Settings the Time Periods

When you create Strategic Modeling models, you define the number and type of time periods such as: weeks, months, quarters, halves, and years. Later, you can modify and add time periods, to enhance financial models.

To define time periods:

1. Access the Strategic Modeling ribbon in Microsoft Excel.

2. In the Strategic Modeling ribbon, click , and then select Settings.

3. In Time Periods, perform these tasks:

   • Add Years —See Adding Years

   • Delete Years—See Deleting Time Periods

   • Edit Years—See Changing Time Period Details

   • Period To Date—See Creating Period-to-Date Subperiods

   • Sub Period—See Adding Sub Period

   • Trailing Period—See Adding Trailing Time Periods

4. The Period list displays this information:

   • Period—Name of the period when displayed on the Accounts view and in reports.

   • ID—Code name internally used to reference the period.

   • Display—If status is provided in reports.

   • Input—If users can enter data for trailing periods.

5. In Last Historical Period, you select a year to be the last historical year of the model.

6. In Years For Historical Average, you enter a number to define the number of historical years in the model.

7. In Base Period, you select a year to be the base period of the model.

8. Click OK.

Adding Years

You can add years to the beginning or end of the model, and you can select the detail of the years.

To add years to time periods:

1. Access the Strategic Modeling ribbon in Microsoft Excel.

2. In the Strategic Modeling ribbon, click , and then select Settings.

3. On Time Periods, click .

4. In Number of Years, enter a year from 1950 to 2100.

5. Select a Where option, and indicate whether you are adding years at the Beginning or End of your model.

6. In Details, define the level of time to use to model the year. For example, to model using six months, select Halves. To model using financial quarters, select Quarters.

7. Click OK.

Changing Time Period Details

When you generate time periods for a financial model, all periods share detail level, which you define in the Time Period Setup Wizard. You detail level for years in Detail in Year.

To change time period level detail:

1. Access the Strategic Modeling ribbon in Microsoft Excel.

2. In the Strategic Modeling ribbon, click , and then select Settings.

3. On Time Periods, select a period, and then click .

4. In Detail, select a period that determines aggregate periods. For example, you can select Months without selecting Quarters or Halves—resulting in 12 months and the annual period. You can add the aggregate periods later; however, the annual period are not automatically created.

5. Click OK.

Deleting Time Periods

You can delete years from the beginning or end of financial model timelines.

To delete time periods:

1. Access the Strategic Modeling ribbon in Microsoft Excel.

2. In the Strategic Modeling ribbon, click , and then select Settings.

3. On Time Periods, select a period, and then click .

4. In Number of Years, enter a number.

5. In Where, select Beginning or End.

6. Click OK to exit.

Adding Trailing Time Periods

To add trailing time periods:

1. Access the Strategic Modeling ribbon in Microsoft Excel.

2. In the Strategic Modeling ribbon, click , and then select Settings.

3. In Time Periods, select a period, and then click .

4. In Trailing Period, enter the length of new trailing period in the box, click , and then click OK.

Creating Period-to-Date Subperiods

To create Period-to-Date subperiods:

1. Access the Strategic Modeling ribbon in Microsoft Excel.

2. In the Strategic Modeling ribbon, click , and then select Settings.

3. In Time Periods, select a period, and then click .

4. Optional: Select Active options to add more periods-to-dates to selected periods.

5. Optional: Select Display options to identify period to dates to present in reports.

6. Click OK.

Adding Sub Period

Define sub-periods for periods when transactions such as acquisitions or leveraged buyouts occur. For example, for a leveraged buyout that took place on April 15, the sub-period length is 105 days.

To create sub-periods:

1. Access the Strategic Modeling ribbon in Microsoft Excel.

2. In the Strategic Modeling ribbon, click , and then select Settings.

3. In Time Periods, select a period, and then click .

4. In Sub Period, click .

5. In Period column, enter a name.

6. In Days column, enter a length of time.

   Note:

   Sub-periods must be at least one day long.

   Create more sub-periods and allocate days until Unallocated Days is zero.

7. Click OK.

Editing Last Actual Time Periods

To change the last actual period:

1. Access the Strategic Modeling ribbon in Microsoft Excel.

2. In the Strategic Modeling ribbon, click , select Time Period, and then select Actuals.

3. In Last Actual Period, select a time period.

4. Optional: Select Use current scenario’s data to use the scenario currently selected when adjusting the actual time period.

5. Click OK.

Recalculating Values for Changed Periods

When you change time periods, Strategic Modeling prompts to recalculate when changes require backsolving.

To calculate input values for changed periods:

1. Access the Strategic Modeling ribbon in Microsoft Excel.

2. In the Strategic Modeling ribbon, click Calculate, and then select an option:

   • Calculate (Inputs for Current Scenario Only)

     Calculate input values for the current scenario only.

   • Calc All Scenarios

     Calculate input values for all scenarios.

3. Click OK.