Build your first planning solution with Plan in Microsoft Fabric

Plan in Microsoft Fabric is a planning and writeback experience in Fabric IQ. It combines governed actuals, editable planning sheets, collaboration, and writeback to a Fabric SQL database.

It is not a deployment pipeline and it is not capacity sizing. The semantic model remains the source for actuals; the SQL database stores planning input.

This walkthrough uses the Fabric trial workspace blog_fabric_plan and Microsoft’s Northwind FMCG sample.

The flow

Northwind FMCG semantic model
        |
        v
Fabric Plan app
        |
        +--> planning sheet
        +--> comments and scenarios
        +--> Fabric SQL writeback

Prerequisites

Confirm:

1. The workspace uses F2 or higher, or an active Fabric trial.
2. You are a workspace Member or Admin. Contributor is not enough for the connection and embed-token steps.
3. XMLA endpoints are allowed by the tenant.
4. The capacity XMLA endpoint is Read Only or Read Write.
5. You are using Edge or Chrome.

Plan does not currently support Microsoft Entra B2B guest accounts or workspaces using private links.

1. Create and assign the workspace

Create:

blog_fabric_plan

Assign it to the trial or capacity before creating items. During validation, creation initially returned FeatureNotAvailable because the workspace had no active capacity assignment. Assigning the trial capacity fixed it.

2. Import the sample model

Download Northwind_FMCG.pbix on GitHub.

In blog_fabric_plan:

1. select Import;
2. select Report, Paginated Report or Workbook;
3. choose From this computer; and
4. upload Northwind_FMCG.pbix.

Fabric creates a report and semantic model. The sample data is embedded, so the refresh-credentials warning in the Microsoft tutorial can be ignored for this exercise.

3. Create the writeback database

Select New item > SQL database and create:

Northwind_FMCG_Writeback

This database stores planning input and collaboration data. It does not replace the semantic model’s actuals.

4. Create the Plan item

Select New item, choose Plan, and create:

Northwind_FMCG_Plan

The validation also provisioned the internal __fabric_plan_sys SQL database used by the Plan workload.

5. Connect the semantic model

On the Plan launch screen:

1. select Semantic Model;
2. select Semantic Model Item;
3. choose the imported Northwind FMCG model; and
4. select Add, then Connect.

Dimensions, measures, and the date hierarchy appear in the Data pane.

6. Create a planning sheet

Create New Planning Sheet and name it:

Revenue Plan

Use:

Start with a narrow hierarchy. Adding every dimension on day one makes the writeback process harder to explain and harder to govern.

7. Add a scenario

Create:

FY2026 Base Plan

Use 2025 gross revenue as the baseline, then:

1. apply a 5% top-down target;
2. spread it across months;
3. adjust one region manually;
4. add a comment explaining the override; and
5. compare the plan with the baseline.

The 5% is only a test value. The useful part is the complete loop from baseline to allocation, human adjustment, explanation, and persistence.

8. Connect writeback

In the upper-right corner:

1. select Set up connection;
2. under Fabric SQL connection, select Create connection;
3. create or select the connection to Northwind_FMCG_Writeback; and
4. select Connect.

Save the Plan item, enter a test value, and confirm that the writeback succeeds.

9. Validate collaboration

Test two roles:

• a planner who can edit assumptions;
• a reviewer who can inspect values and comments.

Check that actuals remain readable, plan values survive refresh, comments are visible to the reviewer, and neither role can edit beyond its purpose. Keep the writeback database no broader than necessary.

What to watch

• Plan has its own capacity-consumption model.
• Member or Admin access is required for setup.
• Actuals and writeback serve different purposes.
• Start at a planning grain people can explain.
• Make scenario ownership and approval status explicit.

Sources

• Fabric planning tutorial: environment setup
• Planning in Fabric IQ overview
• Fabric Plan billing guidance

The useful part of Fabric Plan is not the spreadsheet-like grid. It is the link between governed actuals, planning input, identity, collaboration, and durable writeback.