Rolling Planning 

Use

You execute rolling planning in order to replace plan values with the actual values of the previous period within a fixed time context after every completed period. You can protect these actual values against changes and if necessary fix the plan data again for the remaining periods in the predefined time frame.

A typical example of such a scenario is the planning of sales figures on a monthly basis for the current fiscal year.

In order to model such a scenario, you require a planning layout for manual planning in which the consecutive listed periods are divided into two areas:

·        Completed periods which contain actual data and are protected against changes

·        Open periods which contain plan data and can be changed

In addition, the requirement exists that the boundary between both of these areas should be able to be changed with the least possible administrative effort.

The following graphic presents the procedure aimed for:

 The whole planning period is moved.

The general approach to fulfill this requirement is based on the use of variables in connection with dynamic data columns. You create the variables VPERACTUAL and VPERPLAN for the characteristic period and set the selection of variables so that the characteristic values cover the area from 1 to 2 over both variables and that the initial value of VPERPLAN is the same as the end value VPERACTUAL plus 1.

You use the variable VPERPLAN for the selection of the characteristic period in the planning level. In addition, you must restrict the characteristic fiscal year variant compounded to the period to a single value, since period is otherwise not available as a dynamic characteristic.

For the planning layout, choose the type Key figures in data columns and enter that the characteristic period should be presented in dynamic data columns. In addition, you include the characteristic version in the data column in order to distinguish between plan and actual data.

You take the further procedure from the following section.

Procedure

...

       1.      In the second step of the layout definition, choose the tab page Data columns.

       2.      In the table Configuration of data columns, define the data column for the presentation of the actual from completed periods.  For this you make the following settings:

§         ...

                            a.      Choose the key figure for which you want to display or enter transaction data.

                            b.      Set the indicator in the column Comparison column to protect the actual data displayed here from changes.

                            c.      Set the indicator in the column Dyn. to indicate the data column as dynamic.

                            d.      Select the field in the column for the characteristic period. Choose  Variable. The system displays a dialog box.

                            e.      Choose the option Variable and enter the Name VPERACTUAL.

                              f.      Enter in the column for the characteristic version the characteristic value for actual data.

       3.      In the table Configuration of data columns, define the data column for the presentation of the plan data for the periods that are still open. Make the same settings for this as for the actual data, however, with the following differences:

§         ...

                            a.      Make sure that the indicator Comparison column is not set.

                            b.      Because the indicator Dyn. is set, the system has entered the technical name of the characteristic in the column for the characteristic period. Do not change this setting.

This setting ensures that those values are used for the periods which are set in the selection of the planning level. In the scenario presented here, these values result from the definition of the variable VPERPLAN which is used in the planning level as a selection.

                            c.      Enter the characteristic value for plan data in the column for the characteristic version.

       4.      Save the planning layout and execute it.

Result

The executed planning layout contains as many data columns as there are characteristic values in the selections of both variables VPERACTUAL and VPERPLAN, therefore, in the example presented 12. After a change of month, you as the administrator only have to extend or reduce the selections of both variables by one period in order to adjust the division of the period range in a display area for actual data and an entry area for plan data.