Objective

This guide shows you how to run Express planner to generate automated monthly revenue and labor hours forecasts for your property in PMI.

Prerequisites

• User access to run Express planner for your property
• Access to the Budget & forecast module
• Forecast periods must be unlocked for the months you plan (Link to how to unlock months)

Estimated time to complete

5–10 minutes

Steps

1. Navigate to Express planner

1. Go to your Budget & Forecast page.
2. Look for the Run Express Planner option in your tools. It’s irrelevant which department page you are on.
3. Click Run Express Planner to open the planning interface.The main Express planner interface showing period selection and timeline visualization.

2. Set your planning period

1. In the Express planner main interface, locate the Define a period for the plan section
2. Choose your start month and end month (maximum 24 months allowed) of your planning period
3. Address any warning messages that appear below the date selection
   • “Please select a shorter period, the maximum is 24 months.”
     • Solution: Reduce your planning period to 24 months or less
   • “There is no Live forecast data for the period <month year> to <month year> selected. You can set an alternative source in Room revenue part 2 to avoid forecasting 0.”
     • Solution: Check data availability or choose alternative room revenue sources in General setup page. 
   • “There have been changes to the chain settings since Express planner was last run”
     • Solution: Review the settings in General setup page before running Express planner.
   • “The Express planner timeline overlaps with your schedule horizon. Express planner will only update a department’s hours after its schedule horizon has expired.”
     Schedule horizon is the period into the future which a departments scheduled hours are imported to PMI from the Time-keeping system.
     • Solution A: Continue running Express planner
     • Solution B: Review and adjust the schedule horizon in individual cockpits settings
   • “The next X months cannot be adjusted from Express planner. To modify this, go to Settings > General setup”
     • Solution: Review selected period in General setup page and adjust if appropriate.
   • “Period <month year> to <month year> selected is locked, please unlock the period to overwrite it.”
     • Solution A: Continue running Express planner. The data for the locked months will not be changed.
     • Solution B: Navigate Advance Settings in the main menu. In the Period locking tab, review and unlock the months you wish Express planner to overwrite.

3. Select what to forecast

1. In the Select the plan to compile section, choose your options:
   • Check Ancillary revenueto update ancillary revenue (non-room) forecasts
   • Check Labor hoursto update staffing hour forecasts
   • You can select one or both options based on your needs
2. Your selections will be saved for future Express planner runs

4. Review your planning timeline

1. Look at the timeline visualization below the period selection
2. Review the legend to understand what data Express planner will use for each component:
• Room revenue – part 1: shows current rooms Live forecast
• Room revenue – part 2: shows which source of data will be used to forecast beyond the rooms Live forecast (Room revenue – part 1)
• Ancillary revenue: shows your ancillary data source
• Labor hours: shows your productivity data source
• If you would like to modify the sources of any of the components above, you can do so in the General setup tab. 

5. Run Express planner

1. Click the Run Express planner button (blue button on the right)
   • What happens during the process:
     • Express planner calculates forecasts based on your configured settings
     • Updates are applied to Budget & Forecast and P&L
     • Labor hours are split between in-house and outsourced will process your request and show a success message
   • The success message will appear, and you will be automatically redirected back to Budget & Forecast page after 10 seconds
   • Processing usually takes 5-10 minutes to complete.
2. Hover over the data in Budget & Forecast to verify completion. The tooltip will show the timestamp and user who ran the plan.

Expected outcome

Express planner generates automated forecasts for revenue and labor hours based on your defined period and settings. The updated values appear across your Budget & forecast and Profit & loss pages.

Troubleshooting

• Run button is disabled: Check for unresolved warning messages.
• Unusual data: Review growth settings and source setup in General setup.
• Missing outsourcing splits: Check labor department configuration for outsourcing parameters.

Cross-references

• Express planner overview
• How to configure Express planner settings
• Express Planner Calculation Explanation with Examples

Related features and modules

FAQ

Q: How do I update both revenue and labor in one go?

A: Tick both Ancillary revenue and Labor hours in the Select the plan to compile section.

Q: Why does the planner skip some months?

A: Those months may be locked or fall within your schedule horizon. Review settings to adjust.

Q: How do I review my results?

A:      Return to your Budget & Forecast pages to see updated forecasted values

Check ancillary revenue departments for new revenue forecasts

Review labor hours across all departments for updated staffing forecasts

Verify that in-house vs. outsourced hour splits appear correctly in staff planning in Profit & Loss module

Total forecast can be reviewed in Management Perspective by selecting the forecasting period.