P&L driver-based budget

What is a Top-down Profit & Loss Budget Form? Top-down Profit & Loss (P&L) budget models are considered what-if, break-back or modeling (depending on who you ask) templates and are used by budget managers and analysts to quickly create budget or forecasts scenarios. One key functionality used in this type of budget model includes the ability to automatically calculate revenues and expenses for all departments and GL accounts. The user can enter the target profit on the top of the form. The formulas then dynamically calculate all the rows and spreads the annual amounts across the months. It can use a flat spread or follow calculations based on last year's seasonality. Each account (row) can also be adjusted up or down if unique treatment is required. You will find an example of this type of budget model below.

Purpose of Top-down P&L Budget Forms Companies and organizations use Top-down P&L Budget Forms to allow a budget manager to easily and rapidly create one or more P&L budget versions. When used as part of good business practices in a Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) Department, a company can improve its scenario planning capabilities as well as reduce the risks associated with classic bottom-up budgets that drag out the budget process, or when a company only has time to create a single budget scenario.

Who Uses This Type of Budget Model? The typical users of this type of budget model are: CFOs, Budget Managers, and Department Heads. Other Budget Models Often Used in Conjunction with Top-down P&L Budget Forms Most Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) Departments use several different Top-down P&L Budget Forms, along with classic bottom-up budget forms, often covering detailed templates for payroll, capital expenses, sales and other management and control tools.

Where Does the Data for Analysis Originate From? The Actual (historical transactions) data typically comes from enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems like: Microsoft Dynamics 365 (D365) Finance, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (D365 BC), Microsoft Dynamics AX, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Microsoft Dynamics SL, Sage Intacct, Sage 100, Sage 300, Sage 500, Sage X3, SAP Business One, SAP ByDesign, Netsuite and others. In analyses where budgets or forecasts are used, the data most often originates from in-house Excel spreadsheet models or from professional xFP&A solutions.

This Solver planning template connects directly to your ERP data via the Solver Data Warehouse, enabling near real-time analysis with minimal setup. Designed for QuickStart deployment, it can be activated rapidly so your team can focus on analysis and decisions — not data preparation.

What is the P&L driver-based budget in Solver? The P&L driver-based budget is a pre-built xFP&A planning template in Solver that allows finance and business teams to submit planning data directly in Solver, with automatic roll-up to consolidated budget and forecast models.

Who uses this Solver planning template? Cfos, fp&a managers, and budget owners rely on this Solver planning template to streamline the budget and forecast submission process. It replaces disconnected spreadsheets with a single, controlled input point that feeds directly into consolidated models.

Where does the data come from? Data is sourced automatically from your ERP system through the Solver Data Warehouse, which integrates with platforms such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, Dynamics 365 Finance, Acumatica, Sage Intacct, and other leading ERP solutions. Once connected, the template updates in near real-time with no manual data entry required.

To learn more, visit the Resource Library.