PBCS Versions Scenarios Plans Variables

PBCS Plans

UCD's PBCS application has been created as 3 Plans. The main Financial Plan is supported by the Student and Fee Plan and the Staff Plan. The Student and Fee Plan and the Staff Plan provide information to the Financial Plan, and the Financial Plan also contains information directly entered to it [eg NonPay info].

The separation of the Staff Plan and the Student and Fee Income Plans allows separation of detailed data from the overall financial plan and also reflects that the type of data used in each plan is quite different - the concept of Major does not have any relevance for Staff Planning and similarly Personnel Number is not relevant for Student and Fee Planning.

This approach mirrors the approach previously used when planning was performed using Excel spreadsheets - the Staff Plan was a separate workbook, and the total of the Staff Plan was entered into the Financial workbook.

The main Versions used in UCD are set out below. The name shown is the Member Name, aliases can be set for Membes to provide a more descriptive name on forms, reports etc. Where appropriate the alias is shown in brackets after the member name:

Versions used for entering data: 

Working

The version of a plan that FMs enter and update.

What-If1, What-If2, What-If3

3 local versions available for modelling etc. Used for Staff Plnning in UCD.

Versions used for Reference or Comparison

Final

Used to store Final versions of plans. Not directly entered by FMs.

Vac-Sav (Vacancy Savings)

Only used in Staff Plan. A copy of Final that FMs are able to make very limited changes to. The Personnel No or Cost Centre for a line may be changed. Other changes such as changing payscale or end date are not permitted.

Overnight

A copy of the Submission / Working staff plan is automatically made and replaced each night. It provides the staff plan as of yesterday for reference.

Census Versions

A ‘parent’ version used to group the censuses. Each census is a separate version, with names of the form 2019 Feb.

Archived Plans

A ‘parent’ version used to group historic plans.

18_19 Plan

A copy of the 2018/19 Final Plan.

Versions used for Targets

Target (Static Target)

The Target as calculated for the planning cycle. Submissions will be assessed against the Target and in Year 1 Adjustments will be applied to set the University Budget.

DynamicTarget (Dynamic Target)

For planning purposes, adjusts the Static Target for years 2 – 5 to reflect changes in planned Fee Income. Where fee income growth is planned, this means that the Target for Fee Income and Net Direct Expenditure shown in Year 5 reflect the planned growth rather than the current levels as set in the Static Target.

TgtCalc

Workings used in setting Targets. Typical use is to store a Staff Plan with future pay rate increases so that the adjustments to Targets can be calculated and then reviewed by FMs.

Reserves

Used to plan the Impact On Reserves of Submission Versus Target. Only summary information relevant for Reserves is stored in this version.

In certain cases we use a concept of a 'Control Version' and a 'Version For Modification'. These are not specific versions named as such on the system, the concept refers to using 2 versions in a particular way.

Often a copy of data will be taken and manipulated and then compared back to the original. The original is referred to as the Control Version (CV), and the version that is changed is referred to as the Version for Modification (VFM).

For example a copy of the Working Staff Plan may be taken to What-If1 and new payscale rates applied in What-If1. By comparing the 2, we can see the impact of the payscale changes. In this example the Working plan is unchanged & is the Control Version, the What-If1 plan is changed and is the Version For Modification.

It will not always be Working and What-If1 that are used in this way, it depends on the circumstances of a particular case.

The scenarios used in UCD's PBCS application are:

Submission

The scenario that FMs normally work with and enter plans to.

Adjustment

Adjustments to submissions to comply with the UCD Financial Model are automatically calculated in the Financial Plan and stored in the Adjustment scenario. Not directly entered by FMs.

E.g. if the submitted plan for Net Fee Income is higher than previously achieved Fee Income, an adjustment is applied. This ensures that a) we retain the Submission information and b) approve a University Budget consistent with budgetary policy.

University Budget

A ‘parent’ scenario containing both Submission and Adjustment. This is fed to eFin Budget 2 and reported in university Outturns.

Operational Budget

The budget used to apply control at cost centre level. This is fed to eFin Budget 1.

Actual

Imported eFin Actuals (both Pay and NonPay) and Census information are stored in the Actual scenario.

Forecast

Used to produce a Forecast. Actuals are copied into the periods to date, and other data copied or entered into future periods.

Outturn1, Outturn2, Outturn3

When a Forecast is complete, the data is copied into the relevant Outturn scenario.

Latest Import

Used in Staff Planning only, to store the latest import of Core information – ie current staff details, scale and point, end date etc.

User Variables

User Variables are used to make and store selections for data that the FM is to work with. For example, a variable is used to avoid the FM having to select the School for every form opened or every report run.

Variables are normally updated seamlessly as a user navigates through the system - when a user selects a school in the Point Of View at the top of a form, they are normally updating the variable in the background.

If a variable is used in a form or report, then a value for it must be set before the form or report can be opened. Occasionally there can be an issue with this, normally when a new variable has been created. Instructions on how to enter a value for a User Variable for the first time are set out here.

School

Used to select and store the Entity that the FM is working with. Although named School, it can be used for other levels in the hierarchy (e.g. a College code or a Cost Centre code).

Scenario

The scenario that the FM is working on.

Version

The Version that the FM is working on.

Census1, Census2, Census3

Census versions that user will see in Comparison Forms and Reports.

CompareCensus

The Census that will be used for comparison on the main Census Review form.

SFMajorGroup

A Major Grouping used for reporting Intake. Currently Groups are set up for the CAO DN codes; further uses may be established in the future.

As scenarios and versions are created e.g. to back up the submissions at the end of a process, or to provide data via a what-if version, the details are recorded in a spreadsheet.

Many of the datasets are not of interest to FMs, but some are and they are marked with a Yes in the Relevant To FMs column. This log may help FMs for example, to remember which what-if version data was copied to for a particular purpose.

The spreadsheet is available here.