DOCUMENTATION

PURPOSE

Finpact Solutions is a standalone financial system that encompasses accounting actuals, forecast and financial reporting within the Excel ecosystem. This Quick Start Guide provides a brief overview of how to get started using the core Finpact Solutions products—the MASTER LEDGER (accounting), HORIZON (forecasting) and NEXUS (reporting).

1. Customize the Chart of Accounts – Review the available accounts in the Chart of Accounts (COA) and optionally update the names for any custom revenue and cost accounts.

2. Add Lookup Entries – Add entries to the lookups (Employee & Consultant Lookup, Department Lookup, Vendor Lookup, Customer Lookup, Project Lookup, Product & Inventory Lookup) to populate the ID Name dropdowns throughout the accounting modules and exported lookups.

3. Export Lookups to HORIZON and NEXUS – After adding entries to the lookups, navigate to the Data tab on the top Excel ribbon, then under Queries & Connections group, select Refresh All. Copy and paste the content from Export Lookup to Nexus into NEXUS and from Export Full Lookup into HORIZON.

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1. Add Expenses – Add your first expense transaction in the Expenses accounting module. The most common Action would be to Add/New Operating or Direct Cost Expense.

2. Add Sales – Add your first sales transaction in the Sales accounting module. The most common Actions would be to Add/New Inventory Sales Revenue or Non-Inventory Sales Revenue.

3. Submit with Refresh All and Export Actuals – When ready to submit all transactions, navigate to the Data tab on the top Excel ribbon, then under Queries & Connections group, select Refresh All. Then copy the content from Export Actuals and paste into NEXUS to view actuals in financial reports.

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1. Import Lookup from the Master Ledger – From the MASTER LEDGER, copy the content from the Export Full Lookup tab and paste the content to 1 – Import Lookup to bring in metadata for dropdown lists.

2. Input Forecast Start Date – Input the start date for the workbook’s 60-month forecast horizon.

3. Begin Forecasting in the FCST Model Tabs – Begin forecasting on any or all of the forecast model tabs based on your company’s business model. The available models include:

FCST – OPEX By Amount – Forecast indirect operating expenses by amount

FCST – OPEX by Headcount – Forecast labor and operating expenses by headcount quantity

FCST – By Amount – Forecast revenue and direct costs by amount

FCST – By Unit Economics – Forecast revenue and direct costs by quantity

FCST – By Project – Forecast revenue and direct costs for projects by quantity or by amount

FCST – By Customer Subscription – Forecast recurring revenue by quantity and direct costs by amount

FCST – By Proposal Probability – Forecast project pipeline by probability and allocation of direct costs

4. Submit with Refresh All and Export Forecast – When ready to submit forecast updates, navigate to the Data tab on the top Excel ribbon, then under Queries & Connections group, select Refresh All. Then copy the content from 3 – Export Forecast and paste into NEXUS to view forecast or budget in financial reports.

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1. Import Lookup – From the MASTER LEDGER, copy the content from the Export Lookup to Nexus tab and paste the content to 1 – Import Lookup in NEXUS to bring in account and lookup metadata for the reports.

2. Import Data – Paste exported actuals from the MASTER LEDGER into the 2 – Import Actuals and forecast data from HORIZON into the 3 – Import Forecast or 4 – Import Budget.

3. Submit with Refresh All – When ready to submit the imported data, navigate to the Data tab on the top Excel ribbon, then under Queries & Connections group, select Refresh All.

4. View Financial Report Results – Review actuals, forecast and budget data in the variety of available financial statements, pivot tables and dashboards. Monitor historical and forecasted performance and print or share the results as desired.

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Q: There are so many columns in the MASTER LEDGER accounting modules. Which ones are absolutely required to submit a transaction?

A: Transactions require a Transaction Date, an Action Type (Add/New or Reverse/Adjust), an Action from the Dropdown options, and dropdown selections or amounts in the green headed columns that correspond to the Column Input Requirements for that selected Action. See General for details on all MASTER LEDGER columns.

Q: Do I need to have transactions under all three 2 – Import Actuals, 3 – Import Forecast and 4 – Import Budget tabs in NEXUS to be able to view financial report results?

A: No, you need data in at least one but do not need to use all three. If you only import Actuals, then only financial reports with Actuals would show results. If you choose to only have a forecast and no budget, then you can choose to Import Forecast only and only view financial reports that use ‘Forecast’ as a field, ignoring ‘Budget’.

Q: There are so many forecast models in HORIZON. Which is the easiest one to get started with, and which columns are absolutely required to submit a forecast?

A: To forecast indirect operating expenses (OPEX), the simplest model is FCST – OPEX By Amount. To forecast revenue and direct costs, the simplest model is FCST – By Amount. The minimum requirement to submit a row of forecast data is to select an Account ID Name, set Upload to Forecast = ‘Upload’, and input amounts in at least one forecast month column.

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