# Annual Planning Checklist

Agentnoon is designed to be intuitive — most users complete these steps in their first session.

This checklist walks through the key phases of fiscal year workforce planning.

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## Pre-Planning

Lay the groundwork for annual planning.

1. Review current fiscal year performance: actual headcount vs. plan, costs vs. budget, hiring velocity, and attrition rates
2. Document lessons learned from the current year
3. Get strategic direction from leadership: revenue targets, headcount targets, budget constraints, and strategic priorities
4. Align with Finance on planning assumptions (merit increase budgets, benefits rates, cost per employee targets)
5. Request bottom-up plans from all department leaders covering hiring needs, organizational changes, and capability gaps

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## Scenario Development

Build the comprehensive annual plan.

1. Create a scenario named "FY\[Year] Plan" using Full Org
2. Add a detailed description covering planning assumptions, strategic priorities, and headcount/budget targets
3. Work through each department — add positions with hire dates distributed across quarters, salaries from rate cards, and manager assignments
4. Model compensation increases: apply merit increases with effective dates and update titles/salaries for promotions
5. Model expected attrition using historical rates and add backfill positions where needed
6. Create scenario variants to show options:
   * **Conservative:** Reduce hires by 15-20%, focus on critical roles
   * **Moderate:** Balanced baseline plan
   * **Aggressive:** Increase hires by 15-20%, include growth bets

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## Analysis & Approval

Refine the plan and get executive sign-off.

1. Switch to Forecast view (Yearly, 3-5 years forward) and review headcount ramp and cost trajectory by department
2. Open the OpEx Panel to compare total cost against budget targets — adjust hires if over or under budget
3. Share scenarios with department leaders and Finance for validation
4. Prepare executive presentation materials with forecast visuals and a scenario comparison (Conservative vs. Moderate vs. Aggressive)
5. Present to CFO/Finance and CEO/Executive Team
6. Submit the final scenario for formal approval via the OpEx Panel
7. Once approved, communicate the plan to department leaders, recruiting, and Finance

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## Monitoring

Track progress throughout the fiscal year.

1. Refresh Main Org data each quarter and compare actual headcount and spend vs. plan
2. Create quarterly forecast update scenarios to adjust for delayed hires, unplanned attrition, or new positions
3. Export updated forecast data and report plan vs. actuals with variance explanations to leadership
4. If significantly off plan at mid-year, create a mid-year reforecast scenario and resubmit for approval

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## Additional Resources

* [Multi-Year Planning](/forecast/multi-year-planning.md)
* [Building Headcount Forecasts](/forecast/building-headcount-forecasts.md)
* [Scenario Comparisons](/scenarios/comparisons.md)
* [Workforce Planner Checklist](/reference-guides/quick-start-checklist/workforce-planner-checklist.md)
* [Quarterly Planning Checklist](/reference-guides/quick-start-checklist/quarterly-planning-checklist.md)


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