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Administrator Guide
Last Updated: 2023-06-23
Concept: Hierarchies in Plans and Budgets

Concept: Hierarchies in Plans and Budgets

You can use hierarchical relationships to link your plans and budgets. Workday provides 2 unique hierarchy types, true parent-child and virtual parent-child. With these plan hierarchies:
  • Your organizations can create separate plan structures.
  • You can generate structures at different levels of detail.
In Workday, the plan structure is the linking mechanism for these relationships.

True and Virtual Hierarchy Comparison

This table compares true and virtual plan hierarchies:
True Hierarchy
Virtual Hierarchy
Purpose
Defines a top-down process for plan entry. The parent plan structure defines the summary details and the plan amount, which are passed down to its child plan structure.
Enables you to link an unlimited number of plan structures to:
  • Create aggregated reports.
  • Establish budgetary control at a more summarized level than your plan entry.
Hierarchy Levels
  • Unlimited number of hierarchy levels.
  • Parent-child relationship is a 1-to-1 relationship.
  • 2 hierarchy levels.
  • Parent can have many children, and child can have many parents.
  • Plans or budgets used in a true hierarchy can also be a virtual child.
Plan Types
Financial
Parent must be Financial. Children can be Financial or Position.
Structured Dimensions
  • Child must have all structured dimensions of the parent.
  • Child can have more structured dimensions than the parent.
  • Must be required.
  • Parent can have any structured dimension as long as it exists on at least 1 child.
  • Child can have more structured dimensions than the parent.
  • Can be optional, but if they're required on the parent, they must be required on all children.
Dimension Members
Child must be a subset or the same as the parent.
Child must be a subset or the same as the parent.
Time Periods
Child must be a subset or the same as the parent so it can roll up into the parent time periods.
  • Child must be a subset or the same as the parent so it can roll up into the parent time periods.
  • Child must contain at least 1 time period defined in the parent.
Amounts
  • Child must be equal to or less than the parent.
  • Amendments on the child cascade up to the parent.
  • Parent has no amounts of its own because virtual parents are summarized totals of their children.
  • Cannot be entered or changed directly in the parent.