Blog

Articles about the Anaplan Community and Connected Planning

Share your favorite 2025 Anaplan features — November Community Challenge
As 2025 comes to a close, we're wrapping up the year with our final Community Challenge — and we want your input! Share your experiences with the Anaplan features that made a real difference in your work this year, and hear other Community member perspectives. Question for the Community Challenge: What were your favorite…
Less granular, more accurate: The "granularity = responsibility" principle in FP&A
Author: Taichi Amaya, Certified Master Anaplanner, and Financial Planning and Analysis Specialist at Pasona Group, Inc. Reading time: approximately 5-6 minutes. "We need more detail in our forecasts. Let's have each sales rep submit their numbers individually — that way, we'll be more accurate." Sounds reasonable, right?…
October 2025 Spotlight: Community Boss Employees
This month, we’re highlighting the newest Community Boss Employees (CBEs) who joined the program in 2025! The Community Boss Employees program brings together top internal Anaplan experts who actively share their knowledge, support members, and elevate conversations across the Community. Our CBEs bring fresh perspectives…
Accessible by design: Our new accommodations for certification exams
Taking a proctored exam can be intimidating, even for the most seasoned professionals. While certification validates a learner’s skills and expertise, the exam environment itself can sometimes pose unnecessary barriers. Our goal is to test your ability, not your endurance. That’s why we’ve made significant updates to make…
Practical lessons from building Anaplan Centers of Excellence
As part of the Anaplan Eastern Europe & Middle Asia User Group, Certified Master Anaplanners Anton Mineev (@AntonMineev), Anton Suslov (@AntonS_*9173), and Dmitrii Mamaev (@dmitrii.mamaev) shared hands-on experience in creating and maturing Centers of Excellence (CoEs). This article summarizes their key insights from the…
Acing the Professional Solution Architect recertification
When the Anaplan Academy team first read Maryna Dunets' article on the new recertification process, we were thrilled to learn about her positive experience with the updated exams. Our goal has always been to design an exam that accurately measures a candidate’s ability to use the platform while minimizing unnecessary…
Securing your planning process: best practices for Anaplan cybersecurity
Author: Tristan Colgate is a Certified Master Anaplanner and Managing Director at Fidenda. This month is Cybersecurity Awareness Month and cybersecurity is an important topic for anyone involved in developing and maintaining Anaplan solutions. We are often storing sensitive information such as financial, employee,…
Getting data integration right: Best practices for building robust, scalable connections
Author: Dmitri Tverdomed is a Data Architect and Director at Zooss Consulting. Data integration isn’t just a technical exercise anymore — it’s foundational to a business’ ability to move quickly, make informed decisions, and scale sustainably. Whether you’re integrating Anaplan with upstream data platforms or pushing model…
Mastering Anaplan Workflow: Tips and learnings from real-world experience
Author: Shivankur Sharma is a Certified Master Anaplanner and Principal Architect at PM Square. Anaplan has long been a leader in the connected planning space, and with the introduction of Workflow functionality, it’s taken a major step toward streamlining collaboration and task accountability. If you’re a model builder,…
Ready for departure? What to do if your only Anaplanner is leaving!
Author: Clarissa Hassfurder is a Certified Master Anaplanner and CEO at Double10 Consulting. In many cases, when a team member departs a company, there is an ability to complete hand off with one or multiple team members. But what if your Center of Excellence (CoE) is a team of one? What if there are no other people with…
How I Built It: Method for branched development within ALM
Author: Noah Jackson is a Certified Master Anaplanner and Principal Data and Insights Architect at Anaplan. Hello Anaplan Community! Since the release of the “unlink revisions” feature, it is possible to do branched development within Anaplan ALM. This is most useful when you are beginning work on a larger change or new…
Introducing Anaplan API Python SDK
Author: Vinzenz Klass is a Senior Data Engineer at valantic. Hey everyone, I wanted to share the Anaplan Python SDK with you. It's a Python Library that wraps all Anaplan APIs and makes it easier to interact with Anaplan programmatically. It is mostly designed with Data Integration Scenarios in mind, but it does support…
UX best practices for building impactful dashboards in Anaplan: Part 1
Author: Arjun Gandhi, Certified Master Anaplanner with over a decade of experience leading enterprise Anaplan implementations across industries. ———- “If your dashboard doesn’t tell users what to do within 10 seconds, it’s already failed.” 🧭 Introduction: Why UX design in Anaplan matters Anaplan’s UX is more than just the…
How I Built It: Chess in Anaplan
Author: Waleed Hakim is a Sr. Anaplan consultant. Hi everyone! I’m Waleed — a Senior Consultant working with enterprise clients to transform their planning processes through Anaplan. I've been in the Anaplan ecosystem for just under four years now, and while most of my time is spent solving complex business problems, I’ve…
How I Built It: Set up timestamps leveraging ADO & Workflow
Author: Jeffrey Glazner is a Manager, FP&A Systems at ResMed. Hello folks! I’m happy to share my ‘How I Built It’ tutorial with you all. This video shows a simple way to set up timestamps in Anaplan leveraging Anaplan Data Orchestrator (ADO) and Workflow, without the need for any additional scripting. While not…
Managing Anaplan maintenance windows: A comprehensive guide for enterprise planning teams
Author: James Cannon is a Certified Master Anaplaner, Solution Architect, and Senior Manager at Ernst & Young. In any enterprise Anaplan implementation, regular maintenance windows are essential for model stability, performance optimization, and ongoing business value. However, without proper structure, communication, and…
Tips for onboarding junior model builders
Author: Evgeny Seledkov is a Certified Master Anaplanner and Sr. Consultant at Keyrus. Hello, I’m Evgeny, and I’ve been part of the Anaplan community for nearly ten years. Over the years, I’ve taken quite a journey — seeing this world from both sides: as part of a customer Center of Excellence, where I helped stakeholders…
How to navigate a list index reset while preserving your planning data
Author: Evan Groetch is a Certified Master Anaplanner and Business Intelligence Manager at Fresenius Medical Care. Seeing that your list import has failed due to the index hitting its maximum value can be a frustrating experience. Cursory research on Anapedia will show you there is a “Reset” button at the bottom of the…
Data integration best practices — Event recording available!
Last month, we hosted a Community Challenge inviting members to share their best practices on data integrations. We provided both beginner and advanced prompts to encourage members to discuss how they move data in and out of Anaplan, share tips for smooth integrations, and inspire others in the Community. Yesterday, we…
Getting started with Anaplan APIs: What you need to know
Author: Dmitri Tverdomed is a Data Architect and Director at Zooss Consulting. Following on from my recent article on best practices in data integration, today I take a closer look at Anaplan’s APIs: What they are, why do they matter, and how should you get started to unlock efficiencies for business? In this article:…
Event recording available: Experience the future of Anaplan Support
If you missed our event demoing the new Customer Support Case Portal, a recording is now available. We covered why we are removing email, the benefits of the portal, using the dynamic case form, and a number of other relevant topics. We went through managing users, working with partners, and how to most effectively use the…
Smarter forecasts, stronger decisions through Integrated Finance Planning
Shruti Mahato is a Certified Master Anaplanner and Senior Manager in Accenture with 8 years of Anaplan experience. She has recently participated in IFP Partner training. Her thoughts are reigned from hands-on experience on the application which she wants to enthusiastically wants to apply within her organization and for…
Event recording available: Introducing Combined Grids
If you missed our Power Hour event on Combined Grids, a recording is now available. This event covered how Anaplan’s new Combined Grids feature brings data from multiple modules into a single, unified view. We shared more about what makes this capability powerful, and heard from Anaplan customers who are already using it…
Five new Anaplan features you may not be using
Author: Misbah Ansari is a Certified Master Anaplanner, Anaplan Community Moderator & Community Boss, and CEO/Founder at Miz Logix. Anaplan has come a long way as part of its product development. We have seen so many features being released over the past few years which has not only helped Anaplan carve a place for itself…
Share your data integration best practices — September 2025 Community Challenge
We’re excited to launch our September 2025 Community Challenge, focusing on one of the most critical aspects of Anaplan success: data integrations. Whether you’re just getting started with CloudWorks or Anaplan Connect, or you have built advanced orchestrations using APIs and Anaplan Data Orchestrator, integrations are at…
UX best practices for building impactful dashboards in Anaplan: Part 2
Author: Arjun Gandhi, Certified Master Anaplanner with over a decade of experience leading enterprise Anaplan implementations across industries. Anaplan’s UX is more than just the surface layer of your model — it’s the gateway to planning adoption, collaboration, and decision-making. Whether it’s a CFO reviewing revenue…
Guiding users through the UX best practices — Event recording available!
In July, we hosted a challenge inviting Community members to share their best practices on guiding users through the UX. We shared prompts with the Community to get members thinking about how they how craft the user journey through the app. Yesterday, we held an event highlighting the responses we received from the July…
Event recording available: Workflow In Anaplan
If you missed our spotlight event on Workflow, a recording is now available. Anaplan's Elizabeth Schera, Allison Slaught, and Chris Stauffer share insights and strategies to optimize your processes. The session explores how Workflow can support more scalable and intelligent process automation by comparing two different…
Design standards for a superior user experience — Part 2: UX page standards
Author: Aaron Overfors is a Certified Master Anaplanner and Principal Architect at Spaulding Ridge. In my first article, we detailed how to create a robust design for the user experience; now comes pulling it all together and building the actual pages! We will examine the concepts and ingredients of a strong page to focus…
Design standards for a superior user experience — Part 1: Effective dashboarding
Author: Aaron Overfors is a Certified Master Anaplanner and Principal Architect at Spaulding Ridge. A strong user experience is the key to almost every Anaplan solution’s success. A well-designed Anaplan model that scales, performs well, and is easy to maintain will become shelf-ware without a thoughtful, purposeful user…
Anaplan security automation
Author: Steve Meekins is a Certified Master Anaplanner and has worked in the Anaplan ecosystem for over 8 years. Steve has worked in both industry and consulting and has successfully architected over 50 end-to-end EPM implementations. The challenge Security management is no simple task for organizations that have several…
How I Built It: How to open the Optimizer's black box
Author: Author: Damien Bouquier has been a Certified Master Anaplanner for 5+ years and has developed solutions across a wide range of industries for FP&A, supply chain, and sales operations planning use cases. In this ‘How I Built It’ tutorial, I show how Anaplan’s Optimizer can provide more transparency and user…
Share your best practices on guiding users through the UX — July 2025 Community Challenge
Our latest Best Practices Community Challenge is here, and we’re diving into guiding your users through the user experience! Each Challenge highlights a specific topic where Community members can share their expertise, exchange ideas, and learn from one another. Are you an expert in crafting intuitive and impactful user…
Case study: Streamlining demand forecasting with Anaplan
Author: Korey Cheung, Certified Master Anaplanner and Senior Associate at Spaulding Ridge. The challenge A leading consumer goods company faced challenges in aligning their statistical forecast model with their disaggregation and demand planning models. The statistical forecast and disaggregation models were primarily…
Boards, reports, and worksheets best practices — Event recording available!
In May, we hosted a challenge inviting Community members to share their insights on boards, reports, and worksheets best practices. We received insightful responses from Community members on these UX topics. In the follow-up event from the Challenge, Anaplan's Seb McMillan (@seb_mcmillan) and Russ Goza (@R_Goza), both…
Sample Python code to perform EPB move to production activities
Author: Michael Moore is a Certified Master Anaplanner and Director, Enterprise Planning at HP. Overview of what this article covers: Prepare Begin authentication Complete authentication using code to fetch token Load API client code Move to Production Generate list of PRODUCTION MODELS to update Find the SOURCE MODEL for…
Did you know? Boolean read write
Author: Stacey Gibbens is a Certified Master Anaplanner and Solution Architect, Financial Planning & Analysis at Globe Life. Hello, Anaplan people! Today, I would like to share with you a solution to a model-building question that pops up on Community from time-to-time: controlling the behavior of user-facing Booleans so…
June 2025 Community Member Spotlight: Andrew Tye
Celebrating @andrewtye as our June 2025 Community Member Spotlight! With a decade of experience in the Anaplan ecosystem, Andrew is a Certified Master Anaplanner and Community Boss who has made meaningful contributions to the Community over the years. He’s shared nearly 800 comments and is a familiar presence in forums,…
Relaunch of the Anaplan Center of Excellence (CoE) Program!
We’re excited to share that the customer-centric Anaplan Center of Excellence (CoE) Program is back — with a refreshed experience designed to help you grow, connect, and lead more strategically with Anaplan. Whether you're building your CoE from the ground up or scaling an established team, this opt-in program offers…
Event recording available: Anaplan Data Orchestrator
If you missed our spotlight event today on Anaplan Data Orchestrator, a recording is now available. This session — ideal for architects, model builders, integration developers, and enterprise planning teams — will help you better understand how Data Orchestrator fits into your broader integration and automation strategy.…
Curiosity, Collaboration, and Connected Planning: Inside a 3-Day workshop
Author: Mikhil Agarwal, Certified Master Anaplanner and Delivery Manager at VISEO USA Inc. “They say a strong foundation doesn’t just support growth; it sparks curiosity.” That could not have been more fitting during our Anaplan onboarding workshop in Singapore last year. What began as a technical Level 1 Model Building…
Did You Know: Code for Line Item Subsets
Author: Jonathan Cushing is a Certified Master Anaplanner and Senior Consultant at Vuealta Consulting. The video gives the details of a little-known function in Anaplan whereby you can add codes to line item subsets (LiSS). The video shows: Where to input the LiSS code How it can be used to map a line item subset to a list…
Streamlining your Anaplan models: A guide to effective cleanup
Author: Junqi Xue is a Certified Master Anaplanner and consultant at valantic. Keeping Anaplan models organized and auditable is crucial for efficient operations. Over time, these models tend to grow organically, often resulting in clutter. There are some good articles in the community about cleaning up; I’m going to…
The digital transformation of valuations
Author: Taylor Giesler is a Certified Master Anaplanner and Director, Enterprise Performance Management at Alpha Alternatives. The digital transformation of valuations is driven by several key trends that are reshaping the financial industry. Firms are increasingly adopting digital solutions to solve these problems, and…
May 2025 Community Member Spotlight: Marina Ketelslegers
Meet @Marina Ketelslegers — our May 2025 Community Member Spotlight! As a Certified Master Anaplanner with five years in the Anaplan Community, Marina has shared valuable insights and ideas that have helped other members along the way. Check out her spotlight to learn more about her path, her favorite Anaplan tips and…
When to import alphanumeric data as numbers
Author: Andrew Barnett is a Certified Master Anaplanner and Vice President at PJT Partners. Today, we will be discussing a scenario that we often run into in Anaplan. Numeric data comes in with units of measure, whether explicitly stated or implied in the data. The data might be a currency, like US Dollars or Mexican…
Alternative for the default export chunking
Author: Anya Skvortsova is a Certified Master Anaplanner and CoE Lead at Asana. Problem statement When exporting the data from Anaplan module, Anaplan’s default chunk size is 10MB. The common challenge is that the chunks produced may have the rows split not just into the separate files but also split the row in the middle…