Clone a workbook

Clone existing workbooks to save time and maintain consistency when creating new ones.

User permissions: Budgets & Forecasts and Manage Budgets & Forecasts

After you create a budget or forecast workbook, you can clone (copy) it and use it as a foundation for a new workbook. You can then update the budget values in the new workbook and publish the workbook into a new stream or existing stream with the same structure.

Before cloning: options and considerations

There are two cloning options to choose from, with each serving different purposes:

Cloning option	Why use it
Clone budget: Make an exact copy of the workbook in the same period.	Common reasons include: Save versions: Keep different versions of your budget throughout the budgeting process. This makes it easier to go back if something changes unexpectedly. This is particularly important if you plan to make structural changes to the workbook setup. Run scenarios: Create copies of a budget to run different scenarios, such as a best or worst-case budget, alongside your main budget. You can then publish to a different stream and compare the budget scenarios in Financial Statements. Split workbooks: Create copies of a budget for different regions or branches. For example, clone your global budget and rename it as UK or Australia.
Clone budget forward: Copy the contents of the workbook forward into a new budget period.	The main reason is to copy the workbook into a new budget period. For example, create the budget for a new financial year. This option includes the ability to change the period and stream. Read the considerations below before selecting this option. If you want to have a rolling budget or forecast, instead of cloning a workbook and ending up with two workbooks, you can edit the date range for the current budget or forecast instead. See Roll a budget forward or Edit the budget workbook setup.

What happens when you clone a workbook

The new workbook has the same contents as the original budget or forecast workbook, such as the structure and tabs. The budget owner and administrators also remain the same.

The following rules apply to cell contents:

• Baseline-linked values: Cells linked to baseline data continue to be linked. However, if you use the Clone forward option, the cells link to the new baseline stream you select. Note that the cell values display in black when they're linked to a baseline stream, but turn blue when you manually enter values.

• Manually entered values: Remain the same.

• Formulas: Stay in place and continue to reference cells and calculate as before.

The period and stream depend on the cloning option you selected:

• Clone budget: The period remains the same.

• Clone budget forward: You have the option to change the baseline stream and the period from that stream. For example, instead of using actuals, you might use your published forecast stream as the baseline for the next year’s budget.

Considerations when using clone forward

While the Clone budget forward option is very useful, it's important to consider the following points:

• At the time of cloning forward, it's not possible to update the Database and Reference tab streams. The period offset will apply but the stream will remain the same. If your budget contains one or more of these tabs, you should review and update their setups manually after cloning.

• There is the potential for accounts and dimension entities to be missing from the rolled-forward stream. An example of this is where an account is only used once a year and due to timing, the transaction doesn't exist in the rolled-forward baseline stream. In this scenario, the account row will disappear from the rolled-forward workbook, taking any formulas, working and sum rows with it.

• To avoid the situation above, one option is to use the Clone budget option first to create a backup, update the baseline streams to a published budget that contains all the accounts and dimension entities required, and then run Clone forward.

Detailed steps for cloning the workbook

1. Click the Budget (or Forecast) menu, then select Clone workbook.

2. Enter a name for the new workbook.

3. Select the cloning option: Clone budget or Clone budget forward. See the table above for a description and use case(s) of each option.

4. Clear the Clone comments checkbox if you don’t want to copy the workbook comments across into the new workbook.

5. If you select the Clone budget forward option:

   1. Enter the applicable number of periods that you want to move the budget forward by into the Offset box. For example, enter 12 for a 12-month budget or 1 for a 1-year budget. If your selected offset is out of range, zeros will be used for outstanding periods.

   2. Change the baseline stream, if required.

6. Change the budget filter, if required. This option only displays if a budget filter has been applied in the workbook setup. Selecting a different filter (dimension and/or entity) allows you to create the same budget for a different purpose, such as another country, branch, business unit, or project. For example, if you create a budget for Australia, you can copy that budget for use in the UK.

7. Click Copy. The process might take a few minutes to complete if it's a large budget or forecast.