INTRODUCTION
This article is designed to offer IMPLAN users some important descriptions of, temporary solutions for, and status updates regarding known technological issues which have been identified and are actively being addressed within IMPLAN. Should you encounter any issues which are not addressed in this article, please let us know by contacting us at support@implan.com. Issues which were previously identified, but have since been resolved, are documented in IMPLAN's product release notes which are published upon the release of new features and capabilities within the IMPLAN tool.
ISSUES BEING ADDRESSED
Each of the technological bugs described below have been identified and are being addressed (as you read!) by the IMPLAN Product Team. So don't worry—we're on it! But, should you encounter any of these issues between now and the deployment of their official fixes, there are workarounds which can provide effective (albeit manual) solutions in the meantime.
1. DOWNLOADED RESULTS DIFFER IN EXCEL VERSUS CSV
The Issue
If you download the same table on the Results screen in both .xlsx and .csv, you will see different values. This is because there is a difference in the number of decimal places used in rounding between the two formats.
The Workaround
When downloading data, always download as a .csv, which has now become the default setting for all Results tables. We also recommend selecting "Unformatted (no rounding, special characters, etc.)" in the download popup.
2. TOPI PAYMENTS TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ARE NEGATIVE IN THE 2020 ANNUAL DATA SET
The Issue
An error occurs when regional Taxes on Production and Imports (TOPI) payments to the Federal Government are negative for an Industry. When this occurs, the shares of TOPI distributed to the various levels of government are incorrectly specified. This does NOT affect other economic indicators like Output, Employee Compensation, Employment, or Total Value Added either in the Region Details or in Results of an impact analysis. Nor does the Total TOPI paid regionally change, only the distribution of TOPI to Federal and State & Local Governments. The error does NOT affect regions which have positive TOPI payments to all government institutions, which is the majority of regions. Thus, this is a rare occurrence generally. However, with the PPP loans of 2020 included as negative TOPI payments the error has become more frequent.
The Workaround
We are looking into a solution and working to identify the models in which this error occurs. If this error occurs, we recommend the user estimate their own distribution of Direct Taxes using the Total Direct TOPI results.
3. INDUSTRY OUPTUT EVENTS ARE NOT CALCULATING OPI CORRECTLY WHEN A USER CUSTOMIZES THE EVENT WITH EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION OR PROPRIETOR INCOME
The Issue
There is a bug in the Analysis Build Engine, the Industry Output Events are not currently using OPI as the remainder LPF component to rebalance when users customize. As the LPF equation is Output = II + EC + PI + OPI + TOPI, when a user customizes an Event using the Advanced Fields to input their own Employee Compensation or Proprietor Income values, IMPLAN will force the remaining balance to Other Property Income (OPI). The app is currently *not* forcing the remaining value to OPI, causing the Direct Value Added results to be incorrect. This is an issue that we are aware of and working towards a resolution.
The Workaround
Use the Industry Impact Analysis (IIA) Event type when Event Customizations for EC or PI (Advanced fields) are necessary.
4. CUSTOM AGGREGATION SCHEMES DO NOT WORK PROPERLY WHEN *COMMODITY ONLY INDUSTRIES ARE AGGREGATED WITH OTHER INDUSTRIES
The Issue
If a user creates a Custom Aggregation Scheme that includes a sector with a Commodity Only Industry (IMPLAN 546 Industries 535-538) aggregated with a standard Industry, any subsequent impact on this aggregated Industry will produce incorrect Employment Results. More specifically, the Employment Results in the Summary Economic Indicator Table will be doubled for this Industry. However, they will be accurate in the detailed Employment Results.
The Workaround
As a best practice, do not combine Commodity only Industries with other Industries when creating a Custom Aggregation Scheme. If you must do so, the IMPLAN Team has the ability to eradicate this issue on a case by case basis until a long term resolution has been identified, so reach out to Support@implan.com and we can assist further.
5. USERS EXPERIENCING FAULTY REGION BUILD ERROR
The Issue
When a user builds a Combined or Customized Region, a build error is appearing in some cases although the region is still building.
The Workaround
To access the region with the error, navigate to the Combined & Customized Region List (may need to refresh the page and allow some time for the region to finish building). Delete the the Select Region with the error and add it from the Combined & Customized Region List using the plus sign. Once built, the region can be accessed here across Projects in the same aggregation scheme.
6. CUSTOM PROJECT ERROR MESSAGE "SOMEONE ELSE IS EDITING THIS PROJECT" WITH ONLY 1 USER
The Issue
Users will sometimes receive an error message "Someone else is currently editing this project" and there are no other editors on the project currently and you are working alone on it.
The Workaround
We recommend you log out of all applications of IMPLAN, clear your browser cache and log back in. If the error persists please duplicate the project and continue your work on the duplicate.
7. CUSTOM AGGREGATION SCHEME REVERTS COMMODITY DESCRIPTIONS TO INDUSTRY DESCRIPTIONS
The Issue
When utilizing a Custom Aggregation Scheme in a Project, the Commodity descriptions revert to Industry descriptions. This is prevalent in the Commodity tables found in Region Details, the specifications for Commodity Events, as well as the Spending Patterns for Industry, Institution, Custom, and Industry Impact Analysis (Detailed) Event Types.
The Workaround
We are looking into a solution. If this occurs in your Project, we recommend exploring the Industry descriptions in Region Details to identify the most appropriate Commodity.
8. COMMODITY OUTPUT EVENTS IN CUSTOM AGGREGATION SCHEMES
The Issue
When utilizing a custom aggregation scheme in a project, users may find that Commodity Margins are not correctly summing to 100% by default.
The Workaround
This issue has been resolved, but will require users to rebuild the custom aggregation scheme.
9. SPECIAL CHARACTERS AND SPACES WHEN NAMING IN IMPLAN
The Issue
IMPLAN recently Implemented a new rule for naming in the IMPLAN application. Users may run into issues when utilizing leading or trailing spaces and special characters to name IMPLAN specific items.
The Workaround
The following characters cannot be used for naming: & | ; % * ? ! = ' " # ^. This applies to anything that users can define the name of; Projects, Regions, Industries, Spending Patterns, Events, etc. Any Project name utilizing one of these characters (created prior to the implementation of this rule) has had the characters replaced with underscores. Additionally, any Event Name that utilizes leading or trailing spaces will prevent the Project from being able to run.
Updated November 6, 2024