What is the Express planner?

The Express planner in PMI is a forecasting tool available to properties with activated Profit & loss module. Based on source data, it creates an automated monthly forecast for all non-room revenue departments and labor hours. 

What is its purpose? 

The Express planner helps users quickly and reliably create an automated forecast for non-room revenue and the labor required in all departments for the next 18 months. The PMI Planning module will use the Express planner to automatically compile a complete and coherent property profit and loss forecast. 

Both steps are done in minutes, limiting managers’ efforts to only reviewing and refining where applicable. 

How is the Express Planner forecast calculated? 

The Express planner uses the most recent Live forecast room revenue and source data to predict the future. It can only be used when room revenue data is available. 

The Express planner will calculate non-room revenue and labor hours for the specified months. If you do not wish to override any of the monthly forecasts, set the status to ‘locked’ in Period Locking (advanced settings). 

Non-room revenue forecast is calculated at department, division, and total revenue levels. Express planner looks at the relationship between room revenue and non-room revenue in source months and applies the same proportionate split based on the Live forecast room revenue. Non-room revenue is then split into division and department levels based on source data. 

In settings, the source data will be selected, departments can be excluded, a growth percentage can be applied to increase/decrease forecast, and departments with a different calculation basis can be specified.  

Labor cost is calculated at department, division and total level using source data productivity as a basis. It takes the department’s cost driver divided by the productivity to get the hours forecast. The hours are then multiplied by the hourly rate set in the Profit & loss module to get the labor cost. 

You can apply a productivity adjustment percentage in settings if you expect your productivity to be better or worse than the source period. You can also specify the fixed hours for selected departments – departments whose hours will not change no matter the activity in the hotel. 

For more details on how the numbers are calculated, see the article How the Express planner works. 

How to use the Express planner 

It is recommended to run the Express planner once a month for the coming 15 months. This ensures that your forecast is updated with the latest changes in room revenue. 

To run the Express planner:   

1. Go to the Budget & forecast module. 

1. Select the tools icon, then ‘Run Express planner’. 

The Express planner will run for all non-room revenue departments, regardless of which Budget & forecast page you are reviewing. 

3. Select the months to include in the forecast. 

• • • By default, the forecast for the current and next 3 months will not be overwritten by the Express planner. This can be adjusted in settings. 
    • If a month’s forecast is set to ‘locked’ in Period locking, the Express planner will not overwrite that month’s forecast values. 

 4. Select the scope for running the Express Planner. 

• • • Choose to run the Express planner for non-room revenue, hours or both. 
    • By default, the non-room revenue and hours options will be selected. 

 5. If needed, review the Settings. 

• • • The Express planner settings must be set up the first time the feature is used. After this, it will remain the same each time you run the Express planner. 
    •   We recommend reviewing the settings twice a year. 
    • Any adjustments made will be automatically saved when you click Next. To undo changes, select Cancel. 

 6. Select Run Express planner.

• This will overwrite the forecast values for non-room revenue and labor cost. View the Budget & forecast pages to see the impact. Hover over a cell to see when it was last updated, and by whom.