Workday Adaptive lets Young Life cost center managers view and manage financial information. It offers three main tools: Reports, Sheets, and Dashboards. Young Life Financial Services released five Adaptive reports in August of 2024. On November 5, Financial Services released access to Dashboards and Sheets. Read more on Staff Resources.
This initial opening of Dashboards and Sheets means that we will be in a feedback phase for the next several months as staff use these tools and offer feedback, which will drive ongoing development and improvements. While the tools currently offer additional ways to look at and project financial data, they are not required to use at this time.
Adaptive Sheets — these, Excel-like sheets let cost center managers review financial actuals, monitor the budget, and project financials. This will be the primary tool for financial projections (similar to Cash Flow). Sheets enable cost center managers to add notes and make projections for operating, campership, and foundation accounts, with real-time updates. While Sheets have a different interface and lack some features like split rows, they provide essential forecasting tools and summary account details.
Adaptive Dashboards — View key financial graphs and charts for a cost center, including cash months, contributions, revenue, expenses, and cash balances. The financial dashboard answers questions about cash position, year-to-date performance, and budget comparisons and allows cost center managers to drill down to see more specific details. Today we have a “financial information” dashboard but in the future, we plan to release others based on feedback.
This financial information dashboard will help answer questions like:
- What is our current cash position?
- How many cash months are we projected to have? (based on your inputs from sheets)
- How are we performing in revenue and contributions (year-over-year or other time periods)
- What are our actual expenses versus budget and projections?
- How are we doing in specific areas (e.g., region, area, and by fund)?
How to Get Started
- Access Training: Start with the training resources available on the Adaptive training page on Staff Resources. Bite-sized training materials will guide you step-by-step through Sheets and Dashboards. We will also be offering live, formal training and will list registration links when they are available.
- Dive In: After familiarizing yourself with the materials, log in to Adaptive to explore your financial information.
- Office Hours: Sign up for office hours if you have questions or need support. These weekly small group offerings will be a place where you can get specific questions answered.