Using allocation groups

Allocation groups allow you to organize your allocation rules. Using groups, you can edit the properties of multiple allocations as a whole, including the run order of a group and its member allocations.

Creating allocation groups

To create an allocation group:

On the FI Command Center, click Organizational Profitability.
Click the Manage and Process Data tab, and then click the Add and Edit Allocations sub-tab.

NOTE: Existing groups are identified by the arrow icon at the left, which can be used to expand or collapse the group.
Place a check mark in the rows for the allocation rules you want to include in the new group.

NOTE: All allocations in a group must share the same category (Actual, Budget, or Forecast).
Click the Group icon in the Edit toolbar.

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In the Select Group drop-down list, click Create Group and enter the Group Name. This must be a unique value.

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Enter a Run Order for the group. This will establish the order among groups and allocations of the same category.
Click Group Allocations.

Adding allocations to a group

Allocations of the same category (actual, budget, forecast) can be grouped for convenience or organizational purposes.

To group individual allocations:

On the Organizational Profitability home page, click the Manage and Process Data tab.
Click the Add and Edit Allocations sub-tab.
Select two or more allocations of the same category and click the Group icon.
In the Add to group dialog box, select an existing group in the Select Group list.

OR

Click Create new in the Select Group list and enter a Group Name.
Click Save in the Add to group dialog.

Changing a group name

To change the name of a group:

On the Organizational Profitability home page, click the Manage and Process Data tab.
Click the Add and Edit Allocations sub-tab.
Place a check mark in the row of the group whose name you want to change.
Click Change group name in the Edit toolbar.

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Enter a new name in the Name field.
Click Change Name.

Editing allocation groups

You can use bulk editing features to update properties of multiple allocations at once, or to assign allocations to a new group.

To edit a group:

On the Organizational Profitability home page, click the Manage and Process Data tab.
Click the Add and Edit Allocations sub-tab.
Place a check mark in the row of the group you want to edit.

OR

Expand the group and select the allocations you want to edit.
Click the Edit icon in the toolbar to display the Edit Allocations dialog.

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Update the following fields, as needed.

NOTE: Changes you make will apply to ALL allocations in the group.

Field Name	Description
Percent	Enter the percentage to allocate to the target department.
Starts	Click the calendar icon to select the month and year to begin processing the allocation.
Expires	Click the calendar icon to select the month and year to finish processing the allocation.
Group	Select a group in the Group list, if desired.
Category	Select a category from the following options: All — type of allocation that contains settings common to actual, budget, and forecast allocations. When selected, all four types of allocations will be displayed. Actual – allocations generated for ACCT and DEPT. Budget – allocations generated for BudgetACCTRollup and BudgetDEPTRollup. Forecast – allocations generated for ForecastACCTRollup and ForecastDEPTRollup.
Data type	Identifies the data types that the rule will use to allocate GL records. Select one of the following: MTD – income and expense accounts. EOM – ending balances. AVG – average balances. FTP – FTP records.
Method	Select from the following methods: Pro rata – the allocation engine spreads the cost pool to target departments pro rata based on the Allocation Basis Data filter. Even – the allocation engine spreads the cost pool evenly to target departments defined in the Target Department Data filter. Rate Volume – this allocation method is used by organizations to allocate costs to target departments based on standard cost rates. Cost rates for the given allocation ID are defined by month in the AllocationUnitRate table. The allocation engine calculates the amount to allocate to target departments by multiplying the allocation ID unit rate for the month by the amount defined in the Allocation Basis Data filter.
Active	Slide the toggle to Yes to enable the allocation. Slide it to No to disable the allocation.
From	Click Select department to define the source of the cost pool. See Using the Filter Wizard for information on how to apply filters. NOTE: This field may be required depending on the method you select.
Exclude selected department(s) from subsequent allocations	This option controls the allocation of costs from one allocation department to another. When selected, all departments included in the Cost Pool Data Filter - Department setting will be excluded from the Target Department Data Filter setting for all subsequent allocation rules, as defined by the Run Order setting. When cleared, during allocation engine processing, all departments defined in the Cost Pool Data Filter - Department setting can be included in the Target Department Data Filter setting of all subsequent allocation rules, as defined by the Run Order setting.
Offset account	Select an account in the drop-down list. IMPORTANT: The offset account must be the same type—income or expense—as the target account. If the offset account is not consistent with the target account, the system will co-mingle income and expense for offset calculations, rendering results invalid. (The AAIO Axiom allocation income offset account account type is used for income offset accounts and AAO Axiom allocation expense offset account for expense.)
To	Click Select department to define the target departments. See Using the Filter Wizard for information on how to apply filters. NOTE: This field may be required depending on the method you select.
To account filter data type	Select the data type for the account selected in the To: field. Options are: AVG EOM MTD STATS NOTE: This field only appears when you select Prorata in the Method list.
Include source departments	Do one of the following: Select this option to make cost pool departments eligible to receive a portion of their own cost pools when they are included in the Target Department Data filter. Clear this option to make cost pool departments ineligible for an allocation.
Target account	Select an account in the drop-down list. NOTE: The AX_AcctType assigned to the target account is used by the allocation engine and the Cost Allocation Operational report to identify an allocation rule as income or expense. Selection of this value is, therefore, critical to the validity of allocation results. (The AAI Axiom allocation income account account type is used for income target accounts and AAE Axiom allocation expense account for expense target accounts.)

Click Edit X (where X is the number of allocations in the group, plus the group item).

Changing the run order of a group

You can change the run order of an allocation or group with ease. Subsequent allocations will be adjusted automatically.

NOTE: Run Order is unique for each category; that is, you may have a Budget allocation or group with a run order of 1 and also have an Actual allocation or group with a run order of 1. When you change the run order of a group or allocation, only subsequent groups or allocations of the same category are adjusted.

To change the run order:

On the Manage and Process Data tab, click the Add or Edit Allocations sub-tab.
In the Run Order column of the group you want to change, enter the desired integer.
Click Save. The run order of the selected group and its members will be updated, and other like allocations will be adjusted accordingly.

Deleting allocation groups

When you delete a group, you are simply removing the grouping of the allocations. The allocations will not be deleted.

To delete a group:

On the Organizational Profitability home page, click the Manage and Process Data tab.
Click the Add and Edit Allocations sub-tab.
Place a check mark in the row of the group you want to delete.
Click the Delete iconin the toolbar.
Click OK at the prompt.