The FP&A function is traditionally used to identify significant insights for future business decisions using past data and information. Still, the pandemic has exposed the weaknesses of old processes and introduced a whole new set of issues.
Here’s a look at common FP&A challenges that can be addressed with cloud budgeting software.
Accurate data and insights are lacking
Poor data quality and being unable to use the given data to develop relevant insights are two of the most significant issues affecting CFOs and finance teams.
Spreadsheets are often changed and shared multiple times before the data becomes unreliable due to this process.
Without rigid standards for data gathering, finance teams are left with irrelevant, outdated, and inaccurate data. Finance teams cannot develop accurate budgets and predictions as a result. In addition, senior management, including C-suite executives, cannot use these reports to gain actionable insights to aid decision-making.
How PCF Can Help:
Manual tasks take time and effort
Financial planners must also deal with various data entry, budget iterations, account reconciliation, and other responsibilities.
It’s also common for people to become bogged down in the minutiae of their business instead of looking at the big picture.
Many finance teams spend more time collecting, organizing, and validating data than evaluating it since strategic tasks like FP&A are critical for creating significant insights.
How PCF Can Help: Performance Canvas Financials is a cloud budgeting software that can transform your entire budget process. It pulls data directly from your ERP system and other sources to ensure a smooth flow of information across systems. PCF also uses standardized finance logic such as data entry rules to improve overall data quality.
Lack of coordination across departments
Almost all company processes and initiatives necessitate cross-departmental cooperation. Collaboration is essential for FP&A to improve projections’ overall visibility and accuracy.
Collaborative forecasting enables organizations to move away from developing budgets and forecasts in a single department. It allows for forecasting and budgeting to be updated in a near-real-time manner involving various stakeholders across the business.
However, many organizations still lack coordination between the finance department, the FP&A team, and the rest of the company. So that CFOs can begin to bridge this gap, they need to be aware of this.
How PCF Can Help: With PCF, you have more time to focus on what’s important because collaboration is more straightforward and laser-focused. PCF gives you a quick and easy view of the bottlenecks in your processed. For example, PCF will allow you to have multiple levels of approval. It will also showcase people responsible every step of the way, the state of pending tasks, and comments left by the person inputting data. All these lead to improved collaboration and increased transparency.
Data systems and processes that are disconnected
Research revealed that planning procedures depend heavily on having access to timely and reliable data from across the company in some form or another.
These details are vital to the FP&A departments’ ability to generate precise budgets and KPIs, analyze results, and define financial objectives.
Consequently, CFOs face a serious challenge when their systems and procedures are disconnected. Because of this, it is considerably more difficult to gather reliable data from many departments promptly.
How PCF Can Help: As a cloud FP&A software, PCF does not discriminate against which system it can connect. Do you need to read data directly from 2 or more ERP systems? A separate payroll system? CRM system? PCF will allow you to connect to ensure all your data sources are covered.
Inaccurate forecasting is the result of a lack of consistency
Finance departments that have begun implementing FP&A support technologies and processes may have difficulties. For effective FP&A, having the proper solution is no longer enough; you must make the most out of your tools and approaches.
Choosing the FP&A software is only half the battle won. Implementing and deciding what the process should look like is another.
How PCF Can Help: PCF is committed to using sound reporting and budgeting procedures that aim to minimize errors and inconsistencies in their work. Aside from providing your company with robust capabilities, PCF employs best practice methodologies when implementing to ensure that you do not need to spend a significant amount of fortune on getting the system to work as it should.
Conclusion
When it comes to the current health of the company’s finances, CFOs expect their organization to have access to real-time data and information. Financial teams are under increasing pressure to provide actionable insights and support decision-making in this way.
There is a limit to the level of information that enterprises can provide without the tools, data, and processes necessary to make this possible. This can cause both parties to be frustrated.
Explore how Performance Canvas can efficiently address your business challenges. Get in touch with the team at Performance Canvas today for a free demo.
