Changing to a New Calendar Year in IFP

Overview

The move into a new calendar year in IFP should require only the Database Environment Settings to be updated once December Actuals have been closed off. A smooth transition will also rely on AutoTasks and Data Favourites (used in Package Imports) being set to Use relative years.

Create a Backup

This is a perfect time to create a database backup (for each of your databases), remembering to add a note e.g. end of 2019 backup.

Possible Issues

The following may arise if the relevant changes have not been made.

My Target File is locked even though I am trying to import into January

Check that you have updated the Environment Settings from December 2019 to January 2020. E.g. you may be trying to import into the 2019 file, now fully locked, rather than the 2020 file.

I have updated my Environment Settings to January and run my AutoTask but no data has been imported

Check that you have updated the Environment Settings year from 2019 to 2020 and that the AutoTask uses a relative year, e.g. Current Year. If the environment settings have not been updated then the January data may have been imported into the incorrect year. The AutoTask run screen shows which year it will affect - e.g. Import into: Current Year (2020) ATOM (20 ActToMkt).

My Target File doesn't exist when I am copying a multiple year demand forecast into my financial forecast.

As you are now in 2020, it may be that the required data file in, for example, 3 years time may not exist. You should check this and then add new data files as required. The relevant AutoTask would indicate the error, e.g. Copy into: Invalid File: Current Year + 3 (2023) WKTMF (23 Fcst).

I ran my importing AutoTask for January and it imported last year's figures

Are you importing from an Excel workbook with a sheet per year, with those sheets named, e.g. 2019, 2020, etc? It may be that your AutoTask is set to import from sheet '2019'. Any such fixed years will need updating to the new year (e.g. change the AutoTask to import the new sheet in the workbook) or change to a relative sheet name such as CY in both the AutoTask and the workbook.

One of my MultiTasks has an AutoTask importing into CM+1 that shows an error on the Run screen when the environment settings are set as December. What should I do?

As Current Month +1 does not exist in December, IFP does not import into this period. It will run the AutoTask (and therefore the MultiTask) and just show a warning for the AutoTask with the CM+1 period. This is normally seen in a MultiTask that imports data for a number of years e.g. CY CM+1 to December CY+4. The AutoTask for CY CM+1 will have no effect (shows a warning) and the AutoTasks for CY+1 to CY+4 should run as expected, having the desired outcome. This “error” message will only be displayed in IFP 3.3.6 and earlier.