Iteration List

Use the Iteration List to set up blank templates where budget personnel can save copies of data from the Expenditure, Revenue, and Project Ledger budget worksheets. Iterations allow you to take "snap-shots" of budget worksheets at any of the three standard budget approval levels.

Each iteration needs to be tied to a phase established in the Phases table. When you plan your organization's phase and iteration setup, discuss with budget personnel how the iteration records should be named and numbered. You then can determine which iterations to associate with each phase in the Iteration List.

Your budget administrators close each phase, when appropriate, by defining final Expenditure, Revenue, and Project Ledger iteration data for the phase. When all phases are closed, final budget data can be posted.

The standard procedures for adding, updating, deleting, and printing table records are covered in the section Overview of Reference Tables. The default file name of the Iteration List report is iteratns.rpt.

Menu Path:  Budget Preparation > Reference Tables > Reference Tables > Budget Iterations

Planning Iteration Records

Your use of the Iteration List should be based on decisions about the following issues:

• Are you using budget approval levels beyond those provided in the standard Budget Preparation worksheets (Requested, Recommended, and Approved)?
• How should you identify and name your iteration records? This is Important because budget administrators need to know which iterations to use during the various stages of the budget process, including the closing of budgetary phases.
• Which iterations are considered working iterations? A working iteration does not need records for all three budget ledgers or for all ledger accounts in any given budget ledger.
• Which iterations should be used as complete iterations? A complete iteration would contain budget data for all ledger accounts in at least one of the three ledgers. Use complete iterations for the initial ledger extraction data, final ledger data for each budgetary phase, as well as the final budget.

Depending on the complexity of your budget process, you can reserve a range of iteration numbers to use as working iterations at each budgetary phase. You then can have specific iteration records defined for the final data at each phase's conclusion.

Sample Iteration Setup

As an example, you could use two budgetary phases at the Requested approval level, two phases at the Recommended level, and one phase at the Approved level. In this case, you could organize your iterations as follows:

Complete Iterations

1000 - Original Extraction for Expenditure, Revenue, and Project Ledgers

2000 - Final Phase 1 Iteration for All Three Ledgers at the Requested Level

3000 - Final Phase 2 Iteration for All Three Ledgers at the Requested Level

4000 - Final Phase 1 Iteration for All Three Ledgers at the Recommended Level

5000 - Final Phase 2 Iteration for All Three Ledgers at the Recommended Level

6000 - Final Budget

Working Iterations

1001 - 1999 - Working Iterations for Phase 1 at the Requested Level

2001 - 2999 - Working Iterations for Phase 2 at the Requested Level

3001 - 3999 - Working Iterations for Phase 1 at the Recommended Level

4001 - 4999 - Working Iterations for Phase 2 at the Recommended Level

5001 - 5999 - Working Iterations for the Approved Phase

Additional Recommendations

Keep these additional suggestions in mind as you set up the Iteration List and as your budget personnel prepare to use these iteration records:

• We recommend that you use complete iterations for the initial extraction of ledger data, the final iteration for each phase, and the iteration for your final budget. You should set up these records before the budget process begins.
  Remember, a complete iteration contains records for all ledger accounts in at least one of the three budget ledgers: Expenditure, Revenue, and Project. For the situations described above, you should save all three ledgers to the same iteration.

• Iteration records do not have a setting telling the system whether a record is for a complete or working iteration. It is up to your budget administrators to save ledger data in a consistent manner.
  Therefore, when you set up the Iteration List, take care to identify records so their purpose in the budget process is clear. Also, you should discuss the code and description system with your budget personnel before setting up this table.

• Instead of adding records to the Iteration List for working iterations, you can have your budget administrators add these records as needed during the budget process. Budget Preparation allows the addition of iterations when you use the Save Iteration option in the Budget Administrator center.
  If you decide to have budget personnel handle the entry of working iterations, make sure these administrators have a code-and-description convention to follow and that they know which phases to use throughout the budget process.

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