Purpose 

Plan Version Automation takes the manual work out of starting each budget and forecast round — the system opens the right version for your team at the right time, every cycle, based on rules you set once. It means budget season starts on time even when you’re deep in the weeds of a busy Q3. 

Key capabilities 

• Automatic version creation — Budget and forecast documents appear in the system on the correct open date without anyone needing to trigger them manually. 

• Independent budget and forecast scheduling — You can run your annual budget cycle and your quarterly rolling forecasts on separate timelines. Changing one never affects the other. 

• Team submission deadlines — The system enforces a clear window during which your GMs and department heads can enter their numbers. Once it closes, it closes. 

• Controller review window — After the team’s deadline, you get a quiet period to review, adjust, and finalize the numbers before they lock permanently. 

• Consistent version names — Every plan version generated across every property follows the same naming format, making it easy to find, sort, and compare plans across your collection. 

• Safeguards for mid-cycle changes — If you need to change the rules while a plan is already open and your team is working on it, the system stops and asks you how to handle it — so no one gets blindsided by a deadline that changed without warning. 

User roles 

Hotel controller / finance manager  

This is your tool. You set the rules once — when budget season opens, how long the team has to submit, how long you have to review, and what every version is called. After that, the system runs each cycle automatically. You only come back when you need to change the rules or make a one-off adjustment. 

General manager / department heads  

You are on the receiving end. When a plan version opens, it appears in your P&L module ready to be filled in. You work within the submission deadline the controller has set. You don’t configure anything — the system handles that — but understanding the timeline helps you plan your own schedule around budget season. 

Note: Notifications to GMs when a cycle opens or closes are managed separately — this module covers the configuration only. 

The planning season at a glance 

Every plan version moves through the same journey. Understanding this helps you see why certain plans appear when they do, and why some versions are no longer editable. 

Future ──► Scheduled ──► [Open Date] ──► Open ──► [Team deadline] ──► Admin review ──► [Lock date] ──► Locked 

• Scheduled: The version is on the calendar. Your team can’t see it yet. 

• Open: Your team can submit their numbers. The clock is running. 

• Admin review: Team deadline has passed. The controller finalizes and signs off. 

• Locked: The numbers are frozen — permanently. This is the plan of record. 

The system moves versions between these stages automatically based on the dates you configure. You set the rules once; the calendar does the rest. 

Common hotel scenarios 

Scenario 1 — Annual budget season at a city business hotel 

It’s June. You’re the controller for a 250-room city hotel and budget season starts in August every year. In previous years, you manually reminded GMs to log in and open the budget template — and someone always missed the memo. This year, you set up the automation in June: Budget months January–December 2027, open for the team from 19 August, team deadline 19 November, your review window closes 30 November. From now on, the system opens the budget every August, without a reminder from you. Your GMs get access automatically. You show up in November to review and sign off. 

Scenario 2 — Quarterly rolling forecast at a seasonal resort 

Your coastal resort swings between 95% occupancy in summer and 30% in January. Static annual forecasts don’t cut it. You configure a quarterly forecast cycle — each version covers 12 rolling months, opens 9 days before the end of each quarter, and gives the team nine days to revise their room revenue and F&B projections. After the team closes, you have seven days to finalize before the numbers lock. Every quarter, the system creates the next forecast version automatically. Your F&B manager always has a current, signed-off view to schedule against. 

Scenario 3 — Consistent naming across a multi-property collection 

You manage finances for a 12-property hotel group. Every month, the ownership team reviews budgets in a group spreadsheet and needs to match each file to the right property and period at a glance. You configure the naming rules to include the property code and planning period. Now every version across all 12 properties follows the same format — making it easy to sort and compare. The ownership team stops asking which file belongs to which hotel. 

Related articles: 

How to set up automated planning cycles 

How the system calculates your planning schedule