Multi-business unit model

Hi Cheyne,

I must first say that it's extremely uplifting when Modano users post things like this, as it clearly demonstrates that you've done the training and understand how the system works. Thanks for investing the time and energy in doing so, as it makes it all worthwhile and very rewarding for us.

This post is freakishly timely, as our team are currently finalizing a multi-business units premium content add-on, and we've also recently made some improvements to the way Modano handles linking during mirroring modules which make what you're after possible.

Hence, I'd first recommend that you upgrade to the latest version of Modano just to deal with that potential issue.

After doing this, check out the attached (very simple) example, which does what you're after. To build this, I:

1. Opened a Generic Financial Model dynamic template (annual, chart of accounts 1, no sales taxes, single component);
2. Mirrored the revenue module.
3. Assigned a new link out (called Revenue Category Names) to the first category block in the revenue module, linking out only the revenue category names cell block starting in column B.
4. Assigned the same link in (i.e. Revenue Category Names) to the first category block in the revenue module, linking in only the revenue category names cell block starting in column B.
5. Linked the revenue category headings in the 2nd (mirrored) revenue module to the 1st revenue module by selecting a cell in the 2nd revenue module category block, displaying the Precedent Links Pane, then dragging and dropping the precedent links out onto the 2nd revenue module categories.
6. Set the default assumption of the revenue module category names to Product <CategoryNumber>.
7. Activated the income statement and unlinked all revenue categories before re-linking them using the Precedent Links Pane drag and drop in the order: Revenue - Product 1, Revenue (2) - Product 1, Revenue (3) - Product 1, Revenue - Product 2, etc.
8. Added a sub-total for each product in the income statement revenue category block.
9. Mirrored the 2nd revenue module.
10. Confirmed that the new ordering of revenue links into the income statement was preserved after mirroring the 2nd revenue module.

The resulting income statement, which is scalable, appears as shown below:

The linking of the revenue module category headings could also be done via a separate new module specifically to house the revenue (i.e. product) category names, but I kept this example skinny using the 1st revenue module to collect revenue (product) category names assumptions for all mirrored modules.

This example obviously doesn't contain proper business units either, so it doesn't collect business unit names, etc., which is what we're building into our business units content, but it should demonstrate the concept you're after.

One of our team can help walk you through this if necessary via our support system. This is a real-deal application of Modano so it's pretty complex stuff the first time you do it!

M.

Yes Cheyne that's definitely the recommended approach.

You can use categories layout sections to achieve the same outcome but the benefit of using modules for business units is that you can have categories within the business units too, which it looks like you want in your case.

This is fast becoming a key application of Modano, so it's great that you're picking up the concepts so well.

Hi Mike,

Cool approach! I notice this is on a forecast time series. How would you go about dealing with this on a rolling basis where the Historical Actuals do not line up nicely to these categories?

On a separate note, I have tried to use the modules as categories (release .1), but I'm struggling to get this to work. I checked the "Prevent Multiple Link Outs" check box as well as selected mirror as the option for Module as category, but when I add a category it isn't automatically mirroring.

When I try to Mirror it automatically creates a category, but I can't seem to get it going the other way.

Thanks Mike!

Hi Jun,

Let's not let this thread go too broad as you've raised multiple new topics in your comment here, all of which we'll be addressing in our upcoming Business Units Model premium content add-on.

Re modules as categories, this functionality is triggered by categories within precedent modules being linked into total-only rows within dependent modules, with the precedent module prevent multiple links out property switched on. It's complex stuff, and only works if you get all the ingredients right, and I think it's most efficient to show you examples in the upcoming business units library rather than try to create a set of instructions here.

M.

Hi Mike,

Thanks for that. I'll leave a last comment here as I worked out what I was doing wrong.

I had the prevent multiple link outs property switched on in my example file, but I didn't realise the "Module as categoy" property was referring to the dependent module - I had it set on the precedent module. Swapped that over and it works like a charm. Re-attached in case anyone wants to have a play around with it.

Looking forward to the Business Units Model, sounds like it'll be excellent stuff!

Cheers