Driver-based planning
FP&A practice
Plan labor from FTE, compensation and burden, contracts from terms and uplifts, and assets from depreciation schedules — not from typed-in totals.
Connected planning that understands what technology costs.
“Can we still move money before the period closes?”
Connected-planning platforms are powerful but don’t understand what technology costs. IT financial management suites understand the cost but plan in rigid models and spreadsheets on the side. Budgeting & Forecasting does both. Plan in a grid that works like the spreadsheet finance already knows, with labor, contracts and assets calculated for you. Run budgets, forecasts and what-ifs side by side with one official plan of record. Collect submissions by cost center, approve them and publish them into the model. Every closed month flows into every open forecast, every variance traces to the GL lines behind it, and Dot builds the readouts and proposes the changes — you approve them.
Rooms you open
- Plan the Year
- Submit and Approve
- Close the Month
- Track the Variance
- Act Before Close
- Report the Plan
Methods supported
TBMFinOps
Part of Fund & Optimize · How do we plan, allocate and optimize resources?
The problem
The plan is out of date in weeks. The actuals arrive after the close.
Budgets are built in one tool, forecasts in a spreadsheet and actuals in the accounting system. Labor, contracts and depreciation are calculated in side files that never quite agree. Submissions come back by email, the approved version is whichever file was sent last, and by the time anyone sees the variance the quarter is already closed.
What it looks like today
- Budget, forecast and actuals in three places that never agree
- Labor, contract and depreciation math in side spreadsheets
- Submissions chased by email, with no clear version of record
- Variances found after the close, explained by hand
- A plan with no link to the cost model or the work it funds
What changes
What changes.
TodayWith Dotwork
Budget, forecast and actuals in separate files
One plan with actuals for closed months and the forecast for the rest
Driver math rebuilt in side spreadsheets
Labor, contracts and assets calculated for you — burden, uplifts, amortization and depreciation
Submissions by email
Submit, review and approve by cost center, published straight into the model
Variances explained after the close
Variances traced to the GL lines behind them while you can still act
Re-planning means a new spreadsheet
Re-planning means a new version beside the plan of record
Decide before the close
Budget, forecast and actual — and where you will land.
Every locked month flows into the forecast, so the plan always shows actuals for the months behind you and the forecast for the months ahead. See the run-rate landing, the variance by driver and the spend still awaiting approval while there is still time to move money — and trace any variance to the GL lines behind it.
Where other tools stop
Planning platforms know the numbers but not the technology cost behind them. IT finance tools know the cost but plan in spreadsheets. Here the plan, the actuals and the cost model are one book.
The planning thinking built in
Modern FP&A practice — with IT finance built in.
Budgeting & Forecasting runs the methods FP&A and IT finance teams already use, so the plan is credible to the CFO and precise about technology cost.
Rolling forecasts
Beyond Budgeting
Closed months are actuals, open months are forecast, and the outlook updates every month instead of once a year.
Plan of record and alternatives
Scenario planning
One official budget and forecast, with what-ifs kept beside them and compared — never added together.
Variance analysis
Management accounting
Every variance gets a cause and an owner, traced to the GL lines behind it rather than explained from memory.
TBM-aligned planning
TBM Council
Every plan line carries its technology tower, so the budget speaks the same language as the cost model and the benchmarks.
Capital and operating spend
Capitalization practice
Plan the capital and operating mix before you commit, with depreciation and amortization flowing from the plan.
The rooms
The rooms inside Budgeting & Forecasting.
Each room answers one question a leader actually asks, with the view that answers it and the measures that say whether it is working.
A room is a ready-made view that answers one leadership question, built on the same shared data as every other room.
Room 01
Plan the Year
“What is the plan of record — and what is the alternative?”
Budget, forecast and what-if scenarios side by side, with one official version of each, capital by scenario, headcount by period and plan dollars by capability.
How you know it is working
- Scenarios compared side by side before committing, up
- Drift from the approved plan of record, to zero
Room 02
Submit and Approve
“Which cost centers have submitted, and what is waiting on me?”
Submissions by cost center, each locked while in review, approved or returned with feedback, and published into the model with conflicts flagged instead of overwritten.
How you know it is working
- Cost centers submitted on time, up
- Submissions returned for rework, down
Room 03
Close the Month
“Are this month’s actuals in — and in the forecast?”
Monthly actuals loaded, matched, tied out and locked; once a month is locked, its actuals flow into every open forecast automatically.
How you know it is working
- Time from month-end to an updated forecast, down
- Forecasts still holding estimates for closed months, to zero
Room 04
Track the Variance
“Are we on plan — and where exactly is the drift?”
Budget, forecast and actual by line, cost center, vendor and tower, with variance thresholds, a waterfall from budget to forecast and a queue of variances that need an explanation.
How you know it is working
- Time to detect spend drift against plan, down
- Variance attributed to a cause, up
Room 05
Act Before Close
“Can we still act on it before the period closes?”
The run-rate landing, forecast accuracy, spend awaiting approval and the biggest increases still ahead — while there is time to move money.
How you know it is working
- Forecast error against actuals, down
- Overruns caught before the period closes, up
Room 06
Report the Plan
“What does leadership need to see this month?”
Spend analysis, the flow of spend from plan to vendor, remaining budget and an executive readout — built from the same numbers as the grid.
How you know it is working
- Readouts built from live plan data, up
- Time to prepare the monthly finance review, down
Agents and skills
Dot does the spreadsheet chores. Finance makes the calls.
Dot answers questions, builds readouts and proposes changes in plain language — and every number it shows comes from the plan itself, never from the model guessing. Nothing changes until a person approves it, and every change can be undone.
Top-Down Spread
Type a totalType a total on a summary row and it spreads to the detail — proportionally, evenly or by a 4-4-5 or 3-3-4 calendar — leaving locked, actual and formula cells alone.
- What you get
- Detail lines that add up to the target you set
- Where you decide
- You choose the spread pattern
Driver Engine
Every editCalculates burdened labor cost from FTE and rates, multi-year contracts with yearly uplifts and prepaid terms, and depreciation and amortization schedules for assets.
- What you get
- Labor, contract and asset costs by period, always current
- Where you decide
- Finance sets the rates, terms and schedules
Actuals Roll-In
Every locked monthWhen a month is signed off and locked, its actuals flow into every open forecast — no copying and pasting.
- What you get
- Forecasts with actuals for every closed month
- Where you decide
- A finance partner signs off the month first
Change Proposal
On requestAsk Dot for a change — “raise this vendor 5% from October” — and see exactly what it would do as a readable table before anything is written.
- What you get
- A proposed set of changes, checked against locks and conflicts
- Where you decide
- Nothing changes until you approve; every change can be undone
Data Quality Scan
Before you submitFinds duplicates, people counted twice, bad or missing dates, blank months and missing actuals — with a fix wherever the fix is unambiguous.
- What you get
- A checklist of issues with proposed fixes
- Where you decide
- You approve each fix
Variance Explainer
When a variance crosses its thresholdTraces the variance to the GL lines behind it, flags spend with no plan line and plan with nothing booked, and drafts the explanation.
- What you get
- A drafted variance reason with the evidence attached
- Where you decide
- The owner accepts it or sends it back
Readout Builder
On requestBuilds pivots, charts, written reports and slide decks in plain language — every total ties to the grid.
- What you get
- A shareable readout, saved as a draft until you publish it
- Where you decide
- You choose what to publish
Roll Forward
New fiscal yearStarts next year’s plan from this year’s — empty, repeated or grown by a rate — and locks the year behind it if you choose.
- What you get
- Next year’s plan, ready to work
- Where you decide
- The planning lead chooses how to roll
Use cases
Where finance teams put it to work.
CIO · CFO
The annual technology budget
Build the year from targets down and cost centers up, compare scenarios before committing, and lock one plan of record.
- An approved, versioned budget
- Scenarios compared before commit
FP&A · IT finance
Rolling forecast and reforecast
Keep the outlook current every month: actuals in for closed months, a new forecast version when the business changes.
- A forecast updated every close
- Re-plans as versions, not new files
Budget owners · Finance reviewers
Cost center submissions
Collect submissions by cost center with targets, review them with comments and approve them into the model.
- Submissions tracked by cost center
- Approved numbers published into the model
CFO · HR and workforce leads
Labor and capacity planning
Plan headcount, burdened cost and the capital and operating mix of labor together — with finance and workforce working from the same numbers.
- Burdened labor cost by period
- Capital and operating mix decided before commit
IT finance · Procurement
Contract and vendor planning
Plan multi-year contracts with uplifts and prepaid terms, and see spend against each vendor’s target before it is breached.
- Multi-year contract cost by period
- Vendor spend tracked against target
CFO · Executive team
Executive and board readouts
Show where the year will land, what remains of the budget and what drove the variance — built from the plan in minutes.
- A monthly readout from live data
- Remaining budget and landing in one view
How it compares
Connected planning and IT financial planning — in one plan.
Connected-planning platforms give finance a powerful planning engine that doesn’t understand technology cost. IT financial management suites understand the cost but plan rigidly. Budgeting & Forecasting does both, on the same model as the cost book and the rest of the enterprise.
| Capability | Connected planning platforms | IT financial management suites | Budgeting & Forecasting |
|---|---|---|---|
| A spreadsheet-fast planning grid | Partly | ||
| Versions, scenarios and an official plan of record | Partly | ||
| Submit, review and approve by cost center | Partly | ||
| Top-down targets spread by 4-4-5 or by pattern | |||
| Labor, contract and asset drivers built in | Partly | Partly | |
| Understands technology cost — towers, vendors, contracts | |||
| Closed months flow into every open forecast | Partly | Partly | |
| Variances traced to GL lines, with drafted explanations | Partly | ||
| AI that builds readouts and proposes changes for approval | Partly | ||
| Rapid deployment from a reference model | |||
| Same numbers as cost allocation and the rest of the operating model | Partly |
Built for finance teams
A planning grid that feels like the spreadsheet you already use.
Finance teams live in spreadsheets for a reason. The grid keeps what they love and adds what spreadsheets can’t: versions, approvals, locks, drivers and a link to everything else.
Works like a spreadsheet
Keyboard navigation, paste from Excel, drag to fill, formulas and undo — with grouping, filters and totals by any column.
Top-down that respects the detail
Set a target on any total and spread it to the lines below without touching locked or actual cells.
Import and export
Upload changes from CSV or Excel with a preview of every difference, and export exactly what you see.
Comments and history
Comment on any cell, mention a colleague and see who changed what — every edit is on the record.
Who it is for
Who opens it, and what they ask.
CFO
“Where will we land this year — and can we still move money?
CIO
“Is the technology budget on plan, and which scenario should we commit to?
FP&A lead
“How do we keep the forecast current without rebuilding it every month?
Cost center owner
“What is my target, and has my submission been approved?
IT finance
“Which variances need explaining, and what caused them?
Business unit leader
“What will my area spend this year, and on what?
What it replaces
Retire the workarounds — on your schedule.
- Budget spreadsheets emailed between departments
- Labor, contract and depreciation side files
- Actuals pasted into forecast files every month
- Separate planning and IT cost tools
How it is licensed
Budgeting & Forecasting is licensed within Fund & Optimize, with Cost Allocation included underneath.
Start in IT, one function or a division. Cost Allocation is included automatically with every module.
See pricingMethods and frameworks
Runs the methods you already use.
Dotwork does not ask you to adopt a new method. The frameworks your teams run become views over the same model.
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