Setup and Preparation for Capacity Planning

The Capacity Planning Report helps practices forecast workload and manage team availability. Before running the report, you must set up the Capacity Planning Template, Job Views, and Automation Processes.

Before You Begin

Before setting up Capacity Planning in FYI, consider the following details. Completing this preparation ensures that all data for users, jobs, and processes are accurate when setting up the Capacity Planning Template, Job Views, and Automation Processes.

Step 1 - Setting up the Capacity Planning Template

To prepare the Capacity Planning Report Template:

• The Capacity Planning Excel Template must be added to the Knowledge cabinet.
• The Employees worksheet must be configured with the weekly hours for the users assigned to tasks in the Processes.
• The Leave worksheet must be configured with the leave dates for the users assigned to tasks in the Processes.

The weekly hours and the leave dates are used to calculate the time Available for the assigned users.

Once these steps have been completed, save the Template. You will be instructed to import the template into FYI after creating the required Job Views.

Step 2 - Create Job Views

For each Process used in Capacity Planning, a Job View needs to be set up and selected as the Filter in the Process. 

The Job View determines the Client Jobs used when calculating the capacity required. For example, to run a Capacity Planning Report for jobs due to begin next quarter, create a Job View with a filter for the Job Start Date covering the next quarter.

You can use existing Job Views or create new ones specifically for Capacity Planning. Once the Processes have been set up, additional Views can be added as and when needed and used to run the Capacity Planning Reports.

When running the Capacity Planning Report, a different view can be selected from the View selected in the Automation Process. For example, if the default is filtered by a particular division for the next quarter, when running the Capacity Planning, a view can be selected for a different division, or changed to a view of jobs due in the next six months.

This allows you to run the report without having to make any changes to the process, including where the same process is also used outside of Capacity Planning.

To create the Job Views for Capacity Planning:

1. In FYI, click the Jobs menu to load the Jobs List.
   
2. Customise the Job List by adding and removing columns as needed, and applying any required filters, for example, filtering to Annual Compliance Jobs, or by the Job Start or End Date. 
    
3. Save the view.
    
4. Repeat the steps to create additional views as required.

Step 3 - Importing the Report Template into FYI

Once the report has been downloaded and your practice data and Job Views are set up, the Capacity Planning Report Template must be imported to the Knowledge workspace.

1. In FYI, click the Knowledge menu option at the top. 
    
2. Drag and drop your Capacity Planning Report Template into the Knowledge - Templates list.
    
3. Update the Name if required.
   
   Merge Fields can be used to customise the name each time a report is created. For example, when running a Capacity report in January 2025, using a Merge Field of "Capacity Report - {{ "now" | date: "%B %Y" }}", the report would be created with the name "Capacity Report - January 2025". Refer to Formatting Merge Fields for detailed information on available formatting options.
    
4. Click Create to import the template into your Templates list.
   
5. From the Filing section in the drawer, ensure the following fields are configured:
   
   - Merge Fields option is toggled Off.
   - Merge Names is toggled On.
   - Excel Report is toggled On. 
   
6. Select the default View type and View to run the report for. This can be changed when running the report.
    
7. Update the AutoFile Defaults to the relevant cabinet and categories. You may wish to use a Cabinet that is only available to users in a User Group with Cabinet Security enabled. The filing details can be changed when running the report.
    
8. Set the Status field to Active.

Step 4 - Setting up the Automation Processes

Your practice is responsible for setting up the Automation Processes used in Capacity Planning. New Processes can be created specifically for Capacity Planning, or existing processes can be adapted, for example, Checklists or BAS Reminders. 

For detailed information on creating and testing processes, refer to Custom Processes. Information on individual steps is available from the Process Step Details section.

When running the Capacity Planning Report, you can select multiple Processes. Results from all selected Processes are combined, allowing flexibility in how Jobs are selected via different Views.

These Processes define the Tasks and required time calculated by the Capacity Planning Report. Tasks may be stand-alone or linked to document actions, for example, sending an email, creating a document, or scheduling a meeting. Each Task used for Capacity Planning must include a time allocation.

Note: When running the Capacity Planning Report, any selected Processes will not create emails, documents, or tasks. They will only be used to calculate the time allocation. Run the Custom Process to complete each step and create documents and tasks as required.

Step 5 - Update Job Fields

When a Capacity Planning Report is run, it uses the Budget Hours in each Job and either the Job Start Date or Job Due Date.

• An FYI Admin can select whether the Capacity Planning Report should run forward from the Job Start Date, or backward from the Job Due Date. This can be configured from the Practice Settings - Jobs - Mappings tab.  Refer to Managing Mappings. 
  
  Note: For Pro practices, a Custom Field may be used for the Job Start Date and Job Estimated Hours. This will allow practices to use Custom Fields in FYI specifically for Capacity Planning, rather than maintaining values in XPM.

Review the jobs to be included in Capacity Planning, and update them where required:

• The Job Start Date or the Job Due Date determines if the Job and the task are relevant for the dates that the Capacity Planning Report is being run for. Dates must be selected for each of these fields in the Job. If using a Custom Field for the Job Start Date, and a date is not entered, FYI will use the default Job Start date instead.
   
• If a task in the Process is set to Relative time, the Job’s Budget Hours are used to allocate time proportionally in Capacity Planning. Budget Hours must be entered into FYI for each job.

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