Breaking It Down- New Budgets in Forecaster

I have to admit, there are a few questions that make me cringe.  They include--

1. Why does the reports.dic have to be rebuilt so often?
2. Do commissions post to payables or payroll?
3. How do I set up a new budget year in Forecaster?

#3 is a popular one, and it makes me cringe only because there is not a simple answer.  So often (I am guilty of it too), the term "input set" is presumed to be the same as "budget".  But the fact is, an input set is only one piece of the budget puzzle. So here I thought I would break it down in to some basic steps.

1. You need new periods to store the new budget numbers (Tools>>Wizards>>Period Wizard)
2. You need a new column set to point to the new periods (Build>>Columns)
3. You need a new input set to use the new column set (Setup>>Budgets>>Input Set (Copy button)

Now, the thing is, it can expand from there.  Let's say you use the Human Resources functions in Forecaster, or Revenue.  You can use Tools>>Wizards>>Copy Plan to copy these items from a prior input set.  You can also use this same function to copy your actuals from another input set in to your new input set (or use Tools>>Import>>Expresslink to pull the numbers from GP in to the new budget).

A WORD OF WARNING- It is imperative that you only create new periods (via Tools>>Wizards>>Period Wizard or Setup>>Segments>>Periods) when there are no other users in Forecaster.  Failing to ensure that you are the ONLY user in Forecaster when you complete this process can corrupt your database and be costly to resolve if you don't have a backup.  For this reason, I always suggest making a backup before engaging in the steps above.