Contents

Setting up the Properties of a Period Related Expense (PRE) Driver

General

Date

Driver Basis

Driver Input

Period Expense Properties

Rate

Stop Charging

In Planning Maestro, you can analyze your company’s data and create budgets and forecasts. These budgets can include Drivers: non-financial factors or variables (assumptions) involved in your company’s budgets.  These factors or variables “drive” or directly influence operating expenses, revenue, and personnel in your company.

Period Related Expense (PRE) Drivers (also known as Personnel Related Expense Drivers) record Personnel-related costs budgeted by period, such as health insurance, social security, or a 401K contribution. To review, add to, edit, or delete the budgeted amounts for PRE Drivers in Planning Maestro, use the Drivers application, which is in the Planning module.

This document shows you, a Planning Maestro user, how to set up the properties of a PRE Driver.

Setting up the Properties of a Period Related Expense (PRE) Driver

To locate the Drivers application and create a new a PRE Driver, see Managing Drivers. After adding the PRE Driver, click the Expand icon (  ) to open the Properties pane.

The Properties pane opens.

A Period Related Expense (PRE) Driver’s Properties pane contains the following fields:

General

Use the General section of the Properties pane to set up the name and description of this Input Driver.

• Name – If needed, click on this field to edit the line item’s name.

• Descriptions 1-4 – You can add up to four descriptions of this line item as reminders or extra information for yourself or other budget contributors. These notes do not appear in reports. To add a description, click on the space beside Description 1, Description 2, Description 3, or Description 4 and enter a description.

Date

Use the Date section to set up the timing for this PRE Driver.

• Start Schedule – Click on this dropdown menu and select one of the following options for when this PRE Driver begins affecting line items it’s connected to:

 

• Absolute Date – Select this option to have a specific date (such as 02/17/2022) when this PRE Driver “turns on” and begins affecting Personnel line items it’s connected to.

Example: A new family leave benefit mandated by law that starts on a certain date.

• Date of Hire Plus – Select this option to set this PRE Driver to “turn on” or begin affecting the Personnel line items it’s connected to on the date of hire (which is recorded in each Personnel line item as the Start Date).

Example: Social security tax that begins at the hire date.

• Date of Termination Plus – Select this option to set this PRE Driver to “turn on” or begin affecting the Personnel line items it’s connected to on the date of an employee’s termination (which is recorded in each Personnel line item as a set End Date).

Example: A severance package.

• Number of Periods – In this field, enter the number of periods before this PRE Driver kicks in. If this PRE Driver applies to a Personnel line item immediately, enter “0.”

Example: For a PRE Driver for Health Insurance that turns on three months after the hire date, enter 3 for 3 periods.

Driver Basis

Use the Driver Basis section to review the type of Driver you chose.

• Driver Type – This field displays the Driver Type you chose (Period Related Expenses).

Please Note: You can click on this field to open a dropdown menu and select a new Driver Type if needed. If you choose a new Driver Type, the Properties pane fields for this Driver change (thought they may keep some of the data you entered).

Driver Input

Use the Driver Input section to determine where the data for this PRE Driver comes from.

• Input Orientation – Click on this dropdown menu and select one of the following options for what this Driver records:

• Headcount – Select this option if this PRE Driver records a cost that changes based on the headcount the Driver is connected to.

Example: A PRE Driver that records company-provided parking passes or employee commissions varies depending on the headcount of the Personnel line item this Driver is connected to.

 

Please Note: Do not use Headcount as the Input Orientation if this PRE Driver has a Data Link to one of the wage types (Regular Wages, Adjusted Gross Wages, etc.). These wage types already include the headcount of the line item, so using Headcount as the Input Orientation and connecting to a wage type multiples the amount by headcount twice – resulting in an inaccurate, too-high amount. Instead, use the Cash Input Orientation.

• Cash – Select this option if this PRE Driver records a one-time cost that does not change, no matter what the headcount of the Personnel line item the Driver is connect to.

Example: A PRE Driver that records a flat fee for an ice cream truck for a company event, or a personal development workshop that costs the same no matter how many employees attend.

• Use Data Link – To use a Data Link and connect this PRE Driver to information from another application (for example, Adjusted Gross Wages for a line item in the Personnel application), click on this toggle switch to turn it to the ON position.

• Allow User Input – To enable users to edit amounts for Personnel line items connected to this PRE Driver, click on this toggle switch to switch it to the ON position.

Example: A PRE Driver named Life Insurance records the cost of life insurance for an employee. A line item in Personnel named Net Employee Cost (wages + benefits) is connected to this PRE Driver through a Data Link. Once this PRE Driver is connected to an employee, you or another user can adjust the individual cost in the Personnel application.

• If this PRE Driver has the Allow User Input toggle switch switched ON, a user can edit the period amounts for this PRE Driver in the Personnel application.
• If this PRE Driver has the Allow User Input toggle switch switched OFF, a user cannot edit the amount for this PRE Driver in the Personnel application.

 

• Amount – This option only appears when you are not using a Data Link. Enter the amount for this PRE Driver in this field.
• Spread Method – Click on this dropdown menu and select a Spread Method.
• Increase/Decrease Method – If this Input Driver involves periodic increases or decreases, select 0 selected (Edit) to choose an Increase/Decrease Method.
• Recognition Schedule – Click on this dropdown menu and select a Recognition Schedule for this Driver.

Period Expense Properties

Use the Period Expense Properties to determine how this PRE Driver relates to wages.

• Wage Calculation – Click on this dropdown menu and select one of the following options for this PRE Driver:

Please Note: This wage calculation factors in whether the amount of this HRE is taxable or not, and how it relates to regular wages (usually just employee paychecks) and gross wages (usually, pay plus benefits).

• None – Select this option to keep this PRE Driver separate from regular and gross wages (to neither include it in regular or gross wages, or deduct it from regular or gross wages).

Example: FUTA or SUTA taxes.

• Include in Regular Wages – Select this option to include this PRE Driver in the employee(s)’ regular wages (their base pay, or the cash amount they receive).

Example: Commissions or bonuses.

• Deduct from Regular Wages – Select this option to deduct this PRE Driver from the employee(s)’ regular wages.
• Include in Gross Wages – Select this option to include this PRE Driver in the employee(s)’ gross wages (their total cost to your company, wages plus benefits).

Example: Bonus or commissions.

• Deduct from Gross Wages – Select this option to deduct this PRE Driver from the employee(s)’ gross wages.

Example: 401K contributions of the employee, Health Savings Account contributions.

• Payment Schedule – Click on this dropdown menu and select a Payment Schedule for this PRE Driver.
• Period Expense GL Account – Click on this dropdown menu and select a GL Account for this PRE Driver. The GL Account you select affects the P&L (Income Statement).

Rate

Use the Rate section to set up a PRE Driver based on a rate (such as the rate for FICA or FUTA taxes).

• Enable Rate Calculation – To turn this PRE Driver into a rate (a ratio between the Input amount in the Driver and a Personnel line item), click on this toggle switch to switch it to the ON New fields appear below.

Example: A FICA rate (6.2%) or the percent of a 401K contribution the company matches.

• Use Data Link – To use a Data Link and connect the rate to information from another module, click on this toggle switch to turn it to the ON position.

• Allow User Input – To enable users to edit rates for line items in other Planning modules connected to this PRE Driver, click on this toggle switch to switch it to the ON position.

• Rate Amount (%) – Enter the amount for the rate in this field.
• Spread Method – Click on this dropdown menu and select a Spread Method.
• Increase/Decrease Method – If this Input Driver involves periodic increases or decreases, select 0 selected (Edit) to choose an Increase/Decrease Method.
• Recognition Schedule – Click on this dropdown menu and select a Recognition Schedule for this PRE Driver.
• Rate GL Account – Click on this dropdown menu and select a GL Account for rate. This GL Account is a statistical account and does not affect your P&L (Income Statement).

Stop Charging

Use this section for PRE Drivers which “stop charging,” or stop acting on Personnel line items they apply to, at a certain value.

Example: There is a maximum amount of income taxable by FICA (taxes collected to support social security). If the maximum taxable amount for the upcoming fiscal year is $140,000, you can create a PRE Driver named FICA taxes that stops charging at $140,000. When the Personnel line item connected to this PRE Driver reaches $140,000 within the year, the PRE Driver stops charging or “turns off” and no longer adds to the line item.

• Enable Stop Charging – If this PRE Driver involves a tax or another amount that no longer applies after a line item reaches a certain amount (see the example above), click on this toggle switch to switch it to the ON position.

• The toggle switch turns green and switches to the ON position.
• New fields appear below.

• Stop Charging Interval – Click on this dropdown menu and select one of the options to determine when this Stop Charge setting restarts:

 

• One Time – Select this option to create an absolute stop charge that takes effect only once.
• Based on Fiscal Year – Select this option to create a stop charge that restarts every Period 1.
• Based on Calendar – Select this option to create a stop charge that restarts every January 1.

• Stop Charging Input Type – Click on this dropdown menu and select one of the following options to choose what amount within a line item the stop charge affects:

Please Note: Use Adjusted Gross Wages per Headcount for all PRE Drivers that represent taxes.

• This Expense – The total amount of the PRE Driver itself.
• Base Wages – The wage per hour for the Personnel line item the PRE Driver applies to.
• Gross Wages – The gross wages (regular wages plus any HREs and PREs included in gross wages) for the year for the Personnel line item the PRE Driver applies to.
• Adjusted Gross Wage – The adjusted gross wages (gross wages minus HREs and PREs deducted from regular or gross wages).
• Regular Wages – The regular wages (base wages, or headcount times hourly wage times hours, plus any HREs or PREs included in regular wages).
• Adjusted Regular Wages – Adjusted regular wages (regular wages minus HREs and PREs deducted from regular or gross wages).
• Gross Wages per Headcount – The total wages for the year for each individual employee in for the Personnel line item the PRE Driver applies to.
• Adjusted Gross Wages per Headcount – Adjusted gross wages divided by headcount.

Please Note: Use Adjusted Gross Wages per Headcount as the Stop Charging Input Type for FICA and all other tax PRE Drivers.

• Regular Wages per Headcount – Regular wages divided by headcount.
• Adjusted Regular Wages per Headcount – Adjusted regular wages divided by headcount.

• Use Data Link – To use a Data Link and connect the Stop Charge amount to information from another module, click on this toggle switch to turn it to the ON position.

• Stop Charging Amount – In this field, enter the amount at which the stop charge takes effect. When the Personnel line item this PRE Driver applies to reaches this amount, the Driver “stops charging” or turns off.

After you finish setting up the properties for this PRE Driver, the Driver is complete. To edit or delete this Driver, see Managing Drivers.