Integrated Planning

If you work at a fast-growing SaaS organization, you might have heard your CEO talk about customer lifetime value (LTV) and customer acquisition cost (CAC) at your last town hall meeting. While traditionally thought of as sales and marketing metrics, both LTV and CAC are becoming a focus for finance teams too as SaaS firms start to adopt a holistic approach to measuring their performance.  The intensifying focus on LTV, CAC and the unique relationship between them might have you thinking—what exactly are these metrics and why should our finance team be tracking them?  Every SaaS company will have their own approach to LTV and CAC based on their market, business model and growth stage. But some key principles ring true for all SaaS finance leaders who are looking to leverage their data to drive strategic decision making—and that’s what this article is all about. But first, let’s start by defining LTV, CAC and the LTV to CAC ratio. 1 What is customer lifetime value? (LTV) 2 What is customer acquisition cost? (CAC) 3 What is the LTV to CAC ratio? (LTV:CAC) 4 3 reasons your finance team should be tracking LTV and CAC What Is Customer Lifetime Value? (LTV) LTV is the average revenue earned from individual customer relationships, spanning from the moment a customer signs to the moment they churn. Actively measuring LTV allows you to answer two crucial questions: 1) How much revenue are we getting from clients over the course of their time with us and 2) How much revenue can I expect to generate from new customers?  To calculate LTV accurately, you need to account for key inputs like average revenue per customer, gross profit margin and average customer lifespan. For B2C SaaS companies, you also need to consider the average purchase value and average purchase frequency when measuring LTV.  Let’s say, for example, that your SaaS firm has an average ARR of $30,000 per customer. If gross profit margin is 70% with an average customer lifespan of four years, then LTV could be calculated using the following formula: LTV = (average revenue per customer) x (gross profit margin) x (average customer lifespan)        = ($30,000) x (0.70) x 4        = $84,000   What Is Customer Acquisition Cost? (CAC) CAC is the average amount of money that a company spends to acquire a new customer. This metric is a little more straightforward than LTV, in the sense that SaaS businesses across industries generally require the same high-level inputs to determine their CAC.  To accurately calculate CAC for a specific time period (usually per year or per quarter), you need to account for total sales expenses, total marketing expenses and total number of new customers acquired during that time. Keep in mind that effectively measuring sales and marketing costs includes advertising spend and employee payroll for all revenue-generating roles.   A company’s CAC can be calculated using this formula: CAC = (total sales expenses + total marketing expenses) / (total number of new customers) What is the LTV to CAC ratio? (LTV:CAC) LTV:CAC is the ratio that compares the lifetime value of customers to the costs associated with acquiring them. This is an important metric for gauging your company’s long-term profitability.  Generally speaking, the benchmark for a strong LTV:CAC is 3:1—which means the value of your customer relationships should be about three times the cost of bringing those customers on board. Even though what’s considered to be a “normal” LTV:CAC will vary slightly between industries, you should look at the 3:1 benchmark as a pretty reliable indicator of whether or not your SaaS business is well-positioned for success.  3 Reasons Your SaaS Finance Team Should Be Tracking LTV and CAC As more and more SaaS companies start to dominate the digital economy, more conversations about LTV and CAC will start happening in boardrooms around the world. For finance leaders and CFOs—who are continuing to evolve from number crunchers into strategic, data-driven decision makers—this represents an incredible opportunity to start leveraging LTV and CAC data to help determine the path forward for your SaaS business.  So, if you haven’t started already, here’s why your finance team should start paying attention to LTV and CAC and actively share those insights with the rest of your organization. 1. It Helps Influence Key Business Decisions In a 2019 article, Forbes Council Member and Fattmerchant Co-founder Sal Rehmetullah said, “CAC and LTV are the two most crucial metrics for CFOs to track because they dictate your sales strategies.” While this is certainly true, the sales department isn’t the only area where LTV and CAC insights can deliver value. Your finance team should also rely on LTV and CAC to identify strategic investment opportunities in marketing, operations and customer service. Let’s say, for example, that your company’s LTV:CAC starts to dip below that 3:1 benchmark. If you look at the reasons why, you might find that LTV is getting dragged down by an increase in churn rate. That level of insight would help your leadership team figure out what they need to prioritize—such as investing in product updates or expanding customer retention programs.  On the other hand, if your company’s LTV:CAC is well above that 3:1 benchmark, there might be an opportunity for further investment in marketing and demand-generation initiatives without sacrificing profitability. Your finance team needs to own that analysis during your budgeting, forecasting and planning cycles—because as the stewards of financial data, you’re well-positioned to report on how changes to LTV:CAC might affect your SaaS company’s long-term goals.      The challenge, however, is when financial and operational data is siloed in a bunch of different source systems. Executives will expect you to deliver LTV and CAC insights quickly—especially in fast-moving SaaS environments—which is a lot harder to do when you’re wrangling data manually with spreadsheets.  But, you can solve this problem if you… Integrate Your Data Sources and Build One Source of Truth for Financial and Operational Data  That’ll make it easier to keep track of the inputs you need for LTV and CAC (revenue per customer, sales / marketing expenses, etc.) and to quickly model the impact when any of those inputs change.  Make Smarter Growth Decisions With Vena, the finance team at Sprout Social can make smarter growth decisions and "dive even deeper" into their LTV and CAC.  2. It Encourages Transparency and Collaboration Between Departments Tracking LTV and CAC requires data from across your business, which means you can foster cross-functional collaboration when it’s time to act on your findings. As we mentioned earlier, LTV:CAC is an indicator of your SaaS company’s profitability—and tracking it effectively ensures leaders from every department have proper visibility into how their teams are moving the needle. Let’s say, for example, that your CAC is unusually high one quarter, perhaps due to a big bump in marketing spend that just didn’t translate to new customers for some reason. That scenario would negatively impact your LTV:CAC—and it would be up to your finance team to engage with marketing executives to show them how their trends are affecting the bottom-line. It’s also important to remember that with more transparency around LTV:CAC, cross-functional leaders can hold their teams accountable by proactively analyzing how their departments are performing. After all, transparency is a two-way street—if non-finance leaders can identify for themselves how to make positive changes to your LTV:CAC, they’ll feel more comfortable working with your finance team (and other departments as well) to develop a solid game plan and improve the business altogether.    3. You Can Help Lead Your SaaS Company’s Business Intelligence Revolution In order to drive collaboration and make LTV and CAC easier to understand, data visualization with dashboards should be a prominent aspect of your business intelligence strategy. Dashboards are really useful for simplifying metrics such as LTV:CAC and for empowering cross-functional leaders with past, present and future performance insights. When built properly, dashboards can also tell compelling stories with your data and make it easy for leaders to visualize how LTV and CAC affect each other.  According to this survey from the Association for Financial Professionals, data management and predictive analytics are the most important skills that FP&A teams need today. But the same survey also found that inadequate software systems are their biggest roadblock. So, if you want to create effective dashboards for LTV and CAC—or any other complex metric for that matter—you’ll need to take an honest look at the tools you have in place and evaluate whether or not you can actually perform the strategic analysis that’s expected of you. This represents yet another opportunity to level-up your finance team by complementing your planning processes with data visualization. Don’t forget to check out our Guide to Data Storytelling for more information about data visualization with dashboards. LTV and CAC Made Easy With a Complete Planning Solution Built for SaaS The importance of actively measuring LTV and CAC cannot be overstated for finance teams in SaaS. Proactively analyzing these metrics leads to more strategic decision-making, meaningful collaboration between departments and easier, more data-driven planning processes. So, if you’re ready to empower your finance team with the tools they need to succeed, check out the link below to see how Vena makes tracking your most important SaaS metrics simple—all without replacing Excel. Pre-Configured Solution Plan Smarter With Vena for SaaS Vena has the technology and methodology for your SaaS firm's needs. Discover how to plan confidently for today and tomorrow with rolling forecasts, CapEx and OpEx planning, revenue planning and more.

Ahhh, playoff season.  It’s always an exciting time for sports fans in the U.S. and Canada. The NHL and NBA playoffs are finally heating up and the teams still fighting for the Stanley Cup and the Larry OB are hungry. Even after a weird pandemic season, the buzz around the playoff cities is tangible. Will the Lakers go back to back? (They didn't.) Will the Mavs pull off an upset? (Unfortunately not.) Will this finally be the year a Canadian NHL team brings Lord Stanley home? (Allez les Habitants!) Finance leaders at this year’s playoff franchises are just as pumped as the fans—because the deeper your team goes, the more playoff profit your organization will generate. Between ticket sales, concessions and merchandise, championship runs certainly make those income statements look a whole lot sweeter. But for the teams who have already had their title dreams shattered, it’s time to start planning for a more profitable season ahead. That responsibility falls to your finance team starting the minute your season is over—because even though you can’t control what happens on the ice, court or field, you can make sure your franchise is set up for financial success. Here Are 3 Offseason Planning Tips for Finance Teams in Professional Sports  If you follow these helpful tips and align your people, processes and technology, your entire organization will be ready for the upcoming season. 1 Model the bottom-line impact of offseason roster moves and new player signings 2 Take the manual legwork out of league reporting, gameday settlements, ticketing / sponsorship revenue tracking and more 3 Collaborate with cross-functional budget owners to capitalize on new fan engagement opportunities 1. Model the Bottom-Line Impact of Offseason Roster Moves and New Player Signings This is a top priority during every organization’s offseason, especially in salary cap leagues such as the NHL, NFL or NBA. When your team limps out of the playoffs, management will start looking at ways to improve the roster, taking stock of the following information:  Which players are under contract for next season and what’s the value of those contracts?   Of our players whose contracts are expiring this offseason, who do we want to keep? Are those players entitled to a raise?   Should we trade anyone to free up some cap space and acquire new talent?   Who are our top free agency targets? How much money are we prepared to offer them to join our team?   Do we have the cap space available to sign the players we want? What will the long-term impact of those signings look like financially? The last question on that list is the most important one to answer in finance—and that’s where the value of what-if analysis comes into play. By modeling the bottom-line impact of a range of potential roster scenarios, you’ll be able to empower management with the information they need to make the best possible decisions for the future of your team. It’s important to remember that new player signings are about more than just salary, though. If you sign a big time player, you might also need to account for an uptick in jersey sales, sponsorship opportunities or higher attendance figures in next season’s revenue models.    The challenge, however, is when your scenario modeling efforts are hampered by offline spreadsheet processes. If there are several versions of your player salary model floating around—or if you can’t adjust your inputs without copying and pasting across multiple workbooks—you won’t be able to deliver the information your team relies on efficiently. There are already plenty of reasons why your top-choice players may not sign with your franchise, but “we couldn’t figure out our financials in time for an offer” should never be one of them. The Kansas City Chiefs modeled the impact of THAT Mahomes contract with Vena. Read the full story here. 2. Take the Manual Legwork Out of League Reporting, Gameday Settlements, Ticketing / Sponsorship Revenue Tracking and More There isn’t as much day-to-day finance stuff to deal with during the offseason, which makes it a great time to streamline some of the more cumbersome sports-specific reporting processes—including league reporting, gameday revenue settlements, ticketing and sponsorship revenue tracking. If the financial data you need for those things is siloed in multiple source systems, it gets tough to pull reports together manually during the hustle and bustle of the regular season.  That’s why automation is so important to embrace and it starts by integrating your systems into one source of truth for financial data. That way, you won’t have to flip between data sources—such as your ERP/GL, HRIS, POS software and ticketing platform—to paint a holistic picture of how your franchise is actually performing. Instead, up-to-date actuals will always be available on demand and you can automate report distribution to the right stakeholders across your organization. Think about how much time you’d save if gameday revenue settlements, for example, took minutes instead of hours. Your finance team would have a lot more time to focus on the future of your franchise—and isn’t that what business planning in sports is all about? The Arizona Cardinals turned 10 days of work into five seconds with Vena. Click here to learn more. 3. Collaborate With Cross-Functional Budget Owners To Capitalize on New Fan Engagement Opportunities You may have already read our other blog on this topic already, but it’s worth addressing again here as we talk about offseason planning priorities. As you look at the season ahead and figure out new ways to engage your fan base, determining how much money to spend on those projects isn’t a job for just finance. Cross-functional budget owners (hospitality, sponsorships, facilities, etc.) need to be involved as well—because they know better than anyone how to optimize the fan experience. Winning games is obviously important for engaging your fans (and for maximizing revenue), but there’s still a lot you can do to drive positive results in the offseason. Consider these examples: Sales and incentives for new season ticket packages    Sponsoring high-profile events in your local community   Investing in stadium upgrades or unique hospitality options for opening day If you don’t collaborate closely with stakeholders from across your franchise, it’ll be harder to justify your spending as you turn these ideas into reality. Budget owners won’t participate in strategic planning in that scenario either—which might lead to missed opportunities for making the gameday experience even more profitable. Watch Vena Nation Week 2021 on demand and check out our featured keynote, "How to Build Winning Teams With the Kansas City Chiefs." Raise Your Game This Offseason With a Complete Planning Solution Built for the Sports Business Regardless of what you choose to prioritize this offseason for your franchise, charting the best path forward requires the right people, processes and technology. When you find the right balance between all three of those elements, your organization will be ready to win—both on and off the playing field.  Pre-Configured Solution Vena for Professional Sports Teams Ready to take your franchise to the next level? Here's how to do it.

The 2020-2021 season has been unlike any other in the well-documented history of modern professional sports. Ticketing revenues declined, sponsorships tightened up and gameday profits evaporated as leagues shut down during the pandemic. Shortened season schedules and return-to-play bubbles have softened the blow, but sports teams around the globe are still reeling from a world without fans. In the U.S., revenues in the Big Four sports leagues (NBA, NFL, NBA, NHL) dropped by at least $14 billion last year, according to this analysis from Forbes. In Europe—where a deep passion for football (a.k.a. soccer) is ever-present—KPMG predicts that overall losses will eclipse €5 billion for top-division football clubs. However, with vaccination rates rising and stadiums starting to open their doors (albeit in varying capacities), sports teams are exploring new ways of driving revenue with a renewed focus on safer and more engaging fan experiences. The NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks, for example, have rolled out a cashless, ticketless and touchless stadium infrastructure to prioritize fan safety—but also to encourage fan spending. With a new mobile app, guests at the Bucks’ stadium can order drinks, buy merchandise and plan a ride home from their seats. There’s actually a pretty strong business case for this—because when Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium went cashless in 2019, food and beverage revenue rose by 16% at NFL and Major League Soccer (MLS) games. NHL venues are following suit as well, as in-arena purchases account for 70% of every team’s earnings (compared to about 40% for the NFL, NBA and MLB). For finance and operations teams in the sports world, these developments raise important questions: How can you keep people safe, maximize profitability and still make sure fans have an awesome gameday experience? How can you leverage data to inform strategic decisions as you work to overcome losses and prepare for the next five years? The answers to these questions will vary between leagues and franchises, but the need for data-driven business planning still rings true for everyone. After all, as this Deloitte report points out, understanding your profit drivers and planning for innovative fan engagements is the key to unlocking new revenue streams both in and out of the stadium. That’s why finance teams in sports need to make planning more collaborative across departments—so check out the tips below and learn how to do that effectively. 1 Establish one source of truth for departmental budget vs. actuals reporting 2 Use what-if analysis to model the revenue potential of new fan engagement plans 3 Help ownership visualize bottom-line impact with dashboards Establish One Source of Truth for Departmental Budget vs. Actuals Reporting Between ticketing, concessions, facilities, sponsorships and more, there are lots of moving parts behind the revenue and expense figures on your income statement. You need to understand how each department is moving the needle—because your leaders can’t optimize fan experiences without a clear picture of what works and what doesn’t. The challenge, however, is when departmental budget vs. actuals reporting is managed in a silo by your finance team. In that scenario, analyzing the profitability of each business unit gets pretty tedious—especially if you’re pulling numbers manually from your ERP, HRIS, fixed asset system and other data sources. Also, with no quick way of knowing how their departments are performing in real time, budget owners won’t feel empowered with the information they need to collaborate with other department heads and shift strategies when priorities change. Solving this problem starts with integrating your data sources and establishing one source of truth for departmental budget vs. actuals reporting. In addition to freeing your finance team from the perils of manual consolidation, you’ll also be able to: Proactively identify opportunities to increase or decrease spending within specific departments to improve the fan experience   Empower your department heads with more ownership over their numbers and facilitate collaboration with other cross-functional leaders   Better understand what’s driving variances between budget and actuals and incorporate those findings into the long-term plans for your franchise When budget owners can clearly see how their departments affect profitability, they’ll be motivated to look for improvements instead of maintaining the status quo. And if 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that the status quo in sports is never guaranteed anyway—that’s why budget vs. actuals reporting is so important to get right.  The Arizona Cardinals cut 10 days from their monthly workload after automating budget vs. actuals reporting with Vena for Professional Sports Teams. Learn more here!   Use What-If Analysis To Model the Revenue Potential of New Fan Engagement Plans Thorough what-if analysis is absolutely crucial for testing the viability of new fan engagement initiatives. And if you have one source of truth for financials from every department (see above), you won’t have to wrestle with spreadsheets to model new revenue and expense assumptions. Then you can use the results to determine what’s best for the franchise, ensuring that every decision you make is supported by up-to-date data.  Think of it this way: If you don’t run detailed scenario models for every fan-focused initiative on your radar—including stadium upgrades, event sponsorships, ad campaigns, etc.—you won’t be able to illustrate the potential ROI of each project. That might make it difficult for your leaders to justify the investment and feel 100% confident in the plans your team is producing.  Scenario modeling can also help you foster productive collaboration between departments, which is a fundamental aspect of any successful fan project. The Kansas City Chiefs—who are one of the most dominant teams in the NFL right now—put forward a great example of this during their 2020 playoff run. The team introduced outdoor standing suites so fans could come to games during the pandemic, which took a lot of last-minute coordination between hospitality, operations and finance. Agile what-if analysis helped them determine the suites would be profitable after stakeholders from each department worked together to iron out requirements. Now the Chiefs are looking at doing the same thing again in 2021—and that’s what teams can accomplish when they’re empowered with reliable data. Check out this story to learn more about how the Chiefs are maximizing profits and planning as a team with Vena.     Help Ownership Visualize Bottom-Line Impact With Executive Dashboards Let’s imagine, for example, that a recent high-profile player signing causes a sharp and sudden increase to your monthly revenue from jersey sales. Ownership wants to know how this development will impact your profits, with a month-by-month projection of total jersey sales for the rest of the year. What do you think would be best for delivering this message effectively: A bunch of numbers on a manual spreadsheet, or some nice graphs on an automated dashboard? You don’t need a degree in finance to know the graphs are a far better option. Visualizing your numbers with dashboards is a key aspect of data storytelling because it’s an engaging and effective method for bringing your numbers to life. When ownership can actually see how your franchise is making more money in real time, they’ll also be able to feel the impact of all your hard work.  Dashboards are just as useful when you’re planning new ideas for your fanbase. Once you’ve built out your plans and modeled the potential outcomes, graphs are an easy way to communicate their impact on revenue. This will make it easier to secure executive buy-in and to gather support from your colleagues as you turn your ideas into reality. Plan for Profit With a Complete Planning Solution Built for the Sports Business Sports teams have a lot to look forward to as fans start flooding back into stadiums, which means it’s time to prepare your franchise for a nice little bump in revenue. And if you make planning more collaborative with the right tools for the job—i.e. reporting from one source of truth, on-demand scenario analysis, easy-to-read dashboards, etc.—you’ll always be ready to capitalize on opportunities to maximize profits and to keep your fans engaged with a world-class gameday experience. Pre-Configured Solution Vena for Professional Sports Teams Ready to take your franchise to the next level? Here's how to do it.

If you’ve ever read The Economist or flipped through the business section of your favorite newspaper, you’ve probably heard about the “Amazon Effect” and its impact on global business operations. The term was originally coined for Amazon’s disruption of brick-and-mortar retail, but now it’s used more generally to describe the rise of e-commerce and how firms across industries are being forced to adapt as a result.  E-commerce has always been growing, but the COVID-19 pandemic took the Amazon Effect to a whole new level. According to this analysis from Digital Commerce 360, e-commerce sales in the U.S. grew by 44% in 2020, nearly tripling the 15% jump we saw over 2019. As more people shopped online to comply with quarantine lockdowns, more companies revamped their supply chains so they could start shipping products safely—leading to one of the largest, most sudden demand spikes the third-party logistics industry (3PL) has ever experienced. The surge has reinforced the importance of collaboration between finance and operations teams at 3PL companies around the world. To comply with new safety protocols and to keep serving clients properly—which involves storing and fulfilling orders, getting products from A to B and doing it all as quickly and as cost-effectively as possible—leaders from both business functions need to analyze data together, identify opportunities for improvement and ensure the firm is prepared for both immediate and long-term growth. The problem, however, is that financial and operational data is often siloed at 3PLs. Fulfillment rates and capacity metrics might live in an inventory management system, while financial measures—such as labour costs and warehouse equipment expenses—are housed in an ERP/GL. In that scenario, you’d have to pull numbers from multiple data sources and then grapple with offline spreadsheets to calculate cost per unit shipped and other key efficiency metrics. It’s manual, time-consuming and prone to human error—making it tough to plan collaboratively with reliable, up-to-date data.  That’s why 3PLs need to unify finance and operations with one source of truth for company-wide data analysis. The Amazon Effect is here to stay, which means the need for 3PLs to keep an eye on the bottom line while also maximizing efficiency is only going to increase. In order to scale successfully in an increasingly demanding industry, 3PLs must embrace digital transformation and make strategic planning more accessible across the business. Bridging the gap between finance and operations will help you do that—but without all the manual headaches that might be holding you back.   Read on to discover how to align finance and operations at your organization, with some context from 3PL finance leaders about why this is so important. 1 Automate data consolidation 2 Use dashboards to measure efficiency 3 Leverage collaborative technology Automate Data Consolidation To Compare Financial and Operational Metrics Easily According to Digital Commerce 360’s 2020 Fulfillment Report, both FedEx and UPS reported that their total YoY package volumes jumped by 20% in Q2 2020. One company benefiting from this demand spike is Clipper Logistics—a 3PL based in Leeds, England that serves retail clients in the U.K. and Europe. Nicola Billingham, the firm’s Finance Director, says the Amazon Effect and the pandemic surge have led to serious growth for Clipper—but not without surfacing some business planning challenges as well. Forecasting and financial reporting used to be entirely manual processes, which quickly became unmanageable as the company continued to scale. “We’ve opened six new sites in the last 12 months, which meant six new sets of reporting to bring into our weekly and monthly analysis,” says Nicola. “We already had 30-odd sites in the U.K. alone, so tracking all that data manually and consolidating it with spreadsheets was difficult. We couldn’t get meaningful information into the hands of our decision makers fast enough.”   But today, after automating data consolidation as part of a wider digital transformation initiative, the planning process at Clipper now looks like this: Financial and operational metrics from every business unit are standardized in one system   Reports update automatically with the simple click of a button   Less time consolidating and more time analyzing gives Nicola more opportunities to focus on driving operational efficiency “We’re getting information quicker and in a more controlled manner,” she says. “We really have to think about how to manage the business more efficiently—and now we can help our operations colleagues make decisions about how to do that.” Show Clients Their Efficiency Gains With Financial and Operational Dashboards In the 2021 Third-Party Logistics Study, more than half of the 3PLs surveyed said their working relationships with customers will move from “transactional” to “strategic partner” within the next five years. The same study also found that “data analytics” as well as “technology and digital solutions” are the two biggest factors contributing to strong 3PL-customer relationships. These responses point to the fact that 3PL clients want more access to real-time efficiency metrics. After all, for today’s 3PL firms navigating the Amazon Effect, success is about more than just fulfilling your customers’ supply chain needs. It’s also about proving you’re actually managing them well, which means on time, on budget and without any expensive setbacks. Data storytelling can help you get that message across to customers—and that’s where customer dashboards really come in handy.   Metro Supply Chain Group, a global 3PL based in Canada, is a best-in-class example of data storytelling done well. After automating data consolidation for both financial and operational reporting, Metro was able to integrate client-level operational metrics (pulled from a data warehouse) with account-specific financials from their own ERP. It’s allowed them to build customer efficiency dashboards that are simple and always available, including to internal leaders and to Metro’s customers themselves. According to Paolo Mari, the firm’s VP of Business Analytics, “It lets us tell the full story beyond just a budget or forecast.” “A lot of our customers want to know about their costs per order, average wage rates and how they’re tracking against the budget in their contract. All of these reports are automated and refreshed multiple times per day,” says Paolo. “If we’re seeing a negative trend, we now have the tools to understand why so we can improve that operation for the customer.” That’s what being a “strategic partner” really looks like for 3PLs. As the Amazon Effect and the pandemic continue to drive demand in the industry, Paolo’s example at Metro is a strong one that you should follow. Learn more about how you can protect your budget from supply chain disruption. Vena Case Study MSCG Drives Efficiency With Dashboards Learn how Metro Supply Chain Group uses Vena’s Power BI Connector to make data-driven business decisions and deliver maximum value for customers.   Leverage Collaborative Technology So Finance and Operations Leaders Can Plan as a Team According to the same study we mentioned in the previous section, “integrated business planning” (IBP) is defined as “bringing together supply planning and demand planning” for 3PLs. This definition speaks to the importance of teamwork because demand planning focuses on financial measures (total revenue, revenue/expenses per customer, etc.) while supply planning focuses on operations (i.e. aligning internal resources to service the expected demand.) The study goes on to cite that just 27% of 3PLs use technology for IBP right now, while only 34% plan to invest in it within the next three years.  Those numbers are pretty low, which further highlights the need for increased collaboration between 3PL finance and operations teams. Even though the Amazon Effect might be forcing you to explore other tech investments—such as robotic process automation, for example—integrated planning solutions that support cross-functional teamwork shouldn’t be overlooked as your 3PL business grows. If your finance and operations leaders aren’t on the same page, it’s harder to come up with business plans that are both financially and operationally feasible. As Penske Logistics VP Andy Moses says in that study, “If you’re not planning together, you’re really going to have struggles.”  Collaborative technology solutions can help you fill that void and empower 3PL leaders with a holistic view of your planning cycle. In addition to supply and demand planning, you’ll be able to unify the processes that are most important to 3PLs, including: Budgeting, forecasting and reporting (both internally and for clients)   Capital expense planning (warehouses, equipment, etc.)   Workforce planning With one source of truth for cross-functional planning data, you won’t have to sift through spreadsheets to understand how your financial assumptions affect operations (or vice versa.) Consider this example from Paige Williamson, Director of Fixed Assets and Systems at Saddle Creek Logistics—one of the largest 3PLs in America. “Let’s say you’re looking at depreciation expenses for forklifts in a capital budget,” says Paige. “If you’re asking for five more forklifts, are you replacing them? Are you ending your leases and purchasing? That’s just another example of the stories we can tell about our business now. You have to be able to understand those stories to guide your business where you want it to go.” Vena Case Study Saddle Creek Plans Better Together Discover how Vena helps Saddle Creek Logistics accelerate budget consolidation and take control of their cost centers as a team. A Complete Planning Solution Can Help You Manage the Amazon Effect The last 12 months has dealt us a lot of curveballs, but one thing is absolutely certain: The Amazon Effect is not going anywhere. Even when the pandemic eases and the world reverts back to some semblance of normalcy, the habits we’ve all formed from our collective dependence on e-commerce won’t just disappear overnight. 3PLs everywhere will continue to grow and scale with an increased demand for reliable, up-to-date data. A Complete Planning solution can help you unify finance and operations with one source of truth for strategic, data-driven analysis—and that’s why they’re so important for 3PLs to have in place.  Watch Vena Nation Week 2021 On Demand Learn how Sprout Social, Royal Gold and JF Petroleum connect the dots with workforce planning, revenue planning and agile analysis. Check out The Extended Planning Panel from Vena Nation week 2021 on demand.

If you need a corporate performance management (CPM) tool to streamline budgeting, forecasting, reporting and financial close, it’s important to remember that not all solutions are created equal.  Even though most tools offer the same high-level functionality—such as source system integrations and advanced process automation—specific features vary in the CPM technology market. Some solutions will be better suited to solve your challenges over others, which means you should review your pain points, assess your business requirements and identify the features you need before bringing vendors to the table. You can then focus your search on vendors that fit the bill. This is easier said than done though, especially if it’s your first time leading the search for a CPM technology platform. That’s why so many finance teams rely on insights from Nucleus Research—a leading technology advisory firm—to help narrow down their shortlists when looking for a new solution. In Nucleus’ 2021 CPM Technology Value Matrix, a select group of vendors are recognized as market Leaders for their advanced functionality and superior ease of use. Here are some must-have features you should expect from CPM Technology Leaders, with some context regarding the pain points these specific features address. 2021 CPM Technology Value Matrix Read the Report for Free Find out why Vena is a Leader for the 8th year in a row. A Native Excel Interface In the 2021 Value Matrix, Nucleus asserts that “planning with antiquated email and spreadsheet processes is no longer possible in modern business environments”—and that’s true. Planning with Excel on its own can lead to some crippling challenges, including: Copying and pasting transactional data from the ERP/GL into spreadsheets, which is subject to human error   Multiple versions of the same budget template getting passed around via email   Spending days consolidating data from dozens of individual spreadsheets to create reliable reports and forecasts However, despite Excel’s challenges, finance professionals still love spreadsheets because they’re flexible, familiar and comfortable—and that’s why you should look for CPM solutions with a native Excel interface.  If your CPM tool centralizes your data without forcing you to abandon Excel, you’ll be able to solve your spreadsheet challenges without sacrificing Excel’s usability. You won’t have to learn an unfamiliar interface, waste time on manual aggregations or create new reports and budgeting templates from scratch. Instead, you’ll be able to leverage the Excel infrastructure you already have and ensure a smoother transition to agile, more reliable business planning. Pre-Configured Solutions Another excerpt from the 2021 Value Matrix states that “CPM solutions unify all organizational data for holistic planning across finance, HR, supply chain, sales and marketing.” This is crucial, because as your business continues to grow, you’ll need a scalable platform that's easy to adopt across departments—ensuring all cross-functional stakeholders are always on the same page.  That’s why you should look for vendors that can address your unique business needs with pre-configured solutions for maximum adoption and usability. Pre-configured solutions make your implementation easier with templates, business logic and workflows that are tailored to specific processes, such as: Workforce planning   Cash flow modelling   CapEx planning   Incentive compensation management   Account reconciliation Pre-configured solutions can also address industry-specific planning requirements, including: Net interest income planning for banks and credit unions   ARR planning and customer health dashboards for SaaS companies   Loss ratio and cost per claim analysis for insurance firms   Production planning in manufacturing   Enrollment planning in higher education   Labour management for healthcare providers Even if you don’t need all of this right away, it’s important to pick a vendor equipped with everything you’ll need in the future. This will drive adoption across your business, save you the hassle of working with IT consultants and give you some peace of mind as your company continues to evolve. After all, your growth journey is always changing—you need to partner with a vendor that can empower that growth as it happens.   Historical Data Analysis and Predictive Scenario Modeling Even the most thorough forecasts will eventually be wrong, especially when market conditions change. In order to pivot quickly, learn from experience and maintain reliable budgets, you’ll need a CPM solution that can measure your past, present and future business performance—all in one platform with the most up-to-date data at your fingertips.    When engaging with potential vendors, be sure to make it clear that historical data analysis and predictive scenario modeling are important to you. Here’s why these should be at the top of your CPM wishlist: Quick access to historical data makes it easy to identify variances between past budgets and forecast periods—ultimately resulting in more well-informed business plans as your requirements change over time.   Predictive scenario modeling (based on real-time actuals) allows you to test your business plans against potential future outcomes. This helps you identify your most significant business drivers and gauge the impact of anticipated changes so you can adjust your plans with confidence.   Using a CPM technology solution to streamline scenario modeling will eliminate the manual effort typically associated with this process. It frees up more time to uncover the story behind your numbers and empowers key decision makers with actionable, data-driven insights.  Customizable Workflows Keeping everyone organized and working as a team are critical components of effective business planning. If you don’t maintain transparency and hold people accountable to their tasks, cross-functional stakeholders will feel disconnected from your key planning processes. This creates data silos and planning inefficiencies across the business, making it hard for your finance team to come up with reliable numbers. That’s why customizable workflows are so important to have in place. If your CPM technology solution lets you design repeatable, step-by-step processes that are aligned with the structure of your business, you’ll be able to loop in stakeholders at the right times during your strategic planning cycle. You’ll also be able to assign tasks based on specific roles and security permissions and then monitor the status of those tasks in real time. You’ll find it’s a lot easier than emailing spreadsheets around and chasing down budget owners for numbers all the time. Vena: Your CPM Technology Leader for 8 Years Running  Now that you know what to look for in a CPM technology solution, it’s time to assess Nucleus’ Leaders and identify vendors for your shortlist. According to the 2021 CPM Technology Value Matrix, Vena has the best usability out of any other Leader in the market right now.  Vena’s Complete Planning solution is the only CPM technology platform that combines enterprise-class functionality with the comfort and flexibility of Excel. Vena should be included in every CPM technology evaluation, as the features mentioned above are some of the platform’s primary strengths.  But regardless of which vendors you look at, make sure to align your search with the specific needs of your company. And with the 2021 CPM Technology Value Matrix guiding you, you’ll be able to approach the market with confidence—and ultimately modernize planning with the solution that’s best for your business. Click here for FREE ACCESS to Nucleus’ 2021 CPM Technology Value Matrix. PREVIEW VENA Ready to start your own growth journey?

A new semester is usually an exciting time for staff and students in the higher education community, but the global pandemic made things a little different in 2020—and especially so for on-campus finance teams.  Universities had to deal with tuition revenue shortfalls after incoming students deferred and international students withdrew. On top of that, the bottom-line impact of a hybrid or fully virtual learning model left finance leaders wondering: Are we ready to take on these challenges? Saint Mary’s University (SMU) in Halifax, Nova Scotia is one institution that was ready. Darrell Rooney, SMU’s Senior Director of Financial Services, has been optimizing finance-led planning processes with Vena since 2015. Prior to that, offline spreadsheet work meant it would take three whole days to produce a basic financial statement. But now Darrell’s team runs ad-hoc reports in minutes—and that’s been instrumental in helping them navigate this enrollment disruption and adjust to a virtual campus successfully. In this blog post, we’ll walk you through three finance-led processes that Darrell and his team used to power agile enrollment planning at SMU: Maximizing faculty engagement with integrated budgeting and reporting templates Agile forecasting and scenario modeling based on real-time student registration data KPI tracking with dashboards as enrollment trends evolve Learn more about how SMU adapted quickly to unique enrollment scenarios by watching “Powering Data-Driven Enrollment Planning” at PlanToGrow.com. Maximizing Faculty Engagement With Integrated Budgeting and Reporting Templates Keeping stakeholders engaged throughout the university’s planning process used to be one of Darrell’s biggest challenges at SMU. Everyone submitted their expense reports in a different format, department heads didn’t usually refresh their budgets between school years, and the finance team couldn’t drill down into account-level details when needed. At a school with 1,500 unique accounts, 230 departments and 1,300 programs, Darrell just couldn’t simplify planning data for budget owners, executives or the board. As a result, budgeting was always a static annual process, and even if someone did manage to identify opportunities for improvement, there was no room for flexibility once the yearly plan was finalized.  SMU solved this problem by implementing Vena’s central cloud database with one connected template for all budgeting and reporting activities. Contributors across the university can now work from the same numbers and recast their budgets throughout the year, with far more visibility into what their cross-functional colleagues are planning. Darrell has even color-coded the templates so folks can spot variances more easily—which is just one of the many benefits of Vena’s native Excel interface.  The new format has encouraged stakeholders to really take ownership of their budgets and to work more closely with finance when funding requirements change. That level of transparency has been crucial for enrollment planning during the pandemic because now Darrell doesn’t need to dig through offline spreadsheets to determine: Which department or faculty is getting hit the hardest from an enrollment standpoint Where cuts can be made to the OpEx budget without compromising the educational experience for students   Opportunities to support recruitment efforts with funds that were previously allocated elsewhere The financial resources needed to shift to a virtual learning model  Instead of forcing Darrell’s team to plan from the top down, all of SMU’s stakeholders are working together to lead the school forward. It’s even helped them identify bits of funding that weren’t being spent properly—a nice boost for the finance team at a time when every dollar counts. Read Darrell’s customer story to learn more about SMU’s transformation with Vena’s Complete Planning solution. Agile Forecasting and Scenario Modeling Based on Real-Time Student Registration Data Another one of Darrell’s challenges was the inability to map course registrations back to revenue at the faculty and course level. He always had high-level tuition figures, but there was no easy way to determine if individual registrations were in the business or science department, for example, or if the tuition values were for domestic or international students. At the time, all of that data was siloed in Ellucian Banner, the university’s ERP. This made it difficult to reliably forecast enrollment revenue and to support the strategic planning process with regular what-if analysis. SMU wouldn’t have a clear picture of enrollment revenue until September, making it tough to allocate resources proactively ahead of the school year. SMU connected the dots by integrating Vena with Banner and automatically mapping registrations back to tuition dollars in their database. Today, instead of waiting until registration closes to deliver insights for the upcoming year, Darrell just clicks the refresh button on his enrollment forecast in Vena. Real-time registration figures flow in right from Banner, enabling the finance team to make predictions based on their analysis of historical trends. They can also drill down into faculties and courses from the forecast template, so stakeholders always know how each department is performing. But what about when everything they thought they knew about enrollment changes? What happens when international students—who account for 50% of SMU’s undergraduate tuition revenue—defer their registrations indefinitely? That’s what Darrell was dealing with when the pandemic broke out in March. With Vena’s intuitive scenario modeling engine, Darrell was able to quickly adjust enrollment assumptions and model best-case, worst-case and other unique revenue situations. Darrell can now answer “what-if” questions instantly and help the school’s executives reallocate resources as needed.  Learn how agile forecasting and scenario modeling can help you build stronger business plans in times of change. Using Dashboards To Track Key Enrollment KPIs  Even though all of SMU’s planning data was now accessible in one source of truth—with up-to-date budgets, forecasts and scenario models available at everyone’s fingertips—Darrell still had to figure out how to turn those numbers into narratives. After all, many of SMU’s executives aren’t experts in finance and don’t like reading spreadsheets to gather the information they need. That’s why Darrell leverages data storytelling with dashboards to more easily communicate enrollment trends and keep his leaders in the loop. Dashboarding became a priority right at the start of the pandemic, when the demand for real-time insights was top of mind for SMU’s board. Darrell was able to build a simple enrollment dashboard with Vena that included easy-to-read graphs visualizing the following KPIs: New student registrations per week New registrations by faculty/department New tuition revenue by faculty/department Darrell also uses the dashboarding function to display important operations metrics such as: Month-over-month expenses, with a focus on employee salaries and benefits Cash flow The value of student accounts receivables Darrell presents these dashboard to his executives during a weekly meeting, which has been critical for helping SMU’s leaders plan confidently through the pandemic. Now Darrell can actually show SMU’s decision makers:  How new virtual learning models affect which courses students are taking If the drop off in enrollment is significant or not as bad as they thought What options to boost enrollment in departments to balance the big salary bill These are the stories Darrell has been able to bring to life with Vena.  Want to see our dashboarding capabilities in action? Check out this video to learn more about Vena’s Power BI Connector. Looking Ahead With Data-Driven Enrollment Planning  It’s been a rough stretch for colleges and universities, but it’s certainly been a lot easier for agile finance teams like SMU’s. As enrollment trends in higher education continue to evolve, it’s important for other finance teams to follow Darrell’s lead, reinvent their planning processes and embrace the power of automation. Because if the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that circumstances can change in an instant.   Data-driven enrollment planning is a great way to kickstart your journey—and if you adopt the three processes above, you’ll always be ready to respond to any enrollment scenario that comes your way.  Request a demo today and transform your growth journey with Vena.

Agile finance-led business planning is important to master, in times of change and otherwise. Read on to find out why.   According to the 2020 Vena Industry Benchmark Report, less than half of today’s finance teams operate within an agile planning process. The report—which is based on a survey of 350 business leaders, finance executives and operations professionals around the world—examines how organizations across industries are adapting to today’s ever-changing business conditions. When asked if their current business planning processes are agile, only 48% of survey respondents said yes, while the remaining 52% said no. This is a noteworthy finding, especially at a time when responding quickly to change is a top priority for organizations. Operational shifts, revenue losses and strategy shake-ups have been the norm for most businesses in 2020. In order to ensure your business is well prepared for the future, your finance function needs to be nimble. You need to develop business plans that are resilient, adaptable and reliable so your decision makers can lead with confidence—and doing so with agility has never been more crucial. But what is agile planning and what does it look like in practice for finance teams? If you’re among the 48% who struggle with agile business planning, read on to discover: What is agile planning in finance? Why is agile planning so important? Top 3 elements of an agile finance-led planning process. What is Agile Planning? Agile planning is a series of connected processes that allow your finance team to look ahead (or behind) on demand, gather actionable insights from your numbers and shape your business plans with purpose. It involves having the right people, processes and technology in place so you can collaborate with cross-functional stakeholders, analyze data strategically and always uncover the best path forward for your business. Why is Agile Planning Important? Agile planning ensures flexibility through every stage of your business planning cycle. Instead of just conforming to a static annual budget, agile planning lets you pivot your plans when needed as priorities and business drivers evolve. In times of change, it allows you to respond proactively to unique scenarios and to update your budget accordingly—rather than just reacting without a clear vision of the consequences.  If your finance function is static, you won’t be able to deliver the analysis your stakeholders need in a timely and efficient manner. You’ll also run the risk of basing your planning decisions on outdated numbers. That’s why agile business planning is so important to master. It puts finance in the driver’s seat as you plan for today and tomorrow.   3 Key Elements of Agile Planning in Practice If you don’t think your planning process is agile right now, don’t worry. Speeding things up and building a strategic finance function isn’t as hard as you think. The improvement journey starts with having the right tools at your disposal, as well as a solid understanding of the following three processes: 1. Automated Data Consolidation Agile planning is easier if you integrate your source systems and enable on-demand access to all the information you need. By automating data consolidation, you’ll be able to build a single source of truth for company-wide data and achieve a holistic view of real-time business performance. It also helps eliminate the manual tasks that are typically associated with business planning—such as copying journal entries from your ERP/GL and pasting them into your planning templates. 2. Frequent Reforecasting, a.k.a Rolling Forecasts The second key element of agile business planning is updating your forecasts on a monthly, weekly or (in some cases) daily basis. This is less of a burden if you’ve automated data consolidation, because then you won’t have to track down your actuals manually and key numbers into a spreadsheet yourself. Instead, your forecasts will update automatically, giving you a reliable bottom-line outlook whenever you need it most. This is especially helpful when business conditions change and you need to assess the impact on your short and long-term revenue targets. In any case, regular reforecasting ensures your planning decisions are based on the most up-to-date numbers available.  3. Scenario Modeling and Analysis Much like reforecasting, scenario modeling lets you look ahead with your numbers and make data-driven planning decisions. But instead of relying on current and historical data, scenario analysis gives you the freedom to incorporate potential future outcomes into your business plans, giving you a much clearer picture of what might happen down the road. In the context of agile business planning, scenario modeling is what helps your finance teams remain proactive. By modeling a range of potential business scenarios and analyzing their impact ahead of time, you’ll always be one step ahead whenever a unique situation arises. With the above processes in practice, you’ll master the art of agile planning in no time. And as we all continue to navigate this period of unprecedented change, remember: Every organization has a different growth journey ahead of them. Enabling agile finance-led business planning is always the first step on that journey—in times of change and otherwise.  Discover how to get started with agile planning, or talk to a Vena expert 1:1 with no obligation and learn how to plan through change confidently. Download Vena’s 2020 Industry Benchmark Report here.

Looking to level up program planning at your nonprofit organization? It all starts with embracing these three finance-led processes.   Program planning in the nonprofit sector is a collaborative, cross-functional process, but the onus falls on the finance team to make sure it’s always done well. In an environment where financial transparency is more important than ever, you need to adopt protocols that ensure your resources are spent efficiently. And in order to serve your purpose as a strategic business partner to the organization, you have to respond with agility when funding assumptions change. If you’re a nonprofit finance leader, all of this probably sounds like a no-brainer to you. However, you might also recognize that many nonprofits aren’t fulfilling their program planning potential. Consider this for a moment: If budgeting and forecasting are static annual processes—as they are for many nonprofits today—it’s tough to realign program plans if priorities shift unexpectedly. Also, if your program staff aren’t involved in the resource allocation process, you won’t benefit from their input when you need to make weighty decisions. That’s why agile program planning is so important to master. It’s about looking ahead when you need to and building feasible program plans to lead the organization forward in pursuit of your strategic goals. In this blog post, we’ll walk you through three nonprofit finance processes that are crucial for agile program planning: Using custom reporting templates for restricted versus unrestricted fund balances   Reforecasting regularly to ensure you’re on track to balance the budget   Giving program staff visibility and influence over resource allocations We’ll also show you how WWF-Canada—an arm of the largest environmental conservation network in the world—uses these same processes to build smarter, more data-driven program plans. So, if you’re looking to level up the planning cycle at your nonprofit organization, read on to discover how to put these processes into action. 1. Use Custom Reporting Templates for Restricted Versus Unrestricted Fund Balances Unlike your general operating expenses, program plans draw from restricted funds to appease your donors and grantors. But managing these allocations quickly requires integrated reporting to break down your fund balances—all the way down to the individual grant or donation level. Without a consolidated view of the funds available for each program, you’d have to dig through mountains of donation data to determine where dollars can (and should) be spent. On the other hand, if you don’t have a regular status report regarding your plans for unrestricted funds, you might miss out on opportunities to supplement your program budgets from that pool. That definitely isn’t agile, which is why you need custom reporting templates for restricted and unrestricted funding sources. With a clearly defined breakdown of available funds at your fingertips, you can easily map your program plans back to specific donations or grants. Not only will this help you better inform your fundraising priorities and make the most of your resources, but you’ll also be able to track where your money is going in real time—which is something your board, donors and the government will always keep a close eye on. Clement Marlin, a Senior Financial Specialist with WWF-Canada, used to spend hours consolidating fund balances for his program coordinators each month. But with Vena, he’s been able to create reporting templates that pull fund data directly from his GL. Now coordinators have the ability to check their balances on demand so Clement can spend his time on more valuable strategic planning initiatives. To learn more about WWF-Canada’s efficiency gains with Vena, watch Clement’s free, CPE-accredited talk, “Transforming Nonprofit Program Planning,” on plantogrow.com. 2. Implement Rolling Forecasts To Maintain a Balanced Budget If programs are the largest variable expense items in your overall budget, you need to look ahead regularly and pivot quickly when assumptions change. That’s where rolling forecasts—i.e. frequent reforecasting based on up-to-date actuals—come in handy. With a consistent forecasting cadence in place—which could be monthly, weekly or even daily in some cases—you can easily pulse check your program plans and ensure you’re on track to balance. If you get an unexpected donation, or if your programs end up costing more than originally expected, you’ll always be able to gauge how it affects your bottom-line outlook. That way, instead of scrambling to react to emerging trends, you’ll have the insight you need to adjust course ahead of time. And if you use the right tools, agility will feel effortless—your actuals and future funding estimates will update with the click of a button. At WWF-Canada, Clement’s rolling forecast process is one of his key achievements with Vena. As the organization navigated a recent transition to virtual fundraising events, rolling forecasts gave Clement the ability to: Quickly revise his quarterly budget to account for lower operating expenses   Provide some much-needed clarity regarding the feasibility of future conservation programs   Challenge his new forecasts by performing scenario analysis with real-time numbers Check out this blog post to learn more about how rolling forecasts can help you respond to change and keep your budget on track. 3. Give Program Staff Visibility and Influence Over Resource Allocations As a nonprofit finance leader, you have the power to rally your program staff and to stoke their passion for the cause you support. All you have to do is involve them in the strategic planning process, regardless of where they stand in your organization’s overall hierarchy. You won’t want certain people to see everything—such as specific salary expenses, for example—but you can structure your program planning in a way that keeps everyone engaged. It starts with being transparent about the funding allocations for each program area, then fielding constructive feedback as you map out the budget with program staff. Here’s how to do it: Distribute detailed allocations reports with role-based security permissions, so the numbers they need to see are the only ones that are visible   Build functional workflows that allow managers to approve/reject program budgets, but only after the entire team has had an opportunity to contribute   Incorporate audit trails, commentary and drill-down functionality into your program templates to ensure complete transparency through every stage of the planning process At WWF-Canada, Clement and the finance team have a “reciprocal relationship” with program staff. He gives leaders the funding information they need, and they always keep him updated about what’s happening in the field. With Vena’s centralized database powering the entire planning process, neither Clement nor the program leaders need to worry about data integrity. Everyone is always working from the same set of financials, making it easy to plan programs faster and more collaboratively as a team. Read the full story for more details about WWF-Canada’s growth journey with Vena. Every nonprofit will take a different approach to program planning, but these three finance-led processes should always be part of the equation. If you build custom templates, leverage rolling forecasts and engage all of your program staff through every step of the planning process, you’ll always be well positioned to plan confidently for your organization’s future. Request a demo today and discover how Vena can help your finance team improve performance.

Through a combination of data-driven technology and process, FP&A has made planning an art form. In doing so, it’s become a key role in modern business, putting a strong system in place for budgeting, forecasting and reporting. But planning—as well as the modeling, reporting and analysis involved in it—is part of every area of business, not just finance, and by 2024, Gartner predicts 70% of Financial Planning and Analysis projects will extend past the finance team. To meet those needs, a new model is emerging that embraces the same system used in FP&A and moves it into other areas of enterprise planning and analysis. Extended Planning and Analysis (xP&A) takes the power of FP&A and integrates it throughout your organization. The “x”—for “extended”—is the X factor, promising to potentially break down organizational silos and integrate planning processes and data business-wide. By using the same tools as FP&A, it can increase scale, collaboration and automation across the business. Gartner expects xP&A to become mainstream by 2022. And it may be exactly what your business needs as you embrace the new normal ahead. With that in mind, consider: 1 What is xP&A? 2 xP&A vs. FP&A 3 5 Ways xP&A Can Help You Navigate the New Normal What is xP&A? Organizations are increasingly viewing planning as similar across disciplines—which means the same data, technology and processes can be employed for functions such as supply chain planning, merchandise planning, operational planning and technology planning as are used for financial planning. When fully integrated across the organization, xP&A breaks down the traditional silos between enterprise financial and operational planning processes and creates a cross-departmental framework that makes planning collaborative and hand-offs transparent, providing more business value. By doing so, xP&A—and planning in all its forms—becomes a business-wide behavior and process that lets you best align your resources to your organization’s strategic and operational goals. This creates a transparent and holistic view of your near-term health—from customer pipeline opportunities and people decisions to accounts receivable and related cash implications. Combining all of these unique aspects of the business can help guide your entire organization forward. xP&A vs. FP&A What makes xP&A and FP&A different? FP&A teams analyze operational and financial data and align business processes and strategies. You look at historical and real-time data to forecast what comes next and plan accordingly. But while the data you draw on might come from across the organization, including both financial and non-financial sources, you’re generally planning with a financial or strategic lens. So while FP&A has influenced the entire finance function, xP&A can empower other functions across the organization in the same way. As you constantly try to connect the dots and get to insights faster to enable your best decision making, xP&A is the natural evolution of planning. And as natural dot connectors, your FP&A team is perfectly placed to lead the charge. xP&A uses many of the same processes and tools you use as an FP&A professional in order to build automation and planning across the entire business, pulling from a single source of truth. In doing so, it increases transparency while reducing the planning workload in departments company-wide—introducing data-driven decision making that goes beyond finance to open up new insights and fresh opportunities to thrive as a business. And since everything together affects an organization’s revenue goals and projections, xP&A also offers you—as a finance professional—a fuller view into today and tomorrow. Something that has far-reaching benefits in the years ahead. 5 Ways xP&A Can Help You Navigate the New Normal By applying FP&A principles, widespread xP&A that’s integrated across the business can prepare your organization for change, enhancing its agility and setting you up for success. Here are five reasons why: xP&A can help build full business alignment. By combining data, processes and technology, xP&A lets you optimize your decision making at every point, in real time. This means you’re optimizing your insights, decisions and actions as well, all with the goal of building a better business. xP&A can give finance full visibility organization-wide. By extending the processes your finance team uses every day, xP&A—when fully integrated business-wide—gives you a better view into the entire organization, including the risks, resources and assets that define it. This lets you strategize accordingly and build a plan with the entire organization in mind. xP&A sets businesses up for change. Organizations today know that business and market changes are always around the corner. To stay on top of them, you need all of the information you can get, so you can stay agile and adjust your plan accordingly to continue to meet change head on and thrive. Wherever you deploy xP&A practices within your organization, it enables you to be ready for change. xP&A helps identify new growth opportunities. With a single view of the entire business and the data to support it, organizations can take the processes your FP&A team already uses to better identify opportunities for expansion or cost savings, This helps you optimize the business as a whole and move it forward intelligently at every step. xP&A can build better cross-departmental collaboration. By shutting down the data silos, fully integrated xP&A can empower you to eradicate the communication silos too. This means all of your teams can work together towards the same goals and with the same roadmap to get there. All of which is exactly what’s needed as your organization begins to explore what’s next for the market and your own business objectives. By increasing transparency and building a more holistic view, xP&A lets you get more out of your data and helps build a stronger, more unified business. Find out how Vena can help you master integrated business planning.