Using budget plan files

Each budget plan file contains multiple sheets. Within a sheet, you can view data and/or input or modify the values in blue or green cells.

Opening budget plan files

Your access rights to each budget plan file (read-only or read/write) within a file group are determined by a combination of your security settings and workflow or process settings, if applicable.

The Open Plan Files dialog lists all budget plan files available to you based on your role profile and security settings. Use the filter box at the top of the dialog to quickly find a plan file based on the plan code or description. You can also sort and filter the list to narrow down the list. If you have previously opened a budget plan file within this session, the system highlights that plan file by default when you open the dialog.

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Depending on your Axiom role profile, you can open budgets from either the Budgeting or Bud Admin task panes.

The selected budget plan files open. If a file was opened read-only, then the text (R/O) displays in the file tab. You cannot save read-only budget plan files.

If the dialog is empty, then either you do not have access to any budget plan files in the file group or the budget plan files have not yet been created for the plan codes that you have rights to.

If another user has the budget plan file open with read/write permissions, then the file is opened as read-only—regardless of your security permissions.

Video instructions

Navigating budget plan files

When you first open a budget plan file, the system displays two main areas: the Navigation panel and the sheet display area. By default, the Summary sheet and its associated budget sheets display when the plan file is first opened.

The Navigation panel is the primary way in which to open the different sheets that make up the budget plan file. To open a specific sheet, double-click the tab name.

NOTE: If your organization is licensed to use the Provider module, the Navigation panel will include links to those sheets as well.

Each sheet you open displays as a separate tab in the plan file. The exception to this are the budget tabs, which are grouped and open together as a unit to help facilitate the process of adding and entering values. To move from one tab to another, you can use the Navigation panel or click the tab at the top of the display area.

In the grouped budget sheets, you can also click the tab names at the bottom of the display area.

You can easily move around to different sections within sheets by using the GoTo function on Main ribbon tab. This opens a drop-down menu that lists links to specific sections of the budget. This is typically a faster and more convenient way of reaching the section you need when working with tabs that contain a large amount of data.

The system allows you to open multiple budget plan files simultaneously so that you can work on them from one screen. To do this, click the Budgeting or Bud Admin tab, and open another budget plan file. The system assigns color codes the tabs specific to each plan file. In the following example, the blue tabs belong to the plan files for department 19100 and the orange tabs belong to the budget for department 27200.

To close a sheet, click the X next to the tab name. If you have unsaved data, the system will prompt you to save before closing.

NOTE: If there is only one sheet open for the plan file and you close it, the entire plan file will close.

Video instructions

Changing sheet views

On the Main ribbon tab, click the Change View drop-down to select how to display data on certain budget tabs.

For example, the Statistics and Revenue tab drop-down menus allows you to choose whether a section of a sheet displays data for annual, monthly, and projection intervals.

Understanding cell formatting and input types

The cells in the budget plan file are color coded as follows:

• White cells: Displays information only. The values are either hard-coded, pre-populated from the database, or calculated from other fields, and cannot be changed.
• Blue cells: These fields can be edited. Blue-shaded cells might be empty or pre-populated with a value or formula that you can change.
• Green cells:. From these cells, you can select from one of several predefined options.

While different budget plan files call for different types of user input, some common cases where the user is called upon to enter values include:

• Adjustments – Some calculations depend on historical account balances and can only be affected by changing the budgeted increase over the previous year.
• Spreads – Some calculations automatically spread the budget value over the year, others allow direct entry to adjust the monthly spread.
• Monthly input – There are sections on some tabs that allow you to enter values, while others have formulas which pre-populate values directly into each of the twelve months.

• Variance comments / Red flags – For certain values, the Budget Administrator may set variance thresholds which, if exceeded, cause a red flag icon () to display. The system may display a warning message if you attempt to save the budget. When this happens, enter a comment in the Comment field explaining the reason(s) for the variance. Entering a comment allows you to save the budget normally.

Understanding source data

The majority of a budget is pre-populated with data. Sources for this data include:

• Dimension tables – When you open a plan file, Axiom Budgeting and Performance Reporting typically runs a query against one or more dimension tables and returns data for the specified department, account, and so on.
• Data tables – These tables contain data associated with one or more dimensions. Budgeting-related examples include Financial and Payroll data tables.
• Driver files – Some cells in plan files contain formulas that reference assumptions (key statistics) contained in the plan file's driver files.
• File group variables – Axiom Budgeting and Performance Reporting can associate certain variables with a file group. The variable most often used in Axiom Budgeting & Performance Reporting 2020.1 is the file group year, which is set by Syntellis when initially creating the file group.
• Other cells / other sheets – Some values are calculated based on the contents of other cells or sheets within the plan file.

Understanding calculation methods

Calculation methods (calc methods) are pre-formatted groups of rows with pre-defined cell contents that can be inserted into plan files or reports. For instance, a budget plan file might use calc methods to insert multi-line records for each account associated with a given department.

The cells in a calc method may include formulas. These formulas might incorporate variables that reference the year of an associated file group or an assumption or configuration setting in a driver file. Some calc methods also incorporate user-defined variables.