The Planning sheets component of Plan (preview) enables organizations to implement structured, collaborative, and data-driven planning processes within their enterprise data environment. A Planning sheet is a structured workspace in Plan that allows users to enter, update, and analyze planning data across defined business dimensions such as time, department, account, or product. Planning sheets provide a controlled environment for budgeting, forecasting, and scenario analysis while ensuring that planning data follows organizational rules and governance policies. The platform is designed for business users and features a no-code, self-service architecture.
Use Planning sheets to deliver strategic business value by helping your organization do the following:
Planning sheets also provide measurable operational outcomes, including:
Plans are used in several areas of the platform:
The following table lists the core capabilities of Planning sheets.
| Capability | Description | Key features |
|---|---|---|
| Data exploration and analysis | Enables users to interactively explore planning data to identify trends, patterns, and anomalies. | - Filtering and sorting data - Top N ranking - Hierarchy navigation - Grouping rows and columns - Adjustable column widths and layouts |
| Planning and forecasting | Supports enterprise planning workflows including budgeting, forecasting, and scenario analysis. | - Budget creation - Forecast management - Scenario analysis - What-if simulations - Rolling forecasts - Version management and snapshots |
| Business logic and calculations | Allows users to define formulas, calculations, and custom logic directly in planning sheets. | - Insert data input rows - Add template rows across hierarchy levels - Create formula rows using Excel-style expressions - Insert manual input columns - Create calculated columns and measures - Apply quick formulas for common calculations |
| Data integration (InfoBridge) | Integrates data from multiple sources to support unified planning and analytics workflows. | - Data consolidation from multiple sources - Data transformations (merge, append, pivot, group) - Real-time data integration - Data mapping between planning sheets |
| Collaboration and comments | Enables team collaboration and review directly within the planning interface. | - Notes and annotations - Comment threads - @mentions- Email notifications - Comment digests |
| Write-back and data storage | Allows planning inputs to be written back to external systems for persistence and integration. | - Multiple destination support - Write-back logs and monitoring - Secure data persistence - Integration with enterprise data platforms |
| Approval workflows | Provides governance for planning cycles through structured approval processes. | - Define approval flows - Assign approvers - Review and approve planning changes - Request adjustments |
| Model editor | Defines and manages the structure of a planning model by configuring dimensions, measures, hierarchies, and calculations | - Map model components to data sources - Validate model configuration before deployment - Maintain centralized governance of the planning model - Define hierarchies for roll-ups and drill-down analysis |
| Cube | Organizes and stores planning data in a multidimensional data structure. | - Analyze data across multiple dimensions - Aggregate data across hierarchy levels - Process large volumes of planning data efficiently |
