Direct Your Budgeting Process Using Hyperion Planning Task Lists

Ever wished you had more control over the budgeting process? Would you like to provide more direction to your budget managers/analysts? Then Hyperion Planning Task Lists might be just the thing for you.

Planning Task Lists guide end users through the budgeting process by directing them to perform specific tasks in a prioritized order. For example, you could start the process by having users read an instruction page that guides them through the system, details any drivers/assumptions, and provides pertinent milestone dates. After that, they could be directed to enter data for such items as new headcount, new capital, and discretionary expenses by being pointed to the appropriate web data input forms. You can also provide links to run calculations, review specific reports, and promote items up through the workflow process for approval.

Task lists are set up with links to each task and are prioritized as necessary. As part of the prioritization, tasks can also be set to be dependent on other tasks being completed first. So, as an example, prior to a user running a formula that calculates depreciation, they would first need to update a new capital web input form before they could proceed.

Other useful features of Task Lists include:

• Completion due dates and on-screen alerts: green for on schedule, yellow for approaching due date, red for overdue.
• Email alerts for tasks that are overdue. These alerts can be scheduled as frequently as every hour.
• The ability to view task status in summary and generate status reports.

Task Lists can also be viewed in two formats: Basic and Advanced modes. In Basic Mode, users only have the Task List to navigate through in the web interface. In Advanced Mode, users can view a Task List and can navigate through all the other areas in the Planning web interface.

Finally, you can set up different Task Lists for each functional area so that users responsible for sales, for example, will only see sales related tasks and users responsible for manufacturing will only see tasks relevant to them. Another nice feature is that you can set access to a Task List, preventing users from viewing other user’s lists. Task Lists can also be set up by planning process, so you could have a set for the annual budget, another set for the rolling forecast, and another for the long range plan.

Not all Hyperion Planning customers use Task Lists. But, if you are looking to provide your budget managers with more guidance and make the budgeting process more directed, implementing Task Lists might just do the trick.