Overview of Plan Generation Process

Before generating a plan, make sure that you have performed the tasks described in Task Overview.

Note for forecasts only: After you have created the budget and before you generate a forecast, verify that the parameters in the DEFAULT FORECAST RULE GROUP and DEFAULT BUDGET RULE GROUP are updated (correct version and required budget is referenced). See Configuring Default Execution Groups.

Generating a plan includes these steps:

Step	Type of Plan	Performed By	Module	See...
Optional. Verify the forecast method.	forecast BUP	system administrator	budgeting	Forecast Methods
If the plan will be generated automatically, define the Forecast Generation task.	BUP forecast	system administrator	Job Scheduler	Generating a Plan Using a Scheduled Task
Update the default forecast rule groups.	forecast	system administrator	Budget Management	Configuring Default Execution Groups
Generate the plan.	forecast BUP	system administrator	Job Scheduler	Generating a Plan Using a Scheduled Task
Generate the plan.	forecast BUP	corporate budget manager	budgeting	Generating a Plan Manually
Reference the plan layout so that it points to the required budget and required actuals.	forecast BUP	system administrator	budgeting	Synchronizing rule group parameters and the forecast layout Creating a New Layout Pointing the Plan to the Actuals and Budget
Assign due-date attributes to the forecast.	forecast	corporate budget manager	Budget Management	Scheduling Due-Date Alerts
Update and run the Scheduled Alerts Due Date tasks.	forecast	system administrator	Job Scheduler	Scheduling Due-Date Alerts
Release the plan down the hierarchy for review, update, and approval. This step is required only if the forecast was not released automatically after the forecast was generated.	forecast	corporate budget manager	Budget Management	Releasing the Forecast after Generation
Review, update, and submit the forecast up the hierarchy for approval.	forecast	all relevant budget managers	Budget Management	Submitting Up the Hierarchy
Lock the plan to confirm the end of the solicitation process.	forecast BUP	root budget manager	budgeting	Locking the Worksheet
Publish the plan so that LFSO can use the payroll dollars as constraints for scheduling purposes.	forecast BUP	corporate budget manager	budgeting	Publishing and Unpublishing Payroll Data to LFSO

For information on the execution groups used in forecast generation, see Generating a Top-Down Forecast.