Forecasting at Parent Level

Hi,
Is it possible to make adjustments to a forecast at a parent level?

We are looking to layer in adjustments at a high level and then have it allocate below based on the existing child data.

Thanks for the help!

i am not sure how to do this, but am interested to learn

I am unsure of how to make adjustments at a parent level, rather than leaf level.

Could you do this using spreading?
I know that when we have accidentally tried to use a parent level when we are setting budgets there is a pop up box to question how you would like to spread the data.
Providing you are at the correct child level with all other dimensions other than the one you want to spread I think that would be possible.

We budget at the fiscal year level and allow the info to spread based on 2 / 3 year average versions we have set up. We also spread down to the product level in the same manner in the projection.

You can also use process manager to allocate a total amount down to leaf level based on a specific driver. For example, if you have $100K you can put it to an allocation code, lets call this TOTAL. Then you can set a methodology like allocate this $100K using last month’s actuals at individual leafs.

We always do it at the leaf level, Marissa’s comment is interesting though!

We have historically done it at leaf level.

We always do it at the leaf level

Historically, we have handled this at the leaf level. I’m curious to see if others approach it differently.

Not sure if this will be exactly what you are looking for, but you are able to change the “Calculation Definition” in the Model Manager for roll-up accounts for different rule sets. For instance, our account (4004) - Parts Cost of Sales is an aggregate of numerous accounts for our Actual results:

However, for forecasting purposes, the (4004) - Parts Cost of Sales account is an input account, ignoring the aggregate leaf level, meaning we only have to update the one account instead of all of the leaf level accounts. The only drawback to this is you won’t have a forecast for the leaf level, just the parent account. Again, this may not be what you need if you do want the leaf level detail, but this could be a time saver if you don’t need the leaf level detail.
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You can do budget on parent level but it also depends how much leaf levels would be affected and the number entered would be divided on each leaf level combination depending on page level combination/detail level combinations.

Sorry, I can’t answer this question.

I had no idea. My mind just exploded with this knowledge. Thank-you.

We forecast at the parent level using spreading. The spreading is based on existing data.

Yes, you should be able to do that. We perform that function during our budget process with the help of workflows and processes.

I don’t know exactly, but I think you could change the type of account for input varies by scenario version, and use a type for input into parent members.

I know that we have used rule sets in the model manager to allow for data entry at a parent level for accounts. Not sure if you can do this in other dimension types, and it doesn’t spread to the leaf levels.

I think you can only load information at the leaf level, but there are instances where we set up a “parent-level” entity as leaf member to load values that we don’t want to immediately allocate down to specific jobs. For example it our job numbers are 401, 402, 403…, we create a job 4XX that has the same parent but is used to hold unallocated values. When you are ready to allocate down, there are options for spreading (as many have noted), or you can devise your own method to manually spread it to the 401, 402, 403’s

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I have only ever done this at the leaf level, but interested in others tips!