Contents

Adding Base Structures

Merged Base Structures

Split Base Structures

Constant Base Structures

Editing Base Structures

Deleting Base Structures

Base Structures are the building blocks of your company. Common Base Structures including companies (in a corporation or a holding company), departments, regions, cost centers, offices, currencies, account numbers, account groups, and any other structure.

First, define and create your original Base Structures in your CIF Files and upload them into Planning Maestro. Then, you can work with your Base Structures in Planning Maestro.

This document shows you, a Planning Maestro user, how to add, edit, and delete Base Structures in Planning Maestro.

The Base Structures page is accessed in the Modeler module. See Locating the Modeler Module

Locating Base Structures

Open the Modeler module and confirm the Connected Profile and select Manage Base Structures.

The Base Structures page opens. Use this page to add, edit, and delete Base Structures.

Please Note: You cannot delete Base Structures uploaded from your GL Source.

Adding Base Structures

Please Note: To add a Base Structure with all new Members (for example, a Region Base Structure you didn’t have before) add the Base Structure to your CIF Files and re-upload them. To merge (combine) Base Structures, split a Base Structure, or add a constant as a Base Structure, use the following steps.

You can add new Base Structures to the Base Structures uploaded from your GL Source. Base Structures created in Planning Maestro enable you to combine, split, or concatenate existing Base Structures.

Step 1: To add a new Base Structure, on the Base Structures page, click + New Base Structure.

Step 2: Name and Structure Category fields appear on the left. In the Name field, enter a name in this field that you and other employees can easily recognize.

Step 3: Click on the Structure Category dropdown menu and select a category.

Depending on which Structure Category you choose, new fields appear below. The following sections show the options for each Structure Category type.

Categories include:

1. Merge Base Structures – Select this option to combine the Members of two or more Base Structures into one Base Structure – for example, to combine your Account and Department Base Structures.
2. Split Base Structures – Select this option to split the Members of a Base Structures (for example, to create a Base Structure whose Members contain only the first 5 characters of each of your GL Account Numbers).
3. Constant – Select this option to make the Base Structure itself a constant, such as a hyphen (-), slash (/) or period (.). You can use Constant Base Structures as separators when you are combining Base Structures (such as Account and Department Base Structures).

Merged Base Structures

If you chose Merge Base Structures as the Structure Category, enter the following information in the fields provided:

 

Base Structures – In this section, select the name of every Base Structure you want to include in this merged Base Structure. The Members of every Base Structure you select appear in the merged Base Structure. A Selected icon (  ) appears next to every Base Structure you choose.

Structure Type – Click on this dropdown menu and select one of the following types:

• Account Number – Use this type for Base Structures that contain General Ledger Account Numbers.
• Currency – Use this type for Base Structures that contain currencies (such as dollars, euros, etc.).
• Version – Use this type for Base Structures that contain your Versions (your Actuals, last year’s budget, best case scenario, etc.).
• Dimension – Use this type for all other/regular Base Structures (departments, programs, classes, etc.).

When you select Base Structures, a preview of the new Base Structure appears on the right.

Please Note: You can edit or remove the Members displayed here after you save the Base Structure.

After reviewing the preview, click Save & Exit to save your Base Structure.

Split Base Structures

If you chose Split Base Structure as the Structure Category, new fields appear below:

Split Type – Click on this dropdown menu and select one of the following options:

Fixed Length Select – Select this option if you want to select or “cut” a piece of each Member of this Base Structure.

Example: Your Account Numbers are formatted as XX-yyy. You want a new Base Structure whose Members just have yyy.

Pattern Match – Select this option if you want to construct new Base Structure Members out of a pattern of previous Base Structure Members.

Example: Your Account Numbers are formatted as RRRR-dddd-ooo, with RRRR representing region, dddd representing department, and ooo representing office. You want a new Base Structure for Region-Office. You use a pattern match to construct a Base Structure whose Members are RRRR-ooo.

Split Base Structures - Fixed Length

If you selected Fixed Length Select for a Split Base Structure, enter the following information in the fields below.

Structure – Click on this dropdown menu and select a Base Structure to use to make this Split Base Structure.

The Members of the Base Structure you selected appear on the right.

Start Position – Enter the number of the character that should start each new Member in this Base Structure (1 for the first character, 2 for the second character, and so on).

Selection Length – Enter the number of characters each Base Structure Member should have (for example, 5 for five characters).

When you enter a Start Position and Selection Length, the preview on the right updates to show you what this new Base Structure’s Members will look like.

Split Base Structures - Pattern Match

If you selected Pattern Match for a Split Base Structure, enter the following information in the fields below.

Structure – Click on this dropdown menu and select a Base Structure to use to make this Split Base Structure.

From

Select Pattern – Select one of the following options for how you want to construct this Split, Pattern Match Base Structure:

• Position – Select this option if you want the name of each new Base Structure Member to start at a certain position (ex. 1 for the first character of the original Member).
• Occurrence – Select this option if you want the name of each new Base Structure to start at a certain occurrence of a certain character (for example, the second occurrence of the letter X).

Position

If you selected Position, enter the number of the character you want to start your new Base Structure Members (for example, 1 for the first character of the original Base Structure).

Occurrence

If you selected Occurrence, enter the number and the character you want to start your new Base Structure (for example, 1 and S for the first occurrence of the letter S, or 3 and 5 for the third occurrence of the number 5).

Select Pattern –

• Position – Select this option if you want the name of each new Base Structure Member to stop at a certain position (ex. 2 for the second character of the original Member).

• Occurrence – Select this option if you want the name of each new Base Structure to stop at a certain occurrence of a certain character (for example, the second occurrence of the letter X).

• Length – Select this option if you want the name of each new Base Structure to stop when it reaches a certain length (for example, five characters, or all characters if the Member has fewer than 5).

A preview of the Split Base Structure appears on the page.

After reviewing the Base Structure, click Save & Exit to save your Base Structure.

Constant Base Structures

If you chose Constant as the Structure Category, new fields appear below:

Value – Enter the constant you want this Base Structure to contain.

Example: A symbol (- / ^ *), word, phrase, or number.

Description – Enter a description of what this constant is and why it belongs in your account.

Treat as Separator – If you want to use this constant as a separator (a value that keeps other words or numbers apart in a longer name), mark this checkbox.

Please Note: If you intend to use this Constant Base Structure as a separator, make sure to mark the Treat as Separator checkbox. If you do not mark the checkbox, you can only use this Base Structure as a separator once.

Saving Your Base Structure

To save your new Base Structure, click Save & Exit.

• A confirmation message appears.
• Your Base Structure is saved.

Editing Base Structures

You can edit and redeploy Base Structures to add new Members.

Please Note: To update or add new Members to a Base Structure, first add to or update your Base Structure Members CIF File, and then re-upload your CIF Files. Depending on your account settings, you may have to approve new or updated Base Structure Members before the changes affect related Dimensions and deployments.

Step 1: To open a Base Structure, open the Modeler and select Manage Base Structures. The Base Structures page opens.

Step 2: You can make the following edits to this Base Structure:

Rename Base Structure Members - To rename a Member, click on the Member’s row in the New Name column and enter a name.

Give Base Structure Members new Descriptions - To rewrite a Member’s description, click the Member’s row in the New Description column and enter a description.

You can change the Names and Descriptions of Base Structure Members to:

• Consolidate Members (for example, GL Accounts you don’t use often or consider inactive) by renaming several Members with the same name.
• Replace the Names and Descriptions from your GL Source with clearer, more intuitive names and descriptions.

Please Note: We recommend only giving Members new names and new descriptions the first time you deploy (not in later redeployments). For more information about new Names and Descriptions, contact Centage Support.

Excluding or Including Base Structure Members

You can also exclude or include Base Structure Members from Plans and Cubes.

Exclude Members so that they don’t appear in or affect Plans and Cubes but are still saved in Planning Maestro. To exclude a Member, mark the Exclude checkbox.

 

Please Note: If you exclude a Base Structure Member that includes important transaction data, you may unbalance some of your GL Accounts. Planning Maestro balances all your GL Accounts automatically and records extra debit or credit amounts in your Balancing Entry GL Accounts (which you can select when you deploy).

Include excluded Members so they appear in Plans and Cubes. To include a Member, unmark the Exclude checkbox.

Step 3: To save your changes, click Save & Exit.

Step 4: A popup message shows you which Dimensions these edits update. Click OK.

Step 5: Re-deploy Plans and Cubes that contain Dimensions built from this Base Structure.

Please Note: Redeploying updates Dimensions that use this Base Structure and adds new Dimension Members to the Plan, but does not replace already-deployed Members.

Deleting Base Structures

You can delete Base Structures created in Planning Maestro.

Please Note:  You can delete merged, split, or constant Base Structures created in Planning Maestro, but not Base Structures uploaded from your GL Source. To delete uploaded Base Structures, remove them from your CIF Files and then re-upload your CIF Files. After you delete a merged or split Base Structure in Planning Maestro, you cannot deploy other Plans and Cubes that included that Base Structure.

Step 1: To delete a Base Structure created in Planning Maestro, open the Base Structures page.

Step 2: Base Structures created in Planning Maestro have a Delete icon (  ). Click on this Delete icon (  ) next to the Base Structure you want to delete.

Step 3: Click Confirm.

• The Base Structure is deleted.
• A confirmation message appears.
• You cannot deploy Plans and Cubes that included Dimensions built from this Base Structure.

Step 4: Edit Dimensions built from this Base Structure, and then redeploy Plans and Cubes that use  those Dimensions. To edit your Dimensions, click on the Dimensions icon (  ) on the left to open the Deployments page.

Please Note: If you try to delete a Base Structure that is in use, you receive the following error message:

To delete the Base Structure, remove it from Dimension(s) that use it, and then repeat steps 1-3.

After that, redeploy the Plans and Cubes that used the Base Structure.