Headcount Planner FAQ
Answers to common setup and operating questions about Headcount Planner.
For what the app is and how to set it up from scratch, see the
Headcount Planner Overview.
Setup
Do I have to turn on features before they appear?
Yes. Every optional feature — AI Forecasting, Market Intelligence, Advanced Analytics, Executive Reporting, and each integration toggle — defaults to off. Open Settings > General Settings in the app and enable the ones you need. The AI & Intelligence tab and Market Intelligence navigation item will not appear until their toggles are on. The Headcount Agent toggle is a separate switch on the same page, under AI Agent.
Who can access Headcount Planner and what can each role do?
Because the app exposes salary bands and compensation budgets, it is restricted to Manager, Admin, Super Admin, or a designated app admin. Regular employees cannot access it. Within that group, managers can create and manage forecasts, scenarios, budgets, and positions, but only in departments they manage. Admins and app admins can manage records across all departments and can also access the Admin tab for app-wide settings and AI model configuration.
Do I need Job Board enabled for the recruiting handoff?
The one-click requisition button creates a Job Board posting directly, so Job Board must be enabled for your business. If it is not enabled, the position can still be approved and tracked inside Headcount Planner, but the Create Requisition action will fail.
Permissions and access
Can managers edit positions outside their own department?
No. A manager can only create, edit, approve, reject, or delete positions in departments where they are the named department manager. Admins and app admins can modify positions in any department.
Why don’t I see the AI & Intelligence tab?
The tab appears only when at least one AI-related toggle is enabled and produces a visible action for your role. Go to Settings > General Settings and enable AI Forecasting, Market Intelligence, or both. If the toggles are on but the tab is still missing, confirm that you have Manager or above access.
Day-to-day
How does a forecast go from draft to active?
A forecast must be validated before it can be activated. Validate it first (this records who validated it and when), then activate it. Activation also deactivates any other active forecast — only one forecast can be active at a time.
What happens to other active forecasts when I activate a new one?
They are returned to draft status. The platform enforces one active forecast at a time per business, so activating a new plan automatically deactivates the previous one.
How do I create a Job Board requisition from an approved position?
Open the position and click Create Requisition. The position must be in Approved status and must not already have a linked requisition. The new Job Board posting carries over the title, salary range, employment type, skills, and hiring manager. After the requisition is created, use Start Hiring to advance the position to In Progress, and Mark Filled once someone is hired.
Does hiring status sync back from Job Board automatically?
No. The current integration is a one-way, manual flow. When recruiting progresses in Job Board, you need to come back to Headcount Planner and advance the position status yourself using Start Hiring and Mark Filled. Automatic sync from Job Board is not yet available.
How are department budgets calculated?
The total budget for a department entry is: (planned headcount × budget per position) + (recruiting cost per hire × planned headcount) + (onboarding cost per hire × planned headcount). Recruiting and onboarding costs are optional. Totals roll up from budgets to the scenario and from the selected scenario to the forecast.
How do I compare scenarios side by side?
Open the forecast and navigate to its scenarios. The forecast detail page shows a radar chart comparing all scenarios on budget, timeline, risk level, confidence, and ROI. Each forecast can hold up to six scenario types — Conservative, Optimistic, Aggressive, Baseline, Cost Optimization, and Market Expansion — and you can select one as the primary plan.
How do I load sample data to explore the app?
Open Settings > Data Management and use the Load Sample Data card at the bottom of the page. Sample records are tagged and can be removed later without affecting your real data. You can also load industry-specific forecast templates from the same page by choosing an industry (General Business, Healthcare, Technology, Retail, Manufacturing, Education, or Finance).
When something looks wrong
Why can’t I delete this forecast?
A forecast can only be deleted when it is in Draft or Archived status. Active and completed forecasts must be archived first. Open the forecast, archive it, then delete it.
I approved a position but it still shows “Planned” — what happened?
Check whether you have write access to that department. If you are a manager and the position belongs to a different department, your approval action is blocked even though the page may have been reachable. Only managers of the position’s own department, admins, and app admins can approve positions.
Why am I not getting notifications about overdue milestones?
The daily notification sweep sends alerts for overdue and upcoming milestones (due within 14 days), over-budget departments, and at-risk forecasts. Check three things: (1) Headcount Planner must be enabled for your business; (2) you must be the milestone’s owner or the forecast’s creator; (3) your notification preferences for the Headcount Planner category must allow in-app or email delivery. Overdue-milestone alerts repeat at most once per week and stop after 90 days past due.
I exported salary data and was asked to verify my identity — is that expected?
Yes, if your admin has turned on the Require identity verification before exporting salary & budget data toggle in Settings. This step-up verification applies to forecast, budget, grid, and allocation exports. Every export is also logged in the sensitive-data audit trail.
Licensing and limits
Does Headcount Planner require a licence?
Yes. The app requires a licence and is disabled by default. An administrator enables it per tenant from the Apps Marketplace.
What is the planning horizon for a single forecast?
Each forecast covers one fiscal year. For multi-year planning, create separate annual or quarterly forecasts and compare them in the analytics dashboard. Quarterly forecasts require a quarter number (1–4).
Are there limits I should know about?
- Forecast name: 255 characters.
- Estimated time to fill: 1–364 days per department budget entry (default is 30 days).
- Revenue growth assumption: between –100% and 500% per scenario.
- Budget constraint factor: between 0 and 5 per scenario.
- AI difficulty score: 0–100 per position.
- Over-budget threshold: a department budget is flagged when allocated spend exceeds the plan by more than 5%.
- Position urgency: a position is flagged urgent when its requisition target date is within 14 days.
- Market intelligence CSV import: maximum 10 MB per file, .csv format only.
- One active forecast at a time per business.
More help
- Headcount Planner Overview
- Ask AI — the assistant answers Headcount Planner questions from these articles.