Advanced budgeting is an essential part of financial planning for enterprises, especially those with multiple branches or a large number of participants like holdings. As companies expand, using basic tools like Excel may no longer be sufficient for managing the intricacies of budgeting.
When do you need to automate your budgeting?
For small businesses with simple budgeting needs, using Excel or lightweight budgeting tools might be sufficient. As businesses expand and diversify their operations, the volume and complexity of budgetary data can become overwhelming. For example, when a company reaches 15 branches or more or has over 50 participants, it will certainly be beneficial to implement a more advanced CPM/EPM system.
Implementing a more sophisticated budgeting solution allows companies to effectively manage their financial planning process, ensuring that all stakeholders are working with accurate, up-to-date information. Automated budgeting tools can also help to streamline decision-making processes and reduce the risk of errors, which can have significant financial implications.
In a nutshell, the more diverse the systems used to collect budget data, the more beneficial it is to implement a single platform like 1C:Perform. These software solutions can help address issues like master-data unification, data collection, consolidation, and more.
Why is CPM/EPM software crucial for complex budgeting?
CPM/EPM systems offer a number of key advantages for complex budgeting:
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Unification of forms: CPM/EPM software solutions provide fixed forms and formulas, along with uniform rules of calculation. This helps to reduce the risk of errors when employees fill out forms in their own way. By standardizing the budgeting process, businesses can ensure that everyone is working with the same data and in the same way, leading to more accurate and consistent budget forecasts.
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Better availability of participants: CPM/EPM software makes it easier for employees to collaborate on budgeting tasks, even when they are scattered in different locations. By providing a centralized platform for budgeting, these solutions facilitate better communication and collaboration between team members, improving the overall efficiency of the budgeting process.
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Common database: A common database allows normative and reference information to be unified across multiple branches and divisions. This ensures that everyone is working with the same set of data, reducing discrepancies and inconsistencies in budgeting.
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Common versions everywhere: CPM/EPM software ensures that everyone has access to the most up-to-date information. When changes are made to budget data, they are automatically reflected across the entire organization, making it easier to keep everyone on the same page.
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Streamlining the iterative budgeting process: CPM/EPM systems can help to automate and streamline various aspects of the budgeting process, including budget review, budget balancing, and distribution, intra-group transactions, and mutual settlements. By providing tools for setting deadlines, reminders, and statuses, these solutions can help to keep the budgeting process on track and ensure that important tasks are not overlooked.
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Reconciliation of transferred materials: CPM/EPM software solutions can simplify the process of reconciling budget data across multiple participants and stages. By providing tools for tracking budget progress and managing reconciliation chains, these systems can help to reduce confusion and make it easier to understand the status of the budget at any given time.
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Better analytics: CPM/EPM software offers a range of powerful analytical tools, including what-if analysis, scenario analysis, sensitivity analysis, and drill-down analysis capabilities. By making it easy to explore different budget scenarios and understand the potential impact of various decisions, these tools can help support more informed decision-making.
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Improved presentation of results: CPM/EPM solutions can also help to improve the presentation of budget results, simplifying reporting and making it easier for stakeholders to understand the financial data. By providing clear, visual representations of budget information, these tools can help to facilitate more effective communication and decision-making within the organization.
How introducing 1C:Perform can help with complex budgeting?
1C:Perform is a comprehensive CPM/EPM solution for financial performance management in holding companies that offers a wide range of features that address the challenges of complex budgeting.
One of the main advantages of 1C:Perform is that it makes the entire budgeting process easier and smoother. The software provides fully-functional budgeting of operations and projects for large holdings with varying levels of complexity, ultimately making the budgeting process more manageable and efficient. By providing users with access to up-to-the-minute budget data, the software supports more agile and informed decision-making, which is vital for navigating the challenges of complex budgeting.
Plus, the integration capabilities of 1C:Perform with various reporting and ERP systems allow organizations to consolidate data from multiple sources and streamline their budgeting processes. This feature further enhances the effectiveness of 1C:Perform in addressing the challenges of complex budgeting.
Final thoughts
As businesses grow and their budgeting needs become more complex, CPM/EPM software solutions like 1C:Perform become increasingly important for managing financial planning and reporting processes. By automating and streamlining various aspects of the budgeting process, these tools can help organizations to save time, reduce errors, and make more informed decisions.