Creating a Blank Plan

You can create a blank plan and build it from scratch. This can be useful if the data required to build your plan is not in Analytics. For example, you might want to populate the data manually or import the values from a spreadsheet.

Notes:
  • Before creating a blank plan, ensure that all the relevant dimensions and measures are created in your org.
  • To create a blank plan, you must be assigned the Create Blank Plans feature permission via a feature access rule.

To create a blank plan:

  1. From the Plans tab, click New. The New Plan wizard displays.
  2. Select Blank.
  3. Click Next.
  4. Enter a unique name for the plan.
  5. [Optional] Enter a description for the plan.
  6. [Optional] Search for and select a rate table to link to the plan.
  7. If you intend to use a measure that is not linked to a unit of measure and all the values of the measure in the plan have the same unit, select the unit in the Default Unit field. Otherwise, leave the Default Unit field empty.
  8. Click Next. The Build a Plan page of the wizard displays. This page enables you to set up the structure of your plan. After you add a dimension and a measure, a preview of the plan structure displays.

  9. Define the plan table view. This determines whether the plan table displays as a treeClosed One of the available plan table views. Tree view establishes a hierarchy by grouping together rows that contain the same row-level dimension values, starting from the top level. You can only reorder rows within their respective groups. Tree view is suitable for plans that contain rows with a clear hierarchy. or a gridClosed One of the available plan table views. Grid view displays row-level dimensions as a standard table, populating each dimension value in each row. You can reorder rows without restrictions. Grid view is suitable for plans that contain rows without a clear hierarchy and plans where the hierarchy is not important.. For more information about the available views, see Plan Table Views.

    Do one of the following:

    • To display the plan in grid view, under Table View, select Grid.
    • To display the plan in tree view, leave Tree selected.

  10. Define column-level dimensions. For more information, see Column and Row Dimensions. To define column-level dimensions:

    1. From the Dimensions panel, drag the dimension that you want to use as the top-level column group, for example, Year, and drop it into the Columns section.

      Tip:

      Instead of dragging and dropping, you can click Show Menu next to the dimension name and then click Add to Plan.

    2. Repeat the previous step to add more column-level dimensions, for example, Quarter, Period, and so on.
    3. If required, drag the dimensions to your required position within the Columns section to reorder them.

  11. Define row-level dimensions. For more information, see Column and Row Dimensions. To define row-level dimensions:

    1. From the Dimensions panel, drag the dimension that you want to use as the first-level row dimension, for example, Company, and drop it into the Rows section.

      Tip:

      Instead of dragging and dropping, you can click Show Menu next to the dimension name and then click Add to Plan.

    2. Repeat the previous step to add more row-level dimensions, for example, Trial Balance 1, GLA, and so on.
    3. If required, drag the dimensions to your required position within the Rows section to reorder them.

  12. Define measures. To do this:

    1. Click the Measures tab to display the Measures panel.

    2. If you configured the plan to display as a grid, under Measures Position, do one of the following:

      • Leave Columns selected to display measures as columns.
      • Select Rows to display measures as rows.

      For more information, see Measures Position.

    3. From the Measures panel, drag the first measure that you want to use, for example, Dual, and drop it into the Measures section. A preview of the plan now displays.

      Tip:

      Instead of dragging and dropping, you can click Show Menu next to the measure name and then click Add to Plan.

    4. Repeat the previous step to add more measures, for example, Home and so on.

  13. If you want your plan to have a measure pair, define the measure pair. For more information about measure pairs, see Measure Pairs. To define a measure pair:

    1. In the Measures section, next to the name of the measure you want to mark as primary, click Show Menu and then click Mark as Primary Measure.
    2. In the Measures section, next to the name of the measure you want to mark as secondary, click Show Menu and then click Mark as Secondary Measure.
    Warning:

    If the two measures have different units of measure, the plan must be linked to a rate table that contains the relevant conversion rates. If you haven't done so already, go back and select a rate table.

  14. [Optional] To create a relationship for the new plan:

    1. Click Add.
    2. Select the parent scenario you want to use. Only plans with at least one valid parent or child scenario are displayed.
    3. From the Type column, select a relationship type.
    4. Click Save. The new relationship displays in the Plan Relationships table. For more information on editing the relationship, see Editing Relationship Filters and Editing Relationship Details.
    Notes:
    • Ensure that the measures in the new blank plan and the parent scenario you select to create the relationship are the same.
    • Unique columns in the child plan are added as new columns to the parent plan.

  15. [Optional] If you want to change the placement of your child plan within the parent plan, select your desired plan and click Edit Details. The Edit Details page of the wizard displays.

    1. If necessary, enter a new relationship name. The relationship name is prepopulated by the parent scenario name and does not affect the child plan's placement.
    2. Select a subtotal level. The subtotal level determines the placement of the child plan, the lowest level of analysis, within the parent structure.
    3. After changing the placement of your child plans, a preview shows on the Edit Details page. Review your changes and click Save.

  16. Click Save.

    Warning:

    This step cannot be undone. When a plan is created, its structure cannot be changed.

The plan is now created. For the next steps, see Plan Table Overview.