Quick Start enables you to create blank Operating Expense and Revenue records quickly and easily from the Tools application.

Administrators can use this tool to set up budgets for budget contributors who are unfamiliar with Planning Maestro to enter their budgetary amounts easily, without having to work with the Data Modeler.

Example: The Head of Marketing needs to enter her budget for expenses for the year. In Planning Maestro, she has permission to view the Tools and Worksheets modules. She can use the Quick Start tool to create a blank budget. Then, she can go to the Worksheets module and fill in her budget amounts for each account.

This tool is also useful when you make major changes to your company: for example, if your company acquires another company and needs to budget for the new company’s revenue and expenses. Quick Start is one of the Data Tools in the Tools module.

This document shows you, a Planning Maestro user, how to use the Quick Start tool to create Operating Expense and Revenue records.

Locating Quick Start

To use the Quick Start tool, open the Tools module and select Quick Start.

The Quick Start page opens. Use this page to select what data you want to create and which Dimension Members those records belong to.

Selecting Data

Selecting Versions and GL Accounts

Step 1: Under Version, select all the Versions in which you want to create these records. A Selected icon (  ) appears next to the Version you select.

Select a Version: 

Version is selected:

Step 2: Under Account Number, select every revenue or expense GL Account you want to assign line items to.

Select GL Accounts: 

GL Accounts are selected:

Please Note: Planning Maestro creates new records for every Version and GL Account combination you select. For example, if you select two Versions and two GL Accounts, it creates two line items in each Version (to cover all the combinations). Planning Maestro uses the Description for each GL Account as the name of the new line item.

Step 3: Scroll to the right and select every Dimension Member in every relevant Dimension to which you want to assign data.

To use the default Member of each Dimension, do not select anything in these sections.

Please Note: Planning Maestro creates a record to account for every combination of Version, GL Account, and Dimension Member you select. For example, in the screenshot below, if you select 2022 Budget, three Revenue accounts, and the Boston and Chicago offices, Planning Maestro creates six records representing all possible combinations.

Previewing the Data

To preview line items you are going to create, click Add to Preview.

If you did not select a Dimension Member for every Dimension, you receive a message that Planning Maestro will use the default Member for unselected Dimensions.

The data preview appears in the field below.

Removing Some Records from the Preview

To remove some of the line items from the preview, select the Select icon (  ) next to those line items and click Remove Selected.

Please Note: In removing these items from the preview, you are choosing to not use those records in the Quick Start. You are not deleting or changing those records in Planning Maestro.

• The selected items are removed from the preview.
• A confirmation message appears.

Removing All Records from the Preview

To remove all line items from this page, click Remove All.

Please Note: In removing these items from the preview, you are choosing to not use those records in the Quick Start. You are not deleting or change those records in Planning Maestro.

• All records are removed from the preview.
• A confirmation message appears.

Creating Data Records

To create these records, click Create Data Records.

A confirmation message appears and shows:

• How many new records you created.
• How many records you did not have permission to create/copy.

When you open any Worksheets application and filter for the Version and other Dimension Members in which you created these records, the blank records appear.

The new records’ amounts are blank. You or other budget contributors can simply fill in the amounts for each line item to create a complete budget.

Please Note: If you want to delete the records you created through the Quick Start tool, you can do so quickly and easily using the Clear Data tool.