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 for the next time you use the feature.

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

Navigation

From the Express planner page, 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.
   3. 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. This aims 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 month with a division with 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 have been forecast in detail already. 
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 the 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 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. When using historical data, select a recent year with low levels of unusual activity.  Actuals from 2020 are likely not a reliable data source due to the impact of Covid-19. 
   3. The last submitted forecast means the most recent forecast submitted, regardless of the period chosen to run the Express planner. If a month is included in the period for which no forecast has been included in the “last submitted forecast”, the ratios from the forecast for the same month in the previous year will be used to forecast for this month.  
2.  Specify the department to be included. 
   1. By default, all departments will be selected. Deselect the departments you do not want to include in the Express Planner.  
   2. All departments with revenue in the Profit & Loss will be listed. However, if a department is not listed as a ‘Profit center’ in R&P, the Express planner cannot forecast revenue for these departments. 
3.  Add 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. 
4.  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. Twelve 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. 
5.  Select how the total non-room revenue should be split between departments 
   1. Average split from the last 12 months: Applies proportionate split based on the average split in the previous 12 months.  
   2. Average split for the year selected above: Applies a proportional average split based on the data selected. 
   3. Month-by-month split from the year selected above: Applies proportional split for each month based on the data selected. 
6. 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 source data to use as a basis for forecasting productivity. 
2.  Specify the department to be included. 
   1. By default, all departments will be selected. Deselect the departments you do not want to include in the Express planner. 
3.  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. 
4.  Choose how productivity should be calculated. 
   1. Average split from the last 12 months: Takes the average productivity for the last 12 months and applies it to the forecast. 
   2. Average split from data chosen: Takes the average productivity for the data selected and applies it to the forecast. 
   3. Month-by-month split from the data selected above: This takes the monthly productivity for the data selected and applies it to the forecast. 
5.  Select any departments that have fixed hours. i.e., the hours do not change regardless of the cost of 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.