Forecast source ownership

Methods and settings

A view is not another plan

Changing from Annual to Monthly changes the visible period view. It does not create a new forecast or automatically replace the Annual assumptions. Each independently modeled line has one controlling source. The other grids derive results from that source and the connected financial schedules.

For example, a service Business Line can own Monthly inputs and a product line Annual inputs. Total Revenue combines both. A parent may show Mixed because its children have different sources; this does not mean the parent has an additional independent amount to be maintained.

Use Go to source before editing

Open Model beside the statement or Business Line. If the displayed grid is derived, the source panel identifies the controlling granularity and offers Go to source. This moves to the owning line and period context. Inspect its actual method and parameters there.

A derived Annual number can be useful for valuation or analysis without being writable in Annual. Conversely, choosing a supported primitive assumption in Analyze does not change its ownership. If the intended operation is to replace the forecast source, use the source-change workflow, which is broader than editing one cell.

Flows, stocks and rates have different meanings

Revenue and costs are period flows and add over the relevant dates. A closing receivable or debt amount describes the period-end stock. Margins and rates derive from appropriate underlying amounts. The model therefore does not simply sum every monthly cell into an annual value or average every rate.

Growth can use an annualized or per-period rate basis in the supported fine editor. Customers × ARPU, Revenue/FTE and compensation use annualized flow concepts. Working-capital Days annualizes the source flow before applying days/365. Check the field’s basis rather than inferring it solely from the visible column label.

Method availability and separate historical sources

Fine forecast editors offer supported Amount, Growth, Absolute Change, percentage-reference, per-unit, Price × Volume, Customers × ARPU and relevant FTE/Days choices. The list depends on the line. Fine debt uses a closing amount; fine personnel restricts cost choices. Annual specialized loan events, detailed tax/D&A and the full Revenue/FTE relationship editor are not repeated in every grid.

Historical sources follow separate rules. A forecast source change does not turn derived historical detail into recorded Actuals. Scenario-specific source differences can be retained, but incompatible inherited source changes may leave old overrides unresolved. Review the warning and the intended owner rather than substituting an unrelated input.