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Using Statistical Allocations to Allocate Costs and Revenues

A statistical allocation is a type of variable allocation that enables you to use a set of statistical values as the basis of your allocation, such as the square footage of your office space or your employee headcount.

From the Statistical Bases tab, you can create and save sets of statistical values in advance, ready for use in the allocation process. It is also possible to enter or import values during the allocation process and save them as a statistical basis at that point, if required. See Managing a Statistical Basis for more information.

Alternatively, you can save statistical values and distribution details you use regularly as an allocation ruleStores distribution criteria for reuse and helps speed up the process of splitting costs and revenue from selected GLAs and dimensions, and allocating them to other GLAs and dimensions. Fixed allocation rules use set percentages or amounts as the basis for an allocation. Variable allocation rules use sets of values that may vary as the basis for an allocation., to save you time. See Managing Allocation Rules for more information. It is also possible to enter the details manually during the allocation process.

There is a clickable progress bar at the top of each page. This bar enables you to navigate within the allocation process by clicking on a point on the bar. It also illustrates what steps are complete and what still needs to be done: the icon indicates a completed step and the icon indicates an incomplete step. You cannot use the progress bar to jump forward in the allocation process, unless you have already completed some of the details on that page.

A collapsible progress panel is also available and summarizes the current status of the allocation. To show or hide the panel, click the arrow.

Tip:

Tip

We recommend that you maximize the Allocation pages, as this makes it easier to see the details in the Preview pane.

Using Allocations with Multiple Companies

If you want to allocate costs and revenues from multiple companies, check the following before starting the allocation:

• Your org is in multi-company mode and that all the appropriate companies are selected as current companies.
• All companies share the same dual currency. This is because the app cannot retrieve transactions lines in different currencies and convert them to a single document currency. The dual currency is used as the document currency when creating the allocation transactions.
• You are not using local GLAs (you cannot use local GLAs in multi-company mode or when creating a variable allocation, even if this functionality appears to be selected).

Retrieving the Source Data

The Retrieve Source page enables you to specify the source data for your allocation:

1. Check that you have the required company or companies selected.
2. Click the Allocations tab.
3. Click New on the Allocations home page.
4. [Single-company mode only] On the Retrieve Source page, select a time period and its associated values. For example, if you select "Soft Date", you must select the relevant soft date value, such as "Last N Months". If you select "Current Period", only transactions up to the current date are selected.
   Note:

   Note

   

   We recommend that you select transactions by period, not by date range, so that the data aligns with your accounting period.

5. [Multi-company mode only] If required, select Only Retrieve Intercompany Transactions on the Retrieve Source page. In the Filter Groups section, select a company and period details for this filter group.
6. [Optional] Select the accountIn this context, accounts are organizations or people that you conduct business with, such as customers or vendors. Account is a standard Salesforce object. FinancialForce accounts can be any Account Record Type. you want to retrieve data from.
7. [Optional] Add more accounts in the same way. To select all the accounts in a range, click and select "From-To". To select multiple accounts, click and select "Multi-select".
8. [Optional] Select a general ledger accountThe general ledger will normally include general ledger accounts (GLAs) for items such as income, expenses, assets, liabilities, and reserves. from the list.
   Note:

   Note

   

   Local GLAsA general ledger account that is used in local statutory reporting. You can only use local GLAs in allocations if you are in single-company mode. are not supported in a variable allocation.

9. [Optional] Add more GLAs in the same way. To select all the GLAs in a range, click and select "From-To". To select multiple GLAs, click and select "Multi-select".
   
10. Select up to four analysis dimensionsCustom objects that allow you to analyze the activity in your business in additional ways, such as by cost center, project, employee, or any other business entity important to you.. You can select from a list or type a name to search. Your administrator may have hidden unused dimensions.
11. [Optional] Click Add Filter Group to add another set of filters. You can add up to five filter groups.
12. [Optional] When you have provided or exceeded the minimum retrieval criteria, click Preview to retrieve and view a summary of the source data. You must have entered at least one time period and either a general ledger account or one or more analysis dimensions.
13. [Optional] On the summary list, you can expand each entry to view the individual transaction line items. You can use standard sort and search features to navigate around.
14. [Optional] Click Show More if there are more transaction line items to view.
15. Click Next to continue.

Setting the Method of Allocation

The Method of Allocation page enables you to specify the type of allocation you want to perform:

1. Select "Variable" and then "Statistical". This means that you are going to use a set of statistical values as the basis of your allocation.
2. Click Next to continue.

Configuring the Allocation

The Statistical Basis Configuration page enables you to specify the statistical values you want to use as the basis for your allocation.

If you have a variable allocation ruleStores distribution criteria for reuse and helps speed up the process of splitting costs and revenue from selected GLAs and dimensions, and allocating them to other GLAs and dimensions. Fixed allocation rules use set percentages or amounts as the basis for an allocation. Variable allocation rules use sets of values that may vary as the basis for an allocation. set up:

1. Select it from the Allocation Rule picklist. See Managing Allocation Rules for information on how to create an allocation rule.
2. The Statistical Basis and Distribution Fields are automatically completed with details taken from the rule.
   Tip: To view details of the statistical basis, click .

3. Any filters set on the rule are applied.
4. [Optional] Click Add Filter to enter more filter criteria.
5. [Optional] If you change any of the details on this page, click to either update the selected allocation rule or save the changes under a new name.
6. [Optional] Click Preview to view the data in the Preview pane. If required, you can use the Search field to find specific entries in the filtered data.
7. Click Next to continue.

If you do not have a suitable variable allocation rule set up, you can do one of the following:

• Enter the details you want to use for this allocation and click to save the details as a new allocation rule.
• Select an existing allocation rule from the picklist, amend the details to suit and then either click to save the rule under a different name for use again later or use the details now without saving.

If you do not want to use an allocation rule:

1. Select an existing statistical basisA saved set of variable values that are used to calculate the distribution of an allocation, such as employee headcount. When you update the values set on an existing statistical basis, the previous version is saved and the new version used in all subsequent allocations that use that statistical basis. from the Statistical Basis picklist. If you do not have a suitable statistical basis already set up, click to create one now. See Managing a Statistical Basis.
   Tip: To view details of a statistical basis you have selected, click .

2. [Optional] Select the company you want to distribute to from Distribution Fields.
3. Select the GLAs and dimensions you want to distribute to from Distribution Fields.
4. Select the fields you want to distribute to from Distribution Fields. The fields available are taken from your selected statistical basis and you can select the ones that are relevant to your allocation. These fields form part of your overall distribution.
5. [Optional] To remove a selected GLA or dimension, click the cross icon next to its name.
6. [Optional] Set up a filter for the data in the preview pane:
1. Click Show Filter.
2. Click Add Filter.
3. Select a field from the picklist, then select an operator and enter a value. The fields available are derived from Distribution Fields.
4. Repeat for each field you want to filter by.
7. [Optional] Click Preview to view the data in the Preview pane. If required, you can use the Search field to find specific entries in the filtered data.
8. Click Next to continue.

Entering the Distribution Details

The Statistical Distribution page enables you to specify where you want to allocate the source data to and the corresponding percentages or values:

1. Do one of the following:
• Select Distribute to GLAs and click in the field to select the GLAs you want to distribute to. This option is available if you entered a dimension, or a GLA and a dimension in Distribution Fields on the Statistical Basis Configuration page.
• Select Copy GLAs from and select "Source", if you want to distribute to the GLAs retrieved in your source data. This option is available if you entered a dimension, or a GLA and a dimension in Distribution Fields on the Statistical Basis Configuration page.
• Select Copy GLAs from and select "Basis" if you want to distribute to the GLAs used in the statistical basis you selected on the Statistical Basis Configuration page. This option is available if you entered a GLA, or a GLA and a dimension in Distribution Fields on the Statistical Basis Configuration page
2. [Optional] Click Preview to view the distribution. If required, you can use the Search field to find specific entries.
3. Click Next to continue.

Entering the Posting Details

The Posting Details page enables you to specify how you want to post the allocations:

1. [Optional] Type a description to display on the resulting journal or transactions. If you leave this field blank, a description is automatically generated based on the posting date or period you enter, such as "Allocation 2017/007".
   
2. [Multi-company mode only] Select the company the journals or transactions are to be created in.
3. Specify whether you want to create journals or transactions.
4. Enter the journal or transaction posting date and period.
5. Click on the Preview heading to expand the Preview section.
6. [Optional] Click next to Source to view details of the source data for this allocation.
7. [Optional] Click next to Distribution to view details of the transactions to create for this allocation.
8. [Optional] If you want to save the details you have entered for this allocation as an allocation templateUsed to store the details entered during the allocation process, such as the filter structure of the source data, allocation rules used, and distribution details. Dates, periods, and specific amounts are not stored. for future use, click Save in the Allocation Template Bar and enter a name and a description for your allocation template. If you save a template with the same name as an existing one, you will overwrite the existing template. You can manage your allocation templates from the Allocation Templates tab.
9. Click Post.

Once an allocation transaction has been posted successfully, you can view it from the Allocations list view or go on to create a new allocation.

Allocation journals have a type of "Manual" and a status of "In Progress". You will need to post the journals manually via the Journals tab.

Note:

Note

When created by the Allocation Scheduler, allocation journals have a type of “Manual” and a status of “Complete”.

The allocation transaction line items have a process status of "Not Processed" and a matching status of "Not Matchable". If you create an allocation transaction in error, you can reverse it. See Reversing an Allocation Transaction for more information.

Viewing an Allocation

To view details of an allocation:

1. Click the Allocations tab.
2. From the Allocations list view, click the allocation.

You can access logs created by the allocation process from the Allocation Detail page. See Allocation Detail Fields for more information about the fields on this page.

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