Budget Solicitation

The budget import and solicitation process occurs when creating a new budget or updating an existing budget.

  1. The system administrator imports the following data from an external system using a CSV file:
    • sales
    • average hourly rate
    • hours
    • minimum hours
    • holiday hours
    • vacation hours
    • other hours
  2. The system automatically generates the budget using the budget layout specified in the previous step. When the import has successfully completed, the system notifies all the relevant budget managers via a Workmail notification.
  3. The root budget manager navigates to the Worksheet, reviews the budget, and then releases it to the budget manager(s) of the location(s) below in the hierarchy.
  4. When releasing down the hierarchy, the budget managers at each location:
    1. Receive a Workmail notification when the budget has been released to their location for review from the location above.
    2. Review the Worksheet, make any modifications to data in the Hours column, and then release it down to the desired location(s) below. The budget manager can choose to which locations to release the budget. This release process continues down the hierarchy until it reaches the bottom location in the solicitation process, such as the store location.
  5. When submitting up the hierarchy, the budget managers at each location:
    1. Receive a Workmail notification when the budget has been submitted to their location for review from all the locations below to whom they released the budget. The Workmail notification contains a hyperlink that the budget manager clicks to navigate directly to the Worksheet.
    2. Review the Worksheet, make any modifications to data in the Hours column, and then submit it up to the location above. This submission process continues up the hierarchy until it reaches the top location in the hierarchy, which is the root location.
  6. The root budget manager:
    1. Receives a Workmail notification when the budget has been submitted to the root location for review and finalization from all the locations below to which the budget was initially released. The Workmail notification contains a hyperlink that the root budget manager clicks to navigate directly to the Worksheet.
    2. Reviews the Worksheet and then locks it to finalize the solicitation process. This locked budget is now considered the annual budget. The root budget manager can update or unlock the budget as required.
  7. The system administrator:
    1. Exports the budget numbers to a CSV file for analysis.
    2. Optional. Publishes the budget. Since the budget solicitation process begins before the end of the year (before the numbers have been finalized), the budget can import only estimated numbers. Therefore, the entire budget import, review, and approval process is often repeated in Q1 of the following year after year-end numbers have been confirmed using updated data. If so, then all the above steps are repeated.

At every step of the solicitation process, the system:

  • Recalculates the budget data.
  • Verifies that the budget data meets the allowable minimum required hours and maximum annual payroll requirements.
  • Performs the required aggregation and/or distribution calculations.
  • Changes the state of locations. See State-Change Rules.