Key to understanding the Budgeting Process in ESP™ is understanding the concept of the Scenario.  A Scenario is a complete, self-contained set of data making up an entire organization's budget, and is considered the primary component of the Budgeting Process.  Detailed information is provided later in this manual, but at this point you should think of the Scenario as an electronic briefcase containing all the details that make up your organization's budget.

A single Scenario is made of of many parts or as shown in the the diagram.  Each part may have a few or many pieces in themselves.   As an example Budget Items have the fewest pieces even though they really are the basis for the budget, where as the Assumptions can have upwards of a hundred individual factors spread across multiple sub-parts.
ESP Scenario

ESP Scenario

Scenario Components

Part

Description

Budget Items

 

Employees

 

Salary Plans

 

Assumptions

 

Calculations

 

Benefit Plans

 

Pay Components

 

Grants

 

Responsibility Centers

 

Sessions & Adjustments

 

Data Sets

Each Scenario maintains multiple groups of data allowing changes to be made to the Model Data Set without affecting the data in others. Information from each of these Data Sets can be viewed from the Financials and Employees grids.  If the columns you want to see are not currently displayed in the grid, you can adjust the column view.

By default, the Data Sets are labeled Model, Current, Actuals, and Baseline. The role and status of the Scenario indicates where the data in each Data Set originates from, and how it is used:

Data Set

Description

Model

The Model Data Set is the active set of values that change as the Scenario is Adjusted and Recalculated.  Generally all calculations and adjustments are always made to the Model Data Set.

Adm_NoteIn a SnapShot Scenario, the Model Data Set contains the Financial Year-To-Date and Period-to-Date Actual values loaded from the Accounting system.

Current

The Current Data Set holds the values loaded from the Accounting system.  The Current Data Set is always read-only and cannot be changed.  In a Forecast scenario the Current data set contains the Model values copied from the prior Fiscal year in the Forecast hierarchy.

This Data Set is always read-only and cannot be changed

Adm_NoteThe name of this Data Set may be different since it follows the Budget Label from the Accounting system.

Actuals

The Actuals Data Set  Contains Year To Date (YTD), Period To Date (PTD), Encumbrances and Projections information updated from the Daily SnapShot during the <%APPNAME%> Nightly Processing.

This Data Set is always read-only and cannot be changed.

Baseline

The Baseline provides a set of values to compare the results of changes made to the Scenario.  At any time the Model Data Set can be copied to the Baseline to preserve the state of the Budget Items, Salary Plans and Employees in a Scenario.  This Data Set is updated using the Save and Clear Baseline activities.  The Baseline Label can be changed when the baseline is saved, or in the Scenario properties on the Assumptions tab.  You can also see when the Baseline was saved.

Adm_NoteESP™ can automatically calculate the delta amount and/or percentage change between any two like columns using the Delta Columns feature.

To reset the Baseline: 

1.Clear all Assumption factors. (Steps, COLA, Benefit Plan, Inflation Factors, etc.)

2.Recalculate the Entire Scenario.

3.Re-save the Baseline.

4.Make Assumption factor changes.

5.Recalculate the entire Scenario.

6.Compare Model Amounts with Baseline Amounts using Delta Columns.
 

Scenario Types

ESP™ uses the Scenario as the basis for budget modeling. Although identical in their data structure, throughout the Budgeting Cycle, the Scenario's status may change based on how the it is being used and what point in the cycle it is in, or for what purpose it serves.  Managing the status of a Scenario is done using the Scenario Explorer, and can be as simple as just updating a status, or it may require additional processing such as creating a new Scenario. The different Scenarios used by the ESP™ processes Include:

Scenario Type

Description

Modeling

Primarily used in the preparation of the upcoming years budget. A Modeling Scenario can have any number of "Child" Models. When a Model is created a complete copy of the Scenario is created and a reference to the Scenario it was created from, the "Parent", is made. The history and relationships of the ESP™ Scenarios can be seen from the Scenario Explorer. During the Budget process, a Modeling scenario can become a Proposed Budget Scenario.

Proposed

The Scenario has gone through Phase 1 of the budgeting process and the Scenario contains a budget that will be presented to the board or other approving authority.  The Proposed Budget Scenario is a Modeling Scenario with a different Status.

Approved

The Scenario has been presented to the board or other approving authority and has been approved for final preparation.  The Approved Budget Scenario is a Modeling Scenario with a different Status.

Adopted

The Scenario has been approved and undergone final adjustments and approved for implementation.  Once adopted, the budget details are exported and loaded into the financial accounting system, Phase II of the budgeting process.  The Adopted Budget Scenario is a Modeling Scenario with a different Status and is locked to prevent editing.

Adm_NoteThe number of intermediate modeling Statuses are definable at the system level based on the organization's business process.

Working

Created from both a SnapShot and the Adopted Budget Scenario. The Maintenance Scenario is a special type of Model used by the Budget Office to maintain and reconcile the Adopted Budget with actual HR Employee Staffing and Financial Budgets.  It is different from a normal Scenario in that the actual budget amounts held in the Model data sets are moved to the Budget data sets, and the Current and Model Data Sets are reloaded from the Accounting system(s).

With the Adopted budget held in the Budget data set and the current state of the financial system(s) in the Current and Model data sets, the Maintenance Scenario can then be used to reconcile the Adopted budget with the real world.   Once reconciled, the Maintenance Scenario can again be exported and reloaded as actual or delta values to the Accounting System.  A Maintenance Scenario can only be created from an "Adopted" Scenario.

Forecast

The Forecast Scenario is created from a Modeling Scenario or other Forecast Scenario and is designed to be able to cascade the Assumption, Salary Plan Employee and Project/Grant adjustments into future year budgets.  Virtually unlimited Forecast scenarios can be cascaded from a modeling Scenario.  System performance and resources are the limiting factors.

Responsibility  Center

The Cost Center Scenario is used to separate those Scenarios used with the Cost Center Management.  These Scenarios allow your Managers and Administrators to participate in the budget process.

SnapShot

Contains the current budget and year  to date values from the financial system, and current employee and salary plan Information from the HR System at the time it is created.  It does not contain the Assumptions, Factors or Settings found in the other Scenario types.  Since the SnapShot captures a moment in time, it is locked and cannot be edited.

Adm_NoteESP™ can automatically maintain Daily, Monthly, and Annual SnapShot Scenarios for budget performance, historical and ad-hoc reporting.

Budget Element Strings

Just as the Scenario is the primary component of ESP™, the Budget Element String, or "BES", is the primary component within the Scenario for tracking cost and revenue allocations.  The BES is the result of combining the individual General Ledger Account and other costing elements into a single value or "string".  A BES can have up to eight individual elements with a maximum of 64 characters in length including the separating dots.

Even though your accounting system may not directly support it ESP™ allows the last element of the BES to configured as optional which simplifies how some data is displayed in the hierarchical data grids.  This is particularly helpful when that last element is used infrequently.  Even though the full BES may not be shown,  the optional element is maintained within the database.

Each Element of the BES can contain both numbers and letters, and can handle unique configurations such as character padding or leading zeros as shown in the Class Element in the example below.

Adm_NoteThe structure and order of the Budget Element String (BES) is configurable at the system level and should mimic the structure in the accounting system.

A variation of the Budget Element String is the Budget Element String Mask or "BESM". The BESM has the same structure as the BES, and its used to identify groups or ranges of budget elements.   The BESM often contains "wild card" characters such as the asterisk ("*") to indicate all or any of the Id's within that element.

Typical Budget Element String Elements

Element Name

Max Chars

Optional

Required

Fund

4

 

Check_Blue

Department

4

 

Check_Blue

Program

6

 

 

Class

6

 

 

Object

6

 

Check_Blue

SubArea

8

Check_Blue

 

Example Budget Element String

205.1136.22410.33000.531800.G0475

It is broken down like this:

•Fund = 205

•Department = 1136

•Program = 22410

•Class = 33000

•Object = 531800

•SubArea = G0475