Keeping old and new data when needing approval/decline

jcotten

We use Smartsheet for forecasting budgets per team. Each team has its own sheet with each line item that rolls up to sheets, reports, and a dashboard (with graphs and metrics).  The columns represent both forecast and actual money spent per month (two separate columns per month).  When a product owner adds a forecast amount for a particular item in a particular month, we have an approval set for the budget owner to approve the expected spend.  We have a report that shows "Submitted but Not Approved" so that he can get further input and approvals from his superiors.  However, if someone up the line declines the forecast for a particular month, then is it possible to revert back to the original number that was in the changed cell?  Is it possible for the budget owner to see the original number and the new number entered into the cell before making the approval?  I'm a bit stuck on this at the moment and would appreciate any help/suggestions.  

Andrée Starå

Hi,

I have a few ideas about how to structure a solution.

Would it work to have the different months one by one and then have the current budget and proposed budget or something similar?

Can you describe your process in more detail and maybe share the sheet(s) or some screenshots? That would make it easier to help. (share too, andree@getdone.se)

Have a fantastic day!

Best,

Andrée Starå

Workflow Consultant @ Get Done Consulting

Paul Newcome

Unfortunately you cannot have manual entry AND automation within the same cell without something getting overwritten. The only way to pull old data is to manually enter it after checking the cell history.

jcotten

Thank you Paul.  That's what I was figuring.  Leadership wants to see old data next to newly proposed data side-by-side in a report.  That's what I'm struggling with now, especially since the old data will be overwritten.  I have the cell linked with other roll-up sheets and reports, so I'd rather not change that, if possible.  

jcotten

Thanks so much Andrée!  I appreciate your willingness to help, but I think Paul said it right below.

Paul Newcome

Happy to help, although I do think Andree is on to something there. If you were to have two separate columns [Original Amount] and [New Proposed Amount], you would be able to display both for each month. Depending on your set-up and needs, this could get a little clunky if there are multiple proposals and you need to display all of them. However, If you are simply displaying the original and the most recent proposal (or something to that effect) it may just work for what you need...

Andrée Starå

I'm always happy to help!

Let me know if you want to research and test my suggestion!

Best,

Andrée