Use the Validation Rules form ‌to ensure data integrity by checking for potential errors. Validation Rules let you add, remove, change, and duplicate Validation Rules. They also check that financial statements, such as the Balance Sheet and Net Income, are correct and balanced.

Anaplan Financial Consolidation's validation process checks your data to make sure it's correct. This stops possible mistakes. Examples include rules to verify that your Balance Sheet balances and Net Income have been transferred to the Current Earnings account on the Balance Sheet.

The Validation Rules form allows you to add, delete, edit, and duplicate Validation Rules.

Note: Each Validation Rule needs a special validation control account. You need to create this account before you can create the rule. These accounts need to be assigned to the Validations parent member.

Access the form

To access the form:

  1. Select the Maintain module.
  2. Select Consolidation, if prompted for a Rule Set.
  3. Select Validation Rules in the Validation section to open the form.
  4. A list of the current Validation Rules is displayed.

Using the form

Validation Rule headers

The Validation Rule form opens with all the validation rule headers in view. 

These columns for headers are available:

ColumnValue
Validation

Specify a name for the Validation. 

It's best practice to name it the same as the Validation Account created in the Accounts dimension.

Model

Select the model that the Validation rule will apply to.

If no Model is specified, the default Consolidation model in your system will be used.

Entity

Select the Entity the validation rule is applied against. 

  • If no Entity is selected, the validation rule applies to all members of the Entity dimension. 
  • The default is to leave this field blank.
Validation Type

Select from one of these options:

  • Equal to Zero
  • Different from Zero
  • Negative
  • Positive
  • Equal to Amount
  • More Than Amount
  • Less Than Amount.

The default is Equal to Zero as usually two amounts are compared and the difference between these amounts should be zero. 

For example, the validation rule Assets = Liabilities + Shareholders's Equity is usually setup as a mathematical formula CTL_Asset_Liab  = Assets – Liabilities + Shareholders's Equity.

Enforce

This field is used to indicate if a validation rule should be enforced or not. 

  • Rules that are enforced are known as Hard Validations. These rules usually prevent the user from performing actions such as data saving or data submission.
  • Rules that aren't enforced are known as Soft Validations. These rules display a warning message without blocking certain actions.

This field can be used in a Workflow process to stop the user from moving forward if a set of rules aren't met.

Tolerance

Enter a dollar value for Tolerance. The Validation Rule may still pass if the data falls within the tolerance level. 

The Validation Rule will fail if the data doesn't fall within the tolerance level.

Validation AccountSelect the control Validation Account created within the Account hierarchy.
Compare to Amount

Use this field when you need to test if the validation on Accounts. 

For example, if you have multiple accounts where you enter a percentage. You want to compare the sum of those accounts to be more than 100%. 

For most Validation Rules, this field is left blank.

Compare to AccountThis field isn't currently in use but has been added for future reference. For most validation rules, this field is left blank.
Compare to MovementThis field isn't currently in use but has been added for future reference. For most validation rules, this field is left blank.
Available Period

Select either:

  • All_: If selected, the validation runs for all periods within the model. 
  • QuarterOnly. If selected, the validation runs only for all quarters within the model.

You can add periods to the Available Periods Form and define them within the Rules Configuration – Available Periods Detail form. 

Other DimensionYou can filter to dedicated Other Dimensions members such as Total_GL.
Input Name

This is the name of the input form to fix the validation if the validation doesn't pass.

For example, for the Assets=Liabilities and Equity validation, you can fix ‌errors within the Balance Sheet Input report.

This feature is scheduled for a future release.

Start DateSpecify the Date when the rule should start being applied. 
End DateThis field isn't currently in use but has been added for future reference.

Validation Rule Details

When you select a Validation Rule, the Details pane opens at the bottom of the screen displaying the details of the selected rule.  

These columns for the rule details are available:

ColumnValue
SignSelect '-' or '+' sign for the row. This subtracts or adds the accounts' data.
AccountSelect the appropriate member from the Account dimension.
MovementSelect the Movement member to run the validation. For example, Closing.
Intercompany

Select the Intercompany member to filter the validation. 

For example, select Total_Group to run the validation for this member. If a consolidated member is selected, the Validation Rule also runs for the member's children.

Periodic

Select either:

  • True: If selected, the validation will validate on Monthly Activity.
  • False. If selected, the validation will use the Year-to-Date values.