Corporate planning with Microsoft Power BI
Get all the important information and data on one platform
You won’t make informed or far-reaching business decisions with disparate information. That being said, manually merging data from all across the company – supply, demand, products, and finance, etc. – is a laborious and error-prone process.
Replace your stand-alone solutions with an integrated planning solution on an end-to-end platform – to ensure sound and informed decisions! Corporate planning is the key word here.
What exactly is corporate planning?
Corporate planning is one of the most important management and controlling tasks performed by commercial enterprises. It defines the strategy, the structures, and processes for the future – It anticipates all of these things. Operational measures can then be derived from this planning.
The goal here is generally to align business units that have traditionally operated in silos, managing core services such as HR, payroll, accounting, IT, and security.
Quick guide to corporate planning!
We’ll explain the advantages of holistic corporate planning with Microsoft Power BI in under two minutes.
The video is only available in German with English subtitles.
Exceed expectations thanks to comprehensive planning
Planning is the key to a company’s success. The big challenge here is bringing together all kinds of company information in a single planning system.
The goal: Achieve optimum business performance!
This requires actual data as well as internal, external, and cross-functional dynamic data. These data sets are the foundation for reliable financial and corporate planning. This allows strategic goals to be derived and presented via management-compliant reporting.
Implement operational and strategic planning with determination. Sound good?
You can do just that with the Acterys All-In-One xP&A platform! How to get your financial processes up and running – in the cloud or on premise.
Implementation at this point with Power BI is fast, flexible, and user-friendly. This allows teams to align with cross-functional, comprehensive plans, respond to changes in real time, and realize previously unrecognized opportunities.
Why use ACTERYS and the All-In-One xP&A platform for corporate planning?
TOP 3 key facts for good corporate planning
Fast – time to value
Analysis and planning environment: Get started in just a few minutes. With one click, you can integrate the (ERP) accounting software connectors within all your source systems.
You can access all features from Power BI, Excel, and other front-end applications. This enables fully customizable xP&A use cases, such as budgeting and forecasting, S&OP, cash flow forecasting, financial closure, workforce planning, and many others.
Smart – use of integrated process templates
Data Warehouse and Power BI Automation: Reduce creation and cycle times by allowing users to design and manage business models according to their needs. Benefit from tried and tested, easily customizable apps and workflows for reporting, consolidation, planning, and forecasting.
Effective – shorter planning times
Planning, budgeting, and forecasting in Power BI and Excel: You’re prepared! The built-in AI-enhanced analytics and planning features mean you're equipped for advanced analytics solutions on the web, in Power BI, and in Excel.
Sales performance management and greater focus on revenue generation are possible as a result.
Time-consuming planning, reporting, and forecasting tasks are automated. Planning and segmentation of sales territories and turnover quotas become flexible.
And best of all: You remain in control, avoid spreadsheet chaos, and benefit from extensive security and governance features on one central data model!
“Why Acterys in 2 minutes”
The optimum solution: ORBIS & Acterys Premium together! Learn more about Acterys Premium in this short video.
- ORBIS has many years of business and corporate performance management experience, based on its own P&A and partner solutions.
- A large number of satisfied reference customers can attest to this: You benefit from the extensive ORBIS business intelligence, planning, process, and industry expertise.
- A variety of workshops and training sessions that are individually tailored to your needs will “power-charge” your team and provide a plan.
- Even after a corporate performance management project has been rolled out, ORBIS will continue to advise and support you with an after go-live concept
- ORBIS keeps your employees’ knowledge up to date with useful webcasts, tools, and events.
- Expert advice regarding financial planning, consolidation, strategic and operational planning, analysis and reporting for every aspects of Microsoft Power BI with ACTERYS form the basis for a successful project advancement strategy.
- As a Microsoft and ACTERYS Partner, ORBIS has excellent relationships that add value to customers during project implementation.
Why introduce ACTERYS’ solution in your operational and strategic planning process?
- It is the all-in-one xP&A platform solution. Perfect for your holistic corporate planning and controlling!
- It’s more than just a piece of planning software. Goals that you have set in your company with corporate performance management (CPM) and enterprise performance management (EPM) are easier to realize.
- Fully integrated in the Microsoft Business Intelligence solution Power BI, this solution is a further development of your business performance management.
- The management organization, the corporate planning division, controlling, and other corporate organizations involved in financial planning and, consequently, corporate planning benefit from this all-in-one approach.
What is corporate performance management?
Corporate performance management, or CPM for short, is an umbrella term. The term describes the methods, metrics, processes, and systems used to monitor and control a company's business performance. Applications that enable CPM translate strategically focused information into operational plans and send aggregated results.
What is enterprise performance management?
Enterprise performance management, or EPM for short, refers to solutions and methods that are essential for corporate management.
Key performance indicators (KPIs) such as turnover, overheads, and operating costs as well as return on investment (ROI) are generally used for planning, measuring, and controlling performance.
The following management processes are covered:
- Budgeting
- Planning
- Forecasting and modeling the value creation of a company
- Consolidation of results
- Reporting to internal and external stakeholders
- Performance analysis
What is business performance management?
Business performance management, or BPM for short, is an advanced form of business intelligence (BI) used to monitor and control the performance of a company. KPIs are used here, e.g., turnover, return on investment, overheads, and operating costs.
The 10 golden rules of corporate planning
Golden rule 1: Define goals
Define the goals you want to achieve with enterprise performance management (EPM), corporate performance management (CPM), and business performance management (BPM).
Ask yourself the following questions: What are the company's operational and strategic goals for the future? How are these goals to be achieved? System and processes?
Golden rule 2: Involve management in the corporate planning process
Have at least one member of management involved in the corporate planning process from the beginning to end.
This is immensely important alongside controlling and other stakeholders from other organizations.
Ask yourself this question: which member of management should it be?
Golden rule 3: Form a team
Make it clear who is part of the team in the holistic planning process; do this to realize EPM, CPM, and BPM goals.
Create the necessary acceptance for subsequent implementation through transparency.
Which departments will be involved? Does it make sense to have external support? Is “time” calculated as a resource?
Golden rule 4: Define the time frame
From the management side, clearly define the time frame for the planning process.
This contributes significantly to better performance among participants and within the company as a whole.
Do I have the right software in place for the planning process?
Have the team members involved been briefed and trained?
Golden rule 5: Provide relevant information
Ensure that all relevant data and information are available.
The relevant systems and supplying data sources must be integrated; this enables implementation of planning within the defined time frame.
Is communication between the IT department and, most importantly, the controlling department how it should be?
Golden rule 6: Keep goals in mind
Always keep the strategic goal of the company in mind when planning in the various functional divisions.
Corporate planning for sales, production, procurement and warehousing, personnel, investment and finance, for example, depends on this. All divisions are always involved in the planning, which is ultimately merged into an overall plan. Planning within the divisions depends on the company's goal. What is the operational business goal?
Golden rule 7: Ask the right questions
Ask all stakeholders the right questions during the planning process. Also ask yourself whether your planning solution supports processes that promote communication and transparency.
Leave comments regarding individual planning figures if you see anomalies or need support in understanding a key figure. This reduces the overall planning time.
Golden rule 8: Use smart solutions and tools
Provide the controlling department – as a key role in planning – with the right smart solutions and tools.
This is because the top-down planning provided by management needs to be aligned with the bottom-up planning of the functional divisions involved. Important instrument: the "balanced scorecard". This is a link between strategic, operational planning and control. Ask yourself these questions: Is controlling set up correctly? Can strategic and operational goals be presented visually in a simple, fast, and good way in reporting?
Golden rule 9: Always plan with one eye on the future!
Of course you're already doing that! Here we’re talking about the technological basis. Your enterprise performance management (EPM) software can analyze, track, and report on processes in your organization. Your EPM assists with planning, budgeting, forecasting, and corporate management reporting, and with consolidation and closure of financial results. Other departments – such as HR, sales, marketing, and IT – also use EPM for operational planning, budgeting, and reporting.
Ask yourself these questions: Do you have the right technology? Are you properly set up? Cloud-ready? Or still stuck in the on-premise world?
Is your planning and controlling platform on a sustainable footing for the long term, prepared for rapidly changing times?
Golden rule 10: Rely on integrated corporate planning!
Integrated corporate planning will allow you to be flexible, modern, future-oriented, and location-independent in future. Our technologically valuable, time-saving platform is quick and easy to implement. Its user-friendliness means that all those involved in the planning process have maximum time left over to spend on their actual core competence!
I’m here to help you
Silvia Schmidt
Business Development Power BI
Tel.: +49 681 9924 378
Email: silvia.schmidt(at)orbis.de
