E. Data – Collecting and populating historical data
Axiom Financial Planning generates multi-year forecasts and scenarios based in part on historical data stored within nodes. You can enter this historical data using any of the following methods:
- Manual entry directly on the node
- Filling out a specially formatted data collection workbook
- Automated imports from other Axiom applications
Which method you choose is largely a matter of preference and the availability of data. During implementation, your Kaufman Hall Implementation Consultant will help you select the most appropriate input method and assist in entering your initial data. From there, it is your responsibility to ensure that historical data is updated, as necessary.
You can enter historical data manually, directly into nodes. Simply enter each of the values requested in the left-hand columns for each of the base years. Values for future projections, based on your organization’s historical trend, populates automatically after all the necessary historical data has been entered. These standard formulas can be overwritten when the long-range plan assumptions are applied to the projections.
The major categories include:
- Volume
- Gross Charges
- Reimbursement
- Expense
- Capital Expenditures
- Balance Sheet
To facilitate data entry, cells are color coded as follows:
- White cells are protected. The values are hard-coded, pre-populated from the database, or calculated from other fields, which you cannot change.
- Blue cells may be edited. Blue shaded cells might be empty or pre-populated with a value or formula that you can change.
- Green cells contain drop-down menus, allowing you to select from one of several predefined options.
Collecting historical data may require multiple sources and assistance from other members of your organization. To help with this process, Kaufman Hall provides an Excel data collection workbook to share with VPs, directors, managers, and other stakeholders. The workbook serves as a centralized repository for housing information without the need to grant other users access to Axiom Financial Planning. Alternatively, data can be entered and queried from other Kaufman Hall products, or linked to data files within the upload and integration workbooks.
To complete this step, complete the following tasks:
- Collecting and importing data from other sources
- Building nodes from imported history and other data is to be used with the integration utility or data collection. After the data is loaded, select the Build Nodes from Loaded Data option in the Node Rebuild Utility to create nodes.
Axiom Financial Planning can draw data from other Axiom Software products. During implementation, actual and budget data residing in Axiom Management Reporting can be imported into Financial Planning for base years. Additionally, all other tracks can influence the long-range financial plan on an ongoing basis. Your Kaufman Hall Implementation Consultant can provide methods of integrating decisions and data from those tracks.
