1. User's Guide
  2. Working with Standard Profitability and Cost Management Applications
  3. Managing Standard Profitability Allocations
  4. Working with Standard Profitability Assignments

Working with Standard Profitability Assignments

While the driver definition determines how cost and revenue flows are calculated, assignments specify where you want the calculated revenue and costs to be allocated.

Assignments define the flow of data from sources to destinations. The flow is established by creating relationships between a source and destination for each node or intersection in the model, the destination for one member becoming the source for the next intersection in the allocation flow.

For each intersection of dimension members within a stage that contains source data, you assign downstream member intersections as destinations.

Assignments can only flow forward, or to the same stage. Cost and revenue allocations are traced from start to finish, and cannot flow backwards. Before a model can be calculated, the assignments are validated against internal flow rules to ensure the integrity of the model. You can skip stages in assignments. For example, a source intersection in Stage One could be assigned a destination in Stage Three.

The flow for a specific process may use some or all of the assignment types. See Types of Assignments.

Assignments are controlled by one dimension member's intersection within each stage. Assignments are created for a specific Level-0 members' intersection. Assignments can be set individually, or you can create an assignment rule that can be used multiple times.

To create an assignment, select a valid POV and a layer (Cost or Revenue) to make a unique assignment for each time, period, scenario and layer combination. A Source may be applied in the source pane, and the destination is selected in the Destination pane. The destination can be an explicit node or intersection, or an assignment rule. For information on creating assignment rules, see Working with Standard Profitability Assignment Rules.

For detailed instructions on working with assignments, see these sections: