Introduction

This 60-minute hands-on tutorial shows you how to create and configure Quota Planning in Oracle Sales Planning. The sections build on each other and should be completed sequentially.

Background

Oracle Sales Planning provides an extensible, reliable framework that enables your teams to set and analyze data-driven, intelligent quotas using best practice methodologies. All key participants engage in the sales planning process including sales operations, sales management, and sales reps.

You can enable the following business processes in Sales Planning:

  • Quota Planning offers top-down and bottom-up target quota planning by territory, product, account, or other custom dimensions. Use Predictive Planning and what if scenario planning to explore and compare different quota scenarios for informed decision making. Quota Planning builds best practices into its content, including its forms, calculations, dashboards, infolets, drivers, and measures.
  • Advanced Sales Forecasting provides a robust platform for the sales forecasting process, allowing multidimensional sales forecasting across territories, products, accounts, channels, or other custom dimensions. It offers sales teams connected sales planning with integration between Quota Planning, compensation planning, and sales forecasts. With Advanced Sales Forecasting, you can plan at the weekly or monthly level, and use a rolling forecast if your business requires it.
  • Key Account Planning expands Sales Planning to cover a data driven approach to sales baseline planning, resulting in an overall view of the customer's profit and loss. Key Account Planning helps key account managers plan trade promotion strategies in order to optimize their trade spends and offers collaborative sales planning. By using baseline planning and promotion planning, key account managers or sales managers can perform gap analysis and see the uplifts - the impact on sales volume or revenue - from running trade promotions.

Extend Oracle Sales Planning by adding configurations and personalization into your Sales Planning application with custom navigation flows, dashboards, and infolets. Use tasks and approvals to manage the quota planning process. Use Groovy rules to customize even further for enhanced calculation and business rules. Integrate Oracle Sales Planning with Oracle Engagement Cloud – Sales Cloud to push quota targets to incentive compensation or bring in actual attainment.

This tutorial shows you how to create a Sales Planning application, as well as enable and configure Quota Planning.

Prerequisites

Before starting this tutorial, you must:

  • Have Service Administrator access to Oracle Sales Planning. The instance should not have an application created.
  • Download this file and extract the contents to a local folder.

Setting up your Application

In this section, you learn how to create a Sales Planning Application in the EPM Service.

Logging On

Before you create your Sales Planning application and enable features, analyze your organization's current processes and determine your organization's requirements.

  1. Go to your Planning URL.
  2. Enter your user name and password.
  3. Click Go.
  4. On the EPM Enterprise subscription landing page, for Planning click SELECT.
  5. Planning business process

    The Planning landing page is displayed.

  6. To create a new Sales application, click START.
  7. Creating a new application

    The application wizard is displayed.

Creating a Sales Planning Application

  1. Enter or select the required general properties:
    • Name: SalesPln
    • Description: Sales Planning
    • Application Type: Sales Planning
    • General properties

  2. Click Next.
  3. Set the Start year to 2019, and End year to 2027 .

    Details page years

  4. For First Month of Fiscal Year, accept the default: January, and for Weekly Distribution, select 4-4-5 Distribution.

    Details page Wkly Distribution

  5. For Task Flow Type, Main Currency, and Multicurrency, accept the default selections.

    Currency

  6. Review the name of the reporting cube.

    Details Page Reporting Cube

  7. Click Next.
  8. Review your selections. If necessary, return to previous pages to make changes.

    Review Page

  9. Click Create.

    The Application Creation Status message is displayed.

    Application Creation Status

  10. Application creation may take a moment to complete. When completed, you'll see an Application created successfully message.

    Completion Message

  11. Click Configure.

    Enabling Quota Planning

    You enable the features you want to use in Quota Planning. When you enable features, dimensions, drivers, forms, and other artifacts are created based on your selections. You can incrementally implement features.

    Enabling Features

    1. In Configure: Quota Planning, click Enable Features.
      ConfigurePage
    2. In Enable Features, select Planning Model, then:
      • Accept the default selection, Territory.
      • You can plan by territory or resource. The lowest level in each hierarchy represents a sales rep. With Territory, you can integrate with Oracle Engagement Cloud's Territory Management. With Resource, you can integrate with Oracle Engagement Cloud's Incentive Compensation Management.

      • Under Optional Dimensions, select Accounts, and Product.
      • The Accounts, Product, and Geography optional core custom dimensions have predefined functionality and artifacts associated with them.

      Optional Dimensions

      You must add custom dimensions when you first enable Quota Planning.

    3. Select Unit of Measure, and accept the default selection Amount.

      You can choose to plan quota by dollars or units.

      Unit of Measure
    4. Select Key Functionality, then:
      • Select Overlay Targets.
      • You can plan for the additional sales from a support sales force whose assistance increases revenue.

      • Select Seasonality
      • You can adjust quota to better reflect the seasonal impact.

      • Select Padding.
      • Selecting Padding allows management to make top side adjustments of target quotas before the final quotas are rolled out.

      • Select What if Scenarios.
      • You can compare different business outcomes with the base plan.

        Key Functionality
    5. Select Planning Methodology then:
      • Select Waterfall.
      • With the top down method, after planning target quota for all territories, you can allocate it throughout the organization with one action. With the waterfall method, you can plan target quota at the top of the organization and then allocate it one step below in the hierarchy.

      • In Planning Methodology, select Bottom Up.
      • With bottom up, sales reps can propose quotas for each account that they collaboratively review and adjust with their managers.

        Planning Methodology
    6. Select Predictive Planning.

      Enable Predictive Planning to perform time series statistical analyses on historical data to predict future results. Users can copy these predictions into forecast and what-if scenarios.

      Select Predictive Planning
    7. In Map/Rename Dimensions, enable Auxiliary 1, and clickpaperclip icon (Rename Target Dimension).

      Edit Dimension Name

    8. In Map/Rename Dimension, enter Sales Channel to rename Auxiliary 1, and click OK.
      Enter Sales Channel
    9. Verify the following and click Enable:
      • Accounts and Products dimension are selected
      • Auxiliary 1 is mapped/renamed to Sales Channel
      Click Enable
    10. At the Confirmation message, click Yes.
      Confirmation message

      Enabling features may take a moment to complete.

    11. When an information message displays that features were enabled successfully, click OK.
      Success message
    12. In the upper right corner, click the arrow next to your username, and then click Sign Out.
      Sign Out
    13. When prompted to sign out, click OK.
      Sign Out Confirmation Message
    14. Log back into Oracle Sales Planning.

      The home page is displayed. Note that the Quota Planning card was added to the home page.

      Home Page

    Reviewing Enabled Features

    1. On the home page, click Application, then Configure.
      home page Application Cluster

      The configuration tasks are displayed.

      Configure Page

      Before you can use the predefined forms, you'll need to import dimension members, load and prepare historical data, set user variable values, and perform additional configuration tasks.

    2. Click Enable Features.
    3. Review the enabled features.
      Enabled Features
    4. Click Close.

    Reviewing Cubes and Dimensions

    In this section, you review the cubes and dimensions created after enabling features.

    1. Click Overview.
      Select Overview
    2. In Application Overview, review the application properties.
    3. Overview page
    4. Click Cubes.

      The configuration creates one (1) aggregate storage cube and one (1) block storage cube. Quota Planning includes a SALESREP reporting cube, and the OEP_QTP cube to plan sales quota.

      cubes

    5. Click OEP_QTP.
      Select QTP cube

      The OEP_QTP cube is a block storage cube with several included dimensions and members. Sales intelligence and terminology is built in to support your sales planning.

      QTP cube Information
    6. Click Done.
    7. Click Dimensions.
      Select Dimensions tab
    8. For Cube, click icon arrow (Select Cube), and select OEP_QTP.

      Select cube

      Dimensions included in the cube are displayed.

      Dimensions for QTP
    9. Click Measures.
    10. In Edit Member Properties: Measures, click Zoom in all levels icon (Zoom in All Levels).

      Zoom in All Levels

    11. Review the measures created to help you plan sales quota.
      Measures members

      Tip:

      If you need more measures, you can add them. Adding measures is covered in a separate tutorial.
    12. Scroll to the right to see the Default Alias Table column.

      While you cannot change member names, you can change the alias to reflect the name needed for your organization.

      Measures members showing Default Alias Table

      Tip:

      You can drag the Default Alias Table column to the left so that it is next to the Member Name.
    13. Click Cancel.

    Performing Configuration Tasks

    In this section, you import metadata and configure components.

    Importing Metadata

    1. Click Configure.
      Navigate to Configure
    2. Click Accounts.
      Select Accounts
    3. Click Choose File.
      Click Browse

      Note:

      Depending on your browser, the button label may display Choose File or Browse.
    4. Locate and select Accounts.csv, and click Open.
    5. Click Validate.
      Click Validate
    6. In the Information message, click OK.
      Click OK
    7. Click Close.
    8. Click Jobs.
      Click Jobs

      The Validate Metadata job completed successfully.

      Jobs Page
    9. Click Configure.
      Navigate to Configure
    10. Click Accounts.
      Select Accounts
    11. Click Choose File.
      Click Browse
    12. Locate and select Accounts.csv, and click Open.
    13. Click Import.
      Click Import
    14. In Options, select Refresh Database if Import Metadata is successful, and click OK.
      Click OK
    15. In the Information message, click OK.
      Click OK
    16. Click Close.
    17. Click Jobs.
    18. Click Jobs
    19. In Recent activity, verify that the jobs completed successfully.
    20. Jobs Page
    21. Return to Dimensions. Click Overview.
      Navigate to Overview
    22. Click the Dimensions tab.
      Select Dimensions tab
    23. For Cube, click icon arrow (Select Cube), and select OEP_QTP.

      Select cube

    24. Click Import.
      Click Import
    25. In Import Metadata, click Create.
      Click Create

      You can import multiple dimensions at the same time.

    26. For each of the following dimensions, click Choose File, then locate where you saved the csv files, select it, and then click Open.
      • Territory—Territory.csv
      • Product—Product.csv
      • Sales Channel—Sales Channel.csv

      Note:

      Depending on your browser, the button label may display Choose File or Browse.
      Click Import
    27. Click Import.

      Note:

      Best practice is to validate metadata files before importing them. The files included in this tutorial have been validated.
      Click Import
    28. In Options, select Refresh Database if Import Metadata is successful, and click OK.
      Click OK
    29. In the Information message, click OK.
      Click OK
    30. Click Close twice.
    31. Click Jobs.
    32. Click Jobs
    33. The import job and the refresh job completed successfully.
    34. Jobs Page

    Reviewing and Modifying Territories

    In this section, you review the territories you imported and you make modifications.

    1. Click Overview.
      Click Overview
    2. Click Dimensions.
      Select Dimensions tab
    3. For Cube, click icon arrow (Select Cube), and select OEP_QTP.

      Select cube

    4. Click Territory.
      Click Territory
    5. Click Zoom in all levels icon (Zoom in All Levels).

      Zoom in All Levels for Territory

    6. Scroll right, and drag the Default Alias Table column, and drop it to the right of Member Name.
      Drag Default Alias Column
    7. Scroll down and select the 1006 row for NA Business Sales - Products - Martin Conway, and click icon move up (Move Up) three times to move it up to the top.
      Move NA up
    8. Click Save.
      Save
    9. Click icon refresh db (Refresh Database).

      Refresh database

    10. Click Refresh Database.
      Refresh database dialog
    11. Click Refresh.
      Refresh database confirmation
    12. After the progress message displays Succeeded, click Finish.
      Refresh database success message
    13. Click Close.
    14. Click Cancel.

    Loading Data

    In this section, you load actual data.

    1. Click Actions, and select Import Data.
      Import Data
    2. Click Create.
      Click Create
    3. In Import Data, you select import options and select your data file.
    4. Import Options
    5. Keep all the default selections, and click Choose File to select a file.
    6. Locate and select Historical_Actuals.csv, and click Open.

      When selected, the file name is displayed next to Source File. If you selected the wrong file, you can update your selection.

    7. In the upper right, click Import.
    8. Update Selected File
    9. In the Information message, click OK.
      Import Successful Message
    10. Next, import 2023_ImpactedRevenue which you'll need for overlay targets. Next to Source File, click Update.
      Click Update
    11. In Update File, click Choose File.
      Click Browse
    12. Locate and select 2023_ImpactedRevenue.csv, and click Open.
    13. In Update File, click OK.
      Click OK
    14. Verify your selections, and click Import.
      Click Import
    15. At the Information message, click OK.
      Import Successful Message
    16. Click Close twice.
    17. Click Jobs, and verify that the recent two Import Data jobs completed successfully.
      Successful Import Data job

    Setting Variables and User Preferences

    In this section, you specify the current and previous plan year. You also set user preferences so that you can work with forms and dashboards.

    Setting Values for Substitution Variables

    1. Click navigator icon (Navigator), and under Tools, click Variables.

      Navigator Menu

      In Variables, you can administer user variables and substitution variables.

      User Variables
    2. Click Substitution Variables.

      The predefined substitution variables are displayed.

      Sub Variables
    3. For OEP_CurYr change the year to FY24, and for OEP_PriorYr, change the year to FY23, and click Save.
      Change Years for Sub Variables
    4. Click OK.

    Setting User Preferences

    1. Click navigator icon (Navigator), and under Tools, click User Preferences.

      Select User Preferences

    2. In General, under Approvals, select Display Aliases.
      Select Display Aliases
    3. On the left, under Preferences, click Display.
      Select Display
    4. Under Number Formatting, for Thousands Separator, select Comma.
      Select Comma
    5. On the left, under Preferences, click Ad Hoc Options.
      Select Ad Hoc
    6. Set Precision values to:
        Minimum Maximum
      Currency Values 0 0
      Non-Currency Values 0 0
      Percentage Values 0 1

      Precision settings affect the value display only, not their stored values.

      Set Precision
    7. On the upper-right, click Save.
      Save
    8. In the Information message, click OK.
      Save

    Setting Values for User Variables

    1. On the left, under Preferences, click User Variables.
    2. For each variable, click its icon member selector (Member Selector) to select a member as the variable's value:
      Dimension User Variable Member
      Currency Reporting Currency USD_Reporting
      Scenario Scenario OEP_Plan
      Territory OverlayTerritory OEP_All Overlay Territory
      Territory Sales Rep Territory Central - Products - Div 1 - Peter Branch
      Territory Territory All Territory
      Accounts Accounts OEP_All Accounts
      Product Product OEP_All Product
    3. Tip:

      When selecting Sales Rep Territory, click the Settings icon and select Show Alias.
      Save
    4. Verify your selections, and click Save.
      Save
    5. In the Information message, click OK.
      Save

    Preparing Actual and Forecast Data

    After loading data, you run a rule to prepare and calculate the loaded data, and aggregate it across the hierarchy to make it available for target setting and predictive planning.

    1. Return to the home page. Click Icon Home (Home).
    2. Click Rules.
      Rules card

      Deployed rules are listed on this page.

      Business Rules

      You can filter the display by rule type and cube.

    3. Scroll down and for Process Actuals, click icon launch (Launch).

      Launch Process Actuals

    4. For each item, click its icon member selector (Member Selector) to select a member as its value:
      • Historical Years: FY20,FY21,FY22,FY23
      • Scenario: OEP_Plan
      • Version: OEP_Working
      Process Actuals Selections
    5. Click Launch .
    6. In the Information message, click OK.
      Information message

    Performing Additional Configuration Tasks

    In this section, you verify an option that allows sales reps to override the allocated target quota of a sales manager. You also set seasonality for the upcoming year.

    Setting Allocated Target Overrides

    The default selection for allocated target overrides is set to No. If you change it to Yes, then targets assigned by those higher in the hierarchy can be changed by those lower in the hierarchy.
    So, if the Sales VP allocates 5 million dollars to their Sales Manager, the Sales Manager can allocate a quota less than 5 million dollars to their Sales reps, if the allocated target overrides is set to Yes.
    To ensure the quota does not get modified, set this option to No.

    1. Return to the home page. Click Icon Home (Home).
    2. On the home page, click Application, then Configure.
      home page Application Cluster
    3. Select Allow Overrides on Allocated Target Quota.
      Configure page
    4. Keep the default selection, No to ensure that the quota allocated by someone higher in the hierarchy cannot be changed by someone lower in the hierarchy.
      No Overrides Allowed
    5. Click Close.

    Setting Seasonality

    1. Select Seasonality.
      Select Seasonality
    2. Seasonality for the prior year is displayed.

      For FY24, enter monthly seasonality based on the following, and click Save.

      Enter Monthly Seasonality for FY20
    3. In the Information message, click OK.
      Information message
    4. Click Close.

    Verifying the Configuration

    In this section, you verify what you set up. You ensure that you can select Quota Planning and you set targets to get started.

    Setting Targets

    1. Return to the home page. Click Icon Home (Home).
    2. On the home page, click Quota Planning, then Set Targets.
      Set Targets
    3. Click Set Growth from the second vertical tab.
      Set Targets
    4. In Plan YOY Growth %, enter 15%, and click icon save (Save).

      Enter value and save

    5. In the Information message, click OK.
      Information message
    6. For Plan Target Quota, enter 430m.
      Change Target
    7. Click icon save2 (Save).

      Save

    8. In the Information message, click OK.
      Information message