Contents

Operating Expenses QuickView

Locating Operating Expenses

Reviewing Operating Expenses

Adding Operating Expenses

Setting up a Line Item's Properties

Setting up a Line Item's Details

Editing Operating Expenses

Deleting Operating Expenses

In Planning Maestro, you can analyze your company’s data and create budgets and forecasts for revenue and expenses. After your Actuals (historical financial data) are uploaded into Planning Maestro, you can build your budgets through import templates or manually in the system.

Operating expenses (ordinary business costs such as rent or office supplies) are a crucial part of your company’s budget.  To review, add to, edit, or delete the budgeted amounts for operating expenses in Planning Maestro, use the Operating Expenses application within the Worksheets module.

This document shows you, a Planning Maestro user, how to:

• Review budgeted Operating Expenses in Planning Maestro.
• Add budgetary Operating Expenses.
• Edit Operating Expenses.
• Delete Operating Expenses.

Please Note: You can view any Version of a Plan in Operating Expenses: your Actuals, next year’s budget, best case scenario, etc.

Operating Expenses QuickView

The Operating Expenses application has three main sections:

1. Line items – The middle of the page or working screen displays Operating Expense line items in a table. You can add and remove columns or filter line items using the Rows, Columns, and Filters sections at the top.
2. Properties – The Properties pane at the right side of the page enables you to add detailed information such as dates, descriptions, amounts, schedules, and other information about each line item.
3. Details – The Details pane at the bottom of the page enables you to see how each line item affects your Income Statement and Balance Sheet.

Locating Operating Expenses

To manage your Operating Expenses, open the Worksheets module and select Operating Expenses.

The Operating Expenses page opens.

On this page, you can:

• Review existing Operating Expenses (including filtering by name, account number, amount, Spread Method, etc.).
• Add budgeted amounts for new Operating Expenses.
• Edit existing Operating Expenses.
• Delete Operating Expenses.

Please Note: When you first open this page, the page does not display any line items because the Filters at the top are set to display defaults (such as the Plan Basis Version) which do not contain data from your source. Data only appears when you use the Filters to view Dimension Members that contain existing data from your GL Source, such as your Actuals Version (the Version containing your historical financial data) and the GL Source used to upload your Actuals. You may also have to adjust your Time Dimension (calendar view) to include the years that have data from your GL Source. For detailed instructions for using the Filters, see Navigating the Planning Applications.

 

Otherwise, use this page to build out your budget via templates or manually.

Reviewing Operating Expenses

The Operating Expenses page is designed as a table: each column represents a certain category of information, and each row represents one line item. You can set up this table with a certain layout to make it easier for you and other budget contributors to review and make changes.

To customize your view of this page and see all the information you need, review the current setup of Rows, Columns, and Filters at the top.

To add or remove columns or adjust the calendar view for the Operating Expenses application, see Navigating the Worksheets Applications.

Adding Operating Expenses

Step 1: To add a new Operating Expense, select the Add icon (  ).

The new Operating Expense line item appears.

Step 2: Use the first few columns of this table to enter the necessary information about this operating expense:

• Name – Double-click on this field and enter a name for this line item that you and other employees can easily recognize.

• Account Number – Double-click on this dropdown menu and select an account to charge this line item to.

• Amount – Double-click on this field and enter the total amount for this line item.

• Spread Method – Double-click on this dropdown menu and select a Spread Method, or a method for distributing the expense of this line item across a certain time period. 

 

The right side of the table updates to show the amount and Spread Method you chose.

Setting up a Line Item’s Properties

After you enter the basic information for each line item, use the Properties pane to add advanced information about the line item (including rates, schedules, and links to other information).

Step 1: To edit the properties of this line item, click on the Expand icon (  ) above Properties.

The Properties pane opens on the right.

General

In the General section of the Properties pane, enter or edit the name and description(s) of the line item.

• Name – If necessary, click on this field and enter a unique name that you and other budget contributors can recognize.

• Descriptions 1-4 – Click on these fields and enter as many descriptions of this line item as necessary.

Date

In the Date section of the Properties pane, review the date settings for this expense:

• Time Hierarchy – The structure of your calendar view, or how the columns on the right side of the table represent periods, quarters, and years.
• Start Date – If necessary, click on this field and enter the start date for the expense. You can also select the date from the calendar.

• End Date – If necessary, click on this field and enter the start date for the expense. You can also select the date from the calendar.

Expense Input

Use the Expense Input section of the Properties pane to determine how this expense line item affects your total operating expenses (in other words, what GL Accounts it debits or credits and when).

• Use Data Link – To connect this line item with a line item from another application (Revenue, Personnel, Drivers, or Adjustments), click on this toggle switch to turn it to the ON position.

 

• The toggle switch turns green and switches to the ON position.
• The Amount and Spread Method fields disappear (because this information is included in the Data Link).
• A new Data Link field appears below. Select Click to Edit to select the Data Link.

Please Note: For detailed instructions for setting up a Data Link, see Using Data Links.

• Amount – This option only appears when you are not using a Data Link. If necessary, click on this field and enter a total amount for this line item.
• Spread Method – This option only appears when you are not using a Data Link. If necessary, click on this field and select a Spread Method for this line item.
• If this line item involves periodic increases or decreases, select 0 selected (Edit) to choose an Increase/Decrease Method.

Example: If you expect this expense to increase by 3% each year, you can add an Increase/Decrease Method to make this increase automatic.

 

Please Note: Use the Increase/Decrease Methods application within the Financial Intelligence Setup module to review and edit your increase/decrease methods.

• Recognition Schedule – Click on this field to open the dropdown menu and select a Recognition Schedule (method for recording this expense). Planning Maestro provides some Recognition Schedules for you:
• Even (Year) – Recognizes 1/12 of the full amount each period.

Example: $12,000 is recognized as $1,000 per period.

• Immediate – Recognizes the entire amount immediately, within the period of the date of the transaction.

Please Note: To see the exact percentage recognized each year according to the MACRS recognition schedules below, see the Recognition Schedule application within the Automation module.

• MACRS – 10 (Half Year) – This schedule uses the MACRS (Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System) Depreciation Table as a recognition schedule. The 10 (Half Year) schedule recognizes varying percentages of the amount each year over 10 years.
• MACRS – 15 (Half Year) – Recognizes varying percentages of the amount each year over 15 years.
• MACRS – 20 (Half Year) – Recognizes varying percentages of the amount each year over 20 years.
• MACRS – 3 (Half Year) – Recognizes varying percentages of the amount each year over three years.
• MACRS – 5 (Half Year) – Recognizes varying percentages of the amount each year over five years.
• MACRS – 7 (Half Year) – Recognizes varying percentages of the amount each year over seven years.
• One Period (30 Days) – Recognizes an amount 30 days after the transaction date.
• Two Period (60 Days) – Recognizes an amount 60 days after the transaction date.
• Operating Expense GL Account – Click on this dropdown menu and select a GL Account to which to charge this revenue item.

Expense Properties

Use the Expense Properties section of the Properties pane to set up the payment schedule, prepaid calculations, and allocation methods for this line item.

• Payment Schedule – Click on this field to open the dropdown menu and select a schedule for paying this expense. Planning Maestro provides some Payment Schedules for you:

Please Note: To review or edit your payment schedules, use the Payment Schedule application within the Financial Intelligence Setup module.

• Cash – Records the amount as cash paid immediately to a certain GL Account.
• Non-Cash – Records the amount as a non-cash asset to a certain GL Account.
• One Period (30 Days) – Records the amount as a non-cash asset to a certain GL Account 30 days after the transaction date.
• Two Period (60 Days) – Records the amount as a non-cash asset to a certain GL Account 60 days after the transaction date.

• Enabled Prepaid Calculations – To label this line item as a prepaid expense (a payment your company paid in advance), click on this toggle switch to switch it to the ON position.

 

• If you turn this toggle switch to the ON position, two more fields appear below:

• Prepaid GL Account – Click on Undesignated (Asset) to open this dropdown menu and select a GL Account for this prepaid expense.
• Prepaid (Schedule) – Click on Immediate to open this dropdown menu and select a schedule for the prepaid expense, or the timing which determines when you recognize the prepaid expense.

• Allocation Method – To choose a method for allocating this amount across departments, GL Accounts, or other parts of your company, select None (Edit).

Details Pane

The Details pane shows advanced accounting details, or how each Operating Expense line item affects statistical GL Accounts, the P&L statement (Profit and Loss, or Income Statement), and Balance Sheet over the time period you are viewing. Use the Details pane to review how this line item is debited and credited to various GL Accounts.

Please Note: The Details pane is useful for accountants who are running reports such as the Income Statement. If you are a budget contributor (department head or manager) who just needs to enter your budget for the coming year, you most likely do not need to use the Details pane.

Step 1: To open the Details pane, select the line item in the table, and then select the Expand icon (  ) in the bottom right.

The Details pane opens. This pane displays a table.

You can customize your calendar view in the Details pane separately from your view in the main application.

Example: The main application is set to display the 2022 calendar. The Details pane displays 2020-2022.

The columns of the table present the following information:

• Transaction Type – This column displays what type of transaction this line item affects: GL Accounts, increases, decreases, and payments.
• DR/CR – This column shows whether the line item is a debit or credit in each transaction.
• Account Number – This column shows the GL Account Number for each transaction.

The rest of the columns display the calendar view you set up above.

Reviewing Expense Details

Use the Expense section of the Details pane to review how this line item debits or credits expense GL Accounts over the time period displayed in the main application.

Please Note: Use the [Time] dropdown menu under Columns to control your calendar view, or what periods, quarters, and years you can see in this pane. Use the Properties pane to edit the GL Accounts debited or credited for this line item.

Example: In the screenshot above, you can see how this line item debits or credits these GL Accounts over one year (12 periods). This line item debits GL Account S-9510 (Input) GL Account $2,500.00 per period this year.

Reviewing P&L Details

Use the P&L (Profit & Loss) section of the pane to review how this line item debits or credits expense accounts (GL Accounts included in your Income Statement).

Reviewing Balance Sheet Details

Use the Balance Sheet section of this pane to review how this line item debits or credits asset, equity, and liability accounts.

Editing Operating Expenses

Editing Individual Line Items

Step 1: To locate the Operating Expenses page, open the Worksheets module and select Operating Expenses.

Step 2: Select any line item on this page to edit its amount, properties, or details.

Please Note: You can tell an amount is editable if it displays in blue (as opposed to the read-only black).

 

Please Note: For detailed instructions about how to manually edit period amounts, see Editing Line Items Manually in Worksheets.

Editing Multiple Line Items or Other Data

To edit multiple line items quickly and easily, you can export this page as an Excel spreadsheet, edit as needed, and then import it back in.

To export an Excel spreadsheet, hover over the Export/Import icon (  ) and select Export Data Projections to Excel.

Please Note: For specific guidelines for exporting and importing Excel spreadsheets, see Exporting/Importing Excel Spreadsheets in Worksheets.

Deleting Operating Expenses

Please Note: You cannot recover a deleted Operating Expense.

Step 1: To remove a line item from the Revenue page, select the line item and select the Delete icon (  ).

Step 2: A popup message appears. Click Confirm.

The line item disappears from the page.

Please Note: You cannot delete a line item connected to other line items through a Data Link. If you try, a warning message appears and shows you how this line item is used in other Data Projections (other line items).

To delete this line item, remove all the Data Links connected to it (listed in the popup message) first. You can:

• Remove this line item from a Record Set.
• Remove the Data Link from the other item(s) connected to it.
• Delete the other items connected to this line item through Data Links.

Please Note: For detailed instructions for using Data Links, see Using Data Links in Planning Maestro.