Financial forecasting and Business Intelligence (BI) analytic tools provide business users with a single data source. All “actual” information is derived from the company’s proprietary Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, automatically updated to a single DataMart at user-defined intervals for use by all reporting tools. All forecasts created in a budgeting and forecasting solution are “written back” to the DataMart, to then be updated to the ERP & any BI reports. This provides the user with several significant advantages; (1) control of the currency of the data; & (2) the certainty that no matter which pre-saved report format, or adhoc on-the-fly report is created, the data being viewed is the same for all. No need to worry about which “version” of an Excel or other report you are viewing, you can be assured that it is being created from the very latest data available in the system.
The flexibility of a well-chosen BI solution allows individual users to create reports that offer the capability to each and every user to view the data in the format that best suits their management style, all the while knowing that no matter how different the format of their report may be from that of their colleagues, the data supporting it is identical for all.
Budgets are, in many cases, collaborative efforts. Managers of various divisions, or those responsible for shared overhead may be called upon to submit budgets to a central point for approval, to then be consolidated into the overall corporate picture. It is critical for everyone in the process to know that they are viewing the latest, most accurate information with which to create their portions of the company’s future plan. It is also imperative that once these individual and/or departmental forecasts are approved and included in the overall company forecast, only the most recent figures appear in any and all reports, no matter who created them.
No more arguing amongst various managers and executives about showing different results. There is only one source for all data, and only One Single Version of the Truth.
Find out more about how you can modernize your financial forecasting by creating, providing, and maintaining financial results reporting. Contact us today to book your free consultation.*
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