08.06 Planning at Account Level (Trial Balance)

When to use this approach

This is the simplest approach. Planners enter a single number per period against an account code — with no departmental or cost centre breakdown at all. Use this when:

• You only need to know how much is being spent or earnt by account code, not what cost centre it occurs in

• You are running a high-level cost envelope exercise

• You intend to refine to cost centre level in a later planning stage, using a separate scenario

Step 1 - Setup the data-entry report

1. In Designer, open or create a report based on the GL Balances template such as

   GL 06 Planning / Replanning This Year — for planning the current financial year

   GL 06 Planning for Next Year — for planning the year ahead

2. Select your planning scenario in the "Planning Scenario" filter.

3. In the Rows / Columns dialog (Layout tab), set the down axis to show your Account dimension only. Do not leave any Cost Centre dimensions (eg: Division or Department).

4. Run the report. Confirm account codes appear in rows, periods across the top, and that actuals are populating where expected.

   

5. Verify submission cells are yellow (see 08.05 if they are not).

6. Save the report with a clear name — for example: Budget FY2026 — Account Nominal Input.

Step 2 - Entering data in Excel

1. Open the saved report in the Excel Add-In.

2. Type budget figures directly into the editable cells. You can use Excel formulas — for example =B5/12 to spread an annual total equally across twelve periods. Formulas are preserved when the report is re-run, as long as the same row is still present in the results.

3. Use the Preview button in the FastClose ribbon to review unsaved changes before submitting.

4. Click Submit.

What you've learned

You can configure and use a simple account-level planning template.