A planning period is the container for one round of headcount planning — for example, your 2026 hiring plan. As the Owner, you create the period, choose the Headcount Planners, set permissions, and then open the request window. This article covers all three creation methods and the setup options.
Where to start
To access it:
- In the sidebar, go to Finance.
- Open Planning & Analysis the workspace formerly called Financial Workspace.
- Select Headcount Planning, then click New period.
How to create your Headcount plan
The wizard walks you through three steps shown as a stepper.
Step 1 — General information
- Period name (required).
- Period start date and Period end date (required, DD/MM/YYYY).
- Request period start date and Request period end date (required, DD/MM/YYYY).
- Toggle: Automatically create backfill positions if the position has an end date (off by default).
- Toggle: Include the manager's cost as part of their team's total cost (off by default). When on, each manager's salary is added to their team's forecasted cost.
Step 2 — Headcount planners
Add the people who will plan headcount for this period. They can later delegate to managers on their team.
Step 3 — Permissions
You (the creator) are pre-set as Owner and can't be removed or downgraded here. Add other people and assign each a level:
- Editor — can edit period details and edit and approve requests.
- Viewer — can see the period, but can't edit or approve.
Click Save to create the period. It's created with the status Scheduled.
Admin permissions overwrite any permissions given in Headcount plan, allowing, automatically giving them Editor permissions
Modifying the request window
A new period is Scheduled but not yet open. To let planners submit, open the period and click Schedule request period. Choose:
- Schedule for later — set a request start and end date/time.
- Launch now — set only the request end date/time; the window opens immediately.
Define when Headcount planners can submit their headcount requests. After the end date, requests can no longer be created or edited.
Once the window opens, each Headcount Planner receives a task notification to start planning.
Deleting a period
From the overflow menu, choose Delete:
- A period with no requests is permanently deleted after confirmation.
- A period with approved or pending requests shows a warning that you'll lose them before you confirm.
- A Closed period can't be deleted — you'll see an inline error.