What are the settings for the Express planner? 

The settings in Express Planner are used to adjust the calculations behind the Express planner’s automated forecasts. 

These should be set the first time you use the Express planner. The settings will be saved automatically, ready for the next time you use the feature. 

It is recommended to review and if needed adjust the settings twice a year. 

How to use the settings? 

Once you are viewing Express planner, select ‘Go to settings’ 

General settings

1. Select the question mark to activate Help mode.
   1. This will show an explanation of the page you are viewing 
   2. The text will change as you work through the page. Hover over a section for specific guidance for that step. 
2. Set the minimum monthly room revenue that is considered ‘normal’.
   1. Any historical month with room revenue below this value will be disregarded when forecasting. Instead, a yearly average will be used. 
   2. The purpose of this is to remove anomalies from the forecast process. 
3. Set the minimum monthly share of total revenue for a division.
   1. Divisions are as they are set up in PMI. 
   2. Any historical month with a division that has less than the set proportion of total revenue will be disregarded when forecasting. Instead, a yearly average will be used. 
4. Set the number of months the Express planner should not override.
   1. This is the number of months for which non-room revenue and labor hours has been forecast in detail already, most probably in the Live forecast module.  
5. Continue to the next page.
   1. When ‘Next’ is selected, any changes made on the page will be saved automatically, and you will continue to next page. 
   2. When ‘Return to main page’ is selected, any changes made will be saved automatically, and you will return to the main page of the Express planner. 
   3. When ‘Cancel’ is selected, any changes will be reverted and you will return to the main page of the Express planner. 

Non-room revenue settings 

1. Select which historical data should be used as a basis for your non-room revenue forecasts. This is usually a recent year with low levels of unusual activity.
   1. Actuals from 2020 is likely not a reliable data source to use due to the impact of Covid-19
2. Add an additional growth to non-room revenue.
   1. Non-room revenue will be calculated proportionate to Room revenue. I.e. if room revenue has increased, the non-room revenue forecast will increase by the same proportion.
   2. Use this field to add any additional growth. You can also set a minus percentage if you expect a shrinkage of non-room revenue.
3. Select how the forecast should be calculated.
   1. Same month + growth percentage: This takes the same month in the historical data and adds the growth percentage to create the forecast for the future.
   2. 12 months average + growth percentage: This takes an average of all months in the historical data. This will disregard any seasonality and instead provide a more static forecast for the year.
4. Select how the total non-room revenue should be split between departments
   1. Split the same as past 12 months: Applies proportionate split based on the average split over the last 12 months.
   2. The same split as the year selected above: Applies a proportional average split based on the historical data selected.
   3. Month by month split from the year selected above: Applies proportional split for each month based on the hisptircal data selected.
5. Select departments that should use a different calculation basis.
   1. These departments will be calculated based on the driver selected and value inputted. It will not use historical data.
   2. This can be useful for new departments with no historical data, or departments that have gone through a significant change recently, making the historical data no longer a relevant comparison.

Labor cost settings

1. Select the historical data to use as a basis for forecasting productivity.
2. Add a productivity percentage adjustment if you expect staff to be more or less productive than the historical period selected.
   1. You can set a positive or negative adjustment as needed.
3. Choose how productivity should be calculated.
   1. Average for the last 12 months: Takes the average productivity for last 12 months and applies to forecast.
   2. Average for the historical data chosen: Takes the average productivity for the historical period selected and applies to the forecast.
   3. Month by month split from the year selected above: Takes the monthly productivity for the historical period selected and applies to the forecast. 
4. Select any departments that have fixed hours. I.e. the hours do not change regardless of the cost driver activity.
   1. Departments with fixed hours selected will have a set number of hours forecast each month.
   2. This can be average hours for the last 12 months, or you can manually input a number of hours per day to be applied.