Budget Tool

CU Boulder is implementing a cloud-based software tool to help facilitate our annual resource planning processes. With this tool, the university can:

  • Help facilitate our annual resource planning processes
  • Integrate strategic planning into our budgeting exercise​
  • Reduce retroactive budget planning
  • Eliminate the need for homegrown systems
  • Draw together multiple sources of campus data to deliver more powerful reports, dashboards, and visualizations
  • Provide new automation opportunities to improve efficiency and reduce manual processes.
 

Stay Informed:

   Visit the Anaplan Budget Tool: Training & Resources SharePoint site* to find relevant training, submit a ticket, and explore the budgeting community at CU Boulder. *CU Boulder IdentiKey login is required.

   Review the latest updates about the budget tool.

   Explore the full Budget Tool Timeline.

Use Cases

July Budgeting
  • Campus units input July budget plans for the coming fiscal year
Compensation Cycle
  • Campus units manage rosters for July 1 and January 1 compensation cycle populations
Budget Requests (in progress)
  • Streamlined, standardized workflow for submitting budget requests during annual request period
Commitments Tracking (in progress)
  • Consolidated tracking of commitments with operational and financial data
In-Year Budget Management (future)
  • Ability for campus units to make in-year budget changes directly in Anaplan
Phase 1 Enhancements (future)
  • Enhancements to input pages and reports from Phase 1

Phases

Phase 1

Completed Fiscal Year 2024

Main goal: Campus-wide functionality

  • Annual Budget​
  • Multi-year (3) Budget​
  • Position Budgeting ​
  • Reporting​
  • Actuals

Phase 2

Fiscal Year 2025

Main goal: Additional campus and unit-specific needs

  • Commitment tracking​
  • Budget request process
  • Compensation cycle for July and January merit populations
  • Budget model allocations
  • In-year budgeting
  • Phase 1 enhancements

Understanding Budget Tools

What you can expect from the budget tool:

  • Help streamline administrative tasks and workload​
  • Quickly calculate allocations based on updated parameters ​
  • Allow multiple scenarios to be run and compared against each other ​
  • Can be exported into Excel to allow further analysis ​
  • Provide transparency and quick access to budget and forecast data ​
  • Provide enhanced security controls ​
  • Automate workflows and approval ​
  • Can be configured to match unit needs for reporting and planning​

The budget tool will not:

  • Generate new​ revenue sources​
  • Eliminate approvals or regular reviews by budget managers​
  • Enforce spending policies or budget management ​
  • Allow for highly unique customization​
  • Replace other dashboards​ or reporting tools ​​
  • Replace HCM or PeopleSoft​ as the systems of record for​ HR and Finance  ​​
  • Act as a document​ repository​​

Engage With Us

This is truly a collaborative effort. Please visit the Budget Tool SharePoint site or reach out to us at budgettool@colorado.edu.