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Email - 4 Nov/2020

This guide is to be used for preparation of the annual budget. The Planner module is not a useful tool for forecasting fiscal year actual results. The Planner module is also not directly linked to the HR module, and any changes entered for a position will need to be communicated to HR through the normal contract entry process. You can find contract entry guides HERE. 

Purpose of Planner Module

The Planner Module is to be used for the preparation of the annual budget. Selkirk College assigns budget authority at the Cost Centre level. Each Cost Centre may hold multiple Work Orders. Refer to Organizational Structure HERE. The Budget Holder that is responsible for the Cost Centre will be assigned access to view and modify the transactions for their respective Cost Centres. The transactions are broken into two different transaction entry screens: 

  • Revenue/Expense Transaction Screen ~ This screen will capture all of the accounts in the revenue, discretionary spending accounts, and discretionary personnel expenses.  The Budget Holder will have access to edit the current fiscal year budget ONLY.  Additional columns of financial information will be provided for reference. These columns will include prior year actuals, as available, and prior year budgets. 


  • Payroll Transaction Screen ~ This transaction screen will capture all of the accounts in the wages and benefits categories. The transactions in this screen will be populated through the use of a report that pulls data from the Position Register. The report calculates the projected fiscal year's wages by using the position's pay step, FTE, annual hours, and contract term.  The value that populates will be split according to any work order splits that are assigned at the position level. We budget based on positions and the respective FTE of those positions, not employment, or the person in the position. 


FAQs

  • Do I have access to a budget? How do I find it? 
  • How do I go about editing my current year budget?
  • I don't see a line for something - How do I add that to my budget?
  • How do I delete something from my budget? 

How to View and Edit Your Budgets


  1. Login to Unit4. Navigate to the vertical Main Menu along the left-hand side of the screen. Click on the Planner tab. 
  2. You will see two rows for each cost centre (per fiscal year) for which you are responsible, or oversee. Choose the cost centre and type of budget (revenue/expense or payroll) that you want to view or edit.


Step 1: Viewing your Revenue/Expense Budget

  1. Once you've selected the Transaction Entry Screen that you want to view, you will see a Selection Criteria screen. This screen will default some values, including your cost centre. However, you can use this screen to filter your results in the Transaction Entry Screen. For revenue/expense, you can filter by Account or Work Order. By applying a filter, the number of results in the transaction screen will be narrowed.

    1. Accounts

      There is numerical logic in the account sequence. Any account that begins with a 4XXX will be a revenue account. To filter to all revenue accounts, in the Account field, type "4*". The * will act as a wildcard and pull up all accounts that begin with a 4.  For your reference, we've provided a short summary of the account logic:

      4XXX - Revenues

      5XXX - Wages and Personnel Costs

      6XXX - Ancillary and Internal Costs

      7XXX - Utilities, Vehicles, and Equipment

      8XXX - Discretionary Spending 

      Work Orders

      Filtering by work order will help to reduce the number of transactions you see in your entry screen. This also helps you to budget by a specific project, school, etc. To easily filter to your work orders, you can use the type-ahead functionality in this box. There are a few different ways you can do this, depending on your preference: 

      1 - Use the first 4 digits in the name of your work order (e.g. type in "2213" for the work order, "2213 Accounting Services Administration), 

      2 - Type any word from the name of your work order (e.g. "Accounting" to look up "Accounting Services Administration")

      3 - Type in the actual work order number (e.g. 30-110-001)

      **Tip** - don't forget to go to each work order in your Cost Centre if you do use this function!

  2. Once you are satisfied with your filters, click Load.
  3. You will now see a list of transactions by work order and by account in your Transaction entry screen. 
  4. Your screen will look like the the below image when it loads.  Items to note:
    • NEW FOR FY25  - Rows will be highlighted red when there is an account with an actual value amount from the prior year, but no budget. This is just to help guide you in determining if budget amounts should be allocated differently. 
    • You can sort the columns by clicking on the header - I have sorted by Work Order in the screen shot. 
    • The amount columns include the budget for the next fiscal year, last year's actuals, and the current year's budget.
    • Black numbers represent money in/revenue
    • Red negative numbers represent money out/expenses
    • The totals per column will show at the bottom of the table


Step 2: Editing Your Revenue/Expense Budget

  1. Once your Revenue/Expense budget is loaded, your screen should look like the screen below.  To edit any of the figures in the budget column, click on the number you want to edit, and the cell will open. 
    2. You will not be able to edit anything in the other two value columns (FY23 Actuals or FY24 Budget).
  2. If you make any changes to the values in the Transaction entry screen, please also include a note in the notes column. 
  3. You can click Save as much as you want as you work. Don't forget to press Save when you are completed making changes!  


Step 1: Viewing your Payroll  Budget

  1. Once you've selected the Payroll Transaction Entry Screen that you want to view, you will see a Selection Criteria screen. This screen will default some values, including your cost centre. However, you can use this screen to filter your results in the Transaction Entry Screen. For Payroll transactions, you can filter by Account, Work Order, Employment Group, Position, or Pay step. By applying a filter, the number of results in the transaction screen will be narrowed.
  2. Once you are satisfied with your filters, click Load.
  3. You will now see a list of transactions by wage account (5000, 5299, and 5003), work order, and position in your Transaction entry screen. 
  4. Your screen will look like the the below image when it loads.  Items to note:
    • You can sort the columns by clicking on the header. I would suggest sorting by account, Position, or Work Order.  
    • Each position will load a base wage amount (account 5000) AND a benefit load (account 5299). The benefit load is a flat rate by union - 26% for PPWC and Exempt, 28% for BCGEU and 31% for SCFA.
    • The amount columns include:
      • The Base Budget - Please don't make changes to this amount. This comes from the settings in the system and represents our starting, draft amount. Changes can be made in other columns to affect the calculated value in "$$ after FTE Change"
      • Total Position FTE - this represents the FTE for the position, not necessarily what is budgeted in a work order or cost centre. 
      • FTE per WO - this represents the FTE budgeted for the specific work order listed in the second column, Work Order.
      • FTE Change - this is a field that you can use to edit any expected changes to a position FTE during the year. Note that any changes made in this column will not actually impact the HR personnel file, only your budget. To make a change to the employee's contract, you will have to submit the necessary contract. 
      • New FTE - this is the calculation of the FTE per WO and the FTE Change columns.  Note* - if the position is a partial year position, the calculation will not add properly across the row. See tip below on making changes to partial year positions. 
      • $$ after FTE Change - This is your new calculated budget for wages or benefits for the position. 
    • The account column will include:
      • Account 5000 - Wages
      • Account 5003 - Stipends
      • Account 5299 - Benefits.  



Step 2: Editing Your Payroll Budget

Wages have been loaded with bargained and expected annual lifts, so there is no need to enter a 2% wage increase unless you think a position will be re-evaluated.

  • Once your Payroll budget is loaded, your screen should look like the screen shot below.  You can use the FTE Change column to increase or decrease an FTE. The forecasted budget for that position will change accordingly. 
    1. **REMINDER** - if you modify the FTE in a wage account (5000 row), you also need to modify the FTE for the benefits (5299 row). 
  • If you make any changes to the values in the Transactions screen, please also include a note in the notes column. 
  • You can click Save as much as you want as you work. Don't forget to press Save when you are completed making changes.  
  • As a final step, it is important to check your total budgeted FTEs. The best way to do that is to go back to Selection criteria, and filter to account 5000. Your results will now show the total FTE (in thousands) in the New FTE column. 
    • Here is a screen shot of the New FTE total for position 100855. 200% FTE is 2.0 FTE. However, if I filter to only account 5000, my FTE would correctly show at 100%. 







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