Financial Reporting and Analysis in a Modern FP&A Platform

FP&A is one connected process – not several separate systems

Budgeting, forecasting, reporting and analysis are all parts of the same process. They rely on the same data and serve the same purpose – to provide the organisation with better insights for decision-making. Despite this, many companies still work across several different tools, continuously moving information between systems. The budget is prepared in one tool, reporting takes place in another and analyses are sometimes compiled in Excel or yet another solution.

Managing the different parts of the FP&A process in separate systems often results in significant time being spent on:

• manual data transfers
• waiting for reports to be updated
• creating multiple versions of the same data
• more administration and less time for analysis
• a more time-consuming path from analysis to decision-making

Reporting is therefore not simply about reviewing what has already happened. It should also provide the basis for the next decision. When a controller identifies a variance, the analysis should be able to lead directly to the next step. Perhaps the forecast needs to be updated, a new scenario created or an assumption adjusted.

Reporting itself is rarely the problem. The challenge arises when planning, reporting and analysis take place in different systems and information constantly needs to be moved between them, resulting in an unnecessarily drawn-out process. This is why reporting is an integrated part of Planacy.

In Planacy, analysis, reporting and planning take place within the same platform, meaning that forecasts, actuals, scenarios and comments are already available in one place. When a forecast is updated, it becomes immediately available in reporting – without exports, reloading data or waiting for another system to update. This means less time needs to be spent on manual administration and more time can be dedicated to analysis and supporting the business. At the same time, the path from insight to action becomes significantly shorter, making it easier to work continuously with financial planning.

Planacy does not replace BI – the solutions complement each other

The fact that Planacy offers powerful reporting and analysis functionality does not mean that BI tools no longer have an important role to play. On the contrary, BI solutions are often particularly strong when it comes to analysing large volumes of data from multiple operational systems, creating operational dashboards and visualising information for a broad range of users across the organisation.

Planacy has a different focus. The platform is designed for budgeting, forecasting, scenarios and financial analysis, where planning and reporting are closely connected. By bringing these different elements together in the same solution, reporting becomes a natural part of the planning process rather than a separate task. When Planacy is used alongside a BI tool, the organisation gets the best of both worlds:

• Planacy for budgeting, forecasting, scenarios and financial analysis
• BI for broader business reporting and visualisation across multiple data sources

Rather than competing, the solutions complement each other.

Combine financial and operational KPIs in your reporting

Financial reports show what has happened. Operational KPIs help explain why. To provide better insights for decision-making, financial figures often need to be analysed alongside the organisation’s operational drivers.

For example, this could mean understanding how changes in customer numbers affect revenue or how production volumes affect manufacturing costs. In Planacy, financial and operational KPIs can be combined within the same report.

For example, you can monitor:

• revenue and margins alongside customer numbers
• staff costs alongside headcount
• utilisation rates alongside financial performance
• units produced alongside manufacturing costs
• energy production alongside electricity prices

When financial and operational KPIs are presented together, it becomes easier to identify the drivers behind business performance and make better-informed decisions.

Tailor financial reports to different audiences

Reporting is not only about analysing numbers. It is also about communicating the right information to the right people. A controller, a budget owner and a board of directors rarely have the same information needs. Reporting therefore needs to be tailored to its audience while ensuring that everyone works from the same underlying data.

In Planacy, reports can be built using tables, charts, KPIs and dashboards tailored to different audiences. The same information can be presented in different ways depending on who the report is intended for, without having to duplicate data or manage multiple versions. This reduces the risk of version-control issues, simplifies governance and allows the FP&A function to spend less time on data quality and more time on analysis and supporting the business.

Reporting is part of continuous planning

The greatest benefit of reporting in Planacy is not simply the ability to create clear reports or dashboards. It is also about creating a more connected way of working.

When budgeting, forecasting, reporting and analysis are brought together in a single platform, many of the unnecessary interruptions caused by switching between processes and platforms disappear. As a result, insights from analysis can be translated more quickly into new forecasts and updated scenarios. This, in turn, allows the FP&A team to spend less time on administration and more time supporting the business with relevant insights and well-informed decisions. Reporting is therefore not the end of the FP&A process – it is the link between analysis and the next decision.