What's new?

We are excited to introduce a new layer of permissions with the launch of the Super admin role. This role empowers finance teams with more data privacy controls by allowing Super admins to restrict access to specific resources. Super admins can now designate certain resources as “restricted”, ensuring that only other Super admins can access or manage these resources.

How does it work?

Super admins have exclusive rights to create and manage restricted resources, making them invisible to standard admins.

Example of use case:

• A Super admin can establish a connection to Bamboo HR, which standard admins won't see.
• From this connection, the Super admin can create a dataset containing the headcount roster, again, invisible to standard admins.
• The Super admin can further create a headcount model that remains hidden from standard admins. However, Super admin can still utilize certain variables from this headcount model in another non restricted model, such as an OPEX model, by using the GET() function. They can control the granularity of the data used, ensuring only the necessary details are shared.
• Finally, the Super admin can construct a space that is restricted to other admins but can still be shared with members to gather their inputs on future hires.

Learn more about this in Abacum Academy.

To learn more and gain exclusive access to this feature, please contact your Customer Success Manager.

Additional charges may apply depending on your current package.

When dealing with multiple datasets, it can be difficult to keep everything organized and easy to navigate. That’s why we’ve been asked the ability to group similar datasets into sections or categories —by use-case, source, or sync frequency, for example —to make managing and finding data more efficient.

What's new? 

We are excited to launch a new feature that allows you to organize your datasets into customizable sections or categories. This improvement provides greater flexibility and control over how you arrange your datasets, making it easier to access and manage data according to your specific needs and preferences.

How does it work?

• Creating and managing sections:
  • From your dataset list, you can now create new sections to categorize your datasets effectively.
  • Rename existing sections to ensure they remain relevant and descriptive as your organizational needs evolve.
  • Move datasets between sections effortlessly to maintain an organized and intuitive dataset structure.
    
• Handling existing datasets:
  • To prevent any disruption to your current workflow, all existing datasets will remain in their legacy categories labeled as "Integration" or "File Upload."
• Adding new datasets:
  • Newly created datasets will initially be placed under no section, allowing you to assign them to the appropriate category at your convenience.

Learn more about this feature in the Abacum Academy: Link.

In finance, it is very common to work with data that has dates listed across columns instead of rows. Today, to make this data usable in Abacum, it was required to pivot it using Google Sheets or Excel formulas. This approach had several downsides:

• The process of transposing data is manual and time-consuming.
• It becomes more challenging to maintain and update the data.
• It could hit the limits of Google Sheets, leading to performance issues.

What’s new?

We are introducing a new dataset type called "Pivoted" datasets. This feature will streamline how you can handle date-oriented data across various sources.

How Does It Work?

With the new "Pivoted" dataset type, you can now work directly with date columns without the need for manual pivoting. This feature will be available for manual uploads or datasets imported from Google Sheets, S3 Buckets, Google Drive, and SFTP files.

When creating a new dataset, you will see an option to set the column index. This setting specifies where the date columns begin, enabling the system to automatically recognize and pivot your data accordingly.

Learn more about this here.

What's New?

We're thrilled to announce a game-changing improvement for your budget process: automatic switchover to your latest forecast version. Now, your budget will always reflect the latest year-end estimation, ensuring accuracy and efficiency in your planning process.

Why is this Important?

Your rolling forecast is your crystal ball for predicting year-end performance accurately. It updates in real-time as new insights emerge, making it crucial to synchronize these updates with your budget for consistent planning.

Example:

Imagine your October forecast predicts a significant increase in holiday sales. With our new feature, your 2025 budget seamlessly incorporates this updated forecast, ensuring your financial plans are always up-to-date.

How does it work?

• Go to your version section and select your budget.
• Click on "Edit" and find the 'Source' option.
• Choose your active forecast from the list and press "Save".

Direct connection to your ERP can streamline your business operations and ensure that you always have real-time data. That’s why we are happy to introduce our new integration: Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.

What’s new?

We are excited to announce the launch of our new integration with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. This integration allows you to bring your general ledger and balance sheet data into Abacum seamlessly.

• Retrieve General Ledger, Trial Balance, and Balance Sheet reports directly from Dynamics 365 Business Central.
• Abacum supports Cloud instances connection (on-premise is not yet available).
• Multi-tenant and multi-environment are supported

Learn more about this integration here.

We are thrilled to announce a new, secure way for you to exchange files with our platform: SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol). This method ensures robust data protection and compliance with industry standards through encrypted transfers.

What is SFTP?

SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol) is a protocol used to securely transfer files between your systems and our platform. By leveraging encryption, SFTP ensures that your data remains protected throughout the transfer process.

This method provides a secure method to integrate with your on-premise source systems, and other platforms.

How Does it Work?

Setting up an SFTP connection is straightforward. You will need the following information:

• SSH IP or URL
• Port Number
• Server Fingerprint
• Username
• Password

For more detailed instructions on setting up an SFTP connection, please visit our Academy page.

What's New?

We're excited to announce that space filters are now fully released, enhancing data autonomy and efficiency for all users.

Why?

Previously, members couldn't slice and dice data within spaces, requiring admins to create new tables and spaces for filtered views. This resulted in a loss of autonomy and unnecessary duplication of efforts. The new space filters empower members to apply dimension filters directly, streamlining data analysis and reducing dependency on admins.

How Does It Work?

Admin Setup:

• Filter Icon: Navigate to any space and click the filter icon at the top.
• Add Filters: Select dimensions and items to filter.
• Lock/Unlock Filters: By default, filters are locked. Click the lock icon to unlock a filter, allowing members to adjust within predefined items.
• Save or Reset:
  • Apply for Everyone: Save changes as the new default for all users.
  • Reset: Revert to the last saved filter settings.

Member Interaction:

• Adjust Unlocked Filters: Members can modify unlocked filters to refine data views. Changes are reflected immediately but are not saved for other users and will be lost upon reload.

Example

If you want to share a space with the manager of Europe, you can:

• Region Filter: Lock the filter to Europe, preventing changes.
• Country Filter: Unlock and select only the countries within Europe, allowing the manager to adjust specific countries as needed.

Important Notes

• Only dimension filters are supported; time filters are not available.
• Locked filters appear in grey, while unlocked filters appear in blue.

For detailed guidance, visit the Abacum Academy page on space filters. If you don’t see this feature as active, please reach out to your main point of contact at Abacum.

We are excited to announce the launch of a suite of powerful new resources designed to streamline your planning process, especially around headcount planning.

What are we releasing?

Version datasets concept: A version dataset is a snapshot of actuals data taken at a specific point in time, which can be edited for new additions (e.g. input of new hires) or future changes on existing data (e.g. projected changes on job title). Learn more here: Version Datasets.

Version datasets configuration and re-configuration: A guided wizard will help you setting up relevant fields for forecasts when creating your version dataset. This includes unique ID, start date, end date, and any additional relevant dimension, measures, or date fields. This configurator can be revisited anytime for adjustments to ensure the scalability of your models.

Version datasets edition: Easily add, duplicate, or delete rows of future changes in your forecast. The version dataset offers filtering and sorting capabilities for easier data management.

New special formulas: We've also introduced DATE_COUNT, DATERANGE_COUNT, and DATERANGE_ALLOCATION formulas, compatible with version datasets.

Version dataset panel: Version datasets can be opened through a panel for model adjustments, or from spaces, by double clicking on a variable that contains the new special formulas. This panel includes all functionalities of the version dataset manager, such as filtering, sorting and data input.

Reconciliation flow: When new actuals are imported, the system will trigger a notification to flag outdated rows that need checking.

Find here also a specific guidance for Headcount planning.

What's next?

In addition to this, we will be introducing additional features to version datasets in the upcoming weeks, including:

• Embedding version datasets on spaces for making edition more intuitive.
• Column reordering capabilities.
• Version dataset download and upload.
• Automatic placeholders for new IDs.
• And more!

We're thrilled to announce the launch of AI Forecasting!

Why is this important?

AI Forecasting streamlines the forecasting process by automating the manual input generation, a task that is often time-consuming and prone to errors. This allows FP&A teams like yours to focus on more strategic initiatives.

Additionally, its goal is to boost prediction accuracy by analyzing historical patterns that traditional methods might overlook. It helps you to adapt to changing market conditions, uncover hidden correlations, and discover new opportunities for growth and optimization.

How does it work?

To get started, open the Model Builder and select your variable. Right-click on the variable, choose Generate Manual Inputs, and select the granularity at which you want to apply the AI forecasting. Click Generate and let the AI predict and fill in the data. The variable will be marked with an 'AI generated' icon.

Review the generated inputs and adjust them as needed. If you make any changes, the 'AI generated' flag will be removed, indicating the data has been modified.

• Installation and Connection:

  • Log into Abacum and go to the Updates menu from the sidebar. Click on the settings icon on the top right and on the Connect button.
  • Connect Abacum to Slack with straightforward setup steps.
  • Depending on your workspace settings, Slack admin approval may be required.

• Notification Customization:

  • Choose where to receive notifications: In App, Slack, or both in the Updates section settings.
  • Easily manage notification preferences to suit your workflow.

More Information

Note: This feature is currently free but may become a paid feature in the future.