Publish a budget, forecast or other worksheet tab

When the budgeting or forecasting workflow is complete, the next logical step is to publish the data to a Budgets & Forecasts stream (dataset) in the underlying database. Other users of that database can then view the data, use it to create dashboards, and analyze it against other streams, such as actuals, other budgets, forecasts, and so on.

Another reason for publishing a budget or forecast is to get a safe (backup) copy to fall back on in the event of any issues that might arise later. Note that only the values are published, therefore it's not possible to restore driven rows, formulas (including references), working rows and sum rows.

You should do this in the following situations:

• Before you make any changes to the underlying financial statements.

• At the end of the budgeting or forecasting period. It’s not currently possible to lock a final budget or forecast, but you can publish (export) it to Microsoft Excel and import it back into Phocas if the need arises later.

Learn about the publishing process

Before you start publishing Budgets & Forecasts data, it's important to understand what you can publish and where that data goes.

What you can publish

You can publish the data in the following worksheet tabs:

Where the data goes

There are three publishing methods, each sending the data to a different location.

New stream

This method creates a new Budgets & Forecasts stream in the underlying database in Phocas and publishes the data into that stream. This publish method is selected by default if you have not yet published the worksheet tab to a stream, but you can select a different method if required.

Existing stream

This method overwrites the matching data in the selected Budgets & Forecasts stream in the underlying database with the data in the worksheet tab. The benefit is that you don't need to update any dashboards and favorites that use the stream. For example, you might want to publish to an existing stream when:

• You make changes to the current budget - you can republish the same budget.

• You are rolling over to a new period, such as next year’s budget - you can publish the new budget into the same stream.

This method and the applicable existing stream are selected by default when you have already published the worksheet to a stream. However, you can select a different Budgets & Forecasts stream or create a new stream as required. See the warning message below for an example.

Excel

This method doesn't publish data to the underlying database in Phocas. Instead, it exports the data into an XLXS file, which opens in Microsoft Excel. The exported data is in an unformatted state (flat file) suitable for importing into other applications, such as your ERP. See Export a workbook or worksheet tab for other exporting methods (this is method 3 on that page).

Publish the data in a worksheet tab

In the bottom right of the worksheet tab, click the Publish button.

First, select the publish method (see above for details of where the data goes):

• Publish to new stream: Select this option, then type a name for the new stream.

• Publish to existing stream: Select this option, then select the stream from the list.

• Export to Excel: Select this option, then type a name for the file.

Next, select the required publishing options.

Option

Description

Only publish completed rows

This option only publishes the rows marked as completed in the workflow.

When selected, it allows you to publish what you are confident are the final budget values and ensures that incomplete budget values do not appear in the Financial Statements or Analytics modules until they are completed.

This option is also suitable if you are working on a particular section of the budget, such as Revenue, and you only want to publish that section, as that’s all you are interested in.

Include zero value rows

This option publishes all rows in the worksheet, including those that have zero values (0.00) in all their cells. It is selected by default.

If you don’t want to include the rows with zero values, clear the checkbox. The exclusion of zero-value rows from the published dataset is useful if you are exporting to Microsoft Excel, as there will be no redundant, zero-only rows.

Delete all existing records from the published stream that match the budget period

This option is available when these two criteria are met:

• You have already published the budget to a stream; there's an existing stream.

• You have applied a dimension entity filter in the budget setup.

When selected, it overrides the default publishing behavior, so all the values in the stream are deleted and replaced.

Publish to days

This option overrides the default behavior whereby the budget period value is published into the first day of that period. It splits the budget period value proportionally by the number of days in the budget period and publishes the data to each day in the period. Select the checkbox, then select one of these options to calculate the number of days:

• Calendar Days: The number of days in each period in the budget. For example, if you have a monthly budget, you will get 30 days for November, 31 days for December and so on.

• Week Days: The total count of the number of Monday through to Friday days in the budget period. For example, you will see 20 days in the months that have 4 weeks and 25 days for the months that have 5 weeks.

• Working Days (calendar): The number of days based on a selected predefined working day calendar. For example, you might have a calendar for your region that excludes public holidays. See example 1 below to learn more about this option.

  

Publish days or months

This option is available when publishing Yearly budgets.

When selected, it overrides the default publishing behavior whereby the budget period value is published into the first day of that period. It splits the budget period value proportionally by the number of days or months in the budget period and publish to each day or month in the period.

Select the checkbox, then select one of the days options (see above) or the month option.

Publish date range

This option publishes values into a particular date range. It allows you to partially publish the budget, which is particularly useful in forecasts when you don't want to publish the actuals you are currently reforecasting. You can select a date range that excludes your actuals.

Select the checkbox, then select the start and end date of the range.

Publish to measures

This option is available when publishing the Headcount Output tab.

Select the measures you want to publish the FTE and Headcount data to.

Then click the Publish button.

• If you exported to Excel, you can proceed to open the file to view its contents. Save the fie to your computer so you can access it later. For example, you might want to import it back into Phocas someday.

• If you published to a stream, a success message displays at the top of your screen. Click the Open link to view the published stream in the underlying database, where you can analyze the data immediately. Operational databases, such as Sales, open in the Analytics module, whereas financial databases open in the Financial Statements module. The stream is opened in the same configuration as the budget, including any levels, dimension filters, budget filters, and budget period, as in the following image.

  

View a published stream in Analytics or Financial Statements

The underlying database determines how you view and analyze the published stream. Budgets & Forecasts data published from operational budgets, such as Sales, opens in the Analytics module, whereas data published from financial budgets opens in the Financial Statements module.

You can analyze a published stream straight after you publish it using the Open link in the success message at the top of your screen.

Afterward, you and other users can view the stream at any time. The process is a little different, depending on the type of database (module):

• Operational database: Open the database (it opens in Analytics) and select the stream from the Stream menu. See Analytics > Change the stream.

• Financial database: Open the database (it opens in Financial Statements) and select the stream from the Streams menu. See Financial Statements > Change the streams and scenarios. You can also add the budget stream to a scenario, which is a combination of streams, sometimes called a package of data. See Manage streams and scenarios.