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This is the unhurried version of the Quickstart. Spread across a week, it takes you from an empty workspace to a forecast you can defend and a brief you can send. Each day is a focused session of an hour or two, building on the one before.

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The platform walkthroughs cover each of these steps end to end.

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Day 1: Connect your data

Novaplan plans on your real numbers, so start by connecting a source in Admin, then Data.
1

Connect your HRIS

Authorize HiBob to sync people: roles, departments, sites, start and end dates, and comp. This becomes your headcount snapshot.
2

Connect your GL

Authorize NetSuite (or upload a GL CSV) so budget versus actual reconciles to your ledger.
3

Map and curate

Map source fields to Novaplan’s canonical fields. Nova can suggest mappings. Each source lands a lossless raw record, then curates into clean tables with bad rows flagged individually.
Full detail lives in Connect your data. You do not need every source on day one; one HRIS feed is enough to start planning headcount.

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Day 2: Set up your budget version

Everything is scoped to a budget version. Pick or create the one you will plan in (for example a “Rolling Forecast”), and set its forecast window: the start and end month the engine will project across. Remember that the window, not the version’s label year, drives the plan.

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Day 3: Plan headcount

Open Planning, then Headcount. You start from a live snapshot of your team pulled from the HRIS, then add the roles you intend to hire as open positions. Each row carries fully loaded cost per month: base, plus the comp and fringe components layered on top. Follow the step-by-step in Plan headcount.

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Day 4: Plan revenue

Open Planning, then Revenue. Choose a forecast method that matches how you actually plan the topline (weighting your pipeline, a bottom-up driver model, or top-down targets), then project ARR across your window. Follow Plan revenue to choose a method and build the forecast.

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Day 5: Run the forecast and review

Run the forecast. Headcount and revenue each derive into the GL, so the moment the run finishes, every dashboard reflects your plan. Open Reporting, then Financial Performance and the P&L views to sanity-check the numbers. If something looks off, ask Nova to explain it before assuming a bug; the drill usually tells the story.

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Day 6: Compare and build a brief

Open Reporting, then Comparison Center to put your plan against actuals or a frozen target. When you spot a variance worth explaining, generate a Brief to get the story written for you, complete with the waterfall and drill-downs. Walk through it in Build a brief.

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Day 7: Make it yours

By now the platform is running on your data. Spend the last session exploring what makes it yours:
  • Pin the metrics you care about in the Metrics Center so KPIs read in your language.
  • Try a scenario: hold hiring flat and watch the cost impact without touching the base plan.
  • Connect your own copilot with the MCP server.

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What you should see by the end

A live forecast on your real numbers, headcount and revenue both flowing into the GL, at least one comparison that tells a variance story, and a brief you could send to a stakeholder. From here, the monthly rhythm is short: sync actuals, refresh the forecast, compare, and explain.
You do not have to finish in exactly seven sessions. The order matters more than the calendar: connect, version, plan, forecast, compare, explain.