08.09 Setting Up Your Excel Data-Entry Workbook

Beyond the basic template

Modules 08.06–08.08 describe the creation of the FastClose report that drives planning submission.

But in a production budget process, you'll also want to think about how to structure and package the Excel workbook that contributors actually use day to day.

Pre-filtering by contributor scope

Almost always, each contributor should see only their own data. A department manager should open a workbook already filtered to their department, with everything else excluded. Set this up by applying fixed dimension filters in Designer before saving the report, and save a separate version for each contributor group.

FastClose planning data is stored centrally — every submission goes to the same database regardless of which copy of the workbook submits it. Multiple people can therefore submit simultaneously to the same scenario, each from their own filtered workbook.

Using Excel formulas in submission cells

FastClose preserves formulas in planning submission cells when the report is re-run, provided the same row (same dimension combination) is still in the results. Useful patterns:

• Equal spread across periods: =AnnualTotal/12

• Reference a supporting model on another sheet: =Payroll!B14 or =CapexSchedule!D7

• Uplift from last year's actuals shown in an adjacent column: =C5*1.05

Adding supporting worksheets

You can add as many additional worksheets to the workbook as you like — headcount models, capital expenditure schedules, revenue drivers, whatever your planning process needs. FastClose interacts only with the worksheet containing the planning report. Other sheets are untouched. Reference supporting worksheets from submission cells using standard Excel formulas.

Protecting the workbook

By default, FastClose protects non-submission cells so contributors cannot accidentally edit actuals or subtotals.

If you want to go further, this protection can be passord protected, by going to the FastClose ribbon → Workbook Options → Set Planning Input Protection Password

What you've learned

You can build a practical, user-ready Excel planning workbook — filtered to scope, formula-driven for spreading and modelling, and properly protected. Ready to hand to contributors.