Each Plan Overview allows you to access your plans in tabular format. Choose the View and the timeframe using the pulldowns. Telemetry will default to the P&L, but you can select Cash Flow, Balance Sheet, and Headcount (ifi you connected your HRIS to Telemetry), along with any custom metrics you synced to Telemetry from Excel.

Historical numbers are hyperlinked and you can further see the Suppliers and Transactions associated with each number. If you are an admin, you can even click into the journal entry.

When months finish, Telemetry is set to automatically change that month to Actual and show a Pending Close message. Clear the Pending Close by publishing actuals Excel or Google Sheets. Alternatively, Telemetry can be set to respect the plan settings from Excel and only show Actual once actuals have been published from Excel. This can be changed in General Settings using the gear in the lower left corner.

You can learn how to build a new custom plan here.

The Analytics module allows you to visualize your financial data. There are nine charts that are built in to Telemetry, which you can suppress and re-order as you like. You can also create your own charts, performance blocks, and micro-table based on any custom data you synced via Excel or Google Sheets.

Go into Plan Settings to turn off charts, reorder them, and click Add Custom to add your own. First select the type of visualization you want to add. Then name your analytic, select the custom data you synced via Excel, and pull in the metrics you want to graph. A preview is available on the right.

Variance is a great tool for comparing two sets of numbers side-by-side. You can choose to compare one specific time period between two different plans, in this case the current model vs Budget. Or instead you can compare two specific time periods inside of the current plan, in this case Q4 vs Q3.

You can click the carat icons to expand each section. Historical numbers are hyperlinked and you can further see the Suppliers and Transactions associated with each number. If you are an admin, you can even click into the journal entry.

Audit captures all the plan events that come from either Excel or Google Sheets, or the Telemetry platform. You can download any historical plan at or prior to a change being made by selecting “Download Plan” on the right. Note this screen can be especially useful for accounting firms to identify what their clients are consuming and how often they are coming to the system.

Any time a plan is published from Excel or Google Sheets, Telemetry will timestamp it and store it here at the top of this list. All versions of this plan over time are accessible should you need to access them – using the three dot menu, select download.

Versions is important for setting up plans for comparison. You can take any version of any plan you’ve ever published, and turn on “Set as Target”. Use the three dot menu to give it a more memorable name. That named version is now eligible for comparison across the UX. To manage comparison plans, use the down arrow next to the plan name and select “Manage Targets”. (Note this is also accessible in Settings). Here you can decide which versions are available for comparison to non-admins, as well as identifying one plan that is the default plan of comparison. For instance, that version shows up at the bottom of the P&L in Overview for inline budget vs actual analysis.

Settings lets you modify the views throughout this specific plan. Plan settings changed here will not affect other plans.

You can choose the default time period for your reports by choosing Monthly, Quarterly, or Yearly.

You can choose to show EBITDA in your P&L reports. To do so, turn on the switch and then click Customize. This allows you to identify the specific items you want added back to operating income to generate an EBITDA calculation. Telemetry will suggest some to you, but you are free to change them.

Next, you have the option to suppress certain statements by turning off “Visible to All Plan Users”. You can also select Add Custom to bring in any Custom Analytics you synced from Excel.

The Analytics section allows you to re-order or suppress the standard charts that Telemetry provides out of the box. You can also add your own custom analytics by clicking Add Custom. First select the type of visualization you want to add. Then name your analytic, select the custom data you synced via Excel, and pull in the metrics you want to graph. A preview is available on the right.

Finally, in Targets you can decide which plan versions are available for comparison to non-admins, as well as identifying one plan that is the default plan of comparison. For instance, that version shows up at the bottom of the P&L in Overview for inline budget vs actual analysis. (Note this is also accessible by selecting Manage Targets from the main plan menu).

The Sub Plans section is Telemetry’s segment P&L engine. It starts with a standard custom plan, then allows you to take any horizontal cut of your business you like and build P&Ls across that cut.

NEXT: Read more about sub plans here >