The processes of planning and budgeting or financial business planning have transformed from a simple mathematical task to real art. Today, financial planning is of strategic importance for companies of all shapes and sizes. The consequences of good or bad decisions are appropriate. So, how do professionals plan?
To determine the new annual budgets, it is no longer enough to just look at the figures of the previous year and use the appropriate weight ratio, depending on what result you would like to achieve. Planning is no longer easy, nor does it happen only once a year. Businesses need to do business planning more often as they need to quickly adapt to rapidly changing market conditions.
Nevertheless, CCH Tagetik’s research on trends in planning has a notable punchline: the stories of failed organizations are telling. Do not repeat the mistakes of others, but learn from them. Ambitious parents teach their children to (always) pursue higher goals – both in private life and in business. And these goals are achievable only if we know them and know the ways to achieve them. This is where planning enters the big picture.
Planning and data
The aforementioned research finds that 27% of companies still use classic tables for planning, as they haven’t heard of nor used process automation, data management, or the so-called financial intelligence. Among companies that use dedicated planning software, as many as 45% use old, practically outdated solutions. This applies to the United States, in many less developed countries the share of such companies is (way) higher.
Modern planning, however, is based on data. Preferably those that are available as close as possible to real-time, as business plans and the decisions that arise from them can be more accurate and of better quality. For successful planning, data must be successfully captured and processed, preferably with a dedicated planning solution that takes into account all aspects of the company’s operations and several additional external factors. Such solutions also serve companies with several possible scenarios.
So, how do professionals plan?
Professionals are aware that professional results are achievable (only) with professional tools. Analytical firm Gartner performs market research of financial planning and cloud analytics solutions each year. There is one name that stands out in its so-called magic quadrant – CCH Tagetik. Mainly at the expense of the excellent implementation of artificial intelligence technology, which, according to Gartner analysts, is yet to be included in more planning solutions of other solution providers.
“With the CCH Tagetik system, powered by an analytical information center, you will go beyond basic planning. By combining the analysis of detailed financial and operational data, it is possible to raise planning to a new level. Better insights into the data contribute to more accurate modeling of future scenarios in all departments and jobs involved. Companies that use CCH Tagetik solutions for financial planning report significant time savings, better operational efficiency, and higher employee productivity”, says Daniel Potočnik, a partner at CRMT.
What does Gartner say about CCH Tagetik?
When placing the CCH Tagetik solution in the magic quadrant in the field of planning and financial planning, Gartner highlighted the following advantages of the solution: comprehensive planning, reporting, and forecasting functionalities, and a superior user experience. The solution has an analytical information node that can enrich large amounts of fragmented and operational data. It is also certified to work with analytical in-memory systems (SAP HANA). It is available for local deployment or as a cloud service, and its capabilities are evidenced by its use in many large and complex global organizations. 60% of its customers have more than $ 1 billion in annual turnover. Also, the CCH Tagetik company has very bold plans for the introduction of technologies in the field of artificial intelligence and has proven to know how to make them work at their best.