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Edit a Template

This section contains the following topics:

Edit Layout

You can still make changes to your templates after they have been created even if they have values in them.

Caution: One very important thing to note before beginning the editing process is that some changes will cause Budget Loader to resort the data in the template.  In these cases all formulas contained in the template will be lost.  You will be warned about these situations and you can cancel the process at any time.  It is a good idea to save the edited template to a new sheet in these cases. You can always go back to the original if needed.

  1. From the menus select Budget>Edit>Edit Layout.

    Note: The default value in the Save this Layout field is New Sheet.  This will cause the edited template to be saved to a new worksheet.  You can then delete the old sheet later if you wish.  You can also select any other existing sheet including the sheet being edited.  This will overwrite the targeted sheet.

  2. You will see the Choose Fields / Template Layout dialog.  This is the very same screen you used to Initialize the template.
  3. Make your changes just like you did during initialization.

Resetting Default Labels:

  • If you have made changes to the labels in your template and you wish to reset them to the default values stored within the workbook, simply select the Reset Default Labels button.

Apply Groups

Note: The Apply Groups feature is currently available only for Planning templates.

  • When you first initialize a new planning template you are given the opportunity to populate it using the groups / hierarchies on your SAP system. You can skip this process simply by selecting Cancel.
  • This feature is also available from the Budget / Edit / Apply Groups menu any time.
  • A drop down selection for controlling area is now available.

  1. Object Type – This list contains all the Object fields you chose to display in your template.  (Cost Centers, Activities, Cost Elements, etc.)
    • Select one Object at a time to build combinations of groups in the Selected Groups list that will be used to generate the content in your template. 
    • Only groups of this Object will be displayed in the Choose Groups list.
    • You may repeat this step for each object prior to choosing the ‘Apply’ Button.

  2. Group Type – These are the different types of groups available in SAP.  Choose the Group Type you wish to search for.

  3. Controlling area – Always required.
  4. Search String – This value is used to search for the name of the Group.  You may use the * (asterisk) wildcard to return multiple similarly name Groups (exp*, mycostcenter*etc.)  Using the * wildcard in both search fields is not allowed when searching for sets.
  5. Search Description – Use this search term to further limit the list of Groups returned from SAP.
  6. Get Groups – Returns a list of groups to the Choose Groups list that match the search criteria you entered in steps 1 – 5.
  7. Choose Groups list  - The list of requested SAP Groups.
    • You may select whole groups, sub-groups  or the bottom level ranges which contain the actual list of objects in the group.
    • Select the group(s) you want by double clicking them.  This will move them to the Selected Groups list.

      Note: Subtotals will not be calculated for ranges which contain the actual object list.

  8. Selected Groups List (Enhanced in version 4.2)
    • Once on this list you have some freedom to modify the values in the group.
    • You can modify the ranges contained in the groups.
    • To Delete a group, single click on the group and then press the Delete key or alternatively you can double-click an item to remove it.
    • To Select multiple groups and/or values hold down the Control key.
    • To Delete all of the selected groups/values in one step, right click and select Remove all Selected Groups from the list?
  9. Subtotals – Check the box if you wish Budget Loader to calculate subtotals for all the levels in the selected group(s). 
  10. Repeat steps 1 – 9 until you have selected groups for as many of the Objects as you require.
  11. Apply – Derive the combinations of real objects, calculate the appropriate subtotals (if chosen) and populate the template with the results.
  12. Errors / Warnings – If errors are encountered during the Apply process they will be displayed on this tab.  Some common errors and warnings you might encounter are:
    • Duplicate values Error – If you have chosen multiple sets that contain duplicate values (example: Cost Center 1000 is contained in more than one Group) you will not be able to proceed until the duplicate has been removed.
    • No Values Found Warning – If a the bottom level range of a group contains a master data value that does not exist you will get this warning.
    • You can navigate to the Selected Groups list item causing the problem by double clicking the Error / Warning item.
    • If you encounter only Warnings you may proceed with building your template by selecting Apply(disregard warnings) on the Errors/Warnings tab. 

Pick Budget Values

  1. You can enter the initial search value directly in the cell of the template.  Then right click your mouse and select Pick Budget Values from the menu.

  2. Single Values / Groups – Select either single master data values or Groups.
  3. If you select Groups you must also choose the Group type from the dropdown list.
  4. Search String – In our example the search string is labeled ‘Cost Element’.  This label will vary depending on the object you are for.  In our example the search string is 8*1*.  This will return all the cost elements that begin with an 8 and contain a 1 anywhere. Use the * (asterisk) wildcard to return multiple similarly named items.
  5. Description – Use this search value to further limit the list of master data values returned from SAP.  The * wildcard is also available for this search value.
  6. Controlling Area – Always required.
  7. Search – Start searching
  8. Double click an item in the list to populate the template cell with the value.
  9. A drop-down selection is now available for controlling area (and Chart of Accounts in CO-PA)
  10. Planning Documents –  whether you choose groups or single values you may only choose a single value.
  11. History Documents –
    • You may select whole groups or individual values to populate the Selection Criteria of a History document.   Groups may only be chosen for the ‘From’ range of an object.

Replicate to Worksheet/Workbook

In order to facilitate template distribution to cost center managers and other department heads which may need to enter their own budget data, a replicate function is available in Budget Loader.  This function takes an existing budget loader template (either Expert or regular layouts) and creates unique worksheets/workbooks based on each unique header record value contained in the source sheet.

There are two target destinations a user can choose when using this function.  The first involves creating a list of worksheets within the same workbook.  The second method creates multiple, separate workbooks (with or without a password).  The target worksheets or workbooks will be named with the following convention…

  <TRANSACTION> <Cost Object 1> <Cost Object 2> <SEQ#>

So, for example, a Budget Loader worksheet with 3 unique headers containing cost center 1000 with cost elements 2000 and 3000, would be named similar to the following…

KP06 1000 2000 0010/KP06 1000 3000 0011

After the worksheets/workbooks are created, they can be edited and processed just like any other standard Budget Loader templates.

  1. To create a replicated sheet within the same workbook Select Budget > Edit > Replicate to Sheet.
  2. To create a replicated sheet creating new workbooks for each replicated sheet Select Budget > Edit > Replicate to Workbook.
  3. Enter a password if you want to password protect each target workbook, select cancel to leave the target workbooks unprotected.
  4. Source worksheets must contain 2 or more header lines for this functionality to be utilized.

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