Skip to main content
Expense Planning models your operating spend the same way Headcount models people: plan lines are the unit, the engine forecasts each line across your window, and the result derives 1:1 into the GL. One plan-line-month posts one GL row, tagged so you can always reconcile planned expense back to its source line.

​
How to Use It

1

Seed the grid

Start with one click instead of an empty table. Seed plan lines from trailing-twelve-month actuals (one growth-on-base line per real non-headcount account and department combination), or copy the active plan lines from another budget version. Seeding is idempotent, so re-running only adds what is missing.
2

Pick a method per line

Each line targets a GL account, a department, and optionally a vendor, with a forecast method (see the table below).
3

Set the baseline and assumptions

Choose where the line’s baseline comes from, and set growth, seasonality, or driver rate as the method requires. Assumptions resolve most-specific-wins (a line-scoped value overrides a global default).
4

Run the forecast

The engine computes each line’s monthly amount and derives it into the GL, where it shows up in Budget Overview.

​
Forecast Methods

​
Baselines and Seasonality

A line’s baseline can come from a trailing-actuals roll-forward, an uploaded budget, or zero, and you can mix baselines across lines. Seasonality curves spread an annual total across the year.
Growth-on-base preserves the annual total when you apply a seasonality curve, so reshaping the timing never silently changes the yearly number. Editing a system seasonality curve forks it to your own copy rather than changing it for everyone.

​
Vendor Contracts

The Vendor Contracts section (collapsed by default, since the plan-line grid is the primary surface) holds lean recurring-cost contract lines: an amount, a frequency (monthly, quarterly, or annual), an annual escalation, a status, and optional per-period ramp overrides. A plan line set to the vendor-contract method links to a contract line and draws its monthly amounts from those terms.

​
What the Driver Types Mean

​
Common Questions

Use Seed from. “From trailing-twelve actuals” creates one growth-on-base line per real account and department with recent spend; “From another version” copies an existing plan’s lines. Both dedupe, so you can seed and then add lines by hand.
No. Growth-on-base normalizes the curve so the annual total is preserved. You are changing when the money lands, not how much lands.
Headcount cost is per-employee and lives in Headcount. Expense Planning is for everything else: software, services, facilities, and other vendor or operating spend.
Yes. Expense plan lines derive into the GL, which the Mid-year update and reforecast rules scan by department and account, so expense is covered without separate wiring.

​
If the Numbers Look Off

  • A growth-on-base line forecasts zero: its baseline resolved to zero. Confirm the account and department combination actually has trailing actuals, or switch the baseline to an uploaded budget.
  • A vendor-contract line is flat or zero: confirm the plan line is linked to an active contract line and that the contract line’s window covers the period.
  • A driver line on revenue percent reads zero: revenue must be forecasted first, since the driver reads recognized revenue. Re-run the revenue forecast, then re-run expense.
  • The GL did not move after editing a line: re-run the expense forecast so the derive bridge re-posts the line.