Jul 15, 2024
•1 minute read
SAP Financial Planning
Financial planning and analysis is undergoing a significant transformation as SAP customers move from legacy spreadsheet and standalone planning tools to integrated, cloud-based platforms. SAP Financial Planning, anchored by SAP Analytics Cloud, connects operational and financial data to enable collaborative budgeting, rolling forecasts and real-time scenario modeling. SAPinsider covers SAP Analytics Cloud planning, migration from SAP BPC, driver-based modeling and FP&A transformation strategies.
What is SAP Financial Planning?
SAP Financial Planning refers to the set of capabilities within SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) and SAP S/4HANA that support budgeting, forecasting and financial modeling. SAC serves as SAP’s strategic planning platform, offering collaborative planning workflows, predictive forecasting powered by machine learning and tight integration with SAP S/4HANA financial data through live connections. Organizations migrating from SAP BPC or SAP BPC Embedded are encouraged to evaluate SAC as the modern planning standard, using its flexible data models and driver-based planning capabilities to replace static, spreadsheet-dependent processes.
What use cases does SAP Financial Planning address?
- Annual budgeting and target setting: SAP Analytics Cloud enables finance teams to distribute top-down budgets, collect bottom-up plans from business units and consolidate submissions into a single version of the financial plan with automated workflow and approval tracking.
- Rolling forecasts and reforecasting: Organizations replace static annual budgets with continuous rolling forecasts in SAC, using real-time S/4HANA actuals to update forward projections and reduce the time required to reforecast after business changes.
- Driver-based and scenario modeling: SAP SAC supports driver-based financial models where key assumptions such as headcount, revenue per unit or material costs automatically flow through to the income statement, balance sheet and cash flow plan, enabling rapid scenario analysis.
- Integrated business planning: SAP Financial Planning connects with SAP IBP for supply chain and SAP S/4HANA for finance, enabling integrated planning across commercial, operational and financial dimensions from a single platform.
- Migration from SAP BPC: Organizations migrating from SAP BPC use SAP’s BPC migration tools and guidance to move existing models, data and logic into SAC, modernizing planning infrastructure while preserving investment in planning content.
What does SAPinsider research say about SAP Financial Planning?
SAPinsider research and practitioner content highlights the shift from SAP BPC to SAP Analytics Cloud as the primary planning transformation underway among SAP customers. Finance organizations are adopting SAC to improve forecast cycle times, enable self-service modeling and reduce IT dependency in the planning process. Explore SAP Financial Planning resources, case studies and SAC guidance at SAP Financial Planning.
SimpleFi Trend ReportAre you curious how inflation has impacted companies in the past few years? Do you still do all your planning in excel? You’d be shocked to know that 80% still do. Read this trend report study that Canam conducted with SimpleFi Solutions and SAP to see some surprising, eye-opening data that may encourage you to think twice.
BARC Recognizes Phocas’ FP&A Software in Global Planning SurveyPhocas has established itself as a prominent player in the FP&A domain, as highlighted in BARC's 'The Planning Survey 24'. This survey, conducted between November 2023 and February 2024 with 1,272 participants, evaluated 21 products on 33 KPIs, including Business Benefits and Customer Satisfaction. Phocas excelled, securing top positions in multiple KPIs and leading in user-friendliness within the 'Integrated Products for Planning and BI & Analytics' peer group. Its robust BI foundation supports comprehensive financial planning, reporting, and analysis, which is highly adopted across organizations, with 27% employee usage compared to the average 10%. Phocas's integrated suite—covering Analytics, Budgets and Forecasts, Financial Statements, and Rebates—caters to mid-market sectors like manufacturing and retail, ensuring dynamic budgeting and real-time performance comparison. This integration eliminates the need for additional BI solutions, fostering better collaboration and performance understanding across business segments.
Jun 24, 2024
•2 minute read
Actionable insights into cash flow dynamics with Phocas’ 3-way forecastingFor SAP users, maintaining financial health supports growth investments, secures strong credit ratings through timely debt repayments, and offers flexibility to adapt to market shifts, economic downturns, or unforeseen challenges. In the distribution sector, cash flow management is crucial due to the dynamic nature of inventory, accounts receivable, and payable cycles. This requires optimal inventory levels, timely collection of receivables, and efficient management of payables, supported by dynamic financial planning and analysis (FP&A) tools like Phocas Software, which integrates with SAP products.
Adequate cash reserves are essential for smooth operations and responding swiftly to market opportunities and challenges, while excessive reserves can hinder profitability and strategic investments. A three-way cash flow forecasting model, integrating the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement, provides a comprehensive view of financial health. This model is particularly valuable for wholesale distributors, enhancing forecasting accuracy by addressing the interactions between sales, inventory, and receivables. Phocas's three-way forecasting model includes financial mini-drivers—specific metrics that directly influence cash inflows and outflows—allowing CFOs to refine forecasts and gain deeper insights into financial performance.
May 28, 2024
•2 minute read
Transforming Finance Operations with Touchless Record-to-Report by RedwoodAutomation streamlines organizational processes by replacing manual tasks like journal entries, currency revaluations, and reconciliations for intercompany and bank accounts with automated systems. This not only simplifies the execution of numerous tasks required during financial close but also ensures they are completed in the intended sequence. Redwood's technology significantly automates the record-to-report (R2R) process, handling up to 90% of tasks involved in financial closing, both within and beyond ERP systems. This includes complex activities such as managing accruals, data retrieval, and updating journals in the ERP system. The automation spans the full R2R spectrum, covering areas like balance sheet reconciliation and integration with non-ERP applications such as HR and Payroll. Redwood's solutions are comprehensive and can operate both independently and together, offering flexible deployment options including on-premises and cloud-based solutions. This broadens the scope of automation beyond traditional R2R tasks to enhance efficiency in areas like goods and bank reconciliations, meeting wider data-matching needs.
Apr 15, 2024
•3 minute read
Become Your Organization’s MVP with Cross-Process SAP AnalyticsFinance teams are being asked to take a leading role in organizational data as business look to do more with less during these uncertain economic times. A recent study indicates that by 2025, 50% of FP&A leaders will be responsible for an enterprise-wide data strategy. However, finance teams struggle to easily access SAP data that is often restricted to certain departments, hindering informed decision-making and creating data silos.
Industry experts from insightsoftware will discuss how to overcome these barriers using real-time analytics for better decisions across different functions.
Jan 23, 2024
•1 minute read
What Is xP&A Exactly and How Does it Relate to S&OP?Business executives are desperately grasping for a solution that will help them prevent a repeat of the previous few years’ supply chain insanity. The first truth to reveal is that there is no “one size fits all” answer or “silver bullet” solution or magic pixie dust to sprinkle on and solve all aspects of this recent history and that in some cases there will not be an available answer.
In this series, we will explore three major questions. The first big first question to be answered is: What does xP&A bring to the table to help mitigate these challenges? The second question to be answered is: How does xP&A fit in with other operational planning activities? A third and final big question in this series is: How does one get started on an xP&A journey?
Nov 21, 2023
•5 minute read
The Future of Analytics and Financial Reporting: Data-Informed PlanningThe upcoming webinar, "The Future of Analytics and Financial Reporting: Data-Informed Planning," offers a comprehensive exploration of modern financial planning and analysis (FP&A). Phocas Software covers the shift from static to dynamic reporting, emphasizing the advantages of real-time insights and adaptability. The webinar also focuses on fostering data literacy across organizations to empower every member to understand how their actions impact the bottom line. Additionally, attendees will gain valuable insights into innovative approaches for enhancing financial processes, ultimately driving greater business value and impact.
Learn about the future of Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) in the era of data-informed planning.
Explore the transition from static to dynamic reporting and its profound advantages, including real-time insights and adaptability.
Understand how to foster data literacy across your organization, empowering every team member to grasp the impact of their actions on the bottom line.
Identify innovative approaches for enhancing your financial processes, driving greater business value and impact.
Oct 26, 2023
•1 minute read
What is Extended Planning and Analysis (xP&A)?Financial professionals have taken on an increased role in the planning process, as many companies face difficult economic conditions and changing consumer preferences. One powerful tool that many of these businesses rely on is Extended Planning & Analysis (xP&A).
xP&A provides a unified platform for data access facilitating the real-time flow of information and empowers businesses and finance teams to make better decisions. Finance becomes the quarterback guaranteeing that all departments work together efficiently and effectively.
In this article, SAP’s Pras Chatterjee walks you through the ins and outs of xP&A and how it facilitates the management of budgets, plans, and forecasts. You will also read about how SAP helps supports the xP&A process by integrating all SAP applications.
Oct 20, 2023
•2 minute read
Top SAP Analytics Cloud Q3 2023 Quarterly Release Updates for Finance TeamsMany finance teams within SAP organizations face a similar struggle – essential business processes are frequently siloed and disjointed and require manual interventions on a regular basis. This not only takes significant time and financial resources, but it introduces the possibility of errors. Finance teams must utilize advanced tools and solutions to keep pace with the ever-growing demand for insights from business leaders.
To help these finance teams, SAP unveiled its most recent round of updates with its SAP Analytics Cloud Q3 2023 quarterly release. These updates not only streamline financial planning and analysis, but also empower teams to generate precise insights for informed decision-making.
To examine what this update entails and how that affects finance teams, SAPinsider spoke to Pras Chatterjee, Senior Director of Product Marketing for FP&A at SAP focusing on SAP Analytics Cloud and SAP BPC. He shared his top recommendations for finance professionals from this release.
Sep 8, 2023
•4 minute read
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