Continuous Planning, Forecasting & Budgeting: What It Can do for Your Organisation

Getting all of the departments in your organisation brought into line with your objectives and goals can be challenge however, it is a critical starting point for information sharing, as well as budgeting, forecasting, modelling, analysis and reporting. Companies that use (Financial Planning and Analysis) FP&A systems  are more responsive to shifting trends, giving them a clear competitive advantage

Continuous Planning and What It Can do for Your Organisation

Continuous Planning is designed for companies like yours—to help you link your strategies to your plans and their execution. Satori’s Planful FP&A Software will help you bring all that information under one roof.

Continuous Planning in a cloud-based FP&A Tool ensures clear communication of the company’s objectives and strategic goals so that managers will understand them and incorporate them into their plans and budgets. If you’re still struggling with manual processes, such as spreadsheets, it may be time for you to realise that there is a better way; learning more about Continuous Planning and what it can do for your organisation is a key step in ensuring your Financial Planning and Analysis is ready for the future.

Satori’s Planful FP&A Software  cloud-based FP&A is faster and easier to deploy, accelerating key financial processes, supporting enhanced collaboration and reducing the cost of ownership.

Planful

Our Planning, Budgeting and Forecasting solution helps you incorporate all of the following management processes on a very user-friendly platform:

  • Analysing performance comparisons to plan, prior years, and across divisions or products
  • Budgeting, forecasting, planning, and modelling
  • Report results to internal/external stakeholders
  • Results consolidation
  • Scheduled closing of the books

 

Benefits of Planful 

Through centralised databases, workflow and process control helps organisations increase efficiency by doing away with or supplementing spreadsheets, and improving planning and reporting cycles.  This improves accountability across the organisation by aligning strategic, operational, and financial goals, promoting more budgeting participation, and empowering managers with more timely data.

The Management Cycle

The purpose of an FP&A Tool is to ensure strategic goals and objectives are clearly communicated and understood by the managers and are reflected in their budgets and plans.  Organisations execute these processes in a “management cycle” that is run at least at regular intervals, such as quarterly, annually, and in some cases more often.

Financial Planning and Analysis is responsible managing KPIs (key performance indicators) that help managers understand key business and market on a scheduled basis, enabling more timely corrective actions to meet business objectives.

Competition is fierce and the business world is more unpredictable and volatile than ever. For an FP&A tool to operate efficiently and at peak performance, it requires periodic re-examining to guarantee the organisation’s actual performance remains aligned with its goals. With Planful, it’s easier and faster to identify and drive the initiatives, plan, budget, and forecast that supports innovation and growth.

So, Who Needs Continuous Planning?

As innovative companies enter the market, the need to support complex processes to get a leg up on the competition becomes more critical. Continuing to process with spreadsheets will not only leave your organisation in the dust, but will prevent you from focusing your efforts on more value-added activities, such as what-if modelling, monthly forecasting, or strategic partnering with other line-of-business owners.

If you dread the idea of planning for next month, next quarter, or next year, you’ve more than likely outgrown planning with spreadsheets.

 

In Summary

  • FP&A software brings new benefits to Finance departments and the broader enterprise through the automation and acceleration of the management processes, helping to improve alignment throughout the organisation.
  • FP&A software scalable and integrates well with other platforms, such as CRM, ERP, and BI systems.

 

Want to know more about Planful? Make sure to download one of our Latest Guides HERE