Introduction

Positions are the central element of FTE Tree. Each position represents a staffing slot within your organization, identified by an organization-scoped position number such as POS-0001. Positions are grouped by job code, assigned to departments, and carry FTE amounts, wage rates, and cost calculations that form the foundation of your position control.

Position count and subscription capacity

Your subscription position count applies to active Operating Budget positions. A position counts against paid capacity when it is in the Operating Budget, has not been deactivated, and its current approved status is configured to count as an active position.

The following do not count against paid capacity:

  • Scenario-only draft positions that have not been approved into the Operating Budget.
  • Deactivated positions.
  • Positions whose current approved status does not count as active.

You can create or duplicate draft positions in an editable forecast scenario even when paid position capacity is full, as long as the scenario's draft position cap has not been reached. Paid capacity is checked when those draft positions are submitted for approval. If no subscribed position capacity remains, the submission is blocked until capacity is available or the subscription is updated.

Direct Operating Budget actions that create or restore active positions, such as Operating Budget imports and reactivations, also require available paid capacity.

Active calculation readiness

An active position needs enough information to calculate FTE and cost. For a new position, FTE Tree checks that the position has a name, active status, department, job code, schedule, and compensation source by the first date the status counts as active. For position changes, existing approved values can satisfy the check.

If a status change makes a position active before its schedule or wage source is effective, the request is blocked. If a job code change would leave an active position with no position wage rate and no job code default wage rate in the applicable Operating Budget or scenario tree, the request is also blocked. Direct reactivation of an Operating Budget position performs the same approved-data check before the position is restored.

This prevents newly approved active periods from calculating as zero or partial values because required information starts later than the active date. If older approved data is already incomplete, FTE Tree may still show warnings and zero values until the missing setup is corrected.

For worked examples of schedule FTE, wage-source priority, inherited job-code wages, incumbent-cost fallbacks, adjustments, headcount, and summary math, see Position calculations and examples.

Positions

The position list provides a table of all positions in your organization. From this view, you can create new positions, search and filter positions, and navigate to individual position detail pages. The position list is accessible from the main navigation under "Positions."

Positions remain visible when their assigned department is no longer available for new position assignments, as long as you have access to that department. To remove a position from active staffing and capacity counts, deactivate the position or use a status that does not count as active. Department availability only controls whether new positions can be assigned to that department.

When HR offboards an employee, affected Operating Budget positions can become vacant from the selected offboarding effective date. This does not delete prior incumbent history. Past assignments remain visible in history and point-in-time reporting, while future calculations use the vacant position state unless another incumbent is assigned later.

Workforce summary

The workforce summary is accessible from the Workforce summary section in the main navigation. It provides a high-level overview of your position data, including FTE, annualized run-rate cost, and headcount totals across your organization for the selected As of date.

Use the As of date to view the organization at a specific point in time. The selected date changes the totals shown on the workspace. When position, employee, job code, department, organization setting, or scenario data changes, FTE Tree updates the affected workspace and report values automatically.

The workspace uses the same position information as reports, so workspace totals and report totals stay aligned when they use the same date, scenario, filters, and department access. Workspace actions can also save the current view, open the same context in Reports, or prepare an export when the user has report access.

Totals can change on the effective dates saved for positions, employees, job codes, departments, organization settings, and scenarios. This includes position field changes, custom field changes, incumbent changes, job-code changes, inherited job-code default wages and adjustments, annual and weekly hour settings, and department changes that affect inherited GL values.

For detailed examples of point-in-time annualized run-rate calculations, day-weighted report FTE, allocated period costs, scenario comparisons, and report traceability, see Position calculations and examples.

Summary overview

The overview table at the top of the workspace displays organization-wide totals for the selected as-of date. The following metrics are shown:

  • Positions: The total number of positions included.
  • FTE: The point-in-time full-time equivalent total for the selected as-of date.
  • Position cost: The annualized run-rate cost calculated from position wage rates for the selected as-of date.
  • Incumbent cost: The annualized run-rate cost calculated from incumbent wage rates for the selected as-of date.
  • Headcount: The point-in-time headcount total for the selected as-of date.

Cost values on summary views are displayed as whole dollar amounts for readability. For full two-decimal precision, see the individual position's detailed calculation breakdown or export a report. FTE and headcount values are displayed to two decimal places.

When a forecast scenario is active, the overview displays three rows:

  • Operating Budget: Totals from the committed position plan.
  • Scenario: Totals reflecting the active scenario's draft changes and assumptions.
  • Change: The difference between the scenario and Operating Budget values, highlighting the impact of proposed changes.

If recent changes are still being applied, the workspace indicates that updated values are not ready yet. Once the update finishes, totals use the latest saved information.

By department

The By department section breaks down the summary totals by department. Each department row shows the same metrics as the overview: FTE, annualized position cost, annualized incumbent cost, and headcount. Operating Budget, Scenario, and Change column groups appear when a scenario is active.

Click the expand arrow on a department row to reveal a breakdown by job code within that department, showing how costs and FTE are distributed across job codes.

Future-dated changes and reports

Future-dated position, job-code, employee, department, and scenario changes are saved until their effective date. To inspect a future date in the workspace, choose that date in the As of field. To review a full period, run a report for the date range you need.

Reports allocate annualized costs into the selected date range and use day-weighted FTE and headcount averages. Actual calendar days is the default cost allocation method: a full leap year and a full regular year both equal one annual amount, while partial periods use the actual number of days in that calendar year. Some planning reports can use Even monthly allocation when your team wants each full month to carry 1/12 of annualized cost.

Org chart

The org chart provides a visual, hierarchical view of your organization's position structure. It is accessible from Org chart in the main navigation. The org chart displays positions as a tree, with parent-child relationships forming the hierarchy.

View the org chart

Navigate to Org chart from the main navigation. The chart loads with root positions (those with no parent) displayed at the top level. Each position node shows:

  • Position name, with a link to the position detail page (if you have the Update positions permission)
  • Position label
  • Incumbent name, or "Vacant" if the position has no active incumbent
  • Job code, if assigned
  • Department, if assigned

Nodes are color-coded by approval status:

  • Green border with an Approved badge: The position is approved. Fields that have changed in a draft are not highlighted.
  • Amber border with a Draft badge: The position is approved but has pending draft changes. Changed fields are highlighted in amber so you can see exactly what differs from the approved version.
  • Dark border with a New badge: The position was created in a scenario and has not yet been approved. No fields are highlighted since everything is new.

You can pan the chart by clicking and dragging, and zoom using the scroll wheel or the zoom controls in the toolbar.

Searching for a position

Use the Find position search box at the top of the org chart to locate a specific position. Type at least two characters to search by position label, position name, incumbent name, job code, or department. Select a result from the dropdown and the chart will automatically expand the tree, scroll to the position, and briefly highlight it.

Expand and collapse nodes

Positions that have child positions display a toggle button at the bottom of the node. Click the toggle to expand a node and load its children. Children are loaded on demand, so the chart remains responsive even for large organizations. Click the toggle again to collapse a branch.

Zoom controls

The toolbar at the top right of the org chart provides zoom controls:

  • Zoom in: Magnify the chart for a closer look.
  • Zoom out: Reduce magnification to see more of the tree.
  • Fit to view: Automatically zoom and pan to fit the entire visible chart within the screen.

Historical org charts

Use the Effective date picker at the top of the org chart to view the organization hierarchy as it existed on a specific past date. When you select a date, the chart rebuilds the position tree as it existed on that date. This is useful for reviewing past organizational structures, comparing changes over time, or auditing historical reporting relationships.

Position hierarchy and parent changes

Positions can be arranged in a parent-child hierarchy to represent reporting relationships. When a position's parent is changed, the org chart reflects the updated structure.

Parent changes can be submitted through the approval workflow as a position field change. The system validates that proposed parent changes will not create circular references in the hierarchy. For example, a position cannot be set as a child of one of its own descendants. If a circular reference is detected, the change is blocked with a clear error message.

If a parent change was approved but the hierarchy changed before it could be applied (making the change circular), the system blocks the change and notifies the requester with a dashboard message explaining the issue. The requester can then review the latest hierarchy and submit a new parent change request if needed.

Position details

Each position has a detail page showing its fields, financial summaries, and history. Cost values shown in the position work area are annualized run-rate values for a selected as-of date, not month-to-date, year-to-date, or fiscal-period amounts.

Use the Calculation detail tab to choose an as-of date and review the calculation values that apply to that position on the selected date. The page shows the position and incumbent calculation detail, line-level FTE and cost math, annual hours per FTE, weekly hours per FTE, warnings, and the inputs used in the calculation.

The Calculation detail tab also includes an annualized run-rate timeline for that position. The timeline shows how annualized position cost and annualized incumbent cost change when effective-dated inputs change. For example, if annual hours per FTE is 2,088 effective January 1, 2024 and 2,080 effective January 1, 2025, the selected date and timeline make that annualization change visible on the position.

Use reports when you need allocated period amounts. Reports apply the selected cost allocation method, such as Actual calendar days or Even monthly, after the annualized position value has been calculated. See Position calculations and examples for the calculation order and examples.

Funding sources

Positions can be assigned one or more funding sources to indicate how a position's costs are allocated across different budgets or accounts. Each funding source entry pairs a source name with a percentage allocation.

Assign funding sources

From the position detail or create page, use the Funding source field to add one or more entries. For each entry, select a funding source from the dropdown and enter a percentage. The percentages across all entries must total exactly 100%.

For example, a position might be funded 60% by General fund and 40% by Grant. You can add or remove rows as needed using the controls in the funding source field.

Validation rules

  • Funding source is visible by default and optional by default.

  • If the funding source field is required for your organization, at least one entry must be provided and the percentages must total 100%.

  • If the funding source field remains optional, you may leave it empty. However, if any entries are provided, the percentages must still total 100%.

  • Each funding source may only appear once per position.

  • Percentages support up to two decimal places (e.g., 33.33%).

External position ID

The external position ID is an optional cross-reference field that links each position to an identifier in your HRIS or external system. When enabled by your organization, the external position ID appears on the position detail page, in the position list, and as a dedicated tab on the position field page.

For many workflows, a new position will not receive its HRIS identifier until after the position request is approved and the position is created in the external system. In that case, leave the value blank during the request or create process and update it after the HRIS record exists.

Viewing external position ids

When external position IDs are enabled, you can see the value on each position's detail page and in the position list table. The column label is configurable by your organization - it might be called "External Position ID", "HRIS Reference", or another name that matches your systems.

Editing external position ids

Editing the external position ID requires the Configure position settings permission. From the position field page, select the external position ID tab to update the value for a single position.

To update external position IDs for multiple positions at once, use the Batch edit link in the position settings section of the organization settings page. The batch edit view also requires Configure position settings and displays Operating Budget positions with their existing values, allowing you to update several at once and save in a single action. You can search positions by name, number, or external ID, sort by any column, and toggle inactive positions on or off.

Importing external position ids

External position IDs can be included in CSV position imports. Use the column header "External ID" or "External Position ID" in your CSV file. In update mode, the system can use the external position ID to match against existing positions when a row does not include a position number. When a row does include a position number, FTE Tree extracts the integer portion of that display reference for matching. Create mode is only for new positions and will not silently update an existing position. See Batch import and export for details on CSV imports.

External ID coverage report

The External ID coverage report lists all active positions and indicates whether each position has an assigned external position ID or is missing one. This report is useful for tracking migration progress when linking positions to an external system. See Reports for details on running reports.

Position comments

Each position detail page includes a Comments tab for conversations about the position. See Position settings for details on comments.

Need help?

If you have questions about working with positions, please contact us or email us at support@ftetree.com.