> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.phocassoftware.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.phocassoftware.com/budgets-and-forecasts/workforce-planning/create-a-workforce-plan.md). # Create a workforce plan Create a workforce plan using a template or your own setup, duplicate an existing plan, and update the plan setup as your needs change. There are several ways to create a workforce plan: * [Use a template](#start-from-a-template): The quickest way to create a plan. The column structure is already set up, so you only need to add a plan name and administrators. You can customize the setup later. * [Customize your own plan](#customize-your-own-plan): Build a plan from scratch when you want to choose your own column structure, benefits, and benefit plans. * Import from a file: This feature is coming soon. * [Duplicate an existing plan](#duplicate-a-workforce-plan): After you create a plan, duplicate it to quickly create a similar plan. You can reuse the plan configuration and, optionally, its employee information. For example, you might create separate plans for different scenarios or for a budget and forecast.

The plan structure defines what information you capture for each employee and how it's organized. Regardless of how you create the plan, each plan contains one or more groups of columns, with employee data in the rows. ## Start from a template 1. On the [**Workforce Planning** page](/budgets-and-forecasts/workforce-planning/take-a-tour-of-workforce-planning.md), click **Create plan**. 2. Click **Use template**. 3. Select a template: * **Basic**: Includes a predefined column structure for workforce planning.

* **Benefits-ready**: Includes the same column structure as the Basic template, plus predefined benefits and benefit plans.

Column structure in the Benefits-ready template

4. Click **Next**. 5. Enter a name for the plan. 6. Select the [plan administrators](#learn-about-plan-administrators). 7. Click **Save and finish**. The new workforce plan opens and is ready for you to [add employees](/budgets-and-forecasts/workforce-planning/create-a-workforce-plan/add-employees.md). 8. If you selected the **Benefits-ready** template, review the predefined benefits and benefit plans and update them as required: 1. Click the menu button on the **Benefit plan** column header, then click **Edit**. 2. Edit or remove the existing benefits, or add new ones as required, then click **Next**.

3. Edit or remove the existing benefit plans, or add new ones as required, then click **Save and finish**.

## Customize your own plan Build a workforce plan from scratch when you want to define your own column structure, remuneration, benefits, and benefit plans. 1. On the [**Workforce Planning** page](/budgets-and-forecasts/workforce-planning/take-a-tour-of-workforce-planning.md), click **Create plan**. 2. Click **Start from scratch**. The **Plan setup** panel opens. 3. On the **Plan configuration** tab: 1. Enter a name for the plan. 2. Select the [plan administrators](#learn-about-plan-administrators). 3. Click **Next** to continue to the **Column groups** tab.

### Set up the column groups On the **Column groups** tab, you define how the columns in the workforce plan are grouped. The **Remuneration** group is included by default. It contains the remuneration measures that you set up on the next tab. You can't remove this group, but you can rename it. Add other groups as required. For example, you might create groups for: * Employee attributes, with columns such as gender, age range, or manager. * Organizational categories, with columns such as business unit or department. Each group you add creates another setup tab where you define its columns. 1. (Optional) Click **Add group** and enter a name for the group. Repeat this step to add more groups as required. 2. Click **Next** to continue to the first column group tab (**Remuneration**).

### Set up the columns On the **Remuneration** tab, you can review the default columns in the group: **Salary** (measure), **Bonus** (measure), **Commission** (measure), and **FTE** (property). For the remuneration measures, you can change the **spread method** if required. {% hint style="info" %} Benefits are calculated from measures in the **Remuneration** column group, so you can't rename or remove these measures. If you need another remuneration-style measure that shouldn't affect benefit calculations, add it to another column group. {% endhint %}

Add other columns to the group as required: 1. Click **Add column** and select the column type:\ ![](https://2974338405-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FaNH5UMuZXBHuAbFF7nI2%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-8b75b817a94839f23ad0c37ff92f64c9354a2655%2Fimage%20\(641\).png?alt=media)

Column type	Purpose and setup	When entering employee information
Database dimension	Use a dimension that already exists in a Phocas database. Use this option when you need to map workforce plan data to financial data in Budgets & Forecasts. Select the database and dimension, then rename the dimension if you want it to display differently in the workforce plan.	Select an entity from the dimension in the underlying database.
Custom dimension	Create a new dimension that doesn't already exist in Phocas. For example, you might create one for gender, age range, or manager.	Enter an entity name. New entities are added to the dimension as you work.
Database measure	Use an existing measure from the Workforce database. Database measures are static by default; change the setting to Temporal if the value needs to change over time.	Enter a numeric value. For a static measure, the value applies for the employee's employment period. For a temporal measure, you can change the value over time.
Custom measure	Create a new measure. Custom measures are static by default; change the setting to Temporal if the value needs to change over time. Measures that contain formulas should be static if they're not expected to change.	Enter a numeric value. For a static measure, the value applies for the employee's employment period. For a temporal measure, you can change the value over time.
Property	Add a value that isn't projected across time in the same way as an effective-dated measure. The value is applied to each day and can be aggregated in the published data using options such as average, period end, period start, or count. For example, you might add properties for hourly rates or hours worked.	Enter the property value.

{% hint style="info" %} When you create a plan to use alongside an existing plan, such as separate salaried-staff and waged-staff plans, reuse an existing database dimension or measure where it represents the same thing. This keeps published plans consistent and easier to compare. If you duplicate a plan, this reuse happens automatically. See [Employee unique ID](/budgets-and-forecasts/workforce-planning/overview-of-workforce-planning/workforce-planning-foundations.md#employee-unique-id) for why this matters. {% endhint %} 2. Give each column a name and configure its settings. 3. Click **Next** to continue to the next column group tab and repeat these steps as required. After the last column group, click **Next** to continue to the **Benefits** tab. ### Add benefits Benefits represent additional employee costs, such as superannuation, allowances, or payroll-related expenses. 1. Click **Add benefit**. 2. Enter a name for the benefit. 3. (Optional) Enter a description. 4. Select the calculation method: * **% Remuneration**: Enter the percentage in the **Calculation** box. Optionally, enter the **Floor** and **Cap** values. * **Fixed amount (p/a)**: Enter the annual amount in the **Calculation** box, then select whether to prorate the benefit based on FTE. For example, a 0.5 FTE employee receives 50% of the benefit amount. 5. Repeat these steps to add more benefits as required. 6. Click **Next** to continue to the **Benefit plans** tab.

### Add benefit plans Benefit plans allow you to group related benefits together. For example, you might create separate benefit plans for employees in different countries or employment types. 1. Click **Add benefit plan**. 2. Enter a name for the benefit plan. 3. Click **Select at least one benefit**, select the benefits to include, then click **Save**. 4. Repeat these steps to add more benefit plans as required. 5. Click **Save and finish**.

The new workforce plan opens and is ready for you to [add employees](/budgets-and-forecasts/workforce-planning/create-a-workforce-plan/add-employees.md). ## Duplicate a workforce plan Duplicating creates a copy of an existing workforce plan. The entire setup is copied, including administrators, benefits, benefit plans, column groups, columns, and dimension mappings. You can choose whether to include the employee rows or start with an empty plan. Duplicating is useful when you want to keep the detail of an existing plan intact while working on a variant. For example, roll a Budget plan into a separate Forecast plan by duplicating it rather than editing and republishing the original. When you publish the duplicated plan, it writes to its own stream in the Workforce database, named to match the plan. 1. On the [Workforce Planning homepage](/budgets-and-forecasts/workforce-planning/take-a-tour-of-workforce-planning.md), click the plan's menu button and click **Duplicate**.

2. Enter a name for the new plan. The name must be different from any existing plan. 3. (Optional) Clear the **Include current data** checkbox if you don't want to copy the employee rows into the new plan. Only the plan's setup will be copied. 4. Click **Duplicate**. The new plan opens. ## Learn about plan administrators By default, you are the only administrator of the workforce plan and the only person who can access it. Add other administrators to: * Ensure someone else in your organization has full access to the plan. * Help manage and keep the plan up-to-date. Administrators can also publish it. All plan administrators have the same access. There is no plan owner. See [Access to the workforce plan and its data](/budgets-and-forecasts/workforce-planning/overview-of-workforce-planning/workforce-planning-foundations.md#access-to-the-workforce-plan-and-its-data). ## Edit a workforce plan's setup You can edit a workforce plan setup at any time. For example, you might add or remove plan administrators, create a new benefit, rename a column, or add a new workforce category. 1. [Open the workforce plan](/budgets-and-forecasts/workforce-planning/take-a-tour-of-workforce-planning.md#explore-the-plan). 2. Choose how you want to edit the setup: * **Edit the entire setup**: Click **Plan** > **Edit plan setup**. This is the only way to edit the plan name and administrators. You can also review or update all setup sections.

* **Edit a specific section**: On the required column group header or **Benefit plan** column header, click the menu button, then click **Edit**.\ This opens only that section of the setup, allowing you to make a quick change.

3. Update the settings as required. See [Customize your own plan](#customize-your-own-plan) for information about each setting. 4. Click **Save and finish**. --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the following URL with the `ask` and `goal` query parameters: ``` GET https://docs.phocassoftware.com/budgets-and-forecasts/workforce-planning/create-a-workforce-plan.md?ask=&goal= ``` `ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. `goal` is what the user is ultimately trying to achieve, the reason they need the answer. Sharing it helps GitBook give you a better, more relevant answer. A goal is most helpful when it describes the outcome the user wants rather than restating the question. For example, with `ask=how do I create an API token`, a goal like `automate deployments from our CI pipeline` lets GitBook tailor the answer to that use case. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.