Brief video overview:

 

Article:

Planning Maestro’s Copy Data/What If? feature is a Data Tool that enables you to take an existing Plan (view of your data), copy Versions within it, and make changes to create “what if” situations and plan for different scenarios. You can copy data within one Version (Actuals, budget for this year, etc.) or copy data between Versions. This tool is a Data Tool available in the Tools module.

Example: In a Plan that projects data for the next five years, you can run scenarios in which your company buys a new office building, hires 25 new employees, uses a less expensive vendor for materials, rents a circus once a quarter, etc.

Administrators can also use Copy Data/What If? to create a blank budget for contributors to fill in every year.

This document shows you, a Planning Maestro Administrator, how to use the Copy Data/What If? tool.

Please Note: You can only use the Copy Data/What If? tool to copy revenue and expenses.

 

Please Note: The Copy Data/What If? tool is only available for Administrators.

Locating Copy Data/What If?

To use the Copy Data/What If? tool, open the Tools module and select Copy Data/What If?.

The Copy Data/ What If? page opens. Use this page what data you want to copy.

Selecting Data to Copy

Selecting Versions and GL Accounts

Step 1: Under Version, select all the Versions you want to copy data from. A Selected icon (  ) appears next to every Version you select.

 

Step 2: Under Account Number, select every GL Account you want to copy data from. You can also select MEATGROUPs -- MEATGROUPS to select all GL Accounts at once.

Selecting Other Dimension Members

Scroll to the right and select every Dimension Member in every relevant Dimension you want to copy data from.

• To  exclude Dimensions and all Dimension Members, do not select anything in these sections.

Selecting a Version to Copy To

Select a Destination Version, or a Version to which to copy this data.

To select an existing Destination Version, click on the Destination: Version dropdown menu and select a Version.

Selecting Periods

If you are copying Data Projections (line items) without properties (such as straight from your GL Source), to select the Periods for this data and its destination, click Select Periods.

A Select Periods popup appears. Select the start and end dates for the Source and Destination versions.

1. Source – What are the start and end dates for the data in the source version? Select the Start date - Period and Year and then select this for End period if desired.
2. Destination – What dates do you want to use as the start date for records in the destination version? Enter the period and year in the fields provided.

Example: You can copy data from Actuals version for 2022 to a Budget version and use a start date of 2023.

After selecting periods, click Apply.

After you select the Periods for your data:

• A Periods Selected notice appears in the upper right.

The table below explains how Planning Maestro copies Closing Periods automatically for you based on how you choose to change values within this copy (see the Change Values section below), and which periods you selected.

Source of Data Projection	Spread Method See the options under Change Values below	What happens?
Imported from your GL Source	Existing Trend	The Closing period of the Source Version becomes the Closing period of the Destination Version
Imported from your GL Source	Manual (anything other than Existing Trend)	The Closing period of the Source Version is added into Period 12 of the Destination Version

 

 

Updating Existing Data Projections

Decide whether you want to use this copied data to update existing Data Projections (line items).

Some of the line items in the data you are copying over and in the Version you are copying to may have the same names.

• To use this copied data to update existing Data Projections (line items), click on the Update Existing Data Projections toggle to switch it to the ON position.

• To create a duplicate if a line item you are copying over matches a line item in the existing Version, leave this toggle switch in the OFF position.

Copying Linked Drivers

Decide whether to include linked Drivers in this data copy.

Some of the line items in the data you are copying over may have Data Links to Drivers.

• To include the Data Links in this copy, click on this toggle to switch it to the ON position.

• To only copy the data itself without its Data Links, leave this toggle switch in the OFF position.

Copying Values

Decide whether to copy this data’s values (actual numbers) along with its properties (details such as the name of each line item).

• To include the data’s values as well as its properties in this copy, click on this toggle to switch it to the ON position.

• To only copy the data’s properties and not its values, leave this toggle switch in the OFF position.

Please Note: Copying data without its values can be useful if you are copying data to create a blank budget for you and other budget contributors to fill in.

Previewing Data

Use the options at the bottom to finalize this data copy.

To preview the data you’ve selected to copy, click Add to Preview.

 

A preview of the data you selected appears below.

Removing Some Records from a Copy

To remove records from this copy, select the records you want to remove and click Remove Selected.

• A confirmation message appears.
• The records you selected are removed.

Removing All Records from a Copy

To remove all records from this copy, click Remove All.

A warning popup appears. Click Confirm.

• A confirmation message appears.
• All records are removed.

Changing Values

To edit the amount or properties of any of these Data Projections, select at least one Data Projection you want to edit and click Change Values.

A Change Values popup appears.

Enter the following information in the  fields provided:

• Spread Method – Select how you want these Data Projection(s) copied into the Destination Version. To copy Data Projections from your GL Source without properties (so that you can see, but not edit or change them in Planning Maestro) make sure Existing Trend is the Spread Method. To copy line items with properties so you can edit them in Planning Maestro, mark the checkbox next to this field. Then, click on this dropdown menu and select any Spread Method other than Existing Trend.
• Inc/Dec (% or Value) – To use an Increase/Decrease Method for this Data Projection, mark this checkbox. Then, enter an amount by which this Data Projection should increase or decrease.
• Start – To change the start date for this Data Projection, mark this checkbox. Then, click on this field and select a start date from the calendar.
• End – To change the end date for this Data Projection, mark this checkbox. Then, click on this field and select an end date from the calendar. You can also leave the end date at Never Ends to let it continue indefinitely.
• Input Type – To choose what amount involved in this Data Projection you want to edit, click on this dropdown menu and select one of the following options:

 

• Input Types:
  • Amount (only applies to Operating Expenses) – The amount for the expense line item.
  • Amount (Input) (only applies to Revenue) – The Revenue amount or number of units “input” (entered) by the user.
  • Cost (Input) (only applies to Revenue) – The amount your company paid to buy or create a Revenue line item.
  • Unit Price (only applies to Revenue) – The amount your company charges per unit for a Revenue line item.
  • Headcount (Input) (only applies to Personnel) – The number of employees involved in a Personnel line item. This value increases the line item’s Headcount and appears in the Headcount (Increase) field in the Details pane.
  • Planned Hours (Input) (only applies to Personnel) – The number of hours planned per year for a Personnel line item.
  • Hourly Wage (Input) (only applies to Personnel) – The wage paid per hour for a Personnel line item.
  • Input Amount (only applies to Drivers)– The amount entered on any type of Driver except Record Set. For Input Drivers, it will be the amount of money, number of units, or a percentage (depending on the Driver Data Type). For HRE Drivers, it represents the Hourly Rate. For PRE Drivers, it represents the amount.
  • HRE Hours (only applies to Drivers) – Hourly Related Expense Hours, or the hours entered for an HRE Driver (a Personnel expense billed by the hour, such as vacation or sick time).
  • Rate Amount (%) (only applies to Drivers)– A PRE Driver’s rate amount.
  • Stop Charging Amount – The amount at which a PRE Driver stops charging or acting upon the line item it’s attached to (for example, some taxes have a cap amount).
  • Adjustment Amount (only applies to Adjustments) – The amount for an Adjustment.

Overriding Dimensions

To override or edit the Dimensions this Data Projection belongs to, select at least one Data Projection and click Override Dimensions.

Example: You can use Override Dimensions to change the GL Account Number a Data Projection is assigned to.

The Override Dimensions popup appears.

Mark the checkbox next to every Dimension you want to change. Then, click on the dropdown menu and select a new Dimension Member.

At the bottom, to change the record’s name, mark the checkbox under Record Name and enter a new name.

Example: You could add to the name of one of your GL Accounts by entering a new prefix and selecting Prepend to Name.

Select one of the following options:

• Prepend to Name – Select this radio button to add the new Dimension Member to the beginning of the Data Projection’s name.
• Append to Name – Select this radio button to add the new Dimension Member to the end of the Data Projection’s name.
• Overwrite Name – Select this radio button to replace the Data Projection’s original name with this name.

Then, click Apply.

• The new Dimensions appear on the Data Projections.
• The new name(s) are added or replace the Data Projection(s)’ original name(s).

Copying the Data

On the Copy Data/What If? page, to copy the data, click Copy Data/What if?.

Click Confirm.

The data is copied to the Version you selected. A confirmation message displays:

• The number of records that already existed in this Version.
• The number of records you created by copying this data.
• The number of records you updated by copying this data.
• The number of records you did not have permission to copy.