Planning Mode
Before generating complex Excel models, Viete can create a detailed plan outlining structure, formulas, and approach. Review and refine the plan before implementation to ensure the final model meets your exact requirements.
Why Planning Mode?
For complex or high-stakes Excel models, jumping straight to generation can sometimes miss nuances. Planning Mode helps by:
- Clarifying requirements before implementation
- Identifying potential issues early
- Allowing stakeholder review of approach
- Iterating on structure before building
- Ensuring alignment on complex calculations
- Documenting the intended design
How It Works
Planning Process
1. Describe Your Model
Provide the same natural language description you would for direct generation, but enable Planning Mode.
2. Viete Creates Plan
AI generates a detailed plan outlining sheets, structure, formulas, calculations, data organization, and implementation approach.
3. Review & Refine
Review the plan, suggest changes, ask questions, or request modifications to the approach.
4. Iterate on Plan
Viete refines the plan based on feedback until it perfectly matches your needs.
5. Approve & Generate
Once satisfied, approve the plan. Viete then implements exactly what was planned, resulting in a model that meets your specifications.
What's Included in a Plan
Plans are comprehensive and detailed:
Structure
- • Sheet names and purposes
- • Column headers and data types
- • Section organization
- • Data flow between sheets
Calculations
- • Formula descriptions
- • Calculation methodology
- • Reference relationships
- • Aggregation approaches
Data Organization
- • Input data sections
- • Calculation areas
- • Output/summary regions
- • Lookup tables and references
Visualizations
- • Chart types and purposes
- • Dashboard layouts
- • Formatting approach
- • Key metrics highlights
When to Use Planning Mode
Complex Financial Models
Multi-year forecasts, detailed P&L models, budget planning—review the calculation approach before building.
Executive Dashboards
High-visibility reports need perfect structure. Planning ensures the layout and calculations align with expectations.
Custom Client Requirements
When clients have specific requirements or preferences, review the plan with them before building to ensure alignment.
Learning and Understanding
Use Planning Mode to understand how Viete will approach a problem, learning best practices for Excel modeling.
Benefits
- Catch misunderstandings before implementation
- Iterate on approach without rebuilding
- Document intended design for future reference
- Get stakeholder buy-in on complex models
- Learn Excel modeling best practices
- Ensure nothing important is missed