TBM Allocation, Rules & Mappings — FAQs and troubleshooting

Use this page for questions and troubleshooting related to the TBM cost flow, allocation rules, mappings, cost pools, towers, assets, solutions, consumers, and the end-to-end spend distribution process in Yarken Designer.

TBM cost flow — overview

Q: What is the TBM cost flow in Yarken?

A: The TBM (Technology Business Management) cost flow is the structured allocation path that distributes raw financial spend from general ledger transactions to business-meaningful categories. Yarken implements this as a six-layer flow:

Expenses → Cost Pools → Towers → Assets → Solutions → Consumers

Q: Is the cost flow model-specific?

A: Yes. Rules and mappings are model-specific. Each model (Spend, Budget, Forecast, or custom) maintains its own set of allocation rules.

Expenses

Q: What happens at the Expenses layer?

A: The Expenses layer is the entry point for all financial data. Once loaded, expenses are available for allocation through Cost Pool rules. Expenses that are not matched by any Cost Pool rule remain unallocated and do not flow downstream.

Q: What happens when I reload expenses for a month that already has data?

A: When expenses are reloaded via file upload for a month that already contains data:

• The existing spend for that file is deleted and replaced with the new data

• Multiple records with the same Journal ID are allowed — Journal ID alone is not treated as a duplicate restriction

• If Entity is not specified, Yarken applies the Default entity

• Existing allocation rules remain intact and are re-applied to the new data

Q: Can I edit individual expense records after upload?

A: Yes. Individual expense records can be edited directly in the Expenses screen.

Editing an expense may affect downstream allocation if the changed field (Account Code, Cost Center, Vendor, Amount) is referenced in allocation rules.

Cost Pools

Q: What are Cost Pools?

A: Cost Pools are the first allocation layer in the TBM cost flow. They group expenses by their functional nature — categorizing what the money was spent on rather than who spent it.

Q: Can I copy Cost Pool rules from one model or period to another?

A: Yes. Yarken supports copying rules across models and periods.

Towers

Q: What are Towers?

A: Towers are the second allocation layer. They represent technology service categories that consume Cost Pool spend. Towers answer the question: "What technology services are we funding?"

Q: Can Tower rules reference the same criteria as Cost Pool rules?

A: Yes. Tower rules can reference Cost Center, Account Code, and Vendor Code — the same fields used in Cost Pool rules. The key difference is that Tower rules also reference the Cost Pool and Sub Cost Pool as source criteria, since they operate on spend that has already been allocated to Cost Pools.

Assets

Q: What are Assets in the TBM cost flow?

A: Assets represent the specific technology components that deliver services. They are the third allocation layer, receiving spend from Towers. Assets answer the question: "What specific technologies are we spending on?"

Yarken organizes assets into three primary (top-level) categories:

Q: Can top-level assets (Applications, Products, Services) be allocated to each other?

A: No. The top-level asset categories — Applications, Products, and Services — cannot be allocated to one another or to any lower-level assets. These serve as final aggregation points in the asset hierarchy. Spend flows into them from Towers and lower-level assets, then forward to Solutions and Consumers.

Q: What is the difference between asset rules and asset mappings?

A: Asset rules and asset mappings serve different purposes:

Both are needed for complete asset-level cost visibility. Rules bring spend into assets from Towers; mappings distribute spend between assets within the asset hierarchy.

Q: What is unallocated asset spend?

A: Unallocated asset spend occurs when Tower spend has been allocated to assets, but those assets have not been mapped forward to Solutions. This spend:

• Is visible in the Towers screen in the Unallocated section

• Does not flow to Solutions or Consumers

• Does not appear in Solution-level or Consumer-level dashboards

To resolve, create asset-to-solution mappings for all assets that receive Tower spend.

Solutions

Q: What are Solutions?

A: Solutions represent business services composed of one or more assets. They are the fourth allocation layer, receiving spend from Assets. Solutions answer the question: "What business services are we delivering?"

Each Solution contains one or more Solution Offerings — the specific service components that make up the solution.

Solution Offerings are defined in Master Data and must exist before asset-to-solution mappings can be created.

Q: How do Solution rules and mappings work?

A: Solution rules and mappings define how asset spend flows to Solutions:

Consumers

Q: What are Consumers?

A: Consumers are the final allocation layer. They represent the business units, departments, or external entities that consume IT solutions. Consumers answer the question: "Who is paying for or consuming these services?"

Consumer records are defined in Master Data with mandatory fields: Consumer ID and Consumer Name.

Rules and mappings — general concepts

Q: What is the difference between rules and mappings across all layers?

A: This distinction applies consistently across Cost Pools, Towers, Assets, Solutions, and Consumers:

Key principle: When more than one rule or mapping could apply to the same criteria, precedence is determined by creation time: the item created first takes precedence.

Q: How does rule priority work?

A: Rules are evaluated in ascending priority order — the rule with the lowest priority number is evaluated first.

Q: Can I use percentage-based allocation in rules?

A: Yes. Every rule includes a Portion (%) field that controls how much of the matching spend is allocated:

This enables split allocation — for example, allocating 60% of a Cost Center's spend to the Compute Tower and 40% to the Storage Tower using two rules with different portions.

Q: Can I copy rules across models or periods?

A: Yes. Yarken supports copying rules from one model/period to another.

Q: What happens when I upload a mapping file where manual rules already exist?

A: Precedence is determined by creation time — whichever item was created first takes precedence. If you upload a mapping file that covers the same criteria as existing rules, and those rules were created first, the rules continue to apply.

The uploaded mappings apply only to spend not already matched by the earlier-created rules. No existing rules are deleted or overwritten. If the mappings are created first and rules are added later, the mappings take precedence for the overlapping criteria.

Q: Can I disable a rule without deleting it?
A: Yes. All rule types (Cost Pool, Tower, Solution, and Asset rules) support an enabled/disabled toggle. Disabling a rule:

• Skips the rule during data reloads and allocation processing

• Keeps the rule saved and visible in the rules list

• Does not affect previously processed or allocated data

• Preserves the rule's priority, criteria, and all configuration

This is useful when you want to temporarily exclude a rule from processing without losing its configuration — for example, during testing or seasonal adjustments.

Q: What happens to the enabled/disabled status when I export or import rules?
A: The enabled/disabled status is fully preserved during export and import:

• Exported CSV files include a Rule Enabled column (Yes or No)

• When importing, the system reads the Rule Enabled column and restores each rule's status

• If the imported file does not contain the Rule Enabled column (older exports), all rules default to enabled

The same applies to copy and duplicate operations — the rule's status carries over.

Q: If I disable a Cost Pool rule, does that affect Tower, Asset, and Solution allocations downstream?
A: Yes, indirectly. When you disable a Cost Pool rule:

• The matching expenses are no longer allocated to the Cost Pool

• Since that spend doesn't flow into the Cost Pool, it also doesn't flow downstream to Towers, Assets, Solutions, or Consumers

• The downstream rules themselves remain unchanged — they simply receive less (or no) spend to allocate

To verify the impact, check the Unallocated section at each downstream layer after disabling a rule.

Auto-created rules from Budget and Forecast uploads

Q: What are auto-created rules and when do they appear?

A: When uploading Budget or Forecast expense files that contain mapped values for Cost Pool + Sub Cost Pool or Tower + Sub Tower, Yarken automatically generates the corresponding allocation rules:

Key behaviors:

• Entries with the same Cost Pool and Sub Cost Pool are aggregated during processing

• Auto-created rules cannot be edited or deleted manually from the rule screens

• To update auto-created rules, update or reload the related Budget or Forecast entries

• Auto-created rules are visually distinguished from manual rules in the UI

This automation ensures Budget and Forecast models maintain allocation consistency with the uploaded planning data.

Q: Can I override auto-created rules with manual rules?

A: No. Auto-created rules from Budget/Forecast uploads are managed by the system and cannot be manually edited, deleted, or overridden through the rule screens. To change the allocation, update the source Budget or Forecast data and re-upload. The system regenerates the rules based on the updated data.

Allocation workflow and best practices

Q: What is the recommended end-to-end allocation workflow?

A: Follow this sequence for complete cost allocation:

Complete each layer before moving to the next. Unallocated spend at any layer blocks downstream visibility.

Q: How do I identify and resolve allocation gaps?

A: Each layer in the cost flow provides visibility into unallocated spend:

1. Navigate to the relevant layer (Cost Pools, Towers, Assets, Solutions, Consumers)

2. Check the Unallocated section — this shows spend that did not match any rule or mapping

3. Analyze the unallocated records to identify patterns:

   • Are specific Account Codes missing from rules?

   • Are new Cost Centers not covered?

   • Are new Vendors not mapped?

4. Create new rules or update existing rules to address the gaps

5. After creating rules, verify the unallocated amount decreases

Best practice: Review unallocated spend at every layer after each monthly data load. See Yarken Designer.

Q: What happens to downstream allocations when I change a rule at an upstream layer?

A: Changes to upstream rules cascade through the cost flow:

After modifying upstream rules, review downstream layers to verify the allocation is still correct. A cube refresh may be needed for changes to appear in dashboards and Analytics.

Q: Can I view the complete allocation trail for a specific expense?

A: Yes. Yarken provides drill-down capabilities in Analytics and Cost Explorer that allow you to trace spend from Consumer back through Solutions, Assets, Towers, and Cost Pools to the original expense. This end-to-end traceability is a core TBM principle and helps stakeholders understand exactly how costs are distributed.

Troubleshooting TBM allocation, rules & mappings

Unallocated spend not decreasing after creating new rules

Cause: The new rule may not match the unallocated expenses due to incorrect criteria, priority conflicts, or the rule targeting a different model or period.

Resolution:

1. Verify the rule is created in the correct Model (Spend, Budget, Forecast, or custom)

2. Verify the rule is created for the correct Year and Month

3. Check the rule's matching criteria — ensure Account Code, Cost Center, and Vendor values match the unallocated expenses exactly

4. Review rule priority — a higher-priority rule may be capturing the spend first with a different allocation

5. Check if the unallocated expenses have blank or unexpected values in the matching fields

6. Try creating a broader "catch-all" rule with lower priority to capture remaining unallocated spend

Rules executing in wrong priority order

Cause: Priority numbers may be assigned incorrectly, or multiple rules have the same priority number.

Resolution:

1. Navigate to the rules list and review the Priority column

2. Ensure priority numbers are unique and in the correct ascending order (lowest number = highest priority)

3. If two rules have the same priority, the execution order is unpredictable — assign distinct priorities

4. After correcting priorities, verify the allocation results

Cost Pool or Tower mapping upload appears to delete existing rules

Cause: This is a misunderstanding of the precedence behavior. Uploaded mappings do not delete existing manual rules. However, if the mapping file covers the same criteria and the existing rules were created first, those rules take precedence and the mappings appear to have no effect — which can be mistaken for deletion.

Resolution:

1. Verify that manual rules still exist in the RULES tab — they should be intact

2. Check the MAPPINGS tab to confirm the uploaded mappings are present

3. Understand that whichever item was created first takes precedence — if the rules were created before the mappings, the rules apply first for overlapping criteria

4. If you intended the mappings to replace the rules, delete the manual rules first, then re-upload the mappings

Asset spend not flowing to Solution Offerings

Cause: Asset-to-Solution mappings are missing, or the asset has spend allocated from Towers but no forward mapping to Solutions.

Resolution:

1. Navigate to Admin → Yarken Designer → Solutions

2. Check if mappings exist for the assets that have Tower spend allocated

3. If mappings are missing, create them:

   • Select the asset

   • Map it to the appropriate Solution Offering(s)

   • Assign percentage portions (total should equal 100%)

4. After creating mappings, verify that Solution Offering spend appears in dashboards

5. A cube refresh may be needed for changes to appear in Analytics

Auto-created rules from Budget/Forecast upload cannot be edited

Cause: This is expected behavior. Auto-created rules from Budget and Forecast uploads are system-managed and cannot be manually edited or deleted.

Resolution:

1. To change the allocation, update the source Budget or Forecast data

2. Re-upload the corrected Budget or Forecast file

3. The system regenerates the auto-created rules based on the updated data

4. Verify the updated rules in the RULES tab

Allocation percentages not adding up to 100% — rounding errors

Cause: When splitting spend across multiple targets using percentage-based allocation, rounding can cause small discrepancies (e.g., 33.33% + 33.33% + 33.33% = 99.99%).

Resolution:

1. Review the allocation portions for the affected rules or mappings

2. Adjust one portion to compensate for rounding (e.g., 33.34% + 33.33% + 33.33% = 100%)

3. Yarken handles minor rounding differences internally, but significant gaps (e.g., portions totaling 90%) will result in unallocated spend

4. After adjusting, verify the unallocated amount at the affected layer

Dashboards not reflecting allocation changes after rule updates

Cause: Allocation changes require a cube refresh to propagate to dashboards and Analytics views.

Resolution:

1. After updating rules or mappings, trigger a manual cube refresh or wait up to 24 hours for the automatic refresh

2. Clear browser cache and reload the application

3. Verify the correct model, year, and month are selected in the dashboard filters

4. If the issue persists after a cube refresh, review the rules to confirm they are saving correctly

Consumer spend not matching expected allocation

Cause: The Consumer mapping percentages may be incorrect, or upstream allocation (Assets → Solutions) has gaps that reduce the total spend flowing to Consumers.

Resolution:

1. Start from the top of the cost flow and verify allocation at each layer:

   • Cost Pools — check unallocated spend

   • Towers — check unallocated spend

   • Assets — check unallocated asset spend

   • Solutions — check unallocated solution spend

2. At the Consumer layer, verify mapping percentages total 100% for each Solution Offering

3. If upstream layers have unallocated spend, that spend never reaches Consumers — resolve upstream gaps first

4. After corrections, trigger a cube refresh and verify in dashboards

Related content

• Yarken Designer

• Load expenses

• Cost Pools

• Towers

• Asset rules

• Asset mapping

• View unallocated asset spend

• Solutions

• Consumers