In Workday Adaptive Planning, flexibility is everything—especially when it comes to modeling your data at the right level of granularity. That’s where Split Rows come in handy. Whether you’re working with standard sheets or modeled sheets, understanding how to use splits effectively can enhance visibility, collaboration, and control over your planning data. Let’s dive deeper into using splits in modeled sheets.
What Are Splits?
Splits allow you to subdivide a cell into multiple sub-rows, each holding a portion of the original value. These sub-rows roll up to the original cell, which becomes read-only (and turns grey to indicate this). This is a great way to break down expenses, revenue, or any line item into more meaningful components—without having to create entirely new rows or accounts.
Think of splits as a mini breakout underneath a single line item—perfect for when you want to break down an annual marketing budget into event-specific spending, or allocate data such as travel costs or project revenue across multiple departments.
Splitting Rows in Modeled Sheets
Before you start, make sure your administrator has enabled split functionality on the sheet. This setting can be found in the backend of the sheet under columns and levels settings.
Once splits are allowed on the sheet, you will have to select each column that you want to be able to edit in the split rows by checking the “split” checkbox in the general properties of each.
How to Split Rows on the Sheet Itself
- Right-click the row you want to split and select Split Row.
- A sub-row appears underneath, with editable cells only in the columns you specified in the backend.
- In this example, I have split a project to be able to enter different backlog amounts at different levels. In the backend, I have selected level and backlog amount columns to be editable in split rows. The rest of the rows that do not have the “split” checkbox selected inherit the same value as the initial line that was split.
Deleting Rows (Both Types)
To delete any row (split or independent), simply right-click on the row and select Delete Row.
Pro Tips for Using Splits vs Adding New Rows
- Use splits for transparency: Want stakeholders to understand where a number comes from? Splits give that visibility.
- Add rows for unique data: Need a brand-new data point, scenario, or combination of dimensions? Add a new row.
- Keep an eye on permissions: Other users only see your splits if they’re viewing from your level.
Importing Data with Splits
The manual import template will be very similar for modeled sheets with splits, with 1 extra column!
The “Is Split Child Row” column is used to tell Adaptive which rows will be splits and which will be the initial row. This column is mandatory to fill out on an import template for a modeled sheet with split rows. In this example, the row with Level 1 is the initial row, or “parent row” that I want to split, so I wrote “No” in that column. The following rows that will be splits of this row (levels 2, 3, and 4) will have “Yes” written in the same column, indicating that they are split, or “child rows” of the initial row. The column should be populated with “No” for any row that is either being split, or does not have splits. The column should be populated with “Yes” for any row that will be a split off of the first “No” row above it.
Final Thoughts
Whether you’re breaking down a number for better clarity or adding new data entirely, splits in modeled sheets give you the tools to build smarter, more detailed plans. So next time you need to add additional detail to your numbers or additional line items with the same dimension, right-click and make it happen.
Revelwood is more than just a Platinum Workday Adaptive Planning partner — we’re a trusted advisor to the Office of Finance. With 30 years of experience and award-winning expertise, we bring together powerful software, proven best practices and pre-built, ready-to-deploy solutions that accelerate time to value. Our team doesn’t just implement technology — we help finance teams transform the way they plan, analyze and make decisions. Discover how Revelwood can help you get the most out of Workday Adaptive Planning — and achieve results that matter.
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