NUPlans Distributed Review Process

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Steps

Notes

1

Finalize budget preparation, working with your Budget Manager or Budget Analyst for guidance on policy.

2

Commit all data.

Result: When you click Commit, all data (in all existing versions) are saved in the public folder for colleagues and reviewers. All data are available to NUPlans Web reports, once updated, and to allocations views.

Commit

3

Optional: View reports in NUPlans Web, per your access level.*

·         If you have access to a parent budget grouping (rollup level), you can view reports at the rollup level.

·         If you have access only to one or more child budget grouping(s), you can view reports only at the budget grouping level.

·         Reports can be viewed one budget grouping or rollup level at a time.

·         Note: Budgeters with Central Allocations should rely primarily on the “Allocation Summary – by Fund” view in NUPlans Web, instead of the “Budget Summary Report,” because they use different account hierarchies to summarize data. Some categories have the same name but may differ in amount. 

4

Optional: Export reports to Excel.*

·         It is necessary to export the “Budget Summary Report” to see hidden columns.

·         Reports can be saved, edited, and printed, just as you would any spreadsheet.

Export

5

Submit the budget for internal review. (Submit Access is required.)

Result: When you click Submit and confirm, the budget grouping is locked. No further edits are allowed.

Submit

·         Did you submit accidentally, or too early? If yes, contact your Reviewer and ask him/her to Reject (unlock) the budget grouping. Result: your budget grouping is unlocked, you may edit, and you may submit again, when you are ready.

·         The Reject icon is available to your Reviewer on the Contributor Dashboard, after you submit, next to your budgeting grouping name.

Reject

1

View a parent budget grouping or a child budget grouping.

1.    Log in to NUPlans Contributor.

2.    On the Contributor Dashboard, click the plus signs (+) to expand the budget hierarchy from the Area to the rollup level(s) to the child budget grouping(s).

3.    Click a budget grouping name. Result: the file opens in a new window.

2

Confirm that all child budget groupings that you review are submitted.

·         In NUPlans Contributor, view the Dashboard.

·         When all child budget groupings that rollup to parent are submitted:

§  The State of each child budget grouping is Locked.

§  The State of the parent budget grouping is Ready.

Children

Parent

3

Optional: View allocations and analyze the results of budgeting.*

·         If you have General or Planner access, you can view allocations data in the NUPlans Contributor Allocations view per budget group.

·         If you have Prep File access, you can view allocations data in NUPlans Web.

4

Optional: View reports and analyze the results of budgeting.*

·         With access to a parent budget grouping, you can view reports in NUPlans Web at the rollup level or at the budget grouping level.

·         Note: Reviewers with Central Allocations should rely primarily on the “Allocation Summary – by Fund” view in NUPlans Web, instead of the “Budget Summary Report,” because they use different account hierarchies to summarize data. Some categories have the same name but may differ in amount. 

5

Optional: Export reports to Excel.*

·         It is necessary to export the “Budget Summary Report” to see hidden columns.

·         Reports can be saved, edited, and printed, just as you would any spreadsheet.

Export

6

Compare versions of the budget (V1 and V2), if applicable.

·         In NUPlans Web, reports show important values from all existing versions side-by-side (Budget Version Report and Historical Budget Report).

·         In NUPlans Web, the Allocations views show all existing versions side-by-side.

·         In NUPlans Contributor, you can toggle from one version to another using the Context dimension “G_Scenario.”
 

1.    From any view (except Versions Summary) in NUPlans Contributor, locate the version toggle shown above under the heading “Context.”

2.    Click the drop-down arrow shown above. Result: a list of all possible versions appears:

3.    Select a version. Result: the version that you selected appears in the view.

7

Make a note of your preferred version (V1 or V2) of each budget grouping and communicate that to the Area Approver / Area Finance.

8

Reject (send back) budgets for further work. Reject is also a solution if a budgeter submits accidentally or too early, or if you want to edit the budget.

1.    Log in to NUPlans Contributor.

2.    On the Contributor Dashboard, locate the child budget grouping name, and click the Reject icon (shown at right). Result: a confirmation prompt appears.

3.    Click Yes to confirm. Result: the child budget grouping is unlocked to allow edits.

Reject

9

Edit a child budget grouping. (You cannot edit at the parent level.)

1.    From the Contributor Dashboard, click a child budget grouping name. Result: the budget preparation file opens in view-only mode.

2.    Click the Take Ownership icon (shown at right). Result: a Warning message appears asking you to confirm.

3.    Click Continue to confirm. Result: the budget opens in edit mode. You can change values in white columns.

4.    After editing, click the Commit icon (shown at right) to save edits publicly.

Take Ownership

Commit   

10

Submit budgets at the parent level to Area Approvers. (Submit access is required.)

1.    Log in to NUPlans Contributor.

2.    From the Contributor Dashboard, click the parent budget grouping name. Result: all child budget groupings that roll up to the parent open in one new window.

3.    Click Submit. Result: a confirmation prompt appears.

4.    Click Yes to confirm. Result: the parent budget grouping is locked. All versions of each child budget grouping are visible to Area Approvers.

State your preference of version (V1 or V2) in a separate communication.

Submit

Parent

11

View the Area-Approved Budget. Refer to step 6.

·         After the Area Approver / Area Finance approves the budget, they may create Version 3 to reflect the Area-Approved Budget. If so, V3 is visible in NUPlans Web reports, allocations views, and in NUPlans Contributor via the version toggle.