Example Scenario: Model a Yearly Budget Planning Process Using the Calendar

Learn how you can set up a workflow to complete your yearly budget and forecast planning in the SAP Analytics Cloud calendar.

This example scenario illustrates how you can set up your data collection workflow including reviews on multiple levels as well as integrated automated system activities for data locking and data copy.

The fictional hardware production company ABC Computer has different product groups (laptops, desktops, and servers) in several countries across Europe and the United States. Each region is owned by a sales manager, product groups are owned by product managers. Country sales managers are responsible for the sales measures in their countries, they report to the regional sales manager. The overall budget is adjusted and approved by the board, in person of the CFO.

The planning process will run five weeks. The first three weeks are used to finalize the country and region budgets, which need to be approved by the regional manager first, and then by the product managers for each product group. The last two weeks are spent to have the numbers reviewed by the board, and take adjustments that need to be confirmed by the regional managers.

During the planning process all country and regional managers can access data of their own area only. Also product managers can only access data for their specific product groups. Once the country sales managers have submitted their budgets, they can't change these numbers anymore.

The board member responsible for sales wants to monitor the process during the first three weeks, the CFO wants to monitor the whole budget planning process. Status information about start, progress, data submission and approval are available for all involved people.

Creating an Overall Budget Planning Process

Context

Create a process that will serve as parent process for the complete budget planning process.

Procedure

  1. Create a process called Budget Planning 2024.
  2. Define the start and end dates.
  3. Add the CFO as viewer.
  4. Update the process.

Generating Processes and Tasks for Data Collection

Context

Generate processes for each region as well as tasks for each country from the driving dimension Region, and group them under a parent process. The region dimension includes information about the responsible persons for each country and region.

Procedure

  1. Create another process called Budget 2024 – Data Collection.
  2. Set the Budget Planning 2024 process as parent process.
  3. Let this data collection process start by its parent process.
  4. Add the story (or the analytic application) with the respective actual and planning data as work file.
  5. Set the context: Add the model with the respective measures and dimensions, and set the filter to the respective members of the Region dimension.

    In this example, the data model is configured like this:

    The filter is set to World including the United States and Europe nodes:

  6. Add the appropriate people to this process: Assign yourself or the responsible person to this process, and add the board member responsible for sales as viewer.
  7. Update the Budget 2024 – Data Collection process.
  8. Select this process in your workspace and choose Start of the navigation path (Create) Next navigation step  Generate Events with WizardEnd of the navigation path.
  9. Check the entries in step 1 and turn on the option Automatically activate the events on the planned start date.
  10. In step 2, select Region as driving dimension, and select the required regions and countries as members.

    In this example, the following members are selected:

  11. In step 3, keep the default setting General Task and Review Tasks as task types for the leaf members and add data locking tasks before and after the general tasks.

    1. Select Add Data Locking Tasks.

    2. To unlock the data automatically before the general tasks start so the country managers can add their data, select Before General Task and set the target lock state to Open and keep the reverted lock state set to Locked.

      The reverted state Locked means that the data will be locked automatically when the task is reopened later, and only Admin users and the model creator can change values.

    3. To add an automatic data locking task after the country managers entered their data, select After General Task and set the target lock state to Locked and set the reverted lock state set to Open.

      The data will be locked automatically once the country managers submit their tasks, and only Admin users and the model creator can change values. The reverted state Open means that the data will be unlocked when the task is reopened later so the data can be changed by the country managers of the respective general tasks.

    4. Select Create a process for groups of tasks.

      The wizard will generate a child process for each leaf member. Each child process will include an automatic data locking task followed by a general task for data input, followed by an automatic data locking task and a review task.

  12. In step 4, select the appropriate properties that will be used for defining the assignees and the reviewers of the generated tasks and processes.
  13. In step 5, you can add some instructions in the Description field.
  14. Check the events to be generated as well as the assigned people.

    In this example, the following events will be generated:

  15. Choose Generate.

Results

You've created the parent process Budget 2024 – Data Collection and generated two child processes for the regions United States and Europe with corresponding child tasks for data collection and review in the respective countries.

In this example, the planning process that has been modeled so far, looks like this:

Creating and Adding Review Tasks for Product-Specific Reviews

Context

Create review tasks for the product managers who are responsible for the different product groups and add these tasks to the Budget 2024 – Data Collection process.

Procedure

  1. Select the Budget 2024 – Data Collection process and create a review task called Review PM – Laptop.
  2. Let this review task start by dependency and select the Budget 2024 – Data Collection – United States and the Budget 2024 – Data Collection – Europe processes as the events that need to be completed before the review task can start.

  3. Add the story (or the analytic application) with the respective actual and planning data as work file.
  4. Select Activate the task automatically once any status of the dependencies is met.
  5. Set the context: Add the model with the respective measures and dimensions, and set the filter of the Product dimension to Laptop.
  6. Add the product manager responsible for the product group Laptop as assignee.
  7. Update the review task.
  8. Repeat the steps above and create review tasks for the other product groups Desktop and Server by adding the responsible assignee and setting the corresponding context.
    Tip

    You can also copy the review tasks: Change the event name, and select Copy all work files, if any. In the Details panel, you can then change the assignee and context.

Results

You've created review tasks for the product managers of the respective product groups.

In this example, the planning process has been enhanced like this:

Creating and Adding a Review Task for Budget Approval by the CFO

Context

To have the overall budget approved by the board, in person of the CFO, create a review task below the overall budget planning process and assign the CFO to it.

Procedure

  1. Select the Budget Planning 2024 process and create a review task called Budget Planning 2024 – Board Review.
  2. Let this review task start by dependency and select the Budget 2024 – Data Collection process as the event that needs to be completed before the review task can start.

  3. Add the story (or the analytic application) with the respective actual and planning data as work file.
  4. Select Activate the task automatically once any status of the dependencies is met.
  5. Add the CFO as assignee.
  6. Update the review task.

Results

You've created a review task for the CFO to review the planned data of the overall budget planning for 2024.

In this example, the planning process has been enhanced like this:

Collecting and Reviewing Planned Budget Data

Learn how the people involved in the budget planning process enter, submit, and review the data, and how the individual calendar events are connected.

This interactive graphic illustrates the flow of the budget planning process. The explanatory text indicates when a task or process starts and who is notified to enter or review data. The budget planning process for 2024 starts at the specified date and time. The data collection process for 2024 starts at the same time as its parent process. The data collection process for the United States starts at the same time as its parent process. The data locking task to lock the data for California starts once the general task is completed successfully. The process for data collection in Florida starts at the same time as its parent process. The process for data collection in Texas starts at the same time as its parent process. The data collection process for Europe starts at the same time as its parent process. The process for data collection in Germany starts at the same time as its parent process. The process for data collection in France starts at the same time as its parent process. The process for data collection in Italy starts at the same time as its parent process. The process for data collection in Spain starts at the same time as its parent process. The review task for data review by product management for product group "Laptop" starts once the data collection processes for the United States and Europe are accomplished. The review task for data review by product management for product group "Desktop" starts once the data collection processes for the United States and Europe are accomplished. The review task for data review by product management for product group "Server" starts once the data collection processes for the United States and Europe are accomplished. The review task for data review by the CFO for the complete budget planning process starts once the data collection process is accomplished. The general task for data collection in California starts once its preceding data locking task is completed successfully. The data locking task to open the data locks for California starts at the same time as its parent process. The review task for California starts once its preceding data locking task is completed successfully. The process for data collection in California starts at the same time as its parent process.

Hover over each calendar event for a description. Click the calendar events for more information.

Process "Budget Planning 2024"

The overall budget planning process groups all necessary calendar events. The creator as well as the viewers – in this example the CFO – are notified and can monitor the progress.

Process "Budget 2024 – Data Collection"

The data collection process groups the two data collection processes for the United States and Europe as well as the review tasks for the product group reviews.

The assignees, as well as the viewers – the board member responsible for sales – are notified and can monitor the progress for data collection.

Process "Budget 2024 – Data Collection – United States"

This process groups the data collection processes with the respective tasks of the individual countries in the United States.

The regional manager for the United States is notified and can monitor the progress for the data collection in the US.

Process "Budget 2024 – Data Collection – California"

This process groups the tasks for California: A data locking tasks, a general task, another data locking task, and a review task.

Data Locking Task "Budget 2024 – Data Collection – California Lock Before General Task"

The data for California are automatically opened.

General Task "Budget 2024 – Data Collection – California General Task"

The country manager for California is notified and can enter the planned budget data for California.

Once the task is submitted, the data are locked automatically.

Data Locking Task "Budget 2024 – Data Collection – California Lock After General Task"

The data for California are locked automatically, and the regional manager for the United States is notified and can review the data.

Review Task "Budget 2024 – Data Collection – California Review 1"

The regional manager for the United States is notified and can review the planned budget data for California.

If the regional manager rejects the planned budget data, the data locks are opened automatically and the country manager is notified and can adapt the data accordingly. Once the regional manager approves the data, the task is completed.

Process "Budget 2024 – Data Collection – Florida"

This process groups the tasks for Florida: A data locking tasks, a general task, another data locking task, and a review task.

Process "Budget 2024 – Data Collection – Texas"

This process groups the tasks for Texas: A data locking tasks, a general task, another data locking task, and a review task.

Process "Budget 2024 – Data Collection – Europe"

This process groups the data collection processes with the respective tasks of the individual countries in Europe.

The regional manager for Europe is notified and can monitor the progress for the data collection in Europe.

Process "Budget 2024 – Data Collection – Germany"

This process groups the tasks for Germany: A data locking tasks, a general task, another data locking task, and a review task.

Process "Budget 2024 – Data Collection – France"

This process groups the tasks for France: A data locking tasks, a general task, another data locking task, and a review task.

Process "Budget 2024 – Data Collection – Italy"

This process groups the tasks for Italy: A data locking tasks, a general task, another data locking task, and a review task.

Process "Budget 2024 – Data Collection – Spain"

This process groups the tasks for Spain: A data locking tasks, a general task, another data locking task, and a review task.

Review Task "Review PM – Laptop"

Once the data collection processes for the United States and Europe are completed, the product manager responsible for the product group "Laptop" is notified and can review the planned budget data for laptops.

If the product manager rejects the planned budget data, the regional managers and the country managers are notified and can adapt the data accordingly in the reopened data collection tasks.

Review Task "Review PM – Desktop"

Once the data collection processes for the United States and Europe are completed, the product manager responsible for the product group "Desktop" is notified and can review the planned budget data for desktops.

If the product manager rejects the planned budget data, the regional managers and the country managers are notified and can adapt the data accordingly in the reopened data collection tasks.

Review Task "Review PM – Server"

Once the data collection processes for the United States and Europe are completed, the product manager responsible for the product group "Server" is notified and can review the planned budget data for servers.

If the product manager rejects the planned budget data, the regional managers and the country managers are notified and can adapt the data accordingly in the reopened data collection tasks.

Review Task "Budget Planning 2024 – Board Review"

Once the data collection process is completed, the CFO is notified and can review the overall budget data planned for 2024.

If the CFO rejects the budget plan, the preceding tasks and processes are reopened, and the product managers, the regional managers as well as the country managers are notified to adapt the data accordingly.

Once the CFO approves the budget plan, the review task as well as the complete budget planning process are completed.