Handling Month–Year vs Year–Month format issues in Anaplan imports?

Question

In our current setup on a Global Engagement, most regions use a Month–Year format (e.g., Jan-26) for the time range in the forecast upload template. However, the US region follows a Year–Month format (e.g., 26-Jan) in their local Excel files.

This mismatch creates a challenge:

* When US users download the template, it is provided in Month–Year format as per Anaplan configuration.
* Upon opening the file in Excel, the system automatically converts the date format to Year–Month based on their regional settings.
* Users then update and save the file in this converted format.
* During upload, Anaplan fails to map the time range correctly, resulting in errors because it expects the original Month–Year format.

Looking for best practices or solutions to handle such regional date format variations and ensure smooth data uploads.

alexpavel · Answer

@Sourabh1969 : it's always a pain dealing with multiple Excel local settings. Below are some additional options…

One option is to ask users to follow the format Anaplan expects without exception (otherwise, the import into Anaplan will fail) and let them choose how they achieve that format.

Another option is to distribute an Excel template (xlsb) to users with some VBA code that converts the file to the format needed in Anaplan, rather than using the Excel Save As CSV option.

hope it helps,

Alex

jepley · Answer

You have two options I see:

* Create a separate upload action utilizing the additional format— use clear labeling to ensure the correct action is utilized * Pros: Simple set up, no increased load on the system
* Cons: User confusion, uglier interface

* Load the data into a staging area that is text-formatted and then derive the date (checking for either format) before loading or referencing the result into your existing module* Pro: User friendly, decreased opportunity for user error/confusion
* Cons: Longer set up, increased calculation time/model size

If you're not following #2 let me know, happy to give an example.

This is really a design choice on which solution works better based on knowledge of your users, cleanliness of UX vs. cleanliness of model, as well as consideration for how large the files are (huge files loading into text fields is never ideal).

Cheers,

Jake