How do I create a Plan?

Short Description A Plan is the top-level container for everything else — Campaigns, Programs, Tactics, Line Items. This article walks through creating one.

What this article answers

• The fields required to create a Plan.
• How to set the plan's date range and currency.
• Next steps after the Plan exists.

Before you start

• Decide the time scope — single fiscal year or multi-year (up to 10 years).
• Decide the primary currency — used for cost roll-ups.
• Know which team owns the Plan — only members of that team will be able to edit it by default.

Creating the Plan

1. Open the Plan Grid (Menu → Plan).
2. Click New Plan (button location varies by theme — usually top of the grid).
3. Fill in the required fields:
   • Name — descriptive, e.g. "FY26 North America Marketing Plan."
   • Year — the plan's primary year. For multi-year plans, this is the starting year.
   • Start Date and End Date — the plan's date range.
   • Owner — typically defaults to you. Change if needed.
   • Team — the owning team.
   • Currency — primary currency for the plan.
4. Fill in any custom attributes your instance requires (orange asterisk = required for approval submission).
5. Click Save.

[SCREENSHOT NEEDED — New Plan form with required fields visible]

Plan-level options to consider

Depending on how your instance is configured, you may also see:

• Set as Strategic / AOP Plan — flags this plan as part of your Annual Operating Plan, which can be used as a filter elsewhere in the application.
• Plan Budget — opt-in budget container at the Plan level. See Plan Budget vs Finance Budget — which one am I looking at?
• Approval Workflow — assign which workflow this plan and its children will go through. If left default, your instance's default workflow applies.

What to do after creating the Plan

A Plan with no Campaigns is empty. To populate it:

1. Open the Plan from the Plan Grid.
2. Add Campaigns under it. See How do I add Campaigns, Programs, and Tactics?
3. Within each Campaign, add Programs.
4. Within each Program, add Tactics.
5. On each Tactic, add Line Items to allocate costs.

Common questions

Can I copy an existing Plan as a starting point? Yes — use Templates to copy plan structure. See How do I use Templates and Snapshots?

Can I rename a Plan later? Yes. Open the Plan's Inspection Window, edit the Name field, and save. The change is recorded in the audit log.

What if I don't have permission to create a Plan? Plan creation is governed by role permissions. Ask your admin to grant your role plan-creation rights, or have a permitted user create the Plan and assign it to you.

Can a Plan span more than one fiscal year? Yes — set the Start Date in one year and the End Date up to 10 years later. See How do I work with multi-year tactics?

Related articles

• Understanding the Hive9 hierarchy
• How do I add Campaigns, Programs, and Tactics?
• How do I work with multi-year tactics?
• How do I use Templates and Snapshots?