Business objects PLANNING ANALYST 5.2 User Manual

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BusinessObjects Planning Analyst User Guide

BusinessObjects Planning Analyst 5.2

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Copyright © 2007 Business Objects. All rights reserved. Business Objects owns the following U.S. patents, which may cover products that are offered and licensed by Business Objects: 5,555,403; 6,247,008; 6,289,352; 6,490,593; 6,578,027; 6,768,986; 6,772,409; 6,831,668; 6,882,998; 7,139,766; 7,181,435; 7,181,440 and 7,194,465. Business Objects and the Business Objects logo, BusinessObjects, Crystal Reports, Crystal Xcelsius, Crystal Decisions, Intelligent Question, Desktop Intelligence, Crystal Enterprise, Crystal Analysis, Web Intelligence, RapidMarts, and BusinessQuery are trademarks or registered trademarks of Business Objects in the United States and/or other countries. All other names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Third-party contributors

Business Objects products in this release may contain redistributions of software licensed from third-party contributors. Some of these individual components may also be available under alternative licenses. A partial listing of third-party contributors that have requested or permitted acknowledgments, as well as required notices, can be found at:

http://www.businessobjects.com/thirdparty

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Chapter 1 Introduction 9

Conventions used in this guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

About BusinessObjects Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Related documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

About this documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Chapter 2 Getting Started with BusinessObjects Planning Analyst 15

What is BusinessObjects Planning Analyst? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

About report sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Understanding reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Understanding dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Understanding business models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Understanding reports, dimensions, and business models . . . . . . . . . 20

Understanding inheritance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Understanding scenarios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Starting BusinessObjects Planning Analyst . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Understanding the BusinessObjects Planning Analyst window . . . . . . . . . 24

Using the BusinessObjects Planning Analyst toolbars . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Using the Right-click menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Specifying the application and working language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Using the online help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Accessing the online help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Viewing version information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Using the Application Log window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Exiting BusinessObjects Planning Analyst . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Chapter 3 Viewing Reports 37

Opening a report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Specifying missing dimensions in a report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

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Specifying a missing time period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

Specifying a dimension using a dimension list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Navigating in a report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

Drilling down to view the details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

Drilling down on a row . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

Drilling down on a column . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Drilling up to see a summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44

Drilling up on a row . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44

Drilling up on a column . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Going to a specific report row . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Resizing columns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46

Understanding band and trending . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47

Viewing and adding annotations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Viewing and adding line item details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50

Adding line item details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50

Modifying line item details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51

Displaying a grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52

Changing section members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53

Changing the source currency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54

Displaying data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56

Changing the scaling factor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57

Changing the sign convention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58

Specifying the display currency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59

Changing the display of interest rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59

Changing the data display format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Changing the display of negative numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61

Specifying decimal places . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61

Changing the display of rows with zero values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61

Changing the display of rows with N/A values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62

Changing the display of N/A values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62

Enabling exception reporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63

Setting section labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Changing a section title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64

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Changing a section tab name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Creating a section heading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Using macros in section labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Printing a report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Copying links to reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Closing a report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Chapter 4 Working with Data 71

Working with Excel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Copying from BusinessObjects Planning Analyst to Excel . . . . . . . . . 72

Copying from Excel to BusinessObjects Planning Analyst . . . . . . . . . 73

Exporting to Excel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Switching report rows and columns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Changing row and column templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Changing the row template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Changing the column template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Running tasks inside reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Overriding cash flow report settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Drilling through to other databases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Using Workflow in BusinessObjects Planning Analyst . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Performing a Workflow action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Launching the Workforce Planning module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Chapter 5 Entering Data 83

Understanding scenarios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Searching for information in a report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Entering data into a report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Understanding editable cells and visual cues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Using normal edit mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Using fast edit mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Editing data for interest earned and interest cost lines . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Copying a cell value to an entire row . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Updating multi-section reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

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Projecting future performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89

Using predefined projections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94

Defining a projection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Using Workback mode to prorate data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95

Proration methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Standard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Distribute Evenly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Leaf Based . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Time Based . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Cross Scenario . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Determining the behavior of prorations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99

Prorating using different scenario types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99

Prorating Revisable lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100

Prorating lines that are input within a version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100

Prorating formula lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Prorating across units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101

Prorating data in Workback mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101

Consolidating data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103

Saving data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Appendix A Report Macros 105

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .106

$GetDimAttr$ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108

$GetModAttr$ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109

$GetScenAttr$ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110

$Id$ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

$Name$ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .112

Dimension names in macros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113

Attributes for business objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

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Appendix B Time Period Tables 119

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Yearly time periods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Yearly spot balance time periods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Half yearly time periods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Quarterly time periods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Quarterly spot balance time periods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Monthly time periods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Monthly spot balance time periods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Weekly time periods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Daily time periods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Determining the current week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Time periods that reference the global current day of the model . . . . 134

Time periods that reference the local current day of the scenario . . . 140

Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Using advanced time periods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Appendix C BusinessObjects Planning Analyst Hot Keys 151

Hot keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Index 153

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8 BusinessObjects Planning Analyst User Guide

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Introduction

chapter

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Introduction

Conventions used in this guide

The following table describes the conventions used in this guide.

When you see… It indicates…

Bold text A name of a user interface item that you should select.

For example, “Right-click a report and select Properties.”

Courier text

OLD SMALL CAPS Specific keys you need to press. For example, when

Information you need to type into a data entry field. For example, when you see “Type

AuthorizationServers”, you should type each

individual letter key to make up the word

AuthorizationServers.

you see “Press E key on your keyboard.

NTER”, you should press the ENTER

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About BusinessObjects Planning

The BusinessObjects Planning product suite provides Web-enabled, vertical industry-targeted enterprise analytics software that helps companies measure, analyze, and predict business performance and profitability. Organizations leverage the suite for real-time business planning and forecasting, accelerating mergers and acquisitions, understanding business performance by customer segment, product, channel and business line, and delivering performance management information across the enterprise.

BusinessObjects Planning is the only suite that is selectively packaged into a series of applications, each one tailored to support a different segment of the user community. Moreover, every user leverages a common information infrastructure. All user applications are driven by the same set of data, business rules, user rights, and report templates, and any changes are automatically synchronized across the enterprise.

The product suite includes the following applications:

BusinessObjects Planning Administrator

BusinessObjects Planning Administrator allows nontechnical users to rapidly and easily configure, deploy, and administer BusinessObjects Planning applications across multiple sites. From a central site—and leveraging intuitive graphical interface, drag-and-drop function, and advanced automation capabilities—users can install and synchronize geographically dispersed sites, assign user access rights, and build and manage multiple business models.

BusinessObjects Planning Analyst Pro

BusinessObjects Planning Analyst Pro is designed for nontechnical users who have sophisticated information requirements. A comprehensive range of formatting features, and drag-and-drop functions allow users to easily create and maintain reports. In addition, users can quickly build, manage, and execute scripts that automate complex tasks such as scheduled report production and distribution.

BusinessObjects Planning Analyst

BusinessObjects Planning Analyst provides secure remote access to realtime report information anywhere, anytime, through a Web browser . Intelligent graphic indicators, drill-down toolbars, built-in annotation capabilities, forecasting tools, and a sophisticated charting interface allow users to easily view, enter, and edit report data.

Introduction

About BusinessObjects Planning

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Introduction

About this documentation

Help menu on the Organizer toolbar, or press F1. To access online help in BusinessObjects Planning Analyst, BusinessObjects Planning Excel Analyst, or Workflow Console, click the Help button on the application toolbar.

About this documentation

This documentation describes how to use BusinessObjects Planning Analyst to access, view, and analyze BusinessObjects Planning reports in a World Wide Web environment.

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Getting Started with BusinessObjects Planning Analyst

chapter

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Getting Started with BusinessObjects Planning Analyst

What is BusinessObjects Planning Analyst?

BusinessObjects Planning Analyst is an application that enables you to view, analyze, and edit financial data from within your Web browser.

When you view data in BusinessObjects Planning Analyst, you view it in a BusinessObjects Planning report. A BusinessObjects Planning report provides a structured, hierarchical view of a set of financial data, displaying it in a format that is easy to use and manipulaY ou can use these reports to input data, plan future development, organize and communicate financial information, and measure, analyze, and predict business performance and profitability.

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About report sections

Reports can have multiple sections. This means that each section of a report can provide different information in varying formats (using graphic indicators, charts, or data). For example, the first section could provide a high-level overview using variance columns and trending indicators, and the subsequent sections could provide the detailed supporting data.

To display a different section, click on its section tab.

Getting Started with BusinessObjects Planning Analyst

Understanding reports

Figure 2-1 :Section tabs

Understanding reports

A report in BusinessObjects Planning acts as a window to your business rules and data. Reports filter the rules and data that are part of your BusinessObjects Planning environment: when you open a report, you see this filtered view. You can use reports for viewing, analyzing, and updating data.

Reports can be made up of multiple sections. To understand how BusinessObjects Planning reports work, you first need to

understand two concepts: dimensions and business models.

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Getting Started with BusinessObjects Planning Analyst

Understanding reports

Understanding dimensions

You can view businesses from a variety of perspectives. For example, a bank’s financial information can be organized in many different ways:

• Into Business Lines, such as Personal and Commercial, Capital Markets,

and Wealth Management

• By measurement categories, such as risk-weighted return on capital,

profitability, and staff count

• By product families, such as deposits, loans, and credit cards

• By currency, such as US dollars, Canadian dollars, and Euros

Each of these perspectives is known as a dimension. There are 10 different dimensions in BusinessObjects Planning, although

most large organizations only take advantage of the ones that are most relevant to their understanding of their organization, such as Unit, Line, and Currency. Each dimension is equipped with intelligent capabilities to facilitate consolidation, report construction, and analysis.

The following table describes each dimension in BusinessObjects Planning.

Note: Your organization might use different names for one or more of these

dimensions. For example, some organizations use "Segment" instead of "Customer".

Dimension Description

Unit Organizes information by line of business, subsidiary,

geography, business activity, or legal entity. Units are planning or reporting components to which you assign costs and revenues.

Line Organizes information according to measurement

categories, like financial accounts. Lines also allow you to measure non-financial performance such as customer retention, channel usage, and transaction counts and/or volumes. The Line dimension has built-in functionality, such as time aggregation, as well as an area to build custom formulas similar to those created in a spreadsheet application.

Currency Organizes information by currency. Currencies can be

either pure or derived. A pure currency is the money in circulation. Each pure currency references a rate table, which defines the exchange rate for the currency at a particular point in time. A derived currency is a predefined grouping of currencies that is calculated based on pure currencies.

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Getting Started with BusinessObjects Planning Analyst

Understanding reports

Dimension Description

Balance Type Organizes data by booked amounts and adjustments that

modify those amounts. Balance types also allow you to distinguish between As at Spot balances and Average

balances in the same line. Customer Organizes data by customer segment. Product Organizes data by product such as deposits, credit cards,

or mortgages. Channel Organizes data by channel such as ABMs, telephone

banking, and Internet banking. Project Tracks expenditures and revenues generated by business

initiatives such as sales campaigns, acquisitions, and

mergers. Transaction Tracks costs by activity or transaction grouping. TimePeriod Describes how you want to store data for each time period.

You define fiscal periods by version (plan, forecast, or

actual) and periodicity (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly,

and annually).

Each dimension consists of one or more members. The members are typically organized into a structure that resembles an upside-down tree, as in the following example:

Figure 2-2 : Bank

Figure 2-2 :Capit al Markets

Figure 2-2 :Tax Planning

Figure 2-2 :Wealth Management

Figure 2-2 :Retirement Planning

Figure 2-2 :Personal and Commercial

Figure 2-2 :Mutual Funds

In this example, Bank is the root of the tree, and it has three branches: Capital Markets, Wealth Management, and Personal and Commercial. Wealth Management, in turn, has three branches of its own: Tax Planning, Retirement Planning, and Mutual Funds. Members that do not have branches can be thought of as leafs or leaf members of the tree; in this example, Capital Markets, Personal and Commercial, Tax Planning, Retirement Planning, and Mutual Funds are all leaf members.

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Getting Started with BusinessObjects Planning Analyst

Understanding reports

For example: a bank may want to enter data into leaf members, which are then summed to produce the data for other members. For example, the data for Wealth Management is the sum of the data for Tax Planning, Retirement Planning, and Mutual Funds.

Another way to look at the members of a dimension is to think of parents and children. For example, Bank is the parent of Capital Markets, Wealth Management, and Personal and Commercial. Likewise, Capital Markets, Wealth Management, and Personal and Commercial are children of Bank. Similarly , Tax Planning, Retirement Planning, and Mutual Funds are children of Wealth Management.

Members that have the same parent are known as siblings. For example, Capital Markets, Wealth Management, and Personal and Commercial are siblings.

Understanding business models

A BusinessObjects Planning business model is a collection of dimensions. These dimensions paint a complete picture of an organization.

Business models also contain a set of rates, which can include exchange rates to convert one currency to another. It can also include general rates, such as the prime rate, the inflation rate, and the capital cost rate.

Business models can also interact with filters, scripts, reports, and spreadsheets. For more information on business models and what you can do with them, see the Administrator’s Guide.

Understanding reports, dimensions, and business models

Once you understand how dimensions and business models work, it’s easy to understand what a BusinessObjects Planning report displays. In essence, a BusinessObjects Planning report is like a spreadsheet: it is a collection of cells. Each cell is an intersection of a report row and a report column, and contains a piece of data. The report columns are members of one dimension of your business model, and the report rows are members of another dimension of your business model.

For example, consider the following BusinessObjects Planning report:

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Understanding reports

This report uses members of the Line dimension of the business model as report rows, and members of the Fiscal Period dimension as report columns. Each cell is the intersection of a row with a column: for example, the cell at the top left, containing the value 133,847, is the intersection of the Term Loans - Home Equity row with the 2004 Actual January column, and represents the home equity term loans revenue for January 2004.

For more information on how to open and manipulate a BusinessObjects Planning report, see “Viewing Reports” on page 37.

Understanding inheritance

Inheritance is the sharing of properties from one level of reporting to another level, such as from the row level to the cell level. Properties control the appearance of data in a report; an example of a property is the number of decimal places displayed.

In the reports that you open in BusinessObjects Planning Analyst, inheritance operates from the most general to the most specific levels, as the following list indicates:

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Understanding reports

Model properties, as the most general properties, are used, except where you have defined...

Site default properties, which are used, except where you have defined... User default properties, which are used, except where you have defined... Report properties, which are used, except where you have defined... Section properties, which are used, except where you have defined... Column properties, which are used, except where you have defined... Row properties, which are used, except where you have defined... Cell properties, which are the most specific properties. The site administrator specifies the model, site default, and user default

properties, and the report creator specifies the report and cell properties. You cannot specify properties at these levels from BusinessObjects Planning Analyst.

In BusinessObjects Planning Analyst, you can change the section properties temporarily. You can click (Section Properties) to display the Section

Properties dialog box and view the properties defined for a section. You can change these properties from the Section Properties dialog box, but your changes only remain in effect until you exit BusinessObjects Planning Analyst. All properties that have not been set in the dialog box are inherited from the report, user default, site default or model level.

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Starting BusinessObjects Planning Analyst

You can also specify information at the column and row level that determines what data is to be loaded into a report.

The best practice for specifying properties is to specify them at the most general level you can.

Understanding scenarios

Data is collected into scenarios. Each scenario contains data for an entire fiscal year. This data can be actual data, forecast data, or planning data, and can be displayed as daily, monthly, quarterly, or full-year periods. For example, a scenario can contain monthly actual data for the fiscal year 2005.

Your site administrator creates the scenarios to which you have access, and is responsible for loading data into scenarios. You then can access any data that you have the rights to view, and edit any data that you have the rights to modify.

Starting BusinessObjects Planning Analyst

BusinessObjects Planning Analyst is an application that you start from your Web browser.

Your administrator provides you with the Web address for BusinessObjects Planning Analyst. This address will depend on the project or business model in which you are working.

Note: You cannot use BusinessObjects Planning Analyst while running

Microsoft VM. Ensure that Sun® J2SE Runtime Environment 5.0 Update 9 or higher is installed on your machine.

Note: To access the BusinessObjects Planning Analyst application, the

Windows XP Internet Connection Firewall must be turned off. For information, contact your system administrator.

T o st art BusinessObjects Planning Analyst:



1. From a workstation, open Internet Explorer 5.5 or greater.

2. Type the Web address of your site’s BusinessObjects Planning Analyst

into the Address field of your browser and press E

Note: If you see any security warnings that ask you to trust the content

distributed by Business Objects, click Always.

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Understanding the BusinessObject s Planning Analyst window

Understanding the BusinessObjects Planning Analyst window

When you start up BusinessObjects Planning Analyst, a new browser window will open, displaying a splash screen that tells you BusinessObjects Planning Analyst is loading.

Once BusinessObjects Planning Analyst has loaded, the main BusinessObjects Planning Analyst window and the Open Report dialog box appear in your browser, as shown below.

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Note: For information on how to use the Open Report dialog box to open a

report, see “Opening a report” on page 38.

Using the BusinessObjects Planning Analyst toolbars

When you start BusinessObjects Planning Analyst, you will see a toolbar at the top of the screen. This is the main BusinessObjects Planning Analyst toolbar, and it contains most of the operations you will perform during a typical BusinessObjects Planning Analyst session.

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Understanding the BusinessObject s Planning Analyst window

The following table lists all the buttons found on the main BusinessObjects Planning Analyst toolbar, along with their functions.

Figure 2-3 :The main BusinessObjects Planning Analyst toolbar

Button Tool Tip Description

Open Report Displays the Open Report window, where you

Save Opens the Save dialog box, where you can

Print Prints the open report or specified section. Find Opens the Find Text dialog box, where you

Find Next Finds the next occurrence of the text

Fast Edit Activates Fast Edit mode, which allows you to

Annotate Opens the Annotate page, where you can

Consolidate Section

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can find a report to open.

save and check in any changed data without closing a report.

can specify a text string to search for.

previously specified in the Find Text dialog box.

send all edits to the database at the same time.

create an annotation. Updates the data in parent level units and

displays the updated values in the report.

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Button Tool Tip Description

Show Visual Cues

Section Properties

Workflow Action Opens the Perform Workflow Action dialog

Compensation Planning

Expand Drills down the selected row(s) by one level,

Collapse Collapses the selected drilled down row(s) by

Help Opens BusinessObjects Planning Analyst

Activates visual cues, which change the color of cells and text to indicate which cells can be edited.

Opens the Section Properties dialog box, where you can change properties of the report section.

box, where you can perform actions on Workflow data.

Launches the Compensation Planning module

according to the dimension selected. This button is recursive.

one level. This button is recursive.

online help.

For more information on how to open a report, see “Opening a report” on

page 38.

After you have opened a report, a second toolbar appears on the left of the screen. This is the drill-down toolbar:

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Understanding the BusinessObject s Planning Analyst window

Figure 2-4 :The drill-down toolbar

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Understanding the BusinessObjects Planning Anal yst window

You use the drill-down toolbar to navigate in a report (for example, to expand rows and columns, or to summarize rows and columns). The following table lists all the buttons found on the drill-down toolbar, along with their functions. The buttons available to you can vary depending on the business model you are working in.

Button Drill down type Description

Formula If the selected row or column of a report

contains a formula, drill down to reveal the rows or columns that are used in the formula.

Related Line Drill down on a related line to see its associated

Unit Drill down from high level units to lower level

Scenario If the report contains calculated scenario data,

Line Drill down on Heading and Formula lines to see

Currency If the report retrieves a derived currency such

Balance Type If the report retrieves a derived balance type

Product Drill down on derived products to see the

line. For example, you could drill down on an Interest Earned line to see an Asset line or you could drill down on an Asset line to see its related Interest Earned Lines.

units. Units are the basic organization framework for business models in BusinessObjects Planning. You can use different unit hierarchies to represent alternative views of your organization, such as line of business and geography.

For example, if your units are organized by geography, drill down on the data for a high level unit like North America to see data for a lower level unit like New York City.

drill down to see the pre-calculated amount.

the underlying data. For example, you could drill down on Total Revenue and find Net Interest Income, Fees and Commissions, and Other Income.

as the total of all currencies, drill down to see each pure currency that makes up that derived currency.

such as Net After Adjustment, drill down to see the breakdown of data for the booked balance and the adjustment.

underlying data.

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Button Drill down type Description

Project Drill down on derived projects to see the

Channel Drill down on derived channels to see the

Customer Drill down on derived customers to see the

Transaction Drill down on derived transactions to see the

Time Period Drill down on derived time periods to see the

For details on using the drill-down toolbar, see “Drilling down to view the

details” on page 41.

Note: If you prefer the drill-down toolbar to be at the top of the screen, select

Options from the Tools menu, then select Horizontal and click OK.

Using the Right-click menu

Many BusinessObjects Planning Analyst features operate on a portion of an opened report, such as a single column, one or more cells, or one or more rows.

To use a feature on an area of a report, select the area by positioning your mouse over one corner of the area. Then, while holding down the left mouse button, drag the mouse over the rest of the area. This selects the area. Once the area is selected, click the right mouse button on the selected area to display the right-click menu:

underlying data.

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Specifying the application and working language

The list of features that you can access from the right-click menu depends on the area of the report you have selected. Certain features only operate on rows and columns, while others affect the actual body of the report.

The subsequent sections of this documentation describe some of the features in the right-click menu in more detail.

Specifying the application and working language

BusinessObjects Planning content, such as editable fields in the application, report headings and titles, and metadata, appear in the working language of BusinessObjects Planning Analyst. User interface elements, such as menu items and dialog box text, appear in the application language of BusinessObjects Planning Analyst. You can specify which working and application language you want to use.

To specify your application and working language:



1. From the Tools menu, select Options.

2. Select an Application language.

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Using the online help

Note: Changes to the application language will take effect the next time

you restart BusinessObjects Planning Analyst.

3. Select a Working language. Note: Changes to the working language will take effect the next time you

open a report.

4. Click OK.

Using the online help

BusinessObjects Planning Analyst provides online help, which is accessible from within the BusinessObjects Planning Analyst application.

Accessing the online help

The online help provides information on BusinessObjects Planning Analyst features and outlines how to perform tasks in BusinessObjects Planning Analyst.

To access the BusinessObjects Planning Analyst online help:



1. On the main BusinessObjects Planning Analyst toolbar, click (Help).

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Using the online help

2. In the Help window, expand the table of contents to find the topic you

want.

Note: The Help window is an ordinary browser window. This means that

you can use the browser’s Forward and Back buttons to redisplay help topics that you have previously displayed.

3. Click the topic to display it in the Help window.

4. To close the BusinessObjects Planning Analyst online help, click ,

which is located at the top right corner of the Help window.

Viewing version information

You can also view build version information about BusinessObjects Planning Analyst, BusinessObjects Planning Analyst Gateway, and BusinessObjects Planning Server from the Help menu.

TTo view version information, select About BusinessObjects Planning Analyst from the Help menu.

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Using the Application Log window

You can view information, warnings, and error messages using BusinessObjects Planning Analyst’s Application Log window. For example, if you attempt to edit a Read-only cell, the Application Log window will display a message notifying you that the cell is not editable.

The Application Log window automatically opens when an error message is generated. To open the Application Log window if it is not open, click Show Application Log from the View menu.

The information displayed in the Application Log window is for the current session only. Once you close BusinessObjects Planning Analyst, the information is lost. Therefore, you may want to save the information as a text file before ending a session. To save the contents of the Application Log window, right-click the window and select Save as from the menu. In the Save as dialog box, specify a name and location for the text file and click Save.

You can also clear the information in the Application Log window. You may want to do this to see the exact information a particular task generates. If you clear the Application Log window before performing a task, you know that all messages pertain to that task. To clear the contents of the Application Log window, right-click the window and select Clear All from the menu.

The amount of information in the window can become quite large and therefore you may need to search for particular information that you require. To search for information, right-click the window and select Find from the menu. In the Log Search dialog box, type the string that you want to locate and click Find.

To hide the Application Log window, right-click the window and select Hide from the menu.

Exiting BusinessObjects Planning Analyst

When you are finished with your BusinessObjects Planning Analyst session, the best practice is to use the exit functionality of BusinessObjects Planning Analyst to close it. If you exit BusinessObjects Planning Analyst by closing your browser or by going to another Web site, the BusinessObjects Planning server will not be notified that you have finished your BusinessObjects Planning Analyst session. This means that BusinessObjects Planning server system resources will be tied up for a period of time.

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Exiting BusinessObjects Planning Analyst



To exit BusinessObjects Planning Analyst:

1. From the File menu, select Exit.

2. In the Exit Planning Analyst dialog box, select exit Planning Analyst. Note: If you have changed data in your report, the Exit Planning Analyst

dialog box also asks you whether you want to save your changes. For details on the save options available, see “Saving data” on page 104.

3. Click OK.

Your browser displays an exit screen.

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Exiting BusinessObjects Planning Analyst

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Viewing Report s

chapter

Page 38

Viewing Reports

Opening a report

You can use BusinessObjects Planning Analyst to view reports created in BusinessObjects Planning Administrator or BusinessObjects Planning Analyst Pro from your Web browser.

To view or edit a report, you must first open it by selecting it from the Open Report dialog box. You can open any report that you have been given the access rights.

When you open a report, you may be asked to specify missing dimensions. For more details, see “Specifying missing dimensions in a report” on page 38.

Note: The Open Report dialog box appears when you start BusinessObjects

Planning Analyst.

T o open a report:



1. Click (Open Report).

2. In the Open Report dialog box, select the report you want to open. Click

3. Click OK.

4. If there are missing dimensions in the report, specify the missing

dimensions in the Open Report dialog box. For more information, see

“Specifying missing dimensions in a report” on page 38.

as necessary to expand a hierarchy of folders.

Specifying missing dimensions in a report

When a report creator creates a report that you can open in BusinessObjects Planning Analyst, the creator can leave one or more dimensions of the report undefined. This allows you to use the same report to display different sets of financial data. For example, if your business model defines Total Revenues and Total Expenses as lines, and the Line dimension is not defined for a report, you can display total revenues in one copy of the report, and total expenses in another copy of the same report.

Note: For more information on dimensions, see “Understanding dimensions”

on page 18.

If you are opening a report, and dimensions of the report are undefined, a dialog box appears, in which you can specify members for the missing dimensions. The wizard indicates how many dimensions need to be specified.

If the Time Period dimension is missing, the dialog box allows you to specify the components of the missing time period.

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Note: Y ou can also change members for a report section once the report has

been opened.

To specify members for missing dimensions:



1. If your missing dimension is a Time Period, specify the time period

components in the boxes provided. For more information on specifying a missing time period, see “Specifying a missing time period” on page 39.

OR Use the dimension list to select a missing dimension. For more

information, see “Specifying a dimension using a dimension list” on

page 40.

Note: Search is not provided for the Time Period and Scenario

dimensions.

2. Click Finish to close the wizard.

OR If there is more than one missing dimension in the report, click Next and

repeat the previous steps.

Specifying a missing time period

Viewing Reports

Specifying missing dimensions in a report

A report creator can create a report whose time period is not specified. This allows you to use the same report to display data from different time periods.

To specify a time period, you specify the year, version and time period of a member of the Time Period dimension.

To specify a missing time period:



1. In the first list, click , and select a year.

2. In the second list, click , and select a version.

3. In the third list, click to display the list of available time periods,

expand the tree until you locate the desired time period, and select it. OR

Click to search for a member in the dimension list. For more information, see “Specifying a dimension using a dimension list” on

page 40.

4. Click Finish to close the wizard.

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Viewing Reports

Specifying a dimension using a dimension list

If there is more than one missing dimension in the report, click Next and perform the steps described in “Specifying missing dimensions in a

report” on page 38.

Specifying a dimension using a dimension list

From the dimension list, you can select a member by either expanding the dimension tree provided or searching for a member in the dimension tree. To

expand a portion of the dimension tree, click the button located to the left of a displayed member. This displays the children of the member.

When searching for a member in the dimension tree, you can search by member name or member ID. When searching, you can specify any or all of the following limitations:

• Match case – The matched member must be the same case as the text

specified in the search; for example, “TEXT” only matches “TEXT”, not “text” or “Text”. (This option is only available if you are searching by member name.)

• Starts with – The matched member must start with the text specified in

the search.

• Whole words – The search must match the entire word.

By default, a search matches a member if the search text is contained anywhere in the member name or identifier.

T o se le ct a me mb er from a dim en sion lis t:



1. Select a member from the dimension hierarchy displayed. If the member

you want to select is not displayed, and you know which part of the dimension hierarchy contains the member, click as necessary to

display the member. OR In the Search this tree text box, enter some or all of a member name or

identifier, and click Find. To repeat the search after finding a member, click Find Next.

2. Click OK to select the member.

OR If you are specifying missing dimensions in the Open Report wizard, click

Next or Finish.

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Navigating in a report

One of the key differences between viewing and working with BusinessObjects Planning reports rather than a standard spreadsheet program is the ability to expand, or drill down, on rows and columns by dimensions. This allows you to narrow your focus on selected data, displaying its underlying details.

If you have drilled down on a dimension, you can collapse, or drill up, the dimension. This allows you to simplify your report by reverting to displaying high-level summary data.

You can also go to a specific row in your report and resize columns. These features are handy if your report is large and you want to avoid scrolling through it.

Drilling down to view the details

When you drill down in a report, you select a dimension, and expand a row or column in the report to show the information as it is defined by that dimension. For example, if your report contains a row that displays non-interest revenue, and you want to see how much of this revenue is being generated by each business unit, you can drill down on the Unit dimension to display this information.

Whether you can drill down is determined by the following:

• The dimensions in the business model. If the business model contains

two or three dimensions only, your choices for drilling down are limited. However, if your business model includes several dimensions (for example, unit, line, currency, product, and channel), your choices are considerable. A report does not expand if it does not contain data related to the selected dimension.

• The type of data in the report. You can either drill from summary data for

high-level members to more detailed data for lower level members, or you can drill from calculated data to pure data.

You can drill down on either a row or a column of a report.

Viewing Reports

Navigating in a report

Drilling down on a row

When you drill down on a row, its details are displayed in separate rows immediately below the drilled-down row. The detail rows are indented, which allows you to determine which detail rows are children of other rows.

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Viewing Reports

Navigating in a report

Figure 3-1 :A parent row

Figure 3-1 :Detail rows, which appear when you drill down on a selected dimension

When drilling down on a row, you should be aware of the following behavior:

• When you drill down on a calculated row, the rows used in the calculation

are displayed. You will get the same result no matter which dimension you drill down. Y ou can then drill down on the rows used in the calculation by a particular dimension to see the details.

• If you drill down on a row by currency, and the resulting currencies have

N/A values, the total of the currencies may be zero.

• Depending on your report settings, if your hierarchy contains calculated

formulas, drilling to leaf may stop at the calculated formula’s component members. Y ou can then drill down on the componen t members to display their details. For more information, consult your BusinessObjects Planning administrator.

To drill down on a row:



1. On the Drill-down toolbar, click the button for the dimension you want to

drill down. For example, to drill down by Unit, click (Unit).

2. Click the sign beside the row that you want to expand. The sign

indicates that details are available for that row. OR To drill down to the leaf level of a dimension, which contains the most

detailed results, right-click a row and select Expand to Leaf Level.

Note: You can collapse a row by clicking it and clicking (Collapse).

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3. To drill down other rows, repeat step 2.

OR To drill down by another dimension, repeat steps 1 to 2.

Tip: To drill down on multiple rows at once, select a dimension from the

drill-down toolbar, highlight the desired rows, and click (Expand).

Drilling down on a column

When you drill down on a column, its details are displayed in separate columns to the left of the parent column. A parent heading is created that spans the parent column and its detail columns; this allows you to keep track of which detail columns belong with which parents. The parent heading also contains a red triangle, located in the top left corner of the heading; if you move the cursor over this triangle, the drill-down dimension is displayed.

The following sample report illustrates drilling down on a column:

Viewing Reports

Navigating in a report

Figure 3-2 : Parent heading

Figure 3-2 : Parent column

Figure 3-2 : Detail columns

Figure 3-2 :The drill-down dimension is displayed when you hover over this triangle

When drilling down on a column, you should be aware of the following behavior:

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Viewing Reports

Navigating in a report

• When you drill down on a calculated column (for example, a variance

column), the columns used in the calculation are displayed. You will get the same result no matter which dimension you drill down. You can then drill down on the columns used in the calculation by a particular dimension to see the details.

• If you drill down on a column by currency, and the resulting currencies

have N/A values, the total of the currencies may be zero.

• The column does not expand if it does not contain data related to the

dimension selected.

• Depending on your report settings, if your hierarchy contains calculated

To drill down on a column:



1. On the Drill-down toolbar, click the button for the dimension you want to

drill down. For example, to expand by Time Period, click (Time Period).

2. Double-click the column you want to drill down. (This drills down the

selected column one level. To collapse the column, double-click it again.) OR To drill down to the leaf level of a dimension, which contains the most

detailed results, right-click a column and select Expand to Leaf Level.

Note: You can collapse a column by clicking it and clicking

(Collapse).

3. To drill down other columns, repeat Step 2.

OR To drill down by another dimension, repeat Step 1 to 2.

Drilling up to see a summary

If you have drilled down on rows, columns, or both in a report, you can simplify your report display by drilling up on a dimension. This allows you to revert to displaying high-level summary data in a report.

Drilling up on a row

You can drill up on a row by collapsing its hierarchy. To drill up on a row, locate the row, and click (located to the left of the row label).

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Viewing Reports

Navigating in a report

Figure 3-3 :Click this button to drill up on this row

Tip: To drill up on multiple rows at once, highlight the desired rows and click

(Collapse).

Drilling up on a column

You can drill up on a column by collapsing its hierarchy. To drill up on a column, double-click it.

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Viewing Reports

Navigating in a report

Going to a specific report row

Figure 3-4 :Do uble-click here to drill up on this column

If your report is large, and you want to select a row without having to scroll to it and click it, you can tell BusinessObjects Planning Analyst to go directly to that row and select it.

Rows are counted starting from the top. Text rows and expanded rows are included in the count. The first row in the report is numbered 1, the second 2, and so on.

To go to a specific row in a report:



1. Right-click, and select Go To Line.

2. In the Go To dialog box, type the number of the row you want to go to. Note: If you enter a number that is greater than the number of rows

currently visible, no row is selected.

3. Click OK.

Resizing columns

You can change the size of columns in your report or even hide columns completely.

Note: When you save the report, your resizing of the columns is not saved.

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

To resize columns:

1. Move your cursor to the header row of your report and move it between

two columns until your pointer turns into a bi-directional arrow ( ).

2. Drag your cursor right or left to expand or reduce the size of the column.

If you move the cursor all the way to the left until it meets the right edge of the preceding column, the column you are resizing becomes completely hidden.

Understanding band and trending

BusinessObjects Planning reports can use band and trending to summarize complicated data by expressing it as color-coded symbols. These symbols enable you to obtain a high-level overview of a report quickly.

A band is a pictorial representation of a row or column of a report, and can contain anywhere from two to five different colors of circles. Each color represents a range of values.

The following colors can be used in bands, listed in order:

• Green

• Blue

• Yellow

• Orange

• Red

The colors always appear in the order shown; for example, if blue and yellow are defined, blue always indicates a higher band range than yellow.

Note: If the row or column you are banding contains N/A values, they are

banded using a gray diamond. For an explanation of N/A values, see

“Changing the display of rows with N/A values” on page 62.

The report creator specifies which ranges, or bands, of data correspond to what colors. For example, suppose the report creator defines the following band ranges for the forecasted revenue for January 2005:

• 500,000

• 200,000

• 100,000

• 0

The following colors appear in the band:

• Values greater than 500,000 are displayed as green circles

Viewing Reports

Understanding band and trending

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Viewing Reports

Understanding band and trending

• Values between 200,000 and 500,000 are displayed as blue circles

• Values between 100,000 and 200,000 are displayed as yellow circles

• Values between 0 and 100,000 are displayed as orange circles

• Values less than 0 are displayed as red circles

Band items are usually based on variance data, and therefore, line type information (for example, whether a line is a revenue or an expense) is taken into consideration when evaluating band ranges.

Figure 3-5 : A band column

Figure 3-5 : A trending column

A band can also show trending information. Trending uses arrows to indicate whether performance is generally increasing or decreasing. If a band is based on a column, each member in the column is compared to the corresponding member of a second column. The pictorial display is changed as follows:

• If the first column’s member is greater than the second column’s member,

the colored circle is replaced by an arrow pointing upward, indicating an upward trend.

• If the first column’s member is smaller than the second column’s member ,

the colored circle is replaced by an arrow pointing downward, indicating a downward trend.

• If the two members are roughly similar, the circle is displayed.

In all cases, the band color is not changed when trending is applied: for example, if a colored circle was originally yellow, the up arrow or down arrow will be yellow too.

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When trending is added to a band item, the direction of an arrow does not indicate whether an increase or a decrease is positive or negative. You have to take the line type into consideration.

Your reports can have band and trending applied to either columns or rows. To create reports that use band and trending, use BusinessObjects Planning Administrator or BusinessObjects Planning Analyst Pro.

Viewing and adding annotations

You can use BusinessObjects Planning Analyst to add supplementary information to a value in a report. This supplementary information is called an annotation. You can edit annotations after you have created them.

Annotations are represented on the screen by a red triangle in the upper left corner of the cell.

Figure 3-6 :Cell containing annotation

Viewing Reports

Viewing and adding annotations

When you move your mouse pointer over the red triangle, the annotation is displayed in a tooltip. When you print a report that has annotations, numbers replace the red triangles, and the annotations appear as footnotes at the bottom of the report.

Annotations are associated with the data defined by the intersection between the row and the column, and do not roll up to the parents. If the same data cell appears several times in a report, the annotation also appears with each occurrence and as a repeated footnote at the bottom of the report. Any other reports that reference the same data also have the same annotations. Make sure you create annotations at the appropriate level in the hierarchy depending on what issues you are referencing.

When you create or modify an annotation for a value contained in a cell, BusinessObjects Planning displays your name at the bottom of the cell's Annotation page along with the date and time that you made your addition or modification. This information allows other users who are viewing your annotation to know exactly who annotated the cell and when it was annotated.

Note: When you add an annotation to a report in BusinessObjects Planning

Analyst, it also appears when you open the report in BusinessObjects Planning Administrator or BusinessObjects Planning Analyst Pro.

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Viewing Reports

Viewing and adding line item details



T o an notate a cell:

1. Right-click the cell you want to annotate and select Annotate from the

menu.

2. On the Annotate page, type your annotation.

If you have already specified an annotation for the cell, it is displayed in the dialog box, and you can edit it. To delete an existing annotation, clear the text in the dialog box.

3. To save the annotation and close the Cell Details dialog box, click OK.

Viewing and adding line item details

Using line item details, you can divide detailed plans into subcategories at the cell-level in a report. Line item details capture information and show how values are derived during planning. For example, during expense planning, an account named Travel can be divided into individual travel-related expenses, such as Meals and Hotel. The dollar values for Meals and Hotel can be entered into the line item details individually and the total can be posted to the Travel account.

When you add line item details to a data cell, BusinessObjects Planning attaches the line item details to the scenario that provides data to the cell. Therefore, anyone who has access to the scenario can view the line item details.

Adding line item details

Y ou can add as many line item det ails to a report cell as you require. After you enter each line item, BusinessObjects Planning calculates the total for all line item details and displays it. When you are finished entering line item details, you have the option of saving them without posting a value to the data cell, or you can post the total value to the data cell, overriding the existing data in the report.

Note: You can add line item details to data cells only. To post line item

details, data cells must be editable.

To add a new line item:



1. Right-click a cell in a report and select Line Item Details from the menu.

2. Click Add Item.

3. If you want to enter a date, click on the Date cell and select a date, using

the Date Picker. Click OK. This step is optional.

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4. Double-click the Detail cell, and type a description for the item.

5. Double-click the Unit Value cell, and type a dollar amount for the item.

6. Double-click the Quantity cell, and type the quantity. BusinessObjects

Planning calculates the total value and displays it in the Total display area.

7. To add another line item, repeat steps 2 to 6.

8. To post the line item details, click Post.

The total value is copied to the cell of the report.

9. Click OK. Note: You can delete a line item detail by highlighting a row and clicking

Delete Item.

Modifying line item details

You can change line item details to reflect changes in your plan data. You can change the date and description of a line item without making changes to the data value, or you can change the data value of one or more line item details and let BusinessObjects Planning calculate a new total, which you can post to the report cell.

Note: You can change the value in a report cell without changing the line

item details. If you change the value of a report cell, the difference between the value in the report cell and the line item details appears in the Difference display area at the bottom of the Line Item Details page.

Viewing Reports

Viewing and adding line item details

To modify a line item:



1. Right-click a cell in a report and select Line Item Details from the menu.

2. Double-click a line item cell and modify its contents.

3. To edit another Line Item Detail, repeat step 2.

4. If you made changes to the unit value or quantity and want to apply them

to the report cell, click the Post button. The new value is copied to the cell of the report.

Note: To post line item details, data cells must be editable.

5. Click OK.

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Viewing Reports

Displaying a grid

When you are viewing a report, you can display the cells as a grid, with grey borders separating each of the cells. This is useful if you want to clearly distinguish one row from another, or one column from another.

The grid is displayed only while the report is open. If you close and reopen the report, the grid does not reappear.

To display the report grid:



1. Right-click any cell in the report.

2. Select Show Grid Lines. Note: If the grid is visible, selecting Show Grid Lines hides the grid.

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Changing section members

When BusinessObjects Planning Analyst is displaying a BusinessObjects Planning report, you can use the Section Properties dialog box to specify a section member for a report dimension. This member is used to select the data that is loaded from the database and displayed in that section of the report. For example, if you are only interested in displaying revenues gained and expenses incurred in Canadian dollars, you can set the Currency dimension to CAD. This means that data values are only loaded if their Currency dimension is CAD.

Any section member change is temporary: when you close the report, your change is lost.

Note: If your report has multiple sections, setting a section member only

affects the section currently being displayed.

To change a section member:



1. Click (Section Properties).

2. In the Section Properties dialog box, click the Default Dimensions tab.

3. For the dimension you want to update, select a member from the

dimension’s list. For example, if you want to change the Unit dimension, select a member from the Unit list.

OR If you are updating the reporting period, select a year, version, and time

period from the lists provided. OR If you are updating anything other than the scenario or the reporting period, click to search for a member in the dimension list. For details

on how to use the dimension list, see “Specifying a dimension using a

dimension list” on page 40.

Note: To view more detailed information about a report dimension, click

(Dimension Properties) button, located to the right of the dimension.

Some dimensions do not have this button available.

4. Repeat step 3 for each dimension you want to change.

5. Click OK.

Viewing Reports

Changing section members

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Viewing Reports

Changing section members

Changing the source currency

There are two main currency settings that affect reports: the source currency and the display currency (also referred to as the view currency). The source currency defines what currency is retrieved from the database. When you specify a value for the Currency dimension in a report or report section, you are specifying the source currency.

The display currency defines how database values appear in the report. When you enter data in a report, it is interpreted as the currency you specify as the display currency. It is converted to the source currency when it is stored in the database. For details on how to set the display currency, see

“Specifying the display currency” on page 59.

When you set the source or display currency , there are two main categories of currencies you can choose from: pure and derived. A pure currency is the money in circulation in a country. Each pure currency references a rate table, which defines the exchange rate for the currency at a particular point in time. A derived currency is calculated based on pure currencies.

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Viewing Reports

Changing section members

The following table describes the three main derived currencies, and how they are commonly used as source currencies and display currencies.

Derived currency

Local Currency (LC)

Booked Currency (BK)

Total All Currencies (TT)

Description Source currency Display currency

Retrieves and displays data using a unit’s default reporting currency.

Displays the currency as unconverted.

Displays a specific value by all of the currencies that make it up.

It is uncommon to use LC as a Source currency, as the report would only retrieve values specified by one unit’s default reporting currency.

If you set the Source currency to Booked, when the report is opened, the user is prompted to specify a currency. You can also set the Source currency to Ask User to prompt users for a currency.

It is very common to specify TT as a Source currency. For example, if the Source currency is set to TT, you can drill down to see the value by each pure currency that contributes to the total value.

It is common to use LC as a Display currency for reports that users edit (for example, those used to collect, plan and forecast data). Users do not have to change the report’s Display currency to match units.

It is common to set the Display currency to Booked. For example, if the Source currency is CAD and the Display currency is Booked, the values are retrieved from the CAD slice and displayed as Canadian dollars. No conversion takes place.

Y ou should not use TT as a Display currency.

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Viewing Reports

Displaying data

The following table describes how the source currency and display currency settings determine what values are displayed in a report.

Source Currency

CAD USD N/A The report retrieves only values whose currency is

TT CAD N/A All values, regardless of currency, are retrieved from

LC CAD CAD The report retrieves only values whose currency is

LC USD CAD The report retrieves only values whose currency is

TT LC CAD All values, regardless of currency, are retrieved from

CAD BK N/A The report retrieves only values whose currency is

TT BK CAD All values, regardless of currency, are retrieved from

Display Currency

Unit’s Default reporting currency

Result

CAD from the database, and converts them to and displays them as US dollars.

the database and are converted to and displayed as Canadian dollars.

CAD from the database, and displays them in Canadian dollars. No conversion takes place.

CAD from the database, and converts them to and displays them as US dollars.

the database and are converted to and displayed as Canadian dollars.

CAD from the database, and displays them in Canadian dollars. No conversion takes place.

the database. The total of all the currencies is converted to and displayed as Canadian dollars. If you drill down by currency, the individual values for the currencies are displayed as they are stored in the database. No conversion takes place. In this case, the totals and the individual values will not appear to add up.

Displaying data

When you view a section of a report in BusinessObjects Planning Analyst, you can use the Section Properties dialog box to change how the data is displayed. You can change the following section properties:

• The scaling factor: whether values are divided by a specified value before

being displayed

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• The sign convention, which is the meaning of negative numbers in a

report

• The display currency

• How interest rates are displayed

• Whether data is displayed as numbers, as currency values, or as

percentages

• How to display negative numbers

• The number of decimal places displayed

• How rows containing zeroes are displayed, and how rows containing N/A

values are displayed

• Whether exception reporting is enabled

Note: If you change any of these display options in BusinessObjects

Planning Analyst, your changes are temporary: when you close the report, your changes are lost.

Changing the scaling factor

Y ou can use scaling in reports to make them easier to read. For example, you can display revenue and expense numbers in thousands ($M), and assets and liabilities in millions ($MM). You can also display other non-financial numbers, such as percentages and FTEs, as unscaled.

The following table describes your options:

Viewing Reports

Displaying data

Setting Assets/

Liabilities

No scaling none none none Use custom

scaling Assets/

Liabilities $MM, all else $M

Assets/ Liabilities $M

Note: Typically, when data is loaded into the database, it is stored unscaled.

Your organization may scale data before loading it; if your data is pre-scaled in the database, the scaling factors in your reports may need to be changed.

To change the scaling factor:



1. Click (Section Properties).

Divides by the factor you specify

Divides the number by 1,000,000

Divides the number by 1,000

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Revenues/ Expenses

Divides by the factor you specify

Divides the number by 1,000

none none

Non-Financial

Divides by the factor you specify

none

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Viewing Reports

Displaying data

2. On the Data Display page, select an option from the Scale report values

list, described in the table above.

3. Click OK.

Changing the sign convention

In reports, what negative numbers mean often depends on context. In many reports, it makes more sense to display both revenues and expenses as positive numbers, and reserve negative numbers for special exceptions. In other reports, you might want to display revenues as positive numbers, and expenses as negative numbers. In still others, you might want to view numbers exactly as they are stored in the database.

The following table describes your options:

Option Description

Negative expenses

No sign conversion

Normalized Display both revenues and expenses as positive numbers.

Reverse the sign of all expense lines. If you store expenses as positive values in the database, setting this option displays revenues as positive values and expenses as negative values.

Interest cost lines are also displayed with sign reversed if they are being displayed as dollar values; see “Changing

the display of interest rates” on page 59 for more

information on interest rate display formats. Display values exactly as they are stored in the database.

Negative numbers are reserved for exceptional cases. When this option is specified, the sign of a line’s values will

be reversed only when the line has its Reverse sign for Normalized view attribute set. (This attribute is set by the model administrator, or whoever maintains your business model.)

To specify any of these options, you need to change the sign convention used in that section of the report.

T o ch ange the sign convention:



1. Click (Section Properties).

2. On the Data Display page, select an option from the Sign conventio n list,

described in the table above.

3. Click OK.

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Specifying the display currency

BusinessObjects Planning allows you to specify the currency in which your report data is displayed. This currency is called the display currency. If your data is stored in another currency, it is converted to the display currency before being displayed in your report.

When you enter data in a report, it is assumed to be in the display currency. If you enter data for a currency that does not match the display currency, the data is converted back to the appropriate currency when it is stored in the database.

For example, if you have a report with the Currency dimension set to CAD and the display currency set to USD, the report retrieves values from the database only if their Currency dimension is CAD. It then converts them to, and displays them in, US dollars. If you edit the data for this report, the values you enter are shown in US dollars. When stored in the database, they are converted to Canadian dollars.

Note: For more details on specifying a value for a dimension, see “Changing

section members” on page 53.

To specify the display currency:



1. Click (Section Properties).

2. On the Data Display page, select a currency from the Currency list, under

Reporting Currency. OR

Viewing Reports

Displaying data

Click and select a currency from the dimension list that appears. For more details on how to use the dimension list, see “Specifying a

dimension using a dimension list” on page 40.

3. Click OK.

Changing the display of interest rates

How interest cost and interest earned rates are best displayed often depends on the context in which they appear. In certain circumstances, it makes more sense to display interest rates as dollars. In other circumstances, you might want an interest rate expressed as a percentage.

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Viewing Reports

Displaying data

The following table describes your options:

Option Description

As Entered Display the interest cost or interest earned rate in the

Force Currency Force the display of the interest cost or interest earned

Force Rate Force the display of the interest cost or interest earned

Model Default Use the default display format for this business model.

To change the display of interest rates:



1. Click (Section Properties).

2. On the Data Display page, select an option from the Interest rates list,

described in the table above.

3. Click OK.

Changing the data display format

Normally , the format in which dat a is displayed depends on the properties set in the Line dimension. For example, ordinary revenue or expense figures are normally displayed as dollar values, while interest earned or interest cost lines are sometimes displayed as percentages. You can override this Line property and choose the format in which you want your data to be displayed.

The following tables describes your options:

format in which it was entered into the database.

rate in currency format.

rate as a percentage.

Option Description

Currency Displays the data as currency using the number of decimal

places as specified in the Dollar text box under Decimal places.

Default Displays the data according to the Line dimension format

specified in the business model.

Number Displays the data using the number of decimal places as

specified in the Number text box under Decimal places, which is set to zero, typically. Use this format for non-financial data.

Percentage Displays the data as a percentage using the number of

decimal places as specified in the Yield text box under Decimal places.

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

To change the data display format:

1. Click (Section Properties).

2. On the Data Display page, select an option from the Format list,

described in the table above.

3. Click OK.

Changing the display of negative numbers

By default, negative numbers are displayed in parentheses. You can easily change how negative numbers are displayed in each section of your report.

To change the display of negative numbers:



1. Click (Section Properties).

2. On the Data Display page, select an option from the Show negative

numbers as list.

Note: If you select the Use regional settings option, BusinessObjects

Planning Analyst uses the negative numbers setting specified by your computer’s Regional Settings or Regional Options. You can view this setting from your Control Panel.

3. Click OK.

Viewing Reports

Displaying data

Specifying decimal places

You can specify the number of decimal places to be displayed in a section of a report.

To specify decimal places:



1. Click (Section Properties).

2. On the Data Display page, locate the section titled Decimal Places.

3. In the text boxes in this section, specify the decimal places to display . For

example, if the number is a dollar amount, specify the number of decimal places in the Currency text box.

4. Click OK.

Changing the display of rows with zero values

You can specify how to display a row in a section of a report if all cells in the row contain zero values.

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Viewing Reports

Displaying data



To change the display of rows with zero values:

1. Click (Section Properties).

2. On the Data Display page, select a display option from the Show zero

lines as list.

3. Click OK.

Changing the display of rows with N/A values

A cell in a report or database can contain the value N/A, which is short for “Not Applicable”. The N/A value indicates that you do not care about this particular cell. You can specify how to display a row in a section of a report if all cells in the row contain N/A values.

T o ch ang e the display of rows w ith N /A valu es :



1. Click (Section Properties).

2. On the Data Display page, select a display option from the Show N/A

lines as list.

3. Click OK.

Changing the display of N/A values

You can change the text that appears in cells that contain N/A values. The default string is “n/a” but you can change this to any text you want. When you enter N/A values into a report, you can use the text in this box or “na”.

Note: For more information on N/A values, see “Changing the display of

rows with N/A values” on page 62.

To change the display of N/A values:



1. Click (Section Properties).

2. On the Data Display page, ensure that Use custom label is selected from

the Show N/A lines as list.

3. Enter a value in the Custom label text box.

4. Click OK.

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Enabling exception reporting

Your report may allow you to highlight exceptional data. When exceptional data is highlighted, the report uses a band column to define data ranges, and designates certain data ranges as exceptional, and the rest as unexceptional. It hides the ranges that represent unexceptional data, leaving just the exceptional data in the report for analysis.

If exception reporting is defined for your report, you can choose whether to enable or disable it. If exception reporting is disabled, all of the hidden ranges become visible.

To enable exception reporting:



1. Click (Section Properties).

2. On the Data Display page, select the Enable exception reporting check

box.

3. Click OK.

Setting section labels

When you view a section of a report in BusinessObjects Planning Analyst, you can use the Section Properties dialog box to change the section labels. You can change the:

• Section title

• Section tab name

• Section heading

Viewing Reports

Setting section labels

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Viewing Reports

Setting section labels

Figure 3-7 :Section heading

Figure 3-7 :Section tab name

If you use the Section Properties dialog box to change a section label, your change is temporary: when you close the report, your change is lost.

Changing a section title

Each BusinessObjects Planning report section has its own title, which appears when you print the report. On a printed report, the section title appears next to the report title:

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Viewing Reports

Setting section labels

Figure 3-8 :Section title

Figure 3-8 :Report title



To change a section title:

1. Click (Section Properties).

2. In the Section Properties dialog box, click the Heading and Title tab.

3. In the Section title text box, type the new section title.

This title can include macros; for more information on the report macros available to you, refer to “Report Macros” on page 105.

4. Click OK.

Changing a section tab name

When you open a report in BusinessObjects Planning Analyst, the section tabs are located at the bottom of the report. They allow you to switch from one section of a report to another by clicking on its section tab.

To change a section tab name:



1. Click (Section Properties).

2. In the Section Properties dialog box, click the Heading and Title tab.

3. In the Tab label text box, type the new section tab name.

This title can include macros; for more information on the report macros available to you, refer to “Report Macros” on page 105.

4. Click OK.

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Viewing Reports

Setting section labels

Creating a section heading

You can create a heading for a section of your report. This heading is located in the upper left corner of the section.

Figure 3-9 : Section heading

T o crea te a section he ading:



1. Click (Section Properties).

2. In the Section Properties dialog box, click the Heading and Title tab.

3. In Heading text box, type the section heading.

This heading can include macros; for more information on the report macros available to you, refer to “Report Macros” on page 105.

4. Click OK.

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Using macros in section labels

Y ou can use macros in section labels. Macros are shortcuts that automatically extract information (time periods, dimensions, fiscal versions, dates) from the current business model and add the information to reports. For example, if you use the $Scenario$ macro, the scenario name is automatically extracted from the business model and added to the section label. For details on macros, see “Report Macros” on page 105.

Printing a report

From BusinessObjects Planning Analyst, you can print any report that you have open.

When you print a report, it opens in Adobe Acrobat Reader as a PDF (portable document format) file. You can then print the report from Acrobat.

T o print a report:



1. On the BusinessObjects Planning Analyst toolbar, click (Print).

2. In the Print dialog box, select this section.

OR In the Print dialog box, select the entire report.

Viewing Reports

Printing a report

3. Click Print.

4. In Adobe Acrobat Reader, click (Print).

Copying links to reports

When you are viewing a report, you can copy a link to the report to the Windows clipboard. (This report link is referred to as the report’s URL.) You can save the report link as a desktop shortcut or include the report link in a document. You can use this saved link to gain access to a frequently-used report quickly.

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Viewing Reports

Copying links to reports

Note: By default, your saved URL references the Web site you were using

when you created the link. This allows you to save URLs from more than one Web site running BusinessObjects Planning Analyst. Your site administrator may have configured your BusinessObjects Planning Analyst to make all saved URLs reference a single Web site. See the "Setting Up BusinessObjects Planning for Users" section of the Administrator’s Guide for details on how to configure a single Web site for saved URLs.

T o co py a link to a repo rt:



1. Right-click any cell in the report, and select Copy Report URL.

2. Paste the URL into your document, and skip the remaining steps.

OR Right-click your Windows desktop, and select New and Shortcut.

3. In the Create Shortcut window, in the Type the location of the item text

box, press C

TRL-V to paste the URL.

4. Click Next.

5. In the Type a name for this shortcut text box, type the name of the

shortcut (for example, the name of the report).

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6. Click Finish.

Closing a report

When you are finished with a report that you have opened in BusinessObjects Planning Analyst, you can either exit BusinessObjects Planning Analyst completely or close the report and remain in BusinessObjects Planning Analyst. For details on exiting BusinessObjects Planning Analyst, see “Exiting

BusinessObjects Planning Analyst” on page 34 .

When you no longer need to examine reports, officially exiting the application assists in the conservation of server resources. This improves the overall performance of BusinessObjects Planning Analyst.

To close a report, select Close Report from the File menu.

Note: If you have changed data in your report, the Exit Planning Analyst

dialog box asks you whether you want to save your changes. If you do not want to save your changes, select abandon all changes made this session, or select one of the save options, then click Close. For details on the save options available, see “Saving data” on page 104.

Viewing Reports

Closing a report

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Viewing Reports

Closing a report

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Working with Data

chapter

Page 72

Working with Data

Working with Excel

One of the advantages of the BusinessObjects Planning reporting environment is that it is fully compatible with Microsoft Excel. This allows you to examine BusinessObjects Planning reports in environments in which no Internet or Intranet access is available.

From BusinessObjects Planning Analyst, you can interact with Excel in the following ways:

• You can copy data from BusinessObjects Planning Analyst to Excel.

• You can copy data from Excel to BusinessObjects Planning Analyst.

• You can export reports from BusinessObjects Planning Analyst to Excel.

If you plan on using Excel more extensively, the BusinessObjects Planning Excel Analyst provides many of the BusinessObjects Planning report management and display capabilities to Excel users. For more information on the BusinessObjects Planning Excel Analyst, see the BusinessObjects Planning Excel Analyst User Guide.

Copying from BusinessObjects Planning Analyst to Excel

You can copy and paste a range of cells from BusinessObjects Planning Analyst to Excel. These cells are treated as spreadsheet cells, not as a complete report.

If you are copying from BusinessObjects Planning Analyst to the BusinessObjects Planning Excel Analyst, you must start Excel before beginning the copy operation, and you must be in Edit or Fast Edit mode in the BusinessObjects Planning Excel Analyst.

T o copy data between Excel and BusinessObjects Planning Analyst:



1. In BusinessObjects Planning Analyst, in the report you want to copy from,

select a range of cells.

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2. Right-click the cells, and select Copy from the menu.

Working with Data

Working with Excel

3. In Excel, in the report you want to copy to, right-click anywhere in the

report and select Paste from the menu.

Copying from Excel to BusinessObjects Planning Analyst

You can copy a range of cells from an Excel spreadsheet and paste them into an open report in BusinessObjects Planning Analyst.

To copy data between BusinessObjects Planning Analyst and Excel:



1. In Excel, in the report you want to copy from, select a range of cells.

2. Right-click the cells, and select Copy from the menu.

3. In BusinessObjects Planning Analyst, click (Fast Edit) to activate Fast

Edit mode.

Note: For more information on using Fast Edit mode, see “Entering data

into a report” on page 85.

4. Right-click anywhere in the report and select Paste from the menu. Note: Do not paste over uneditable cells. If these values are overwritten,

your changes will not be saved.

5. Click (Fast Edit) again to leave Fast Edit mode.

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Working with Data

Switching report rows and columns

Exporting to Excel

You can export a report from BusinessObjects Planning Analyst to Excel. When you export a report, the report data opens in an Excel spreadsheet in a *.csv file format.

T o export to Excel, right-click any row or column in a report, and select Export

to Excel from the menu.

Note: Although you are selecting a particular row or column, all rows and

columns in the report are exported.

Switching report rows and columns

To view data from a different perspective, you can switch the rows and columns of a report section. This means that the rows of your report become columns, and the columns become rows. This can only be done when the rows or columns are not drilled down, and the row template does not have page breaks.

To switch the rows and columns of a report section, right-click anywhere in the report section, and select Switch Rows and Columns from the menu.

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Working with Data

Changing row and column templates

Reports are created by specifying a row template and a column template. Each template is a collection of items that can appear in a report, such as members, blank lines, text headers, and band and trending columns. The row template defines the rows of the report, and the column template defines the columns.

When you are viewing a report in BusinessObjects Planning Analyst, you can change the row template, the column template, or both. This, in effect, creates a brand-new report on the fly.

Changing the row template

You can modify your report to use a different row template temporarily. When you close your report, this row template change is discarded.

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Working with Data

Running tasks inside reports



T o ch ang e the row tem pla te:

1. From the View menu, select Change Row Template.

2. From the Select Row Template dialog box, select a row template.

If necessary, click to expand the row template hierarchy.

3. Click OK.

Changing the column template

You can modify your report to use a different column template temporarily. When you close your report, this column template change is discarded.

T o ch ang e the colum n template:



1. From the View menu, select Change Column Template.

2. From the Select Column Template dialog box, select a column template.

If necessary, click to expand the column template hierarchy.

3. Click OK.

Running tasks inside reports

Your site administrator may have created tasks that can be run inside BusinessObjects Planning Analyst reports. Tasks are scripts defined by the report creator that can perform such common operations as loading a business model, copying data, printing specific reports, performing consolidations, and exporting to Excel. Tasks can be customized for the report in which they are defined.

To ruIn a task from an open report, right-click a data cell, and select Tasks and the task from the menu.

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Working with Data

Overriding cash flow report settings

If the Tasks command is not available, tasks have not been set up for the report.

Overriding cash flow report settings

Cash flow reporting allows you to model the effect of anticipated new business on future balances by calculating and projecting run off values for asset and liability lines in BusinessObjects Planning reports. When working with cash flow reports in BusinessObjects Planning Analyst, you can override the run off calculation properties set in the report, allowing you to view the effects of different interest rates, terms, and conditions on your plan.

Assume, for example, that your company is engaging in a campaign to sell mortgages. Using a cash flow report, you can enter the expected amount of new business into a plan and calculate the effects of run off on your business model. You can then change the run off settings in your mortgages product to

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Working with Data

Drilling through to other databases

model the effects of different interest rates and amortization periods on future balances. When you change run off calculation settings, BusinessObjects Planning automatically recalculates the run off effects on your report.

Overrides can be entered for any new business line that is associated to a run off line in the report. Cash flow overrides are represented on the screen by a red triangle in the upper left corner of the cell.

Note: The run off calculation properties available depend on the run off

method set for the product. You cannot change the run off method, but you can change all relevant run off calculation properties.

T o override cash flow report settings:



1. From an open cash flow report, right-click a data cell, and select

Cashflow from the menu.

2. On the Cash Flow Page, change the run off calculation properties.

3. Click OK. Note: To restore the original cash flow settings, on the Cash Flow page,

click the Defaults button.

Drilling through to other databases

Your site administrator may have allowed you to use BusinessObjects Planning DataDrill to gain access to other databases from within the BusinessObjects Planning report you have opened in BusinessObjects Planning Analyst. Accessing another database from within BusinessObjects Planning Analyst is referred to as drilling through to the other database.

Drilling through allows you to gain access to data not normally accessible from a BusinessObjects Planning report. For example, you can drill through to a database containing transactional data.

When BusinessObjects Planning performs a drill through using DataDrill, it queries a database specified by the report creator. The portion of the report that you have selected becomes the parameter for this database access. BusinessObjects Planning retrieves the relevant information from the database, and returns it in a table format.

To drill through to another database, right-click a cell in a report, select DataDrill from the menu, and choose a pre-defined DataDrill option. For more information on the DataDrill options that are available, contact your site administrator.

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Using Workflow in BusinessObjects Planning Analyst

Y ou can use W orkflow to track changes to scenarios throughout the reporting, planning, and forecasting life cycle. To successfully use Workflow, you should understand the difference between two concepts: a Workflow action versus a Workflow status. A Workflow action is a change that you make to a scenario, such as submitting it for approval, rejecting it, or approving it. When you perform an action on a Workflow scenario, the scenario status changes. Depending on its status, different actions can be performed on the scenario by different users. For example, when a Workflow scenario is at Working status, a submitter can make changes to it, but an approver cannot yet reject the scenario. If the submitter changes the scenario data and submits it for approval, the scenario’s status changes to Submitted and an approver can then approve or reject it.

Working with Data

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Using Workflow in BusinessObjects Planning Analyst

The following table describes the Workflow actions that you can perform in BusinessObjects Planning Analyst.

Action Description

Submit for Approval

Approve If you are the approver of a Workflow scenario, you

Reject If you are the approver of a Workflow scenario, you can

Send Report Link

Once you have inputted or edited information in a Workflow scenario, and you are satisfied with the data it contains, you can submit the scenario for review and approval.

When you submit a scenario for approval, its status changes from Working to Submitted, and BusinessObjects Planning sends an e-mail notification to the approver of the scenario to inform him or her that the scenario is ready for review.

You can only submit a scenario for approval if all of its children are at Approved status.

typically approve the scenario after a submitter has submitted it and its status has changed from Working to Submitted. You can also approve a scenario that is at Working or Rejected status.

When you are satisfied with the data of a scenario that is at any of these statuses and you are ready to finalize it in relation to your organization’s Workflow plan, you approve the scenario, which changes the scenario’s status to Approved.

reject the scenario when you are not satisfied with the data it contains after it has been submitted or approved. This action allows for further editing by the submitter

When you reject a Workflow scenario, its status changes from either Submitted or Approved to Rejected, and an email notification is sent to the submitter(s) notifying them of the status change.

If you want other BusinessObjects Planning users at your site to review the Workflow data contained in a report, you can send them an e-mail that includes a hyperlink to the report. Assuming the recipients of your e-mail have the appropriate rights, when they click the hyperlink, the report containing the Workflow data will open in BusinessObjects Planning Analyst.

Sending a report link by e-mail does not change the status of Workflow scenarios that are associated with the report.

For more information on Workflow actions, statuses, and roles, consult the Workflow Guide.

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Performing a Workflow action

From BusinessObjects Planning Analyst, you can perform a Workflow action if Workflow has been enabled for your report and you have the necessary rights. Examples of Workflow actions include submitting a scenario for approval, accepting a submission, and rejecting a submission.

T o perform a Workflow action:



1. Open a report that uses data from the Workflow scenario you want to

perform a Workflow action on.

Note: If you have made any changes to the scenario’s data in

BusinessObjects Planning Analyst, click (Save) on the main toolbar, select the check them in option in the Save dialog box, and click Save before continuing.

2. If necessary, drill down to the unit that contains the scenario you want to

perform a Workflow Action on.

3. Click (Workflow Action).

4. In the Perform Workflow Action dialog box, select the scenario you want

to perform the Workflow action on.

5. Select a Workflow action.

6. In the Comments text box, type any comments regarding the changes in

Workflow properties that you are making. These comments will be sent with the e-mail notifications and will also be logged in the Workflow history.

7. Click Next.

8. If you want an e-mail notification about this change to be sent to users

other than the explicit submitter(s) and approver(s) of the scenario, select the users and click Add. OR If you do not want to send e-mail notifications, select Do not send

workflow notifications.

9. Click Finish.

Working with Data

Launching the Workforce Planning module

Using the Workforce Planning module, you can plan employee costs as an integrated component of corporate performance. For example, you can use the Workforce Planning data to plan for employee costs, and then you can

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Launching the Workforce Planning module

integrate that data with the rest of your BusinessObjects Planning data. You can then investigate how incremental changes across entire payroll codes, departments, regions, and individuals affect your corporate bottom line.

You can launch the Workforce Planning module if your open report uses a scenario for which a link to a Workforce Planning data set has been specified.

To launch the Workforce Planning module, click (Workforce Planning) on the BusinessObjects Planning Analyst toolbar.

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Entering Data

chapter

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Entering Data

Understanding scenarios

Searching for information in a report

You can search for a text string in the rows of a report; however, the rows must be expanded for BusinessObjects Planning to find the string.

To search for information in a report:



1. From the BusinessObjects Planning Analyst Toolbar, click (Find).

2. In the Find what text box, type the text string for which you want to

search.

3. Select Start from top if you want to start the search from the top of the

report instead of the currently selected row.

4. Select Match case if you want to make the search case sensitive.

5. Select Up to search upwards in the report.

OR Select Down to search downwards in the report.

6. Click Find.

7. To find subsequent occurrences of the text string in the report, click Find.

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Entering data into a report

In BusinessObjects Planning Analyst, you can enter or edit data in any open report if you have the rights to do so. The ability to edit data allows you to, for example, update reports to reflect current trends, create new forecasts and plans, or enter adjustments directly from BusinessObjects Planning Analyst.

BusinessObjects Planning Analyst provides two ways to edit data: normal edit mode and fast edit mode. In normal edit mode, the BusinessObjects Planning server updates each cell's existing value as you edit it. In fast edit mode, the cells you edit do not have their values updated by the server, which allows you to edit more quickly.

Note: In either mode, the database is not updated until you save the report

data. For more information on saving report data, see “Saving data” on

page 104.

If you are entering data in an interest earned or interest cost line, you can select whether to enter data as a dollar value or as a rate. For more information, see “Editing data for interest earned and interest cost lines” on

page 88.

To edit a cell, you must meet the following conditions:

• You have to drill down to the lowest possible level for that cell. You cannot

edit summary data. If the cell is not editable, a message appears in the Log window.

• Depending on your site's configuration, only one user may be able to edit

a cell at a time. If concurrent editing of scenarios is allowed at your site, multiple users can simultaneously edit the data contained in a scenario.

• First come, first serve: the user who checks out the cell first gets to edit it.

In normal edit mode, a cell is checked out when you double-click it. In fast edit mode, cells are checked out when you click (Fast Edit).

• The cell must be editable. (To find out which report cells are editable, see

“Understanding editable cells and visual cues” on page 86.)

The changes that you make will not immediately appear in the parent level units of the report. You have to consolidate the data to update it in parent level units. For details on consolidation, see “Consolidating data” on page 103.

Unlike entering zero, entering N/A ensures the value of the cell is ignored in calculations. This difference is critical when performing, in particular, statistical calculations where a ‘0’ value could significantly alter the outcome of the calculation. For more information on N/A values, see “Changing the

display of rows with N/A values” on page 62.

Entering Data

Entering data into a report

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Entering data into a report

Understanding editable cells and visual cues

Y ou can only enter dat a into a report cell if it is editable. If you try to enter data into a cell that is not editable, an error message appears in the Application Log window.

A cell is editable if it meets one of the following conditions:

• It is a cell at the lowest level of the tree hierarchy in every dimension (it is

not a parent of any other cell)

• The Line dimension of the cell has been specified as revisable

• The balance type of the cell has been specified as adjustable

For more information on revisable lines or adjustable balance types, contact your site administrator.

If you are not sure about which cells in your report are editable, BusinessObjects Planning Analyst can provide visual cues, which change the color of cells and text to help you determine which cells can and cannot be edited. Visual cues also indicate which cells you have directly modified and which cells contain values that have been indirectly changed due to your modifications. The following table outlines the visual cues available in BusinessObjects Planning Analyst:

Visual cue Default cell color

change

Editable cell

(Blue text)

Edited cell

(Blue text, light turquoise background)

Changed cell

(Yellow background)

Note: This table illustrates BusinessObjects Planning default colors for visual

cues. Your organization’s color scheme may be different. For more information, contact your site administrator.

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Description

This visual cue indicates that the cell is editable.

This visual cue indicates that you have already edited the cell.

This visual cue indicates that the value of the cell has been indirectly changed due to your editing of other cells.

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To turn on and turn off visual cues in your report, click (Show Visual Cues) on the BusinessObjects Planning Analyst toolbar.

Using normal edit mode

In normal edit mode, the BusinessObjects Planning server updates each cell's existing value as you edit it and recalculates any dependent cells. You would use this mode to edit if it is important to know the impact of a change on a report cell.

To edit data in norm al ed it m o de :



1. In a report, right-click the cell you want to edit, and select Edit Cell from

the menu.

Tip: In normal edit mode, you can use C

different cell in your report. For example, C immediately below the cell you are currently editing.

2. Type a number into the cell. (If the cell is associated with a related line,

you can enter the value as either a dollar amount or a rate. T o enter a rate value, type a percentage sign before the cell data. Data that is not preceded by a percentage sign defaults to a dollar value. To enter an N/A value, type N/A, na, n/a, or (na) into the report cell.)

3. Press ENTER.

Entering Data

Entering data into a report

TRL + an arrow key to edit a

TRL + DownArrow edits the cell

Using fast edit mode

In fast edit mode, unlike normal edit mode, you can select a region of cells that contains the values you want to edit. Also, the server does not update the cells you edit immediately. These differences allow you to edit data more quickly.

To edit data in Fast Ed it mo d e:



1. In your report, select and highlight the region of cells that you want to

edit.

Note: If you want the ability to edit all cells in the entire report at once,

you can skip Step 1. However, it is best practice to select an editable region of cells as this step improves server performance.

2. On the BusinessObjects Planning Analyst toolbar , click (Fast Edit). (If

you selected an editable region of cells, a border will appear around the rows of the selected region.)

3. Double-click the cell you want to edit.

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Entering Data

Entering data into a report

4. Type a number into each cell that you want to edit. (If the cell is

associated with a related line, you can enter the value as either a dollar amount or a rate. To enter a rate value, type a percentage sign before the cell data. Data that is not preceded by a percentage sign defaults to a dollar value. To enter an N/A value, type N/A, na, n/a, or (na) into the report cell.)

Tip: In fast edit mode, you can move between cells using the Tab key,

the up and down arrows, and the mouse.

5. Click (Fast Edit) when you have finished editing.

Editing data for interest earned and interest cost lines

To edit data for interest earned and interest cost lines, you must meet the same set of conditions as you would for editing data for any other type of line. When you edit data for interest earned and interest cost lines, a separate dialog box appears that allows you to enter the data as a dollar amount or a rate.

By planning interest earned and interest cost lines, you can determine projected earnings and costs over a set amount of time. For example, you could create a forecast for a given asset to determine how much it may earn given fluctuations in the prime rate over time.

To edit data for an interest earned or interest cost line:



1. In a report, right-click a cell, and select Edit from the menu. The Data

Entry Mode dialog box appears.

2. If you are entering a dollar amount, select Number/Currency Value from

the Mode list. OR If you are entering a value that is not based on a rate in the business

model, select Rate/Percent from the Mode list, and select None from the Base Rate list. (For example, if you type a value of .1, the rate used is 10%.)

OR If you are entering a value that is based on a rate in the business model,

select Rate/Percent from the Mode list. From the Base Rate list, select the rate you want the value you enter to be based on. (For example, if you select Prime from the Base Rate list and type a value of .02, the rate is Prime +2%.)

3. In the report, type the value and press Enter.

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Copying a cell value to an entire row

You can copy the value of a cell to an entire row or to a portion of a row. This is useful if you want an entire row to consist of zeroes or N/A values.

To copy a cell value to other cells in a row:



1. Right-click the first (leftmost) cell of the row, or the first cell that is to

contain the specified value, and select Edit Cell.

2. Type the new value into the cell.

3. Press S

cells in the same row that are to the right of the cell being edited.

HIFT and F4 simultaneously. This copies the value of this cell to all

Updating multi-section reports

Each section of a multi-section report is updated separately. If you change data in one section, other sections of your report are not automatically updated to reflect this change.

If you want to see your changes to report data migrated to all report sections, you must close the report and reopen it. The only exception to this is if a change affects a report section that you have not yet viewed. In this case, you will see the latest updates when you view the section for the first time, as BusinessObjects Planning Analyst only retrieves report section data when you first view it.

Entering Data

Projecting future performance

In planning and forecast reports, you can create projections, which calculate future data values based on past data. For example, you can use data from the first six months of a fiscal year to project data for the last six months.

The following table describes the projection methods that you can use to calculate future values.

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Entering Data

Projecting future performance

Projection method

Run Rates Use this method when the source data is relatively constant from period to

Linear Trend Use this method when you expect that the projected data will change by the

Growth Trend Use this method when you know that there is, or has been, increasing or

Description

period, and this average run rate is expected to continue into the projection period.

This method projects the average value of historical data. For example, if you select four source time periods, the target time periods

all display the same value, which is an average of the four source time periods.

Source 4 5 4 5

same absolute amount in each time period, based on the trend in the source range.

This method produces a straight line rather than the increasing or decreasing curve produced using the Growth Trend method.

If the values of the source time periods are not linear, this method smoothe s out the trend to produce the straight line for the target time periods.

Source 100 150 250 200

decreasing growth in past periods. This method produces an increasing or decreasing curve rather than the

straight line produced using the Linear Trend method. If the values of the source time periods are increasing over time, this method

produces an upward curve. If the values are declining, this method produces a downward curve.

The values of the source time periods must be positive numbers. Source

100 150 200 250 OR 200 150 150 125

Target

4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5

Target 275 315 355 395

Target

353.55 478.99 648.94 879.19

108.25 94.02 81.65 70.91

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Entering Data

Projecting future performance

Projection method

Linear Series Use this method when you expect a fixed amount of growth in each period.

Growth Series Use this method when you expect that the data will change by the same

Seasonal Use this method when an annual seasonal pattern exists and you want to

Description

This method uses an additive growth factor to generate forecasted values. If you select more than one source time period, the last source time period is

used to calculate the value for the first target time period. The next target time period is calculated as the value of the first target time period plus the additive growth factor, and so on.

For example, if the last source time period you select has a value of 12,000 and you specify the Linear Series growth factor to be equal to 100, the values for four target time periods will be 12,100, 12,200, 12,300, and 12,400.

Source 9,000 12,000

percentage from one period to the next. For each target time period, the value of the previous time period is multiplied by the percentage growth factor to generate the projected value.

If you select more than one source time period, the last source time period is used to calculate a value for the first target time period. The value of the first target time period is then used to calculate the value for the second target time period, and so on.

For example, if the last source time period you select has a value of 12,000 and if you specify the Growth Series growth factor to be equal to 1.1 (a 10% increase), the values for four target time periods will be 13,200, 14,520, 15,972, and 17,569.

Source 9,000 12,000

reflect the same pattern in the projection period, along with some growth. This method applies a growth factor to each source time period to generate

forecasted values. (This method requires that you have equal numbers of source and target time periods.)

For example, if two source time periods have values of 10,000 and 12,000, and you specify the Seasonal growth factor to be equal to 1.1 (10%), the two target time periods will have values of 11,000 and 13,200.

Source 10,000 12,000

Target 12,100 12,200 12,300 12,400

Target 13,200 14,520 15,972 17,569

Target 11,000 13,200

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Entering Data

Projecting future performance

Projection method

Naive Forecasting

Description

Use this method to provide users with a base case for projecting items that are not expected to change significantly year over year.

This method uses the values of the source time periods to generate the forecasted values. The number of source time periods must be greater than or equal to the number of target time periods.

For example, if four source time periods have values of 100, 150, 200, and 250 respectively, the four target time periods will have values of 100, 150, 200, and 250 respectively.

Source 100 150 200 250

Target 100 150 200 250

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Entering Data

Projecting future performance

Projection method

Moving Average

Single Exponential Smoothing (SES)

Description

Smoothes out past data by averaging the last several periods and projecting that value forward.

The number of source time periods you choose determines the number of time periods used to calculate each projected value. For example, if you choose four source time periods, each projected value is an average of the previous four time periods.

For example, suppose that you have four source time periods with values of 100, 150, 200, and 250 respectively. Your first target time period will have a value of 175, which is the average of the source time periods. The next target time period will have a value of 193.75, which is the average of the last three source time periods and the first target time period. Subsequent target time periods will be the average of the last four time periods calculated.

Source 100 150 200 250

Projects future values by calculating a weighted average. The smoothing value determines how the weighting occurs.

The smoothing value must be between 0 and 1. If you specify 0, 100% of the weighting is applied to the value for the last time period. If you specify 1, 100% of the weighting is applied to the value for the first time period. A smoothing value closer to 1 places more emphasis on values for older time periods, and a smoothing value closer to 0 places more emphasis on values for more recent time periods. This allows you to specify whether the projected values should be more sensitive to recent changes in the data or more sensitive to older data values.

For example, suppose the source time periods are 500, 600, 700, and 1,000. If you specify a smoothing value of 0.2, the more recent source time periods will have a greater weighting than the earlier values. As a result, the projected value will be greater than the non-weighted average of the source time periods because the last two source time periods have larger values. However, if you specify a smoothing value of 0.8, the older source time periods have greater weighting. As a result, the projected value is less because the values of the older time periods are smaller.

Smoothing value = 0.2 Source 500, 600, 700, 1,000 Smoothing value = 0.8 Source 500, 600, 700, 1,000

Target 175 193.75 204.69 205.86

Target 935, 935, 935, 935

Target 645, 645, 645, 645

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Projecting future performance

Using predefined projections

You can project values in a BusinessObjects Planning report only if the report creator enables projections for the section of the report that you are viewing. When projections are enabled, the report creator may have defined one or more projection methods for use in the report.

T o pro ject values using a predefined projection method, right-click a row in the report, and select Projection and the name of the projection from the menu.

If you cannot select Projection, projections have not been enabled for your report.

Projection is only possible if the report rows and columns are not switched. The report creator may also have allowed you to define your own projection

method for the report. For more information on defining your own projection method, see “Defining a projection” on page 94. For information on how to enable projections for a report, see the Reporting Guide.

Defining a projection

You can define a projection for your report if the report creator has granted you permission to do so. When you define a projection, you are specifying the time periods on which to base the projection, the projection method to use, and the time periods in which to project values.

For best results:

• Make sure the column template contains time periods

• Use as many source time periods in your historical data set as possible

And remember that:

• You can hide the columns cont aining the source time periods to make the

report easier to read

• The data has to be editable

• The report cannot have rows and columns switched.



T o define a projection:

1. Right-click a row in a report. Select Projection, and Define Projection

from the menu.

Note: If Define Projection is not available, you may not have

permission to define projections for this report. See the Reporting Guide for more information on projection permissions.

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Entering Data

Using Workback mode to prorate data

2. In the Projection dialog box, select the time periods on which you want to

base the projection. (The list contains all of the time periods in the column template.)

3. Click Next.

4. Select a projection method from the Method list.

5. If the projection method you select requires parameters, specify them

under Projection Parameters.

6. Click Next.

7. Select the time periods to which you want to project future values. Note: After you have specified the default projection settings, if you

delete the columns you have specified as the source or target, you will not be able to repeat the projection.

8. To specify an alternative balance type in which to store the future values,

click the Write incremental values to balance type option. Then, choose a balance type from the list, or click to search for a balance

type in the dimension list. For details on how to search in a dimension list, see “Specifying a dimension using a dimension list” on page 40.

Note: You may want to select an alternative balance type if the output

time periods you select contain actual data. In this way, you ensure that you do not overwrite actuals.

9. Click Finish to perform the projection.

Using Workback mode to prorate data

In reports that are used for planning or forecasting, you can use Workback mode to enter data at a high level of a tree hierarchy and then prorate the data to lower levels using a system-defined proration method.

For example, if your organization is budgeting to allocate $400,000 for new computer equipment in 2007, and this figure is to be shared among all of its 25 North American offices, you can use Workback mode to automatically divide the $400,000 that you enter in the parent North America line between the North American offices lines. If you choose to prorate the value evenly, each office will be automatically allocated $16,000 for this expense.

When using Workback mode to prorate data, keep the following points in mind:

• To prorate data, the section must contain time periods in the column

template.

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Entering Data

Using Workback mode to prorate data

• Proration is only possible if the report rows and columns are not

switched.

Proration methods

When you are in Workback mode, you can choose how you want to prorate data using five proration methods: Standard, Distribute Evenly, Leaf Based, Time Based, and Cross Scenario. The values distributed to each of the t arget cells depend on the proration method you choose.

Standard

When using Standard proration, a value in a parent cell, which you define, is divided among the leaf-level cells using the same ratio as the original values in the cells.

In the following example, the original value of International Expense is 8000. Twice the original amount (16000) was entered as the value to prorate between the three leaf-level cells. Using Standard proration, the original values in the three leaf-level cells are also doubled, since this method prorates using the same ratio as the original cells.

Before proration

After proration

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Distribute Evenly

When using the Distribute Evenly proration method, a value, which you define, is divided evenly from the target data cells at the parent level, then distributed down to the leaf-level members.

In the following example, 8000 was entered as the value to prorate over Total Income for October 2002. Using Distribute Evenly proration, 8000 is distributed evenly to each child member of Total Income. Since there are two child members of Total Income, each receives a value of 4000. The value of 4000 is then distributed evenly to each child member of License Fee and Support.

Entering Data

Using Workback mode to prorate data

Leaf Based

When using Leaf Based proration, a value, which you define, is divided among the target data cells at the leaf level using the same ratio as the target scenario. The values at the leaf level are then rolled up to the parent level.

In the following example, 6000 was entered as the value to prorate over Total Income for October 2002. Using Leaf Based proration, 6000 is distributed to the leaf-level members. Since there are six leaf-level members, each receives a value of 1000. These values are then rolled up to the parent level to total

6000.

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Entering Data

Using Workback mode to prorate data

Time Based

When using the Time Based proration method, the value of the source data cell is divided among the target data cells using the same ratio as another time period that is contained in the report.

Using the Time Based proration method, you can prorate from:

• A non-derived time period to a non-derived time period

• A non-derived time period to a derived time period

• A derived time period to a derived time period, if the source and the target

have the same frequency. For example, you can prorate from Q1 to Q2, from Q1 to M1, M2, and M3, and from M? to M+6.

In the following example, 52,500 was entered as the value to prorate for February 2003. Using Time Based proration, 52,500 is distributed to leaf-level members based on the ratio found in the January 2003 time period.

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Cross Scenario

When using the Cross Scenario proration method, the value of the source data cell is divided among the target data cells using the same ratio as another scenario. This method bases the proration on the same time period as the one belonging to the source and target data cells.

In the following example, Investments Securities Held to Maturity is the parent line of the other lines in the report. The prorated value of 1,000,000 is divided among the child lines for each month in 2003. In this example, the prorated value is divided based on the 2003 monthly results from a different scenario.

Determining the behavior of prorations

When using Workback mode to prorate data, the results of your proration depend on several factors, including the type of scenario associated with the report and the type of lines contained in the report.

Entering Data

Using Workback mode to prorate data

Prorating using different scenario types

The behavior of your proration depends on the type of scenario associated with the report, as described in the following table.

Scenario type Proration behavior across units

Editable The proration is applied across the target time periods and down to the

leaf-level members. When you consolidate, the values in the leaf-level members are rolled up to their parents to give the total for each target time period.

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Entering Data

Using Workback mode to prorate data

Scenario type Proration behavior across units

Rollup The proration is applied to the unit dimension members specified in the

consolidation formula for the scenario, provided the report scenario for the leaf is Editable. Normally, these will be the leaf-level descendants of the unit.

Adjustments entered using an adjustment rollup balance type are cleared. The Rollup scenario consolidates the values of the Editable

scenarios that are below it in the unit hierarchy. Calculated Proration cannot be performed. Compound The source time period for the proration (specified in the Proration Input

Parameters dialog box) indicates the scenario on which the proration is

to be performed. If this scenario is an Editable or a Rollup scenario, the

proration is performed as previously described. If this scenario is a

Calculated scenario, the proration is not performed.

Prorating Revisable lines

When prorating revisable lines, the results of the proration may differ depending on the proration method you choose and the type of data cells you are prorating. The following rules apply:

• When prorating revisable lines using Time Based or Cross Scenario

proration, if the source data cell is revised, the target data cell will be

treated as a revised cell, and the value is not prorated to the children of

that member. If the source d at a cell is not revised and the target data cell

is revised, the target data cell is treated as not revised and the target data

cell and its children are prorated.

• When prorating revisable lines using Leaf Based or Distribute Evenly

proration, a revisable target data cell is always treated as not revised and

the value is prorated to the children members.

For information on Revisable lines, see the Administrator’s Guide.

Prorating lines that are input within a version

When prorating lines that are input within a scenario version, such as Actual, Forecast, or Plan, the results of the proration may differ depending on the proration method you choose and the type of data cells you are prorating. The following rules apply:

• When prorating lines that are input within a version using any proration

method, if the target data cell is input, the prorated value is not distributed

to the child members of the target data cell.

100 BusinessObjects Planning Analyst User Guide

Business objects PLANNING ANALYST 5.2 User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Contents

Introduction

Conventions used in this guide

About BusinessObjects Planning

Related documentation

About this documentation

Getting Started with BusinessObjects Planning Analyst

What is BusinessObjects Planning Analyst?

About report sections

Understanding reports

Understanding dimensions

Understanding business models

Understanding reports, dimensions, and business models

Understanding inheritance

Starting BusinessObjects Planning Analyst

Understanding scenarios

Understanding the BusinessObject s Planning Analyst window

Using the BusinessObjects Planning Analyst toolbars

Using the Right-click menu

Specifying the application and working language

Using the online help

Accessing the online help

Viewing version information

Using the Application Log window

Exiting BusinessObjects Planning Analyst

Viewing Report s

Opening a report

Specifying missing dimensions in a report

Specifying a missing time period

Specifying a dimension using a dimension list

Navigating in a report

Drilling down to view the details

Drilling down on a row

Drilling down on a column

Drilling up to see a summary

Drilling up on a row

Drilling up on a column

Going to a specific report row

Resizing columns

Understanding band and trending

Viewing and adding annotations

Viewing and adding line item details

Adding line item details

Modifying line item details

Displaying a grid

Changing section members

Changing the source currency

Displaying data

Changing the scaling factor

Changing the sign convention

Specifying the display currency

Changing the display of interest rates

Changing the data display format

Changing the display of negative numbers

Specifying decimal places

Changing the display of rows with zero values

Changing the display of rows with N/A values

Changing the display of N/A values

Enabling exception reporting

Setting section labels

Changing a section title

Changing a section tab name

Creating a section heading

Using macros in section labels

Printing a report

Copying links to reports

Closing a report

Working with Data

Working with Excel

Copying from BusinessObjects Planning Analyst to Excel

Copying from Excel to BusinessObjects Planning Analyst

Switching report rows and columns

Exporting to Excel

Changing row and column templates

Changing the row template

Running tasks inside reports