Setting up financial planning budgets and scenarios

The Budgets tab displays all budgets and budget scenarios. Scenarios appear nested within the budget they are based on; click the arrow next to the budget name to expand the list of related scenarios. From the Budgets page, you can add, edit, and delete budgets, and make budgets available for end users in the main Axiom Financial Planning and Payroll Planning modules.

To access this page, from the Command Center home page, click Financial Planning.

Each budget includes multiple tabs that allow you to configure and administer budgets, scenarios, and forecasts. Click the name of a budget or scenario to open it in the Budget Editor. The Budget Editor page includes the following tabs:

Tab	Description
Settings	Configure the basic budget settings, such as the budget name, accounts to exclude, departments to include, number of years to include, etc.
Load Data	Select and copy the actual and projected data into the database.
Drivers & Assumptions	Configure settings for rates, statistics, and other data types to help calculate planning data.
Cash Flow	Generate cash flow forecasting data to add to the budget or scenario.
Plan Files	Process the budget to pull in the appropriate data and publish the budget to end users.
Plan Utilities	Access the utilities needed to perform a variety of administrative functions.
View Reports	Displays the production reports for the selected budget or scenario. NOTE: Budget reports are not yet available; they will be included in a future release.

Adding a budget or scenario

To add a budget or scenario:

1. From the Command Center home page, click Financial Planning.

2. In the Budgets tab, click + in the upper-right corner of the page.

3. In the Add New dialog, complete the following fields, and click Add:

   Field	Description
   Type	Select Budget.
   Select source	Select an existing budget to use as the basis for the new budget.
   New file group year	[Budget only]] Type the financial planning year for the budget. To include the year in the financial planning budget name, select the Use in file group name check box.
   Table suffix	[Scenario only] Default suffix is _Vn, where n equals 1, 2, 3, etc. This field is assigned automatically and is not editable.
   Name	Type a name for the budget or scenario.
   Description	Type a description for the budget.

4. From the list of budgets, click the name of the budget you just added to view the Budget Editor:

   

5. Complete the following tabs:

   • Settings

   • Load Data

   • Drivers & Assumptions

   • Cash Flow

   • Plan Files

   • Plan Utilities

   • View Reports

Setting an alias

Aliases are used to specify the current budget, next year's budget, budgets used for forecasting purposes, and other designations. The following aliases are available:

Alias	Description
BudgetCurrentYear Approved	At the start of a new fiscal year, assign this alias to the appropriate payroll file group for reporting.
Budget CurrentYearRevised	Assign an official revision of the budget to this alias.
BudgetNextYearApproved	This alias indicates an approved budget. At the start of reporting for a new fiscal year, this will be promoted to the current year budget.
FileGroupForCreatingScenarios	This alias indicates the most current forecast approved for reporting.
ForecastCurrentYearApproved	This alias indicates the working file group. It is assigned to a budget or forecast file group before the plan files are opened to the budget or forecast owners. It is the file group they access in the payroll budget editor.
PlanWorkingFGForEndUser	At the start of a new fiscal year assign the appropriate file group for reporting.

To add an alias:

1. On the Financial Planning home page, in the appropriate budget row, click Add Alias in the Aliases column.
2. In the dialog that appears, place a check mark for the alias or aliases you want to add.

3. Click Save.

NOTE: Budgets with an assigned alias cannot be deleted.

Making budgets available for end users

In order for users to view and interact with a budget or scenario, it must first be made available.

• To display a budget or scenario in the Axiom FI Suite's Financial Planning module, on the main Budget Editor page, slide the Available for end user toggle to Yes.

Deleting a budget

To delete a budget:

1. From the Command Center home page, click Financial Planning.
2. In the Budgets tab, place a check mark next to the name of the budget or scenario you want to delete.
3. Click the Delete iconin the toolbar.
4. At the prompt, confirm you want to delete the budget, and click OK.

NOTE: You cannot delete budgets with an assigned alias.

Editing a budget or scenario

To open a budget or scenario for editing:

1. From the Command Center home page, click Financial Planning.

2. In the Budgets tab, click the name of the budget or scenario from the list. Use the information in the following sections to make any needed adjustments.

TIP: To update all files associated with the selected budget or scenario (including templates, utilities, and drivers) to the latest versions before making any adjustments, click the Update icon in the toolbar.

Settings tab

This tab includes the base settings for the budget. Complete the following fields, and click Save.

Field	Description
Name	The name of the budget. TIP: Add the budget year to the name.
Base period	The last period of actuals of the fiscal year for the budget or forecast. Typically, this is the most recent closed fiscal period. This period is referenced by planning templates, utilities, and the Cash Flow Forecaster.
Description	A description for the budget or scenario.
Source	An existing budget used as the basis for this budget or scenario. NOTE: This field is not editable.
Budget year	The Axiom system groups all the configuration and data information related to a budget, which normally references a planning year. NOTE: This field is not editable.
Filters for non centrally planned accounts	Type a filter syntax that includes the departments and/or accounts to exclude from the budget.
Filters for centrally planned accounts	Type a filter syntax that includes the departments to exclude from the budget.
Additional plan years	Select the number of years to add to the budget, including the base year.
Process definition file	Select the process definition The means of controlling and auditing a process through a defined set of steps. Each step has a defined action and an owner responsible for completing that action by a specified date. to use for this budget. For more information, see Plan file processes. Click Import to save a copy of the file to the current group.
Calculate FTP	To enable or disable FTP calculations within the Cash Flow Forecaster and balance sheet planning calculation methods, do one of the following: To calculate FTP in the planning process, click the toggle to Yes. To not calculate FTP as part of the planning process, click the toggle to No.

Load Data tab

This tab allows you to both copy actual data and import projected data used for the budget into the database.

To load data:

1. To load copied GL actuals into the budget data table, do the following:

   1. In the Copy GL actuals through row, click Load.

   2. To run the Line Item Validation report to view a summary of line items in the financial planning budget for the current plan year for a department or comparable entity, click Open in the Review Validation Report column.

2. To load the current list of prepaid contracts from the prepaid contracts data import file, do the following:

   1. In the Load Prepaid Contracts row, select the file to download from the drop-down.

   2. Click Load.

   3. To run the Prepaid Contracts Data report to view a summary of prepaid contracts in the financial planning budget for the current plan year for a department or comparable entity, click Open in the Validation Report column.

3. To import the projected depreciation from existing assets from an import file created by your fixed asset accounting system, do the following:

   1. In the Load Projected Depreciation Expense row, select the file to download from the drop-down.

   2. Click Load.

   3. To run the Prepaid Contracts Data Load Validation report to view load data for prepaid contracts in the financial planning budget for the current plan year for the department or comparable entity, click Open in the Review Validation Report column.

TIP: Instead of clicking each Load button individually, you can use the Load All button to load all of the selected file data.

Reviewing depreciation data and project fixed asset balances

You can review and edit forecast depreciation expense, calculated accumulated depreciation, and asset balance, and then save the results to the budget.

To review depreciation data and project fixed asset balances:

1. At the bottom of the Load Data page, click Review depreciation data/project fixed asset balances.

   NOTE: The utility opens in the Desktop Client.

2. In the Existing Fixed Assets Budget utility, review and edit the forecast depreciation expense, calculated accumulated depreciation, and asset balance, as needed.

   

   Click image to view full size

3. After making your changes, in the Axiom ribbon tab, click Save.
4. Return to the budget settings in the Web Client to complete the budget set up and configuration.

Drivers & Assumptions tab

Driver and assumption files include rates, statistics, and other data types referenced by each budget to help calculate planning data. Driver and assumption files can also include global values such as calendar information.

In the Status column, select one of the following options for each driver:

• Completed – the driver is configured and ready for use.

• In Progress – the driver is in the configuration process.

• Not Used – the driver will not be used for this budget.

IMPORTANT: In some cases, Axiom will not allow you to process some process plan utilities unless the Status column for a driver is set to Completed.

For instructions on configuring driver and assumption settings, see the following table.

NOTE: The driver and assumption files open in the Desktop Client.

Driver	Description
Account Growth	Configure global growth rates incorporated into the following calculation methods: Annual Growth Rate Annual Growth Rate with Manual Adjustments Cash Flow Input Detail Input Monthly Input Total Non-Interest Prepaid Contract Simple Interest
Add New Budget Accounts	Add existing GL accounts to a specified department's budget in the case where a department does not have historical results for a given GL account.
Balance Sheet Account Settings	Configures settings for balance sheet accounts.
Balance Sheet Allocation	Add new balance sheet allocation drivers to the database.
Balance Sheet Projection Drivers	Contains method drivers for balance sheet accounts that use the Cash Flow, Non-Interest, and Simple Interest calculation methods. IMPORTANT: You must first configure the Interest Rate and New Volume Amortization Patterns drivers.
Bank Balance Account Assignment	Contains driver inputs for the Bank Balancer utility.
Cash Flow Forecaster	Contains Cash Flow Forecaster-related drivers that are unique to each budget.
Fixed Assets	Contains a list of fixed asset types that are referenced by the New Fixed Asset calculation method of the Development Template Capital sheet.
Interest Rate	Contains projected interest rates and FTP rates that are used by the Cash Flow Forecaster and balance sheet planning templates.
Loan Loss Category	Provides the organizational structure for the Loan Loss Reserve utility.
New Volume Amortization Patterns	Contains amortization patterns that are applied to new volume balances in the Cash Flow calculation method.
Other Rates	Stores rates the Axiom system uses in the planning process.
Prepaid Contracts	Allows you to configure existing prepaid contracts in the database.
Tax Rates	Contains tax rates that are used by the Bank Balancer utility to calculate the incremental tax expense related to balancing entries.

Cash Flow tab

The Cash Flow tab is where you calculate the projected runoff of existing balances and associated rates for the loans and deposits, borrowings, and investments areas of the budget that use the Cash Flow calculation method for budgeting interest income and expense.

NOTE: The calculation method is set in the ACCT dimension table for every BudgetACCTRollup and ForecastAcctRollup account.

TIP: Before processing cash flow, you must first configure the Interest Rate driver and Cash Flow Forecaster driver for the budget in which you are running the utility.

For a budget or forecast, Axiom calculates interest for all balance sheet rollup accounts based on a projection of their outstanding balances multiplied by their interest rate each month. The system uses this calculation to generate the interest income or expense for each balance sheet account, such as commercial loans.

For accounts that use the Cash Flow calculation method, Axiom queries the projected runoff of existing balances and associated rates for the base period, which is the last historical month of the period prior to the period that is being budgeted. This is known as the Current Position portfolio, which declines during the budget period because of runoff. As the dollars decline, Axiom has access to the interest rates and, therefore, can predict the interest income on those loans.

As the budget owner projects outstanding balances, the monthly projected balance is compared to the remaining current position balance, and the difference is reported as New Volume. Axiom has access to projected new volume interest rates to calculate the interest on New Volumes. Current Position interest and New Volume interest are added together to calculate interest income and interest expense.

When the budget editor is opened, the system queries the database for the accounts and departments, and it aggregates the runoff amounts and interest rates into the Projected Runoff section of the budget. In the following example, this section includes runoff of the Current Position from the Cash Flow Forecaster and the projected runoff of new volume balances generated by the editor.

For example, if an institution starts a budget with $100 million of loans outstanding at an average 5% interest rate, that is the current position. By the end of the budget, the same institution has $75 million with a 4% interest rate because the higher rate loans have been paid off during the budget months because of their age. Axiom can estimate the amount of the existing outstanding balances by assessing each loan and calculating the monthly pay-down with the projected interest rates. Based on those calculations, Axiom generates a cash flow projection and the associated projected runoff balances by account for the loans and deposits, borrowings, and investments areas in the budget.

Projected runoff and associated interest rates over time generated from the Cash Flow Engine and added to the budget

Processing cash flow forecasting data

To process cash flow forecasting data:

1. Under Generate cash flow forecasting data, click Process.

2. The Job Scheduled dialog appears, indicating that the Process Financial Ratios process has been scheduled.

3. To close the Job Scheduled dialog, click OK.

   TIP: Axiom will notify you when your scheduled job is completed. For more information, see Viewing notifications in the Web Client.

Test Instrument records

To view and audit the details for specific records directly in the Cash Flow Forecaster utility, click Open. For instructions, see Running the Cash Flow Forecaster utility.

Reviewing cash flow validation reports

The following reports provide details about any errors and warnings generated by the calculation engine. This alerts users to issues that may need to be resolved in the data.

Report	Description
Cash Flow Forecaster Log Instrument Detail report	Displays a list of records for each message.
Cash Flow Forecaster Log report	Summarizes the Cash Flow Forecaster logging messages saved in the CFFLog table.
Cash Flow Results Analysis	Displays results from the Cash Flow Forecaster account, product, and interest type (ITYPE) dimensions.

Plan Files tab

After you load data, configure drivers and assumptions, and process cash flow, you are now ready to process the budget to pull in the data from the database and insert it into the budget. This process also publishes the budget to end users.

When you click Process, Axiom does the following:

• Refreshes the Axiom database queries for the budget, including specifying exactly which queries to run.
• Saves data to the database.
• Saves the budget.
• Adds the budget to the list of available planning budgets in the Financial Planning module from the FI Suite home page.

You perform this action not only when you first create a budget but continuously throughout the planning cycle so that budgets are always updated with the latest data. For example:

• After initially creating budgets, you process the budget to build out the Axiom queries and save the initial data to the database.
• Budgets can reference information included in reference and driver tables. If tables are updated, the data in budgets may be out of synch with the data in the database. To synchronize the changes, process the budget.
• If budgets are designed to accommodate ongoing data updates—for example, rolling forecasts—processing the budget brings updated data from the database into the budget.

After the system is done processing, you can then open the budget to review it before making it available to your end users.

Process and Review tab

Do any of the following:

• To process the budget, click Process. Once the process is complete, the system displays the budget in the list of budgets in the Financial Planning module. For instructions on entering values into the budget, see Working with financial planning budgets.

• To only process specific data, click Edit Filters and select the plancodes/departments you want to process. Click Add and then click OK when prompted. Then click Process.

• To view the processed budget, under the Review Plan Files section, click Open. This is the budget end users will see in the FI Suite > Financial Budget page.

Process Management

To manage the process steps for your organization, click Open Process Management. For instructions, see Plan file processes.

Plan Utilities tab

Process Plan utilities allow you to apply specific calculations and adjustments to a budget depending on the type of changes/updates you want to make. You can process all of the planning utilities at once, or one or more specific utilities individually.

The following table lists the available planning utilities available to your organization:

Process Plan Utility	Description
Balance Sheet Budget Allocations	Allocate top-of-the-house planned balances and related interest to lower levels of the organizational structure.
Budget Eliminations	Configure and process elimination entries for planned inter-company balances.
Bank Balancer	Balance the plan for the balance sheet, declare dividends payable from subsidiaries to parent companies, and book consolidating entries for parent company investments in subsidiaries and equity in earnings of subsidiaries.
Load Plan Yield Reporting Records	Calculate and save yield reporting records for budgets and forecasts.
FTP Assigned Rate Budget	Calculate FTP and annualized FTP for balance sheet accounts that are not budgeted.
FTP Budget Offset	Post offsetting FTP entries for FTP data types FTP, ANNFTP, FTPSPRD, ANNFTPSPRD to zero out FTP at the company level.
Process Financial Ratios	Calculate key ratios and financial statistics for the selected budget or forecast.
Loan Loss Reserve	Provides a standard method for budgeting or forecasting the Allowance for Loan Loss and monthly provision expense.

View Reports tab

NOTE: Budget reports are not yet available; they will be included in a future release.