Author: Audrey Neet is a Certified Master Anaplanner and Director at Tru Consulting.
Anaplan XL (AXL) is one of the many products Anaplan offers. It extends how users can interact with Anaplan data beyond the UX, providing additional flexibility for targeted analysis and reporting. With AXL, users can design reports and conduct analysis within Excel while maintaining connection to governed Anaplan data.
For organizations looking to incorporate AXL, it’s critical to have a cohesive strategy on when and how it will be used. This article reviews key considerations when deciding if a function is better served within the Anaplan UX or AXL.
What Is Anaplan XL?
Anaplan XL is an Excel add-in that allows users to connect Excel grids directly to Anaplan modules. Depending on the edition, it can also support connections to additional data sources.
Key capabilities include:
- Pull and refresh data from Anaplan modules
- Optional write back to Anaplan (when appropriate and enabled)
- Apply Excel-based calculations and formatting on top of connected Anaplan data
- Leverage Anaplan’s underlying access controls (model roles & permissions)
- AXL is supported on the installed Windows version of Excel
AXL inherits Anaplan security at the data level, but file distribution and usage are managed outside of the platform. As a result, governance considerations — such as auditability, consistency, and version control — should be factored into how AXL is used.
For more information on AXL and its capabilities, please see here.
Key considerations for when to use Anaplan XL
Anaplan XL is not intended to replace the Anaplan UX — rather, it complements it. The most effective deployments are intentional about where each experience is best suited.
Consider the factors below when introducing AXL:
- Users
The first question to ask when implementing AXL is who the intended users are.
AXL is generally most effective when used by a focused group of power users or analysts who are closely aligned to the model and comfortable working without a guided experience. These users often require flexibility to explore data, perform one-off analysis, or iterate quickly outside of standardized planning process.
It is also well-suited for small, centralized teams responsible for producing highly formatted outputs — such as executive or board-level reporting — where the focus is on curated, summarized data rather than transactional inputs or broad collaboration.
While AXL can be extended beyond these groups, scaling usage across large or highly distributed teams introduces additional considerations around file management, version control, concurrency, and support. For those scenarios, the Anaplan UX typically provides a more scalable, governed, and consistent experience.
It’s not only important to answer this question to define your strategy, but also to properly estimate the resources needed. While AXL is intuitive, training/support will be needed for AXL users. Luckily, Anaplan offers a comprehensive course that can be taken on-demand at Anaplan Academy to assist with training. - Priority
One place AXL works particularly well is for lower priority or complementary use cases that already have a well-structured model in Excel, especially if that use case is primarily owned by a small group of users.
For example, a financial planning model could require a top-down allocation that the central team is responsible for maintaining outside the platform. It would be ideal to have that calculation built in Anaplan, but it could be out of scope for this initial release if it isn’t considered part of the minimum viable product. This would be a perfect use case for AXL, as the central team could build an Anaplan connection within the allocation workbook. The connection would allow them to load the result of their Excel model directly to Anaplan with the click of a button, easily incorporating it into the final budget.
However, for critical planning processes, especially those requiring auditability, transparency, or distributed ownership, the Anaplan UX is typically the better fit. The UX ensures that inputs are captured directly in the model, with full history, validation, and governance. - Frequency of use
AXL is well-suited for ad-hoc analysis, one-off requests, or reports and data loads that are done less frequently. These are typically scenarios where flexibility and speed are more important than standardization.
A report and processes that is used regularly or relied on across many users or teams, the Anaplan UX is generally the better choice. It provides a centralized guided experience, reduced dependency on individual files, and supports consistent adoption across users.
Relying only on AXL to generate frequently needed functionality introduces risk and reduces the power of cross-team collaboration. AXL is better suited for ad-hoc reports that users can create on the fly rather than standard reporting functionality that should be incorporated into the model. - Frequency of changes
Reports with fluid logic or frequent calculation changes might be best done with AXL. Anaplan thrives on consistent logic that is somewhat stable and can be coded into the underlying module. With AXL, users can quickly make changes and update reports that they generate to better suit their needs.
This makes it a strong fit for exploratory or evolving use cases.
When those changes become standardized or broadly consumed, it is typically more effective to incorporate the logic into the Anaplan model and surface it through the UX to ensure consistency and scalability. - Writeback considerations
AXL supports writing data back to Anaplan, which can be valuable in specific scenarios — particularly for small teams, controlled inputs, or one-off adjustments.
However, writeback should be used thoughtfully. For highly distributed teams, high-concurrency environments, or processes that require a clear audit trail and structured input controls, the Anaplan UX is typically the more appropriate solution.
The UX provides:
- Centralized and governed data entry
- Built-in auditability and history
- Validation and workflow controls
- Better support for concurrent users
AXL writeback can complement these processes, but is best considered as a focused solution rather than the primary mechanism for large-scale planning inputs.
Conclusion
AXL is a powerful tool that enhances Anaplan’s core functionality and allows for direct connectivity between Excel and Anaplan. When implementing AXL, it’s important to design a strategy that considers who will be using AXL, what it will be used for, and the frequency with which it will be used. When used strategically, it supports specific use cases — such as ad-hoc analysis and curated reporting — without introducing unnecessary complexity into core planning processes.
The most effective approach is to position AXL alongside the UX — using each where it adds the most value. By aligning usage to the right users, use cases, and scale, organizations can maintain a strong, governed planning foundation while still enabling flexibility where it’s needed.
