Advance to planning: what it changes, and what your reports show afterwards
Overview¶
Goal: Record the funding plan that was selected, move the property into that budget year, and read the reports that follow.
Audience: System Admin, Account Admin, Property Manager, Reserve Analyst.
Once the new fiscal year has begun, SmartProperty asks you to close out the year you have been planning. Advance to planning is the step that closes it. The advance records which funding plan was selected, moves the property into that year, and opens a fresh planning year above it.
Advance to planning is the last step in the planning cycle. Until you run the advance, the year you have been planning is still a forecast, and the plan you intend to adopt is still one of several on file.
The advance writes the selected plan's figures onto the property's saved financials for that year, marks that plan as the approved budget, and makes that year the current fiscal year.
From then on, reports run for that year show the adopted plan's numbers.
Advance to planning cannot be undone. Check the plan and the figures before you submit.
Setup¶
Roles required: edit access to the Reserve Studies module. Without edit access, the Advance banner is not shown. Your Account Admin manages user permissions for the association.
Prerequisites: a funding plan exists for the planning year, and that fiscal year has started. The banner appears once the year you are planning is no longer in the future.
One-time configuration: not applicable.
How-to¶
From the year selector in the top navigation bar, select your planning year. The Advance banner is hidden while the current fiscal year is selected.
In the yellow banner across the top of the page reading "Advance to planning for [year] budget year", click the Advance button. This opens the Advance to planning window at the Select funding plan step.
On the Select funding plan step, the window asks which funding plan was selected for that year. Each tile shows the plan name, its type and its annual reserve contributions.
Select a plan, then click the View plan details button. This opens the Verify plan details step.
On the Verify plan details step, the window asks whether the financial details are accurate as of the plan's fiscal year start date. Read the values on your own screen.
Click the Yes, Continue button to carry on, or the No, Edit this plan button to open Plans and change the values first.
On the Submit step, check the total assessments figure for the year. The field opens prefilled with the property's current annual assessment figure.
Change the figure only if it is wrong.
Read the line above the button: by submitting this selection, your financials and components for that year will be updated to match the details of the plan you selected.
Click the Submit plan selection button. Advance to planning cannot be undone.
Click the Close \& reload property button. SmartProperty reloads with the new year in place.
To stop without adopting anything, click the "I'm not ready to select a plan for [year]" link instead. Doing so leaves the banner in place.
After the reload, open Reports and confirm the figures you expect. On the Reserve Analysis Report, click the Edit Report Settings button and check Report Data Source before reading any number as final.
Reference¶
What the advance changes¶
| Scenario / Element | Definition and Handling Action |
| --- | --- |
| What the advance writes | The selected plan becomes the property's approved budget for that year. The property's saved financials for that year are set from the plan: starting reserve balance, annual reserve contribution, inflation rate, interest rate and the rate of contribution increase. The total assessments figure you submit is saved as well. |
| Component list | The property's component list for that year is synchronised with the components attached to the plan. |
| Approved budget badge | A green "[year] approved budget" badge is shown beside the adopted plan's name in the Funding Analysis tab of the Reports page. |
| The year moves | The year you advanced becomes the current fiscal year, and the following year opens as the new planning year. |
| Reversing an advance | Advance to planning cannot be undone. Check the plan name and the figures on the Verify plan details step before you submit. To correct a property after an advance, contact SmartProperty. |
| Plan detail rows on the Verify step | A ladder plan shows its steps instead of the single contribution rows. Every other plan type shows Starting Reserve Balance, Additional Funds to Reserves, Annual Reserve Contributions, Rate of Annual Reserve Contribution Increases, Interest Rate and Inflation Rate. A targeted plan adds Target and Target Year above those. A threshold plan adds Threshold. Read the values on your own screen. Which rows appear depends on the plan's type. |
Which year a report runs for¶
| Scenario / Element | Definition and Handling Action |
| --- | --- |
| The year selector decides | Reports are run for whichever year is selected in the top navigation bar. The same report gives you different figures depending on that selection. After an advance, the year you were planning is now the current year, and the year above it is a forecast. |
| Future year message | With a future year selected, a message is shown above the page: "You are viewing information for a future fiscal year. All data and reports are a forecast starting [date]." |
| What the selector lists | Your current fiscal year and one planning year. |
| Reports that follow the selected year | Percent Funded Analysis, Anticipated Expenditures, Component Inventory, Reserve Allocation Report, Plan Summary Report, Financial Assessment Report, Annual Financial Health Report and Reserve Analysis Report are run for the year you have selected. Each one picks up the advance as soon as you switch to that year. |
| Monthly Cash Flow | Listed under the Project Reports tab only while the current fiscal year is selected. If you change the year while the report is open, SmartProperty returns you to the Reports list. The Project Reports tab appears only for properties with project reporting enabled. Without project reporting enabled, neither the tab nor the report is shown. SmartProperty enables project reporting for your property. |
| Projects Summary | The Projects Summary report lists your current and upcoming projects. The year selected in the top navigation bar does not change what the report returns. |
| Maintenance reports | The Maintenance Tasks report and the Maintenance Estimated vs Actuals report are run for a date range rather than for the selected fiscal year. Set the range with the Date filter on the report. SmartProperty enables the Maintenance feature for your property. |
| Funding plan names | In the Funding Analysis tab, a plan name opens its funding plan report when a current year is selected. With a future year selected, the same name opens the plan itself. |
Report Data Source¶
| Scenario / Element | Definition and Handling Action |
| --- | --- |
| Report Data Source | A setting on the Reserve Analysis Report, the Plan Summary Report and the funding plan report. Click the Edit Report Settings button to reach the setting. The setting offers Display latest and Display original. Display latest displays the report using the latest information from financials and components. Display original displays the original plan as of the fiscal year start date. Report Data Source is shown only while the current fiscal year is selected, and Edit Report Settings needs edit access to reports. |
| Display original greyed out | The report says why: "Display Original is unavailable because no original snapshot exists for this fiscal year." Read the report with Display latest selected. |
| Two readings of the same year | Display latest and Display original can return different numbers for the same year without any data having changed. Check which one is selected before treating a difference as an error. |
Troubleshooting figures¶
| Scenario / Element | Definition and Handling Action |
| --- | --- |
| A figure looks out of date | Reports update shortly after you advance. Refresh the page to pick up the current figures. |
| A figure does not match across screens | Check the fiscal year selected on each screen first, then check the Report Data Source setting on the report you are reading. Both change the figures without any data changing. If neither explains the difference, refresh the page. If the figures still differ, contact SmartProperty. |
After the advance¶
| Scenario / Element | Definition and Handling Action |
| --- | --- |
| Setting up the new planning year | The new planning year appears in the selector straight away. Selecting the new year opens Planning. Work through the three steps: Review anticipated expenditures, Verify financial details, and Complete. Planning creates a copy of your component data for that year and an estimate of that year's financial assumptions. Run reports for the new planning year once Planning is complete. |
| Component and assessment labels | Your property may use different words for components and assessments. Where you see "components" or "assessments", read the label your property is configured with. |