Budgeting Planning & Forecasting

Workday Adaptive Planning for Budgeting and Forecasting for a SaaS Business Model

January 8, 2025 by Revelwood

This post continues our series on how we use Workday Adaptive Planning to solve problems. Each blog post focuses on a real-world client experience where Revelwood was presented with a unique or thorny problem. We’ll explain our approach to how we solved it.

Revelwood Client: A SaaS company that is a next-generation online data provider for insurers.

Problem: Budgeting and Forecasting for a SaaS Business Model

Scenario: This fast-growing software-as-a-service needed a sophisticated approach to budgeting, planning, forecasting and reporting. The company is a very low-asset organization with minimal CapEx requirements. As a result, they are very focused on their P&L. They needed a model that reflects annual recurring revenue and enables them to manage multi-year planning several years out.

How We Helped: We built a revenue model that incorporates annual recurring revenue. It enables the company to drill down into P&L data. This model gives the company insights into future revenue as well as historical revenue. They are able to take all of their P&L data and provide reporting on it to senior management and to the company’s investors.

Do you have a challenge you’d like to leverage Workday Adaptive Planning for? Reach out to us – we can help!

A Resolution You Should Actually Keep: Upgrade Your IBM Planning Analytics Environment

January 7, 2025 by Revelwood

Did you know that almost 80% of all New Year’s resolutions are associated with health? As an IBM Planning Analytics user, it’s important to also think about your system’s health! This is why you should put “upgrading Planning Analytics” on your list of resolutions. Here’s why …

IBM recently announced some changing timelines to the forthcoming deprecation of Planning Analytics 2.0.9.x. For background, read our blog post, IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Upcoming Changes to Planning Analytics, or watch our on-demand webinar, Understanding the Migration from Legacy TM1 to Planning Analytics.

Key Updates

IBM is extending the general support period for Planning Analytics 2.0.9.x until October 31, 2025.
Users can purchase extended support from IBM for an additional year through October 31, 2026.
Planning Analytics 2.1.x is now supported until April 30, 2027.

Implications for Users

Staying on unsupported versions can expose organizations to security vulnerabilities, lack of technical support and missed opportunities for leveraging new functionalities. You should assess your current Planning Analytics environment and develop a roadmap for upgrading to supported versions.

Recommended Actions

1. Evaluate Current Usage: Understand how your organization uses Planning Analytics and identify any customizations or dependencies that may affect the upgrade process.
2. Plan the Upgrade: Develop a comprehensive plan that includes timelines, resource allocation and testing phases to ensure a smooth transition.
3. Engage with Revelwood: We can help you access support resources and documentation to assist with the upgrade process and address any challenges that come up.

By proactively addressing these end-of-support dates, organizations can maintain the integrity of their financial planning systems and continue to benefit from IBM’s advancements in Planning Analytics.Need help?

Send a quick note to: info@revelwood.com.

Forecasting Excellence: A Workday Adaptive Planning Masterclass

Learn how to achieve forecasting excellence with Workday Adaptive Planning. Benefit from Revelwood’s experienced Workday Adaptive Planning experts, guiding you through the essentials and equipping you with the skills to become a proficient planning and analysis professional within your organization.

Driving Growth & Financial Visibility with Workday Adaptive Planning

Learn how to maximize Workday Adaptive Planning’s benefits and join the ever-expanding group of delighted companies. Revelwood’s Workday Adaptive Planning experts provide you with both a high-level overview of the platform along with a hands-on demonstration on how to use Workday Adaptive Planning.

Maximizing ROI: SaaS-specific Insights with Workday Adaptive Planning

SaaS-based companies must implement a flexible planning process that adapts seamlessly to the growth of the organization, ensuring agility and responsiveness. In this webinar, we delve into the tailored advantages that Workday Adaptive Planning offers to the SaaS industry, elevating strategic decision-making capabilities.

Transforming FP&A in Multi-site Healthcare Organizations

Discover how Revelwood client, LEARN Behavioral, a rapidly growing multi-site healthcare organization, revolutionized their financial planning and analysis (FP&A) process with Workday Adaptive Planning. With over 5,000 behavior analysts and clinicians, LEARN Behavioral operates in 18 states across the U.S. and was in dire need of a more efficient and effective budgeting solution.

From Data to Decisions: Harnessing Workday Adaptive Planning for Strategic Insights

In this webinar, we dive into advanced features of Workday Adaptive Planning and highlight real-world applications designed to elevate your financial operations and drive business success.

Which webinars did you watch in 2024?

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Export Dim Structure

December 17, 2024 by Lee Lazarow

Have you ever wanted to export a dimensional structure to an ASCII based text file in IBM Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW)? PAW version 99 introduced the ability to export a dimension with a single click.

To export a dimension, right-click on the dimension name within a modeling workbench and select the option to Export members.

Once selected, you will be prompted to define which hierarchy to export and the name of the csv file that will be created. The resulting file will contain the following information for each element:

Name
Parent (root elements will have a blank parent field)
Type
Weight
All defined attribute names and values (the attribute name will be prefixed with ATTR_N or ATTR_S to define the attribute as numeric or string)

Here is a snippet of an export file that shows a header record, a consolidated element, and two children:

“Member”,”Parent”,”Type”,”Weight”,ATTR_S_Manager”,”ATTR_S_Currency”

“Total Company”,””,”Consolidated”,”0″,”Total”,””

“001”,”Total Company”,”Numeric”,”1″,”John Smith”,”USD”

“002”,”Total Company”,”Numeric”,”1″,”Jane Doe”,”USD”

This feature will allow you to export your dimensional structures to files that can be used for reporting, auditing, and other areas where you need to display your structural information.

Stay up to date with PA – sign up for our weekly Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks newsletter, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and join our IBM Planning Analytics All-Stars group on LinkedIn.

10 Steps to Transform Financial Planning & Analysis: A Guide to a Successful FP&A Implementation

December 13, 2024 by Revelwood

The role of Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) has never been more crucial. Organizations are increasingly relying on FP&A solutions to streamline data, enhance decision-making and drive business strategy. Yet, despite the potential, many FP&A implementations fail to meet expectations.

Why FP&A Matters

FP&A systems are more than just software—they are a transformative tool for financial leaders. By centralizing data and enabling real-time analysis, FP&A allows organizations to:

Eliminate spreadsheet chaos and data silos.
Focus on strategic decision-making.
Align business goals with measurable financial outcomes.

But the path to success requires more than technology. It demands a strategic, phased approach that considers people, processes, and culture.

Read Top 10 Steps for a Successful FP&A Implementation to learn why the best implementations include:

Securing Strong Leadership: Every successful FP&A implementation begins with an engaged and empowered executive sponsor. Their support can steer the project and drive cultural alignment.
Defining Clear Requirements: A detailed understanding of your organization’s needs is critical. Without clarity, even the best technology will fall short.
Phased Implementation: Breaking the project into manageable phases ensures quick wins, sustained momentum, and reduced risks.
Emphasizing Ownership: Knowledge transfer is key. Ensure your team is equipped to take full ownership of the system post-implementation.
Communicating Effectively: Transparent communication keeps all stakeholders informed, builds trust, and minimizes resistance to change.
Partnering with IT: While FP&A is often led by finance, IT plays a vital role in data integration, infrastructure support, and ensuring scalability.
Investments in Training: The success of any system depends on its users. Tailored training programs ensure every team member—from power users to casual users—is ready to leverage the system.
Staffing Wisely: The right team can make or break your implementation. Carefully choose project managers, solution owners, and functional leads.
Closing the Loop: Measure your results against initial goals. Document lessons learned and use them to inform future projects.
Choosing the Right Partner: An experienced implementation partner can make all the difference. Look for expertise in your chosen software and a track record of delivering value.

Ready to Get Started?

Download the full whitepaper, Top 10 Steps for a Successful FP&A Implementation, to unlock the strategies for success.

Workday Adaptive Planning Tips & Tricks: Archived Versions For Data Freeze 2024R2

December 11, 2024 by Luke Griffie

What is an archived version in Workday Adaptive Planning?

Archived versions allow the user to calculate and store the values of all calculated and linked accounts in a plan version. This freezes the values and stops them from recalculating as you make future changes to the original model. There is an Archive version checkbox within plan versions that allow for this robust data freeze seen in the screenshot below.

Before archiving a version, you will receive the following warning message.

This feature allows you to modify actual version data, linked account configurations and model structures—such as levels and custom dimensions—without compromising the integrity of leaf-level data in archived versions. The archived version will maintain the calculations and all corresponding data from the point of archiving.

The new archived version checkbox within modeling and versions replaces the calculate formula values checkbox and locked version. Workday Adaptive Planning plans to eventually retire calculate formula values by the 2026R1 update.

In the screenshot below you can see that upon archiving a version, Adaptive Planning will provide you with any errors within the newly archived version.

Example/Use Case

A prime example of when Archived Versions for Data Freeze comes in handy is in a plan version with actuals overlay. Prior to Workday Adaptive Planning adding archived versions feature, you would select calculate formula values in the plan version with actuals overlay. The problem with this option is upon restating actuals data, it reflected the changes made in the actuals portion that was only meant for the plan portion of data in the version. With archive version, you are now able to restate actuals without impacting actuals overlay and save the calculations from the original output.

Additional Thoughts

Metric and system accounts are not included in archived versions meaning they still calculate. The user can make changes to the original version/ model without impacting the archived version. It will archive the leaf intersection data, not the rollups. You gain improved performance and increased confidence with historical versions. It solves for the restatement of actuals by storing actuals overlay data in the archived plan versions. It won’t change if you make changes in the original model. Actuals overlay data gets stored directly in the plan version. This prevents a restatement of actuals from impacting the archived version. Link account values will be stored at the time of archive and won’t change in the archived version regardless of any changes going forward in other versions.

Revelwood is an award-winning, Platinum Solution Provider for Workday Adaptive Planning. We build solutions for the Office of Finance that minimize your risk by seamlessly incorporating business analytics into your everyday thinking. By combining the software with our best practices and out-of-the-box applications, we help businesses achieve their full potential with Workday Adaptive Planning.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Selector Menu

December 10, 2024 by Lee Lazarow

You may already know that you can create a selector widget in IBM Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW) by simply dragging a context dimension outside your existing view. Once synchronized, this approach provides an easy way to create independent selectors that can be used with your existing PAW data pulls.

But what do you do in a situation when you have already hidden your exploration overview or converted your exploration into a chart? One approach is to reset the visualization into a fully expanded exploration, drag the dimension, and re-format the visualization. But did you know that an easier way exists?

PAW version 99 introduced an option to add a selector directly from the data tree (e.g., the left pane). This can be accessed by simply right-clicking on a dimension in the tree. Once selected, there will be two options: add selector tile and add selector list.

There are three types of tiles: single tile, multiple tiles, and range selection tile. There are three types of lists: single list, multiple lists and multiple selection list.

Once created, the properties area will allow you to define appearance aspects such as colors, fonts, and header information.

This approach will allow you to create easy-to-use selectors without having to undo any existing formatting that has been created.

Stay up to date with PA – sign up for our weekly Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks newsletter, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and join our IBM Planning Analytics All-Stars group on LinkedIn.

FP&A Maturity Assessment: Where Do You Rank?

October 18, 2024 by Revelwood

There are tangible, concrete benefits to having a mature FP&A process. These include improved decision-making, increased efficiency, agility and responsiveness, enhanced forecasting accuracy and more.

How do you know if your processes are mature? Here are some key indicators:

Data integration and accuracy. You have reliable data sources integrated with your planning environment for real-time analysis.
Forecasting and predictive analytics. You use advanced forecasting techniques, scenario modeling and predictive analytics.
Cross-department collaboration. Your FP&A team works closely with other departments.
Agility and adaptability. You have the ability to rapidly adjust forecasts and strategies in response to changing conditions.
Technology-driven automation. You leverage automation tools to streamline reporting, budgeting and forecasting.

Would you like to learn how advanced your organization is at financial planning? Take this short (two minutes!), FP&A Maturity Assessment from Forrester Research. You’ll get customized results and recommendations for your organization.

Workday Adaptive Planning for Budgeting and Forecasting for a SaaS Business Model