify variances and assess financial performance.
    ​

  5. The Budget vs Actual (by date) - Provides a visual comparison of your planned budget against actual expenditures over a specified time period. This widget lets you track your financial performance and identify discrepancies between your projected budget and real spending.
    ​

  6. The Budget vs Actual (by value) - Provides a visual comparison of your planned budget against actual expenditures per value. This widget lets you track your financial performance and identify discrepancies between your projected budget and real spending per value.
    ​

  7. Budget Value Performance—This widget provides a clear overview of your budgets per value by displaying three key metrics: cost, budget, and delta. It shows actual expenditures (cost), the planned, budgeted amount (budget), and the variance between them (delta). This widget lets you track and compare your spending against your financial targets per value, helping you identify discrepancies and make informed adjustments to stay aligned with your budget and financial goals.
    ​

  8. Actual Costs Trend - Displays the ratio between the cost of the current month and the cost of the previous month. Tracking these ratios allows you to observe trends and patterns in your spending over time. By visualizing these monthly ratios, you can easily identify periods of significant increases or decreases in spending, assess financial performance, and make data-driven decisions to manage your budget more effectively.
    ​

Plan Completion Rate

The Plan Completion Rate tab allows you to track the percentage of line items with budget values in their financial plans. This enables you to monitor the status of budgeted line items per quarter. By monitoring the completion rate, users can ensure that all necessary items are accounted for and budgeted, maintaining the accuracy and completeness of their financial plan. This feature provides a clear view of financial planning progress and highlights any areas needing attention or adjustments.

Completion Rate Calculation

The completion rate is calculated using the following formula:
​

  1. Search Bar - Free search using keywords to find specific information.

  2. Time frame - Filter for specific months, quarters, halves, or years.

  3. Key Filters - Filter keys that you chose in the configuration process.

    The keys operate based on cascade filtering and ensure that filters are progressively refined according to the hierarchy established during configuration.

    When filtering for a specific department, users will only see the relevant groups in the filters. Selecting a department will show only the applicable group names.

    Example: Imagine the financial plan hierarchy is structured as follows:

    1. Department

      1. TLV

      2. NYC

    2. Group Names

    If you filter by a specific Department, you will only see the groups within that department. If you select TLV, you will see the following group names in the filter:

    • TLV Department:

      • Data

      • Core

    This hierarchical approach simplifies filtering data by ensuring that each step is more focused and manageable.

  4. Aggregate By - You can aggregate the data by keys you chose in the configuration process.

  5. Status Indicators - The completion status percentage of your financial plan is visually represented with colors according to the following thresholds:

    1. Green: 85% - 100%

    2. Yellow: 50% - 90%

    3. Red: 0% - 50%

Add Metadata to Financial Plans

Once a financial plan is created, you can add custom columns to the financial plan by enriching the virtual tag values with metadata using the Virtual Tag Metadata API.

Note: You can only view custom metadata added to a value of the lowest virtual tag in your hierarchy.

Use Case Example:
​

Your current virtual tag and values:

You have created a financial plan with a “Dev Teams” virtual tag. This Virtual tag contains the following Values:

  • Infrastructure

  • Legacy App

  • Core

  • Data

You want to add a new column with metadata for relevant value:

Add Dave as an Owner to the Data value of this virtual tag.

This is done by adding Custom Metadata to the value of the Dev Team virtual tag by using the Virtual Tag Metadata API.

Note: After updating metadata for each value via API, you must sync your plan in order to view the custom metadata column in the financial plan.

Result: A new column appears (Owner) with custom metadata (Dave) attached to a particular virtual tag value (“Data” value of the virtual tag “Dev Teams”).

Custom Column Components

The custom columns feature is configured based on the following components:

  1. Virtual tags - The virtual tag chosen during your financial plan setup.

  2. Virtual tag values - The values in the virtual tag.

  3. Custom metadata - Custom metadata that you want to attach to a particular virtual tag value.
    ​


    ​

Related Articles
Custom Dashboards
Forecast Widget Table View
Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
Did this answer your question?