There are many medium-sized and large companies that still use Excel for budgeting and forecasting even though the process is often complex and time-consuming. You don’t want to base important business decisions on poor financial planning – and you don’t have to.
“Today there’s no reason to base critical business decisions on your gut feeling. If you’re well prepared and work continuously with financial forecasts you can make well-informed decisions and adapt more quickly during a crisis, says Jimmy Stenqvist Evegård, CEO at Planacy.
There are many reasons to why a prosperous company can suddenly find itself in a new reality: an unexpected recession, a new disruptive competitor that’s rapidly gaining market shares, or a new law or regulation that demands change. The decisions made there and then can be crucial both short- and long term. That’s why it’s important to make well-informed decisions based on facts rather than gut feelings.
”To always have accurate data for decision making you need a continuously updated view of the company’s financial future. You have to work frequently and regularly with financial planning and not just on a few fixed occasions per year," Jimmy Stenqvist Evegård continues.
Forecasting in Excel can work well for smaller companies but when the process is more complex, and many people are involved it becomes administratively heavy and takes an unnecessary amount of time. A modern system is therefore often required in order for medium sized and large companies to work more frequently with their forecast.
”Surprisingly many big companies are still struggling with Excel or use outdated systems that aren’t suited for their processes or needs. People in the financial department spend an infinite amount of time on administrating the process – such as preparing and consolidating hundreds of Excel sheets – instead of using that time to support the business with their skills and important analyses,” says Jimmy Stenqvist Evegård.
In contrast, companies that are better prepared and work proactively and continuously with the financial planning can immediately gather input from the right people in their business and get a good overview of the expected P&L. This gives the Board, management as well as the rest of the company a better basis for decision-making.
”Planacy’s vision is to simplify collaborative and continuous work with financial planning. We want to contribute to making budgeting, forecasting and planning more proactive and value-creating. It doesn’t only have to be an administrative process to make the board happy”, says Jimmy Stenqvist Evegård.
