Configuring Benefit Classifications (Advanced Model)

A benefit classification defines a type of benefit, and the settings every benefit of that type shares — its unit, how often values are recorded, whether it's forecast, and how it's calculated. Benefit classifications are created and maintained under Administration > Classifications, and then enabled on the initiative classifications that should use them.

This article covers the Advanced Model, and needs administrator access to Classifications. For the Simple Model, see Configuring Benefit Classifications (Simple Model).

Note In some instances, the term Benefits is replaced with Impacts. There's no functional difference between the two.

Creating a benefit classification

To create a benefit classification:

1. Navigate to the Administration section.
2. Click Classifications in the side navigation.

   

3. Click + Classification at the top right.

   

4. Select Benefit as the Object Type. The General Configuration tab opens.

   

5. Configure the settings on the General Configuration tab, described below.
6. Click Create.

   

To edit an existing benefit classification, click Edit next to it on the Classifications page.

General Configuration settings

Some settings have a lock icon next to them. Unlocking a setting lets users override it when they create a benefit. It's generally best to leave settings locked, and create a separate classification where different settings are needed.

Attributes

• Name and Color — identify the classification across Amplify.
• Description — shown on the benefit form. Use it to describe the benefit, and any relevant data sources and policies.
• Start Date and End Date — the default dates for new benefits. Leave these blank for benefits to use the dates of the initiative they're created under.
• Benefit Value Unit — the unit the benefit's value is measured in. The default is the primary currency. Units are set up under Administration > Measurement Units — see Measurement Units. If you unlock this setting, users can pick a different unit for each benefit. Dashboards can't add up values in different units, so if two benefits of this classification in the same initiative end up with different units — say one in dollars and one in hours — this classification is left out of that initiative's standard dashboards.
• Include on Standard Dashboards — includes benefits of this classification in the benefit totals on the Project, Value, Process, and Goals dashboards, and in return on investment (ROI) figures. Turn this off for benefits you want to track on their own, without them adding to those totals. It doesn't affect the Performance dashboard, the Amplify Index, or benefit progress, which always count every benefit.
• Reporting Cadence — how often a value is recorded for the benefit:
  • Month — one value per month.
  • Quarter — one value per quarter.
  • Financial Year — one value per financial year.
  Quarters and financial years follow your instance's financial year end, which your Customer Success Manager sets. If you unlock this setting, users can pick a different cadence for each benefit. If two benefits of this classification in the same initiative end up with different cadences — say one Monthly and one Quarterly — this classification is left out of that initiative's standard dashboards.
• Enable Weekly Reporting — available where the cadence is Month. Lets users enter values for individual weeks, alongside the monthly values. Monthly values are still what roll up to dashboards and registers; weekly values add detail within each month. This feature needs to be enabled for your organization — speak to your Customer Success Manager. They'll also set the Week Starting Day, and the Weekly Reporting Attribution that decides which month a week counts towards when it spans two months.
• Negative Benefit — makes every value recorded against benefits of this classification negative. Use it for benefits that represent a reduction, such as a cost decrease. Negative benefits count against the total of other benefits that use the same unit.
• Display results cumulatively? — on the benefit's dashboard charts, shows each period's value as a running total of all previous periods. When turned off, each period shows only its own value.
• Dual View — adds a toggle to the benefit's charts, so users can switch between cumulative and non-cumulative views themselves.
• Benefit Weighting — adjusts how much benefits of this classification count towards an initiative's Amplify Index and benefit progress, relative to other benefits. The default is 1.0; a benefit weighted 2.0 counts twice as much as one weighted 1.0.
• Enable External ID — adds an External ID field to these benefits, used by integrations to match each benefit with its record in another system.
• Allow objects of this type to be created using the Map — lets users create benefits of this classification directly from a Benefit Map.
• Format Dates using Accounting Periods — labels this classification's periods using accounting period names instead of calendar month names, for organizations that report in named accounting periods. See Naming accounting periods.
• Benefit Formula — calculates the benefit from a formula that combines one or more Measures, rather than from values entered directly against the benefit. See Benefit formula.

The Benefit Map is being phased out. Avoid building new processes that depend on creating benefits from the Map.

Plan

Available where Benefit Formula is turned off.

• Initial Plan — the default plan value for new benefits.
• Replace Plan with Actual Values — once an actual is recorded for a period, it replaces that period's plan value. The plan then shows what's been delivered so far plus what's still planned, rather than the original estimate for every period. Use it where the plan is a living target that should reflect what's already been achieved. To keep the original plan for comparison, take a baseline first.
• Prevent modifications to the Plan — stops the plan from being changed once set.

Actual

• Record Actuals — requires one actual value for each period of the reporting cadence.
• Workflow — the approval workflow applied to each actual value when it's entered.
• Upcoming Actuals Reminder — how many days before an actual is due that the benefit owner is notified.
• Overdue Actuals Reminder — how many days after an actual is due before an overdue reminder is sent.
• Prevent modifications to the Actuals — stops actual values from being changed once recorded.
• Enable Attachments — lets users attach documentation to each period's value as they enter it, for example a supporting file for a month's actual.

Forecast

• Enable Forecast — turns on forecast values for these benefits, and sets how they're produced:
  • Amplify — the forecast is calculated automatically, using the settings below.
  • Manual — users enter the forecast themselves. The milestone delay, actual affected, and forecast limit settings below don't apply.
• Prevent modifications to the Forecast — stops forecast values from being changed.
• Allow Milestone delays to be accounted for in Forecast calculation — where a benefit depends on a linked milestone, a delay to that milestone pushes the benefit's forecast back by the same amount. For example, if a system go-live slips by two months, the savings it was expected to deliver can't start on time either, so the forecast moves two months later. Values already recorded as actuals stay where they are.
• Enable Actual affected Forecast — controls how recorded actuals shape the forecast:
  • When turned on, the gap between the last recorded actual and the plan for that period is carried forward into every remaining forecast period. A benefit tracking above plan is forecast to stay above it, and one tracking below is forecast to stay below.
  • When turned off, the forecast for each period is that period's actual where one is recorded, and its plan where it isn't.
• Lower Forecast Limit — sets a lower and an upper limit for the calculated forecast. Forecast values that would fall outside the range are held at the nearest limit, which prevents results that aren't practical or possible. Leave a field blank for no limit on that side.
• Amplify Index Comparison Series — shown where the Amplify Index is turned on for your instance. Sets what the benefit's plan is compared against to calculate its score:
  • Forecast — shows whether the benefit is expected to hit its plan.
  • Baseline — shows how far the plan has moved since a baseline was taken.

Variance

Turn on Variance to color-code Actual and Forecast values by how far they are from Plan, on the benefit ledger's bowler chart. Variance needs either Record Actuals or Enable Forecast to be turned on.

• Favourable Direction — which way from Plan counts as good:
  • Higher is Better — any value at or above Plan shows as On Track. The thresholds only apply once a value falls below Plan.
  • Lower is Better — any value at or below Plan shows as On Track. The thresholds only apply once a value rises above Plan.
  • On Target — distance from Plan is what matters. The thresholds apply in both directions, so a value above Plan is treated the same as one the same distance below.
• Thresholds — the percentage variance from Plan for each band:
  • On Track — variance is equal to or less than the first value.
  • At Risk — variance is between the two middle values.
  • Off Track — variance is equal to or greater than the last value.

Expand Learn more under Favourable Direction for a diagram of how the bands apply to the direction you've selected. Users show or hide the colors with the Bowler Chart option in the ledger's Settings menu — see Register Views.

Benefit formula

Where Benefit Formula is turned on, a benefit's value is calculated from its contributing measures, using a formula. The Plan section is replaced by formula settings, the Actual section offers Calculate Actual, and the Forecast section offers Enable Forecast.

Each contributing measure must record values at least as often as the benefit does. A Quarterly benefit can use Monthly or Quarterly measures, but not Financial Year ones; a Monthly benefit can only use Monthly measures. Where the benefit uses weekly reporting, it must also be turned on for every contributing measure.

Create Benefit Formula decides where the formula is defined:

• On — the formula is defined once here, on the classification, and every new and existing benefit of this classification uses it.
• Off — users write the formula themselves on each benefit as they create it.

To define the formula on the classification:

1. Under Define Measures, enter a Label for each contributing measure. Each is given an ID, such as M1 and M2. The label is shown to users on the measure selector when they create a benefit, so name it after the measure they should pick — for example, Hours saved per month.
2. Click Add Measure for each further measure the formula needs.
3. Under Formula Builder, enter the Benefit Formula using those IDs and the available operators (+ - * / ( )) — for example, M1*M2. The Formula Preview shows the result.

Expand Formula syntax and functions help for the functions available on each measure, such as .delta for the change from the previous period, or .target for the final value.

Naming accounting periods

Where Format Dates using Accounting Periods is turned on, period labels use accounting period names. These match the calendar month names until they're changed, so nothing looks different until you rename them.

Accounting period names are set for the whole instance, under Translations, in two groups:

• accounting_period_month_names — full names, such as January.
• abbr_accounting_period_month_names — short names, such as Jan, used where space is limited.

Each group has one row per month, numbered 1 (January) to 12 (December). Rows follow the calendar month, not your financial year. For example, if your financial year starts in July and July is your first period, enter its name, such as P1, against row 7. Leave row 0 blank.

Update both groups, so full and short labels match.

Properties tab

The Properties tab sets which fields benefits of this classification have — built-in fields, such as External identifier, and custom fields mapped to the classification. For each field, choose whether to Include on Create, which shows it on the form when a benefit is created. Fields not included on create can still be filled in afterwards. To stop using a custom field on this classification, select Remove Mapping… on its row. The tab is available once the classification has been created.

For creating custom fields, mapping them, and the settings that belong to the field itself, such as Required, see Custom Fields (Advanced Model).

Default classification

One benefit classification is the default. When a user creates a new benefit, the default is preselected on the form, where the initiative allows that classification. Where it doesn't, the first allowed classification is preselected instead.

The first benefit classification created becomes the default automatically. To make a different one the default, open it for editing and click Make Default, under Default Classification. Only one benefit classification can be the default, so the new default replaces the previous one.

Enabling benefits for an initiative

Benefits can only be created on initiatives whose classification allows them. To enable a benefit classification on an initiative classification:

1. Navigate to Administration > Classifications.
2. Click the initiative classification you want to enable benefits for.
3. On the General Configuration tab, scroll down to Enable Local Benefits.

   

4. Make sure Enable Local Benefits is checked.
5. Select the benefit types you want to be available from Allowed Benefit Classifications.

   

6. Click Save at the bottom of the page.

   

Deleting a classification

Deleting a benefit classification permanently deletes every benefit of that classification and its data, and removes any Initiative Workbook or status report widgets that show that classification. It can't be undone.

To delete a benefit classification:

1. Click Edit next to the classification on the Classifications page.
2. Click the Advanced tab.
3. Click Delete….
4. Amplify lists every benefit of this classification that will be deleted, with a link to each. Check the list before you go on.
5. Confirm.

The classification is removed straight away, so no new benefits of this type can be created. Its benefits are then archived and deleted in the background, which can take a few minutes where there are many. Once they're gone, goal totals are recalculated, as the deleted benefits no longer contribute to them.

The default classification can't be deleted, and neither can the last benefit classification.

For creating benefits and recording their values, see Managing Benefits.