Creating a Plan Template

With plan templates, you can create a plan structure using data from Analytics and use it to quickly create plans. The filters that you define when creating a plan template are applied when you create a new plan from the plan template. When you create a new plan from a plan template, you can only add additional filters but cannot remove the predefined ones. You can leave the filter values blank so that they can be specified while creating each plan, define them in the plan template so that they are automatically populated in the plan, or lock them so that they cannot be changed while creating the plan.

Notes:

To create plan templates, you must be assigned the following permission sets:

  • WorkGrid - Manage Data Sources and Plans
  • CRM Analytics Platform User

To create a plan template:

  1. On the Plan Templates tab, click New. The New Plan Template window displays.
  2. Enter a name for the plan template.
  3. In the Template Category field, select the category to which the plan template belongs. By default, the template category is "General".
  4. [Optional] Enter the description for the plan template.
  5. In the Input Data Source lookup field, search for and select the data source used to create plans.
  6. [Optional] In the Output Data Source field, search for and select an output data source used when sending plans created from the template to Analytics.
  7. [Optional] Select the Delete Obsolete Plan Data checkbox to delete obsolete dimensions, measures, cell values, adjustments, and comments from a plan when you run the Update from Analytics process. Plans created from the template inherit this setting. For more information, see Updating a Plan with the Latest Data from Analytics and Mass Update From Analytics Process.
  8. If you intend to use a measure that is not linked to a unit of measure and all the values of the measure in a plan created from the template have the same unit, select the dimension that contains the code of the unit in the Default Unit Dimension field. For example, the dimension might contain the ISO code of the currency that the values are in. Otherwise, leave the Default Unit Dimension field empty.
  9. [Optional] Search for and select a rate table to link to the plans created from the template.
  10. Click Next. The Configure Plan Template Filters page of the wizard displays.

  11. Configure dataset filters applied when creating plans from the template. To do this:

    1. Search for and select the dimension whose values you want to filter.
    2. Select the operator used when applying the filter. For more information about the available options, see Operators.

    3. Depending on the operator that you selected, do one of the following:

      • If you selected "Equals" or "Does Not Equal", search for and select the values. If you want to select a value when creating plans, leave the Value field empty.
      • If you selected "Contains", "Does Not Contain", or "Starts With", enter the value that you want to use. If you want to select a value when creating plans, leave the Value field empty.
      • If you selected "Is Null" or "Is Not Null", proceed to step e.
    4. If you provide a dimension value in the filter and you want to prevent that value from being changed when creating plans, select the Fixed Value checkbox.
    5. To add more filters, click Add Filter and then repeat steps a-d.
    6. Select the filter logic you want to use to filter the data from a data source. For more information about the available options, see Filter Logic Options.
    7. If you select Custom Logic, define the logic you want to apply by entering a value in the Custom Logic field. For more information, see Custom Logic.
  12. 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.

  13. 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.

  14. 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.

  15. 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.

  16. 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.

  17. 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.

  18. Click Next. The Configure KPI Summary Cards page of the wizard displays. This page enables you to configure KPI summary cards to be displayed in your plan.

  19. [Optional] Configure a new KPI summary card. To do this:

    1. Click Create and configure custom KPI summary cards. to display the New KPI Summary Card window.

    2. Add a formula. To do this:

      1. Click inside the Formula Builder bar.
      2. Click Switch to Builder Mode.
      3. Click Add Function. This adds a new segment to the formula.
      4. Select the function type. For more information about the available types, see Functions.
      5. Select the filters that you want to apply and click Done.
      6. For the first filter that you selected, leave "=" selected to include the value that you select in the next step. Otherwise, select "!=" to exclude the value but include all other values.
      7. Select the value that is included or excluded by the filter.
      8. Repeat steps vi and vii for all the remaining filters that you selected.
      9. If the plan contains multiple measures, select the measure that you want to include or exclude.

    3. [Optional] Add a numeric value. To do this:

      1. Click Add Value. This adds an operator and a new segment.
      2. Select the mathematical operation that you want to perform between the two segments. For more information about the available operators, see Operators.
      3. Enter a numeric value.
    4. Click Apply.
    5. Enter a title.

    6. [Optional] Select a unit of measure. Select Default Plan Unit if you want the summary card to display the plan's default unit of measure. If no option is selected, the summary card won't display any units of measure.

      Warnings:
      • If your plan contains a measure pair, you must select Default Plan Unit for the KPI summary cards whose values are expected to be displayed in any of the measures that make up that pair. Otherwise, the unit might not be correct when switching between the primary and secondary measure.
      • Ensure that the rate table that defines the exchange rates for your plan units is updated to avoid any errors.
      Note:
      • Units of measure whose Unit Type field is defined as Currency display the org's currency code. For example: USD 29,072.00

      • Units of measure whose Unit Type field is defined as any other value display one of the following, in this order of priority:

        • The symbol prefix, if it has a value. For example: #250.
        • The symbol suffix, if the symbol prefix is blank. For example: 29,07%.
        • The code, if both the symbol prefix and suffix are blank.
    7. Click Add. The KPI summary card is now created.
    8. [Optional] Repeat step 19 to create additional KPI summary cards. You can manage your cards from the Summary Cards grid.
    9. [Optional] Use drag-and-drop to reorder the KPI summary cards. They will be displayed sequentially from left to right, mirroring the top-to-bottom order they are arranged in within the grid.
    Warning:

    Summary card calculations exclude relationship values. Only cell values defined in the plan are aggregated when calculating card totals. As a result, summary card values might differ from totals shown elsewhere in the plan when relationships contribute to those values.

  20. [Optional] Define the dimension value mappings. To do this:

    1. Search for and select the dimension whose value you want to map to a new value. For example, select "Financial Year".
    2. Select the value from the Analytics dataset that you want to map to a new value. For example, enter "2026".
    3. Enter the new value that you want to use in your plan. For example, enter 2027.
    4. To add more transformations, click Insert Row and then repeat steps a-c.

  21. After you have defined the structure of your plan template, click Save.

    Warning:

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