Workday Adaptive Planning Budget Modelling Training Course

Course overview

Finance teams often inherit budget models that are difficult to maintain: assumptions sit in disconnected spreadsheets, departmental submissions arrive in different formats, allocations cannot be traced, and scenario changes require manual rework. This course addresses the practical challenge of building and maintaining governed, driver-based planning models in Workday Adaptive Planning so finance can produce reliable budgets, rolling forecasts and management scenarios without losing control of formulas, versions or accountability.

Participants learn to translate a planning requirement into a functioning Adaptive model. They configure planning structures including levels, dimensions, accounts, time settings and versions; build standard and modelled sheets; create formulas, assumptions and allocations; and apply access rules appropriate to planning responsibilities. The course also covers budget input design, workflow-ready templates, scenario modelling, variance reporting, dashboards and Excel-connected reporting through OfficeConnect.

Instruction combines guided configuration in a Workday Adaptive Planning training environment with finance case work based on a multi-department operating budget. Each participant builds a reusable budget-model blueprint and working model components for a selected planning case, including a driver sheet, departmental input sheet, allocation logic, forecast version and management report. This provides a concrete reference for applying the methods in their own planning cycle.

The course is best suited to finance professionals responsible for budgeting, forecasting, FP&A reporting or Adaptive model maintenance. It is particularly valuable where the organisation needs to move recurring planning activity from spreadsheet consolidation to a controlled, auditable planning process.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Configure planning levels, dimensions, accounts, versions and time settings for a defined budgeting model
• Build standard sheets with controlled input rows, calculated accounts and departmental planning views
• Create modelled sheets that combine dimensional data, formulas and linked planning logic
• Develop driver-based revenue, workforce and operating-cost assumptions using Adaptive formulas
• Design allocation rules that distribute shared costs with traceable operational drivers
• Construct budget, forecast and scenario versions for comparative planning analysis
• Produce variance reports and management-ready dashboards using Adaptive reporting and OfficeConnect
• Document a budget-model blueprint covering structure, ownership, controls and recurring planning steps

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• FP&A Analysts — who build budgets, forecasts and management packs from operational planning data
• Finance Business Partners — who need to challenge assumptions and model departmental scenarios with business leaders
• Budget Managers — who coordinate submissions, allocations and approval-ready budget versions
• Adaptive Planning Model Builders — who maintain sheets, formulas, dimensions and planning structures
• Financial Controllers — who require auditable forecast logic and consistent variance reporting
• Finance Systems Analysts — who support planning-process configuration and reporting requirements

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should understand core budgeting and forecasting concepts, including chart-of-accounts structures, cost centres, operating assumptions, actual-versus-budget variance and basic financial statements. Experience preparing or reviewing departmental budgets in Excel is expected, as is confidence working with rows, columns, formulas and simple data tables. Prior exposure to Workday Adaptive Planning is useful but not essential; participants should, however, have access to an organisation or training tenant during the course. Programming, API development, database administration and prior Workday HCM or Financial Management configuration experience are not required.

Training methodology

The five-day programme uses instructor-led demonstrations followed by guided build activities in a Workday Adaptive Planning training environment. Participants configure elements of a shared finance-planning case, then apply the same methods to individual model components. Exercises cover departmental input sheets, workforce and operating-cost drivers, allocations, versions and reports. Small-group reviews test whether models are understandable to budget owners and controllable by finance. On the final day, participants consolidate their work into a budget-model blueprint and application plan for their own planning cycle.

Course outline

Day 1: Planning model foundations and data structure

• Workday Adaptive Planning navigation and model architecture
• Planning levels and organisational hierarchy design
• Dimensions, attributes and dimensionality choices
• Accounts, account categories and chart-of-accounts mapping
• Time settings, fiscal calendars and planning horizons
• Versions for actuals, budget, forecast and scenarios
• Model governance principles for finance-owned planning structures

Workshop: Participants map a multi-division finance case into levels, dimensions, accounts, time settings and planning versions for a new budget model.

Day 2: Building budget sheets and planning logic

• Standard sheet design for departmental budget entry
• Input rows, calculated accounts and row-level instructions
• Formula syntax, references and dimensional calculations
• Assumption sheets for rates, volumes and operational drivers
• Linked account calculations across planning sheets
• Time-based spreads, seasonality and annual phasing
• Sheet usability controls for budget-owner submissions

Workshop: Participants build a departmental operating-expense sheet linked to volume and inflation assumptions, producing a phased annual budget.

Day 3: Modelled sheets, workforce planning and allocations

• Modelled sheet structure and record-based planning
• Dimensions and calculated fields in modelled sheets
• Workforce cost modelling with headcount and compensation drivers
• Revenue modelling with volume, price and conversion assumptions
• Shared-service cost allocation methods and allocation bases
• Formula auditing and dependency tracing
• Data validation checks for planning-model integrity

Workshop: Participants create a modelled workforce and shared-services allocation model, producing traceable departmental cost outputs.

Day 4: Forecast versions, analysis and reporting

• Rolling forecast design and forecast-cycle controls
• Scenario versions for base, upside and downside cases
• Version comparison and actual-versus-plan analysis
• Adaptive reports using matrices, filters and calculated metrics
• Dashboards for budget-owner and executive audiences
• OfficeConnect templates linked to Adaptive Planning data
• Narrative-ready variance analysis and exception reporting

Workshop: Participants create three forecast scenarios and produce an executive variance pack with an Adaptive dashboard and OfficeConnect report.

Day 5: Deployment controls and budget-model application

• Planning process design from preparation through submission
• User roles, access groups and planning responsibility boundaries
• Workflow considerations for departmental budget collection
• Data import design and spreadsheet-to-model migration checks
• Workday Adaptive Planning Integration use cases and controls
• Model documentation, change control and testing procedures
• Budget-model blueprint and implementation prioritisation

Workshop: Participants complete a budget-model blueprint and 90-day application plan for deploying or improving a controlled planning process in their organisation.

Tools & standards covered

Workday Adaptive Planning, OfficeConnect, Workday Adaptive Planning Integration, Microsoft Excel

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions