Understand workforce plan results

A workforce plan answers: What would change if we followed this plan? Active workforce plans compare current approved information with your remaining proposed changes.

This guide first explains what to look at on screen, then works through the full-time salary example from the getting-started guide.

Before you begin

Open the workforce plan you want to review. You need View plans for the departments it includes. Budget figures also need View labor budgets, and employee-pay figures need View actual compensation. If financial figures are missing, ask your administrator to check your access.

When results update

After you edit a workforce plan, your changes save immediately and the costs are calculated again. Use the status to tell whether the numbers include your latest changes.

There can be a short wait while FTE Tree gathers edits made close together. Large changes, other work already running, or another person editing this workforce plan can also take longer. An edit to a different workforce plan does not extend this workforce plan’s editing wait.

You can keep working while costs update. If several edits happen quickly, FTE Tree may calculate the latest changes without calculating every intermediate edit. Recorded reviews and applications keep their original information. Official changes refresh the active plan’s baseline automatically; applied changes are not counted twice.

Changes excluded from results

A workforce plan can show Current results while one or more proposed changes are excluded. Current means the displayed calculation has finished; it does not mean every proposal is included. The notice above the results tells you how many proposed changes are excluded.

On Changes, excluded items have an amber highlight, an Excluded from results label, and an explanation. Their proposed values stay visible for review, but do not contribute to the planned outcome. The current approved values still apply. Independent changes remain available to compare, report on, review, and apply.

Related changes that must happen together stay together. If a proposed assignment is excluded, its proposed pay may also be excluded because it requires that assignment. Review the original problem and its related changes before including them again.

Open the flagged item, compare its original and current approved information, and edit the proposal to record your reviewed decision or remove it from the plan. Results calculate again automatically. An exact change already present in approved information is Already official and adds no further effect.

Excluding a proposal does not fill gaps in approved information. Missing employee pay, dates, or required setup can still make compensation or another total show Needs information.

Read the monthly comparison

1. On Plan, read Current baseline, Planned outcome, and Remaining difference for the whole period.
2. For monthly detail, use the relevant monthly report in the page actions or Workforce plan reports.
3. Compare the baseline and planned outcome for the same month. The difference is outcome minus baseline.
4. Check the report’s saved dates and calculation before drawing conclusions.

Both columns cover the same dates. They compare the baseline with the planned outcome for those dates, not last month with this month. For example, if yearly compensation changes from $72,000 to $75,600, the increase is $75,600 − $72,000 = $3,600.

A negative change means the proposed amount is lower than the approved amount. That can describe a saving or a reduction in staffing. It does not mean the position has a negative total cost or negative FTE.

Distinguish the measures

Changing a position’s FTE changes its capacity without changing employee assignments. For example, increasing twenty positions from 1.0 to 1.5 FTEs on July 1 adds 10 Position FTEs from July onward. Reducing them to 0.5 FTE removes 10 Position FTEs. In both cases, Assigned FTE stays the same until assignments change.

For a vacant full-time position, Budget includes the position but Staffed cost is zero. Filling that position increases Staffed cost and Compensation while its approved Budget can stay the same. In Avery’s example, the position is already full, so a salary increase changes only Compensation.

Budget and compensation describe the workforce using different rates. Compare them when useful, but do not add them together as if they were separate expenses.

Review a position

1. Follow an affected-position link from a missing-information notice or saved result.
2. Choose the date you want to inspect. The selected date appears beside the results status.
3. Use the dropdown beside Filters to choose Approved or Proposed.
4. Open the position to see its staffing and cost details.

The position’s cost at a selected date is a yearly cost using the information that applies on that date. It is not the amount spent that day or the total for the month. For example, before the raise Avery’s position shows $72,000 in yearly compensation on January 1, while the workforce plan shows $6,115.07 for January itself.

When a position’s details show From and Through, both dates are included. A change starting the next day appears in another row.

Use Needs attention to find positions missing information. In Filters, Show can narrow those positions to budget or compensation problems. All positions returns to the full list. A link from a monthly comparison may show affected positions across the planning period; choose a date to narrow it.

The Position results breadcrumb returns to the list you were reading. Return to Overview for the full comparison or Changes for the change list.

Work out Avery’s workforce plan

In the getting-started example, Avery fills one full-time position. The workforce plan 2027 pay review compares Avery’s current $60,000 salary with a proposed $63,000 salary for January 1 through December 31, 2027. Both include a 20% benefits estimate.

Compare the whole year first

Avery’s budget and pay example shows each salary and benefits calculation.

The raise covers all 365 days of 2027, so the workforce plan includes the full yearly amount: $75,600 × 365 ÷ 365 = $75,600. The cost increases by $3,600, including benefits.

The position’s budget remains $84,000, including its own benefits estimate. Avery still fills the entire position, so the assigned budget, shown as Staffed cost, also remains $84,000.

Check one month: January

The monthly table spreads yearly costs across calendar days, including weekends. January has 31 days and 2027 has 365 days.

1. Work out January before the raise: $72,000 × 31 ÷ 365 = $6,115.07 after rounding to cents.
2. Work out January after the raise: $75,600 × 31 ÷ 365 = $6,420.82 after rounding.
3. Subtract the displayed amounts: $6,420.82 − $6,115.07 = $305.75 increase.

January’s budget is $84,000 × 31 ÷ 365 = $7,134.25, before and after. This is a planning calculation using calendar days, not a monthly payroll payment schedule. Months have different lengths, so their costs are not always one-twelfth of the yearly amount.

Check the monthly report against the example

Both FTE measures describe the last included day of the month, January 31 in this example. Avery fills the position both before and after the raise. Do not add the monthly FTE values together; one employee working all year is still one full-time employee. The Final month row shows the last month’s balance for the selected FTE measure.

The Change column subtracts the displayed Approved amount from the displayed Proposed amount. At the end of the year, the monthly compensation amounts add to $72,000 approved, $75,600 proposed, and $3,600 change. The rounding section below explains any small adjustment in the final month.

Try a smaller raise in a copy

Copy the workforce plan before applying it so you can compare two options.

1. Keep 2027 pay review as the 5% option.
2. In the copy, change Avery’s proposed salary to $61,800, a 3% raise: $60,000 + ($60,000 × 3%) = $61,800.
3. Keep the same full-year dates and 20% benefits rule.
4. Wait for the calculation, then compare the two workforce plans.

The 3% option costs $61,800 + ($61,800 × 20%) = $74,160 a year. It is $75,600 − $74,160 = $1,440 less than the 5% option. Both keep one full-time employee in the position.

The comparison between two workforce plans uses the order you select them. Check the labels before interpreting whether a difference is positive or negative.

More detail: dates and rounding

Use the same steps for any period: identify when a rate, FTE, or other relevant input changes; work out the days covered by each amount; add those costs; and round the period total to cents.

Use 365 days for an ordinary year and 366 for a leap year. If a workforce plan crosses New Year’s Day, calculate each year’s part using that year’s number of days. For example, one day of a $36,500 yearly cost in an ordinary year is $100. One day of a $36,600 yearly cost in a leap year is also $100.

A monthly table also has to add up to the full workforce plan total. Rounding every month separately can leave a cent or two to account for. Consider a constant yearly cost of $100 throughout 2027:

1. Work out each month using its actual number of days.
2. Round those 12 amounts separately. They add up to $99.98.
3. Add the remaining $0.02 to the last month that has a cost. December displays $8.51, and the months now total $100.00.

If rounding means cents must be removed, FTE Tree removes them from the last contributing month. If that would make its cost negative, it continues into earlier months until the adjustment is complete. A month with no cost does not receive a rounding adjustment.

These adjustments make the displayed months add up. They do not change the hourly rates or yearly pay you entered. For rate-level rounding, see adjustment calculations.

Understand unavailable results

Current means the calculation finished. It can still have found missing information. For example, an assigned employee without a pay record cannot have a complete compensation result.

To find and correct the problem:

1. Choose View issue from the warning above the comparison, or open Issues in the plan navigation. The Issues page identifies the workforce plan and calculation being reviewed. Choose Overview to return to the plan. Clear removes extra filters while keeping the plan and calculation.
2. If the problem belongs to approved information or an earlier saved result, choose Review affected positions to see that result’s positions and dates. The warning may offer separate links for each plan being compared.
3. Open the affected position. Switch between Approved and Proposed if you need to find which side is missing information.
4. Use Add employee pay or Add Budget rate when offered. Check the assignment or position and the date before saving.
5. After correcting approved information, return to Overview, wait for its automatic baseline refresh, and review the new result. Recorded reviews, applications, and completed reports retain the information used for that specific action.

A missing compensation figure cannot be replaced with the budget rate or a guessed zero. Complete the missing pay information and let the result calculate again.

A calculated total cannot fall below zero. If an adjustment requests a larger reduction than the amount available, FTE Tree stops at zero and explains the unused part. That unused reduction does not carry forward. A negative Change column can still correctly show that a proposed cost is lower.

When you have explained the results, compare alternatives, run a workforce plan report, or continue to review and apply.