Introduction to Budgeting and Planning

Hubble® is an integrated suite of performance management apps. It offers reporting, analytics and planning in a single, real-time solution that fully understands your ERP. Hubble is built on a simple idea - that things should be easy. Hubble integrates your critical business systems so end users at all levels of the organization have access to live data - extraordinarily fast. With this type of visibility, everyone can easily understand, manage and predict the business. Redundant processes disappear, and a high- performance business can emerge.

The Budgeting capability is a sophisticated, yet user-friendly, real-time budgeting and forecasting tool. Budgeting stores submissions in its own dedicated Budget Database, separate from your ERP. Hubble Ledgers identify the submissions so that Hubble inquiries can be designed to include ‘real’ ERP Ledger/ Balance Types alongside the Hubble Ledgers used in Budgeting. This allows the software to seamlessly draw on both sources of information, providing accurate, up-to-date budgeting submissions. Approved budget amounts can optionally be uploaded to JD Edwards Enterprise One at the end of the process. The commit or upload procedure is accomplished via the General Ledger Balances Batch Table (F0902Z1) if this table is present in your JD Edwards system.

Strategic Planning takes budgeting to the next level by looking outside the General Ledger and allowing you to create data entry tables. Strategic Planning is completely customizable; it enables end users to design an input form which can be joined to any table in JD Edwards or Oracle E-Business Suite and incorporate them with user-defined data collection columns that hold key driver information for robust modeling. The Planning capability in Hubble automates enterprise planning and forecasting and integrates it directly with your ERP, enabling a real-time planning process and eliminating offline spreadsheets.

Planning Setup and Workflow Overview

Following is a summary of the steps involved in a planning process.

Planning Setup

The following steps are involved in creating a Budgeting and Planning process within Hubble. Each step is presented in detail in the chapters that follow.

Create aBudget DatabaseandBudget Connectionwith the direction and assistance from your Hubble Administrator, Database Administrator, and Hubble Support.
Grant users the appropriateLicensesandCapabilities.
Define aHubble Ledger, where budgeting data will be stored.
Design anInput Form, where budgeting data will be entered.
Define a Microsoft ExcelModel, to define allocation and rules to populate budget amounts.

Create a BudgetingActivity:
1. Define Participant Roles
  - Supervisors
  - Controllers
  - Approvers
  - Contributors
2. Set Approval Rules
3. Define Participant Scope
Create a Budgeting Cycle:
1. Associate Input Form(s)
2. Associate Hubble Ledger(s)
3. Define Cycle Scope
4. Enable Notifications

Entry and Workflow

The result of setup is a Budgeting Cycle that is reusable for the next year or the next budget iteration. A Budgeting Cycle can be opened to enable budget entry, manage status and approval workflow, and closed when budget completed.

Open the Budgeting Cycle.
Enter Budget into an Input Form, manually or utilizing an uploaded Microsoft Excel Model
Submit budget data.
Finalize Submission.
Reject or Approve a Submission.
Upload to JD Edwards.
Close the Budgeting Cycle.

Terminology

The following are terms that are used within the budgeting process.

Activity - An activity defines each type of budget or forecast to be carried out, e.g. Annual Budget or Sales Forecast. Each activity has a set of participants and is comprised of one or more cycles. The cycles, in turn, represent iterations of the activity, typically over the course of a year.

Participants - The Hubble users taking part in an Activity. Participants can be assigned to multiple roles or groups within an activity.
- Supervisors - The Participants who manage the Activity and it's Participants and Cycles. Hubble users who have been granted the Administrator Permission Budgeting Capability are automatically granted the Supervisor Role for every Activity, regardless of whether they are named as a Participant.
- Controllers - The Participants who manage a group of Contributors and Approvers. Within their Controller Group, Controllers can override the status of a submission and can upload submissions to JD Edwards.
- Approvers - The Participants who approve/reject the finalized submissions of assigned Contributors.
- Contributors - The Participants who input budgets and finalize their submissions.
Cycles - A Cycle represents an iteration or portion of an Activity (e.g. Original Budget, Final Budget). Each activity must have at least one Cycle, and further Cycles may be defined if other iterations are to be performed. When a Cycle is Open, Contributors will be able to input budget figures into Input Forms and Hubble Ledgers designated to that Cycle.
Forms - Forms are Hubble inquiries, designated to be a part of a Budgeting Cycle, which are used to input budget figures into one or more Hubble Ledgers. Forms can be associated to one or more cycles. Often many Forms are used within a Cycle.
Hubble Ledger - Budget figures are input into Hubble Ledgers. Multiple Hubble Ledgers can be used to designate versions (Original, Final) or Amount Type (Amount, Units). Hubble Ledgers can be associated to one or more Cycles.
Scope - By setting a scope, Supervisors can control the areas and field combinations (e.g. business unit and period) where Contributors can input or edit budgeting figures. Scope can be defined by Cycle and Participant and is applied to all Input Forms created from a GL or JC Balances Template.
Notifications - Email notifications can be sent to participants on a variety of occasions, such as seeking approval for submissions.
Cycle Status - Displays the progress of the current Cycle. The status of each Form will be shown for every Contributor. From here, Submissions can be Finalized, Approved, Rejected, or Uploaded.
Comment Columns - Users can add one or more user input comment columns to an inquiry These columns allow users to add feedback and information to an item on an inquiry. They can then reference these notes in a collaborative environment.
Model – A Microsoft Excel Workbook containing formulas and rules to populate budget figures, defined by a user and uploaded into Hubble.

Model Scope – A variation of Scope that restricts cells to only update through the result of the Apply Model functionality; the contributor cannot manually type into or override the cell. Model Scope can be defined by Cycle and Participant.
- Apply Model – Apply rules from a pre-defined Microsoft Excel Model to populate the input form in Hubble.
- Cascade – Apply rules from multiple pre-defined Microsoft Excel Models in a specified order and Mode to populate the Input Form in Hubble and save those results.
Audit Log – shows the result of each intersection from the most recent Apply Model.

Navigation

Budgeting Menu

Once the budgeting configuration and permissions have been set in Administrator, the Budgeting Menu is available. Depending on the license and capabilities you have been given access to, the buttons on the menu may vary slightly. A complete list of all the buttons is below:

Activities – Opens the Budget Setup dialog.
Hubble Ledgers – Enables you to define a ledger for use in budgeting or forecasting.
Forms – Enables you to define a form for use in budgeting or forecasting.
Open Form – Enables users to review input forms and their related cycle and status, as well as open the form.
Enter Budget – Enables Enter Budget Mode on the currently open Input Form. Once enabled, the Enter Budget Menu as shown below appears.
Enter Comments – Enables the user to enter comments.
Finalize – Selected when a Contributor is ready to finalize their submission for approver review. Once, selected the Contributor will no longer be able to access Enter Budget Mode, unless the submission is rejected.
Cycle Status – Open the Cycle Status dialog.
Audit Log – Shows the result of each intersection from the most recent Apply Model.
Upload – Enables the user to upload their Microsoft Excel workbook into Hubble.
Download – Downloads the designated Microsoft Excel workbook from the Repository to their computer.

Update and Download – Updates the assigned Model with the data displayed on the current Hubble Input Form and download the Microsoft Excel workbook to their computer.
Create – Exports a ready to use Microsoft Excel Model template based on the active form.
Cascade – Apply rules from multiple pre-defined Microsoft Excel Models in a specified order and Mode to populate the Input Form in Hubble and save those results,

Enter Budget Menu

While in Enter Budget Mode (enabled via Enter Budget), the Enter Budget Menu is available. Depending on the capabilities you have been given access to, the buttons on the menu may vary slightly. A complete list of all the buttons is below:

Finish - Save changes and exit Enter Budget Mode
Save and Continue - Save changes, while remaining in Enter Budget Mode. The inquiry will be re- run, refreshing calculations (e.g. Subtotal rows, Total Columns).
Cancel – Cancel any unsaved changes and exit Enter Budget Mode.
Apply and Finish – Apply rules from an uploaded Microsoft Excel Model to populate the input form in Hubble, save those results, and exit Enter Budget mode
Apply Model – Apply rules from an uploaded Microsoft Excel Model to populate the input form in Hubble, while remaining in Enter Budget Mode
Cascade – Apply rules from multiple pre-defined Microsoft Excel Models in a specified order and Mode to populate the Input Form in Hubble, save those results, and exit Enter Budget Mode.
Audit Log – shows the result of each intersection from the most recent Apply Model.
Insert New Row – insert a new row into the form, based on the currently selected row
Delete/Clear Row – Clears out the entire row, effectively deleting it from budgeting.

Enter Budget Mode: Right-click Options within an Editable Cell

If you right-click on an editable cell, you will get a menu with the following options:

Copy - Copy the selected cell or range of cells to the clipboard in a plain text format (tab- separated values), suitable for pasting into Microsoft Excel and other applications.
Paste - Paste the text in the clipboard into the cell or a range of cells. For a range, it must comprise of rows separated by new lines or columns separated by tabs, which are compatible with copying from Microsoft Excel. If the range to paste into includes both editable and non- editable cells, only the values which correspond to editable cells will be accepted.

Restore - Restore a data or code cell back to the value it had when the submission was last saved - a simple ‘undo’ facility.
Clear - Erases the editable data of the selected cells. Clear will also reset the cell’s Apply Model precedence, clearing the manually entered amount and allowing a model to populate a new amount. Note: If all the amount values of a given row are cleared, the row may no longer generate, though the Missing Balances feature may generate it for you artificially.
Freeze/Unfreeze Column – Set a column of an inquiry in place so it will not scroll horizontally.

Enter Budget Mode: Grid Options

Depending on the design of your import form, the ability to insert new rows, or edit the labels or codes of existing rows may exist. The following options are available when right-clicking on these cells within these rows.

Query Assist - This option opens a Query Assist dialog for the purposes of looking up a valid code. Selection is limited to one code only. You can either use the Query Assist to look up a value or type the code directly into the cell. Codes entered will be validated upon submission.
Insert New Row - You can insert a new row into the form, based on the codes in the selected row. For example, this would enable you to submit additional rows for different subledger codes.
Insert from Clipboard – Inserts the number of rows and values of clipboard data into the form.
Delete/Clear Row – Erase the editable data of the selected row. Clear will also reset the cell’s Apply Model precedence, clearing the manually entered amount and allowing a model to populate new amount. Note: If all the amount values of a given row are cleared, the row may no longer generate, though the Missing Balances feature may generate it for you artificially.

Budget Setup Dialog

The Activities button opens the Budget Setup dialog as shown below.

Note: Licensing and Budgeting Capabilities restrict access to this dialog. Budget Administrators can create a new activity. Budget Administrators or Activity Supervisors can edit an existing activity. For more information, refer to the License and Capabilities Matrix in User Setup.

Activities Tab

The Activities tab allows Budget Administrators and Supervisors to manage Budgeting Activities and their associated Cycles. The tab is accessed by selecting Activities from the Budgeting Menu or selecting the Activities tab from the Budget Setup dialog. From this screen Activities and Cycles can be created, copied, edited, or deleted.

New – use the drop-down menu to select a new activity or cycle.
Edit – edit the selected activity or cycle.
Delete - delete the selected activity or cycle.
Caution: If an activity is deleted, all data associated with it, including submissions which have not been uploaded to JD Edwards, will also be deleted.

Copy – copy the selected activity or cycle (often an activity or cycle will be very similar to one defined previously. This function allows you to create a copy and then edit it to meet your requirements).
Hide Activity – Hide the selected Activity. All cycles in that activity must be closed in order to use this.

Unhide Activity – Unhide a previously hidden Activity. Accessed using the drop-down menu from the Hide button.
Close Cycle – close a budgeting cycle.
Open Cycle – open a budgeting cycle, allowing for budget entry.
Cycle Status – launch the Cycle Status dialog.
Expand All - expand the cycles, allowing users to see all Cycle level details.
Collapse All - collapse the cycles, displaying them at a summarized Activity level.

Hubble Ledgers Tab

The Hubble Ledgers tab, allows Budget Administrators to manage Hubble Ledgers. The tab is accessed by selecting Hubble Ledgers from the Budgeting Menu or selecting the Hubble Ledgers tab from the Budget Setup dialog. From this screen, Budget Administrators can Add a new Hubble Ledger, Edit or Delete an existing Hubble Ledger, or copy data to a Hubble Ledger via Ledger Copy.

Add – add a new Hubble Ledger. Hubble Ledgers in this listing will be available to be associated to a cycle.
Edit – edit the description, JDE upload ledger, or ledger type of the selected Hubble Ledger.
Delete – delete the selected Hubble Ledger, not available when the ledger is associated with a cycle.
Ledger Copy – copies ledger data from a designated source to the selected Hubble Ledger.

Forms Tab

The Forms tab allows Budget Administrators to manage Budget Forms. The tab is accessed by selecting Forms from the Budgeting Menu or selecting the Forms tab from the Budget Setup dialog. From this screen Budget Administrators can Add, Edit, or Remove a Budget Form, view the associated Cycles, and manage Permissions.

Add – add a new Budget Form. Forms in this listing will be available to be associated to a cycle.
Edit – edit the selected form’s name, inquiry location, model, or model cascade.
Cycles – view the budget cycle(s) of the selected form.
Remove – remove the selection as a Budget Form, not available when the form is associated to a cycle.
Permissions – manage permissions of the selected form.