Experiencing delays or lockouts while saving changes or waiting for model refreshes can be highly frustrating—especially when working on tight timelines. To streamline your workflow and reduce friction during modeling and budgeting, we’ve adapted how updates work across the platform. You can now continue working on the model while variables refresh in the background, with real-time visual feedback that shows what’s updating and when it’s ready.

Why does this matter?

This release introduces a more fluid, collaborative way of working: you no longer need to pause while the system catches up. Variables refresh independently, and updates are applied automatically—so you can focus on the task at hand, not system status.

This benefits everyone across the planning process:

• Budget owners can input data even while others are editing or saving.
• Finance teams can build, edit, and sync models in parallel—without getting blocked.
• Refreshes are faster and smarter, minimizing downtime and speeding up workflows.

What’s new?

• Variable refreshes now run independently and in parallel, reducing wait times.
• A new status column in the Model Builder shows real-time activity per variable.
• Tables, space blocks, and dashboards display live loading indicators during updates.
• Errors are shown at the variable level only, without halting the broader update process.
• Model refreshes have been decoupled from dataset syncs, so one failure won’t block everything.

Learn more about all the changes here: Link.

How It Works

All changes are managed through a new queuing system that processes updates in the correct order. You’ll see visual indicators—like spinners and status tags—so you always know what’s happening and when it’s done. Only the affected variable is locked during its refresh; everything else remains available.

• When a table contains at least one manual input cell, an Edit values button will appear when hovering the table.
• Clicking the button activates edit mode, which:
  • Clears all table colors
  • Highlights editable cells in light blue
  • Makes it clear where users can input data
• You can exit edit mode by clicking Back to view.
• Double-clicking an editable cell also opens the panel and activates edit mode.
• Refreshing the page resets the view to the default (view mode).
• If the table includes only non-editable values (e.g. only actuals), the Edit button is not shown.
• Members without that "Can edit values" permission won’t see the button, even if the table contains manual inputs.

• This is a visual-only toggle — it doesn’t change any data or permissions.
• Detached scenarios and inherited manual inputs (e.g. not on the variable’s level) won’t show purple or striped cells in this mode — this is a simpler view.
• This is just the first step — more enhancements to budgeting workflows are coming soon!

We’ve refreshed the design of Model Builder blocks to make your modeling experience cleaner, more intuitive, and easier to distinguish.

✨ What’s new:

• Visual clarity: Each resource type now includes an icon, so you can identify them at a glance.
• More compact layout: Block height and spacing have been reduced for a cleaner, denser view.
• Improved readability: Font colors and padding have been adjusted for better legibility and alignment.

We’ve also started updating the grammar used in Model Builder. The new style offers a clearer structure and ensure that only the right parameters are offered on the autocomplete — for example:

From: AVERAGE (balance) FROM dataset
To: AVERAGE (dataset, balance)

Currently, only the AVERAGE() function uses this new grammar and styling. As we gradually migrate other functions, they will also adopt the updated look and feel — with blocks split by resource and aligned with the new format.

Stay tuned!

You can now pull Actuals values directly from your Abacum models into your Excel spreadsheets using the Abacum connector for Excel!

This latest improvement enables you to seamlessly combine the power of Abacum with the flexibility of Excel, and leverage the connector to suit your specific needs.

How it Works

1. Go to Excel and open the Abacum Connector for Excel.
2. Set up a new Pull connection.
3. Select the Abacum model you wish to pull data from.
4. In the version selector, choose Actuals.
5. Save the connection and click Pull. Your actuals data will appear instantly in your Excel sheet!

Ready to Get Started?

Reach out to your customer success agent to upgrade and enable the Abacum connector for Excel. Learn more about how it works in the Abacum Academy.

You can now save your filter setup for any version dataset space block! This powerful update means you can easily customize what data is displayed in your Space, ensuring everyone sees exactly what's most important, without any unnecessary noise.

Key Benefits

• Reduced data noise: Admins can filter out unnecessary information, ensuring users see only what's relevant.
• Tailored user experience: Provides a cleaner, more focused view of the version dataset block for all users.

How it Works

Whenever you apply a new filter, modify an existing one, or remove a filter within your version dataset space block, you'll see two new buttons appear in the block header:

• Save for everyone: This will save your current filter setup and apply it as the default view for all other users.
• Reset: This will clear any unsaved changes and revert to the last saved filter configuration.

We’ve introduced several updates to the Manual Input Panel to make data entry more efficient, consistent, and user-friendly.

Clear value(s) at cell and row level

You can now quickly clear inputs without manually deleting values one by one.

• Cell-level clear removes just the selected input.
• Row-level clear (via the three-dot menu) removes all dimension item combination values in the row, including linked variables.

Multi-row selection with checkboxes

Managing large sets of inputs is easier with new checkboxes for row selection.

• You can now select multiple rows at once and apply clear values action in bulk.
  
• Note: The bulk clear action is being gradually rolled out, so availability may vary by organization.

Draft indicator for unsaved changes

It’s now easier to keep track of edits in progress.

• A “draft” icon appears next to rows with unsaved changes.
• This brings the manual input panel in line with other parts of the platform where draft indicators are used.

Copy row values

To speed up repetitive work, you can now copy row content with a single click.

• The Copy action (in the row menu) copies all values from that row on your clipboard.
• Useful for reusing input patterns.

We’ve made it easier to get quick insights in Model Builder.

When you select multiple cells, you’ll now see a small summary showing:

• How many values you selected
• The total sum
• The average

Note:

• The summary only appears when the selected cells contain numbers.
• Empty cells won’t be counted in the total or average.

We’ve made an improvement to how tables display the last actuals date when showing only actuals, helping to reduce confusion around switchover dates.

What’s new?

• Previously, even when a table showed only actuals, the system used the active forecast switchover date, which could be misleading.
• Now, for actuals-only tables, the system will return the latest available actuals date, based on the most recent data across all variables in the table.

Example:

If the active forecast switchover date is May 25 but actuals go up to June 25, the system now returns June 25 if no version is active on the table.

Availability:

This update is currently available only to organizations where every model in use has the active forecast set to use the “auto” switchover date. We're rolling it out gradually to ensure compatibility.

If your organization uses a fixed switchover date on active forecast or if you're unsure whether this applies to you, please reach out to support. We’d be happy to review your setup and help enable this improvement if possible.

What's new?

You can now customize how variances are displayed on each KPI card — choose between percentage or absolute variance based on what makes more sense for your metric.

Why?

Not all metrics are best understood as a percentage change. For some KPIs, the absolute difference provides more context and is easier to interpret. This new option gives you flexibility to choose the format that works best for each card.

How does it work?

• In the KPI settings modal, you’ll find a new option to select how you want the variance displayed:

  • Percentage (default and existing behavior)
  • Absolute

  • The variance is calculated as the difference between the selected version and the comparison:

    • For example, if Actuals = 500 and Budget = 400, the absolute variance is 100.
    • If the KPI is a percentage—e.g. Gross Margin is 45.2% vs. 43.0%—the absolute variance is shown as 2.2 pp (percentage points). No % symbol is displayed.

We are excited to announce that you can now effortlessly connect your Light data with Abacum for seamless financial planning and analysis!

How does it work?

To set up a Light connection, reach out to your Light representative, who will share the necessary credentials. Then, go to the Integrations section in Abacum, and click on the Light via S3 card under available connections, to complete the connection setup.

We will create a connection to your Light data via S3 Bucket (you do not need a S3 Bucket account, your Light representative will take care of it). Learn more about this connection here.