Sheets, dimensions, levels, versions, and driver logic designed before any configuration begins — for new builds, phase two work, and model redesigns that need to last more than one planning cycle.
Adaptive Planning is flexible by design — which means it can produce a model your finance team runs confidently for years, or one that needs a rebuild within two planning cycles. The difference is architecture.
Account, time, version, and custom dimension design — the skeleton every sheet, formula, and report depends on. We design this before touching the platform.
Planning sheets for revenue, opex, capex, workforce, and cash flow with the level hierarchy needed to support entity rollups without manual consolidation.
Budget, actuals, rolling forecast, and scenario versions designed with the right relationships and offsets — so finance can compare versions without formula maintenance.
Driver-based calculation logic that reflects how the business actually plans — not generic percentages, but the real operational drivers behind each cost and revenue line.
Shared cost allocations, department distribution rules, and intercompany charge logic built into the model rather than maintained in spreadsheets outside it.
Management reporting sheets, OfficeConnect templates, and calculated accounts designed alongside the planning model, not retrofitted after go-live.
We map your current budgeting and forecasting process, data sources, reporting requirements, and the specific pain points in your existing model before designing anything.
Dimension structure, sheet layout, version relationships, and driver logic all designed and agreed in a written specification before any configuration begins in the platform.
Model built against your specification, tested with real data, validated against prior-year actuals, and handed over with full documentation and finance team training.
We work on new builds, phase two expansions (adding new planning areas to an existing model), and redesigns of models that were built quickly and never properly architected. The same design-first standard applies in all three cases — the model we hand over is documented at the formula level, not just the workflow level.
Rushing dimension design. Accounts, custom dimensions, and levels are almost always configured during the first sprint because there is pressure to show progress — and then spend the next eighteen months constraining every decision that follows. We design dimensions on paper, get them agreed, and only then open the platform.
Often yes. We start with a model audit to identify which parts of the architecture are structurally sound versus which are causing the problems. Targeted redesigns — fixing a broken version structure, rearchitecting a workforce sheet, rebuilding allocation logic — are frequently possible without a full rebuild.
A written design specification covering dimension structure, sheet layout, version architecture, driver logic, and reporting requirements — agreed before configuration begins. The specification is yours to keep regardless of who builds the model.
Workday Illuminate and the Adaptive Predictive Forecaster work best when the underlying model architecture is clean — well-designed driver structures, consistent dimension members, and actuals flowing in correctly. We design with native AI capability in mind from the start, so enabling Illuminate features later requires configuration, not rework.
Model performing below expectations?
Get a Model Audit →We’ll review your requirements and give you a written design specification before any configuration begins.