This article contains the following topics:
What is a scenario?
In Catalyst, a scenario is defined as a period-based classification that groups and orders financial and profitability data within a pre-defined period of time. Common examples of scenarios include Actuals, Plans, Forecasts, and Budgets (e.g. 2021 Actuals, 2021 Budget, 2021 TTM October, 2022 9+3 Forecast, etc.). See more Catalyst definitions at our Glossary here.
Creating a new scenario
When first getting started, you'll likely already have a few scenarios that we set up for you, but you're welcome to create more as needed.
- We recommend that you be conservative when adding new scenarios, as the Catalyst system will process each active Scenario dataset during scheduled jobs. Therefore the greater the number of Scenarios the greater the time required to complete processing.
Steps
- From the Manage Scenario screen, select the Add Scenario button at the bottom right of the page.
- Scenario Details: Selecting "Add Scenario" will direct you to a blank Scenario Details tab where you can set up the specific details of the new Scenario.
- Scenario Description: Long and Short Descriptions.
- Scenario Type: For example, Actuals, Budget, Plan, etc.
- Fiscal Year: Specify the fiscal year to which the Scenario applies.
- Sort Order: The order in which the Scenario will be displayed on the Manage Scenarios page and within the Excel Cube files Pivot Tables.
- Scenario Availability: Designate which tools this Scenario can be be viewed in, such as in Cubes or Reports.
- Scenario Refresh Frequency: Choose how often this Scenario will be refreshed by Catalyst.
- Locked or Unlocked: Elect whether to initially lock planning for all periods for the Scenario, and if desired, prepopulate the Periods within the Scenario with data from an existing Scenario.
- Save: When you're done entering and selecting your options, select Save at the bottom of the screen.
- Note: It will take about 5 minutes for the system to build the Scenario before it's available in the planning screens. If the new Scenario is made available in the Cubes and Reports, a full reprocess of the data will be required before the new Scenario is represented in Catalyst.
Managing scenarios
After you've created your Scenarios you may need to adjust them in some way. To do so, follow the steps for Scenario management below.
Steps
- From the Administration tab, select the "Scenario" tab under the Site Management heading.
- Once in the Manage Scenario screen, select "Edit" next to an existing Scenario.
- Scenario Details:
- Scenario Description: Long and Short Descriptions.
- Scenario Type: For example, Actuals, Budget, Plan, etc.
- Fiscal Year: Specify the fiscal year to which the Scenario applies.
- Sort Order: The order in which the Scenario will be displayed on the Manage Scenarios page and within the Excel Cube files Pivot Tables.
- Scenario Availability: Designate which tools this Scenario can be be viewed in, such as in Cubes or Reports.
- Scenario Refresh Frequency: Choose how often this Scenario will be refreshed by Catalyst.
- Locked or Unlocked: Elect whether to initially lock planning for all periods for the Scenario, and if desired, prepopulate the Periods within the Scenario with data from an existing Scenario.
- Archive Scenario: Archiving Scenarios is a way to improve processing time of scheduled job refreshes. Archived Scenarios are not lost, but are simply stored in an archive if needed in the future.
- Lock Periods: The Lock Periods tab controls the ability to make edits within the Planning screens for the chosen Scenario. When you lock a Scenario through a certain planning period, you're unable to make edits to data within that planning Scenario through the determined locked periods. An administrator can lock or reopen editing access for multiple periods or for the full year.
- Example: During a budget cycle, an admin could lock a Scenario to prevent edits from occurring after a designated cutoff date. By choosing to lock Scenarios through period 12, for example, the entire Scenario will be locked and unable to be adjusted. The scenario could then be reopened for adjustments after review.
- Actuals Through Period: When creating a forecast or budget scenario, you have the option to prepopulate the scenario with data from other scenarios, as well as link certain periods of data to Actuals. If a month other than "None" is selected in the Actuals Through Period dropdown menu, the planning scenario will be linked to Actuals. Subsequently, if Actuals updates in those months, the planning scenario will update accordingly. You cannot edit those periods in planning.
- When assigning previously created Scenarios to the Source periods within the Scenario you're creating, note that the Fixed column on the right can be selected for each period.
The selection for “Fixed” means that it would remove any of the rate planning rates that have been loaded into the system, and convert the amounts into what the end-result calculation is.
- Associations: The Associations tab is used in conjunction with the Volume Planning screen as a way to show the volume differences between the associated Scenarios. By simply selecting an Association type, a Scenario to associate it with, and pressing the add button, an administrator can create variance calculations to be displayed on the Volume Planning screen.