The Annual Financial Close

Financial professionals have had only two options when managing FP&A spreadsheets for decades. They can stay the course and continue to use Excel as a stand-alone manual solution for financial planning and analysis.  Alternatively, they can replace spreadsheets with newer technology that presents long, disruptive integrations requiring extensive training.  Isn't there a better option? Yes there is. Check out these integration suggestions if you're looking for ways to integrate your existing FP&A spreadsheets into a new financial planning and analysis solution. 💡 Key Takeaways: On their own, developers did not design Excel spreadsheets to generate analytics. Excel sorts data, but without further integration, analytics is not possible. Integration doesn't have to create more issues than it solves. However, it will require that you keep it simple, document the process and take measures to secure data. Consistency is key when integrating your existing spreadsheets into an FP&A solution. Consistent formulas will simplify the integration process. Approximately 63% of companies in the U.S. rely on Excel as the primary tool they use for budgeting and planning—and most finance professionals are familiar with it How To Integrate Spreadsheets Into an FP&A Solution In FP&A, working knowledge of Excel is a must-have skill. Finance teams perform financial analysis, modeling and reporting in Excel because of its unmatched mathematical capabilities in formatting, calculations and VBA/Macro tools.   While some organizations have attempted to move away from Excel, 82% of organizations with an FP&A software solution will return to using Excel. Why force financial professionals to adjust to a new application? Integrate an FP&A solution that works with your current spreadsheets, not against them. The result will be a more efficient finance team and happier finance folks. Let's look at the steps you should take to integrate spreadsheets into an FP&A solution. 1. Document Processes, Procedures and Objectives Documentation is key for obvious reasons, including troubleshooting during the integration process y to determine which steps your integration team took. Consider outsourcing integration so it isn't something you or your internal teams have to worry about managing. Furthermore, document the processes, procedures and objectives, along with change logs in the model. Separate into different tabs such as: Instructions Inputs Outputs Summaries Drivers Scenarios Calculations Change Logs Assumptions Source Data Error Checks 2. Avoid Externally Linked Worksheets  Avoid externally linking workbooks or worksheets. If it is truly necessary, communicate all changes. Do not create a daisy chain of information. Refer directly to the data source for input instead of from cells that reference that input. 3. Prevent Unauthorized Access Excel's security is extremely limited. Data security will require that you encrypt the model to prevent unauthorized access and set permissions to keep unauthorized users from obtaining information outside the scope of their duties. Prevent fraudulent characters (internally and externally) from manipulating data. 4. Create Consistent Formulas You streamline integration by creating consistent formulas, such as model layouts, standardized naming conventions and structure. Do this for a range of mixed and absolute references. 5. Prevent Further Changes  Avoid inadvertently referencing incorrect data by pressing “Enter” after completing every entry into a cell. Don't simply click away from the cell. Also, mark "Final" on the final version to prevent further changes making the file read-only. Why Organizations Choose Excel Over Conventional FP&A Solutions Approximately 63% of companies in the U.S. rely on Excel as the primary tool for budgeting and planning and most people are well-versed in using the program. Spreadsheets are still our favorite for standard data entry or quick ad hoc tasks. Excel is straightforward to use and most people learn how to use it in their early secondary education classes.  More importantly, you can find free online how-to instructions, tips, and videos on social media platforms such as YouTube that discuss the effectiveness of spreadsheets. Spreadsheets are inexpensive. Proprietary spreadsheet programs like Excel (part of the Microsoft Office suite) are available as part of your Microsoft 365 SaaS subscription.  In 2016, Microsoft introduced Power BI tools. These tools allow spreadsheet users to manage a more extensive volume of data and enhance user experience with improved data visualization. Drawbacks To Using Spreadsheets Alone  Many agree that Excel is obsolete, or at the very least, quickly becoming outdated. While people tend to exaggerate these claims, we base them on the undeniable truth that standard Excel alone is unfit as a total FP&A solution.  That's not to say that we don't believe that Excel has its strengths. There's a reason firms use spreadsheets to collect and store data.    However, modern FP&A teams require a toolkit that supports flexibility, scalability and collaboration. Standard desktop Excel falls exceedingly short, offering unreliable, chaotic and often siloed datasets.  Excel is also susceptible to human error. Data entry mistakes wreak havoc on even the best-built models and can lead to catastrophic circumstances.  Excel data is also susceptible to fraudulent manipulation and a lack of necessary security controls. Other issues include: Complex models are challenging to troubleshoot Linked spreadsheets could be in various sites and folders Risks associated with links not updating It's not ideal for collaborative work, nor is it agile Developers did not gear spreadsheets for scalability Can be difficult and time consuming Processing speeds are proportional to the scope and complexities of the models More importantly, developers did not design spreadsheets alone for generating analytics. Further integration is necessary for your financial team to perform business analysis. The Only Native Excel FP&A Solution  Excel is here to stay. Overcome Excel's limitations by adding data integrity, version controls and up-to-the-minute updates with Vena—empowering.   your finance teams to obtain the data they need and perform the analysis you hired them to do without needing to teach them an entirely new way to manage spreadsheets.  

The 7 Best FP&A and Financial Planning Software Tools for 2023 Modern finance needs modern tools.  To empower finance teams today, this means implementing a financial planning and analysis (FP&A) platform that delivers. But what exactly should you be looking for to keep your business on track? As the heartbeat of financial planning and business analysis, FP&A processes are critical to organizations today—keeping your business running smoothly by enabling planning, forecasting and analysis. But to drive invaluable data-driven decision making and ensure your team has everything they need to thrive, those FP&A processes must rely on a financial platform that’s powerful, function rich and intuitive to use. So how do the current FP&A solutions on the market measure up? How do you know which one is the best for your business needs?  Keep reading for an overview of seven of the top FP&A and financial planning software tools on the market—and the pros and cons of each. What Is Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A)? Financial planning and analysis (FP&A) comprises the planning, budgeting, forecasting and analytical processes that together support your organization’s business and financial decision making. Through cross-functional analysis, it helps you build your future goals, measure ongoing financial performance and forecast upcoming results.  To achieve all of that, modern FP&A teams rely on financial planning software. Gartner defines financial planning software as “a key tool that enables organizations to manage their enterprise-wide financial planning, forecasting and budgeting process.” It empowers businesses to “plan and analyze business financial strategy for the organization across all three financial statements (profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flow).” Typically, financial planning software also supports scenario modeling, collaboration, analytics, budgeting and performance reporting.  Let’s dig a little deeper into FP&A and how to choose a financial planning software that truly supports it. How Do You Do FP&A? As strategic partners to the entire business, FP&A teams are responsible for communicating and collaborating across departments. That means collecting company-wide data to fuel organization-wide planning,  look ahead and contribute to strategic decision making. It also means making informed financial decisions to ensure your business continues to thrive. Several key duties are taken on by the FP&A team, including: Analyzing assets, investments and your current return on investment (ROI) Deciding how to use cash flow Calculating key financial ratios to determine financial health Analyzing your products and services to see where the most net profit is made and which products have the highest and lowest profit margins Determining the cost efficiency of each department and whether resources are allocated in the best possible way—and working with those departments to build effective budgets Reporting to leadership and building out the financial models and forecasts that support their ongoing decision making Comparing budgets and forecasts against historical results, mapping out growth plans and looking for expansion opportunities To build efficiencies into the key processes that support those duties, organizations need an FP&A platform that fits their needs. How To Choose the Best FP&A Platform To empower your FP&A processes, you require a technology platform that will drive confident and connected decision making and ensure business-wide accountability. One that offers data analytics, guides business intelligence, lets you share actionable and scalable insights across your organization and drives strategic business planning and up-to-the-minute analysis. To achieve that, your financial planning platform should have:  Powerful BI cloud and AI capabilities Access to real-time analytics at scale  Functionality that drives operational alignment and accountability  Collaboration tools that let you share insights across cross-functional teams  Multidimensional modeling and scenario analysis capabilities Unified data control and security to ensure your data is protected An intuitive, easy-to-use interface  Ultimately, the tool you choose should connect your data, be intuitive for users and stay scalable to your business needs—letting you remain agile and proactive as you continue to grow. The Best FP&A and Financial Planning Software 1. Vena An out-of-the-box, no-code solution, Vena’s FP&A platform brings your financial and operational data to life with interactive visualizations that improve the way your teams communicate, collaborate and find creative solutions to complex business problems.   Vena empowers confident and connected decision making and business-wide accountability. It makes it easy to share actionable, scalable, AI-driven business insights and empowers strategic planning and agility at every level with guided business intelligence. And with extensible APIs, native integrations and multidimensional modeling capabilities, Vena enables you to go from data readiness to deep insights to peak business performance in an instant—all within a secure, complete planning platform. Key Functionality and What Makes Vena Easy To Use Built around a familiar Microsoft Excel foundation, Vena is flexible and intuitive, empowering FP&A teams to: Enhance strategic decision making, with self-serve access to data analytics and instant AI-powered insights using configurable dashboards that answer critical business questions, find creative solutions to complex problems and power proactive decision making Drive operational alignment and accountability, to easily communicate the impact of investment decisions, enhance visibility into business performance and help teams determine what drivers they need to focus on to optimize operations with effective data management and easy-to-understand visualizations Future-proof analytics and insights by leveraging out-of-the-box embedded and guided business intelligence, with instant access to Microsoft’s ongoing artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) updates Centralize data in a secure environment, with unified data control and security, including sensitivity labeling, end-to-end encryption and real-time access monitoring Empower cross-departmental collaboration, enhancing the visibility of business performance and supporting communication to all stakeholders Vena’s Complete Planning solution is self-service, secure and interactive—connecting teams, enabling collaboration and facilitating data-driven cultures. All with Excel at the core, meaning you don’t have to abandon the tools you’re comfortable with in order to scale.  Want to see Vena in action? Sign up for a 7-day Vena Preview. 2. Planful Used to streamline business-wide planning, consolidation, reporting and visual analytics, Planful lets you see performance data at scale, automate, improve reporting and align planning processes. Their financial performance management software is meant largely for bigger FP&A teams and CFOs looking to streamline their planning efforts.  Key Functionality and What Planful Does Well: Offers collaboration and sharing tools with a web-based user interface Adheres to common security and compliance requirements Provides consistent and customizable financial reporting  Planful Weaknesses: Does not easily export live reports into Excel Poor integration capabilities take months to complete Does not extend easily beyond the office of finance without additional support Data modeling is complex and difficult to configure How Does Vena Compare With Planful?   Vena Planful Native Microsoft Excel User Interface Offers a native Excel experience, including all formatting and custom formulas ✅ 🆇 Collaboration and Sharing Lets you collaborate, tag and comment directly in Excel ✅ ✅ Central Database Provides a unified solution that’s centrally architected and designed to support minimal system maintenance ✅ 🆇 Integrations Offers native API integrations to industry standard systems (GL/ERP/CRM) as well as publicly available API integration to hundreds of additional source systems ✅ ⚠️ Process Management Includes flexible and visual workflows for all input, business rules, review and reporting tasks across any process ✅ 🆇 Security and Compliance Provides a single, integrated security model with auditability ✅ ✅ Modeling Offers integrated and common data models for financial and operational forecasting, budgeting and reporting  ✅ ⚠️ Microsoft Power BI Embedded Has natively built reporting and insights with an industry-leading business intelligence tool ✅ 🆇 3. Anaplan Anaplan is a web-based, enterprise-level business modeling and planning platform. It serves multiple areas across the business, including finance, marketing, sales, supply chain and workforce management. Anaplan offers forecasting and scenario modeling capabilities, with real-time access to data and collaboration capabilities.  Key Functionality and What Anaplan Does Well: Can be scaled across the organization Supports complex calculations Is highly customizable to accommodate multiple use cases Anaplan Weaknesses: Has a high learning curve with low adoption Is IT intensive and difficult to maintain and implement There are no pre-configured starter models Modeling is complex and difficult to use and maintain How Does Vena Compare With Anaplan?   Vena Anaplan Native Microsoft Excel User Interface Offers a native Excel experience, including all formatting and custom formulas  ✅ 🆇 Collaboration and Sharing Lets you collaborate, tag and comment directly in Excel  ✅ ⚠️ Central Database Provides a unified solution that’s centrally architected and designed to support minimal system maintenance ✅ 🆇 Integrations Offers native API integrations to industry standard systems (GL/ERP/CRM) as well as publicly available API integration to hundreds of additional source systems  ✅ ✅ Process Management Includes flexible and visual workflows for all input, business rules, review and reporting tasks across any process ✅ 🆇 Security and Compliance Provides a single, integrated security model with auditability ✅ ✅ Modeling Offers integrated and common data models for financial and operational forecasting, budgeting and reporting  ✅ ⚠️ Microsoft Power BI Embedded Has natively built reporting and insights with an industry-leading business intelligence tool ✅ ⚠️ 4. Prophix Prophix’s corporate performance management (CPM) software is designed mostly for finance teams at mid-market organizations. It improves profitability and minimizes risk by automating budgeting, forecasting, reporting and consolidation-to-close processes for better decision making. Prophix is available in the cloud or on premise. Key Functionality and What Prophix Does Well: Supports multiple use cases Makes it easy to build custom reports Has 20+ years of category and industry experience Prophix Weaknesses: Limited Microsoft Excel integration Weak business intelligence and machine learning integrations or tools Template creation is cumbersome and difficult to use The combination of cloud and on-premise deployments are not at feature parity How Does Vena Compare With Prophix?    Vena Prophix Native Microsoft Excel User Interface Offers a native Excel experience, including all formatting and custom formulas  ✅ 🆇 Collaboration and Sharing Lets you collaborate, tag and comment directly in Excel  ✅ ⚠️ Central Database Provides a unified solution that’s centrally architected and designed to support minimal system maintenance ✅ ✅ Integrations Offers native API integrations to industry standard systems (GL/ERP/CRM) as well as publicly available API integration to hundreds of additional source systems  ✅ ⚠️ Process Management Includes flexible and visual workflows for all input, business rules, review and reporting tasks across any process ✅ ⚠️ Security and Compliance Provides a single, integrated security model with auditability  ✅ ✅ Modeling Offers integrated and common data models for financial and operational forecasting, budgeting and reporting  ✅ ⚠️ Microsoft Power BI Embedded Has natively built reporting and insights with an industry-leading business intelligence tool ✅ 🆇 5. Workday Adaptive Planning Workday Adaptive Planning is an enterprise planning and analysis solution designed to empower collaboration, insights and agility. It offers modeling and analytics functionality for organizations of all sizes, with customizable offerings for different use cases.  Key Functionality and What Workday Adaptive Planning Does Well: Has brand recognition and a large customer base Is customizable to certain use cases, including workforce planning, sales planning and financial planning Offers flexibility to create sheets and views based on the needs of business users Workday Adaptive Planning Weaknesses: Not a native Microsoft Excel integration, but instead uses proprietary modeling and formula language Has a steep learning curve, with weak support and implementation services Doesn’t offer streamlined native integrations Has performance issues and system limitations How Does Vena Compare With Workday Adaptive Planning?   Vena Adaptive Native Microsoft Excel User Interface Offers a native Excel experience, including all formatting and custom formulas  ✅ 🆇 Collaboration and Sharing Lets you collaborate, tag and comment directly in Excel  ✅ ⚠️ Central Database Provides a unified solution that’s centrally architected and designed to support minimal system maintenance ✅ ⚠️ Integrations Offers native API integrations to industry standard systems (GL/ERP/CRM) as well as publicly available API integration to hundreds of additional source systems  ✅ ⚠️ Process Management Includes flexible and visual workflows for all input, business rules, review and reporting tasks across any process ✅ ⚠️ Security and Compliance Provides a single, integrated security model with auditability  ✅ ✅ Modeling Offers integrated and common data models for financial and operational forecasting, budgeting and reporting  ✅ ⚠️ Microsoft Power BI Embedded Has natively built reporting and insights with an industry-leading business intelligence tool ✅ 🆇 6. Datarails Datarails is a financial planning and analysis platform that offers automation, visualization and consolidation capabilities. Finance teams can benefit from the spreadsheets and financial models of Excel while automating their financial reporting and planning. Key Functionality and What Datarails Does Well: Offers a low-cost option that makes it a good starter solution Offers a point solution for financial budgeting, planning and reporting Connects to Microsoft Excel using legacy desktop ribbon technology Datarails Weaknesses: Does not support extended, scalable planning use cases beyond traditional financial budgeting, planning and reporting Flexibility and modeling is difficult and requires Datarails support to aid in setup and maintenance The product is in development and has performance issues, with key features and capabilities missing The Excel add-in requires installation How Does Vena Compare With Datarails?   Vena Datarails Native Microsoft Excel User Interface Offers a native Excel experience, including all formatting and custom formulas  ✅ ✅ Collaboration and Sharing Lets you collaborate, tag and comment directly in Excel  ✅ ⚠️ Central Database Provides a unified solution that’s centrally architected and designed to support minimal system maintenance ✅ ✅ Integrations Offers native API integrations to industry standard systems (GL/ERP/CRM) as well as publicly available API integration to hundreds of additional source systems  ✅ 🆇 Process Management Includes flexible and visual workflows for all input, business rules, review and reporting tasks across any process ✅ 🆇 Security and Compliance Provides a single, integrated security model with auditability  ✅ ⚠️ Modeling Offers integrated and common data models for financial and operational forecasting, budgeting and reporting  ✅ ⚠️ Microsoft Power BI Embedded Has natively built reporting and insights with an industry-leading business intelligence tool ✅ 🆇 7. Cube Cube is an FP&A platform that provides real-time financial and operational data access. It enables strategic planning, reporting and analysis within a spreadsheet environment, with flexible use cases across functions. Key Functionality and What Cube Does Well: A niche FP&A solution, it lets you get started fairly quickly Provides customizability and flexibility Offers top-rated customer service and support Cube Weaknesses: Has limited security with no way to restrict what users can access The product is still in development, with a limited feature set and functionality that’s still lacking There are modeling limitations, with a limited number of dimensions your organization can have How Does Vena Compare to Cube?   Vena Cube Native Microsoft Excel User Interface Offers a native Excel experience, including all formatting and custom formulas  ✅ ✅ Collaboration and Sharing Lets you collaborate, tag and comment directly in Excel  ✅ ✅ Central Database Provides a unified solution that’s centrally architected and designed to support minimal system maintenance ✅ ⚠️ Integrations Offers native API integrations to industry standard systems (GL/ERP/CRM) as well as publicly available API integration to hundreds of additional source systems  ✅ ⚠️ Process Management Includes flexible and visual workflows for all input, business rules, review and reporting tasks across any process ✅ 🆇 Security and Compliance Provides a single, integrated security model with auditability  ✅ ⚠️ Modeling Offers integrated and common data models for financial and operational forecasting, budgeting and reporting  ✅ 🆇 Microsoft Power BI Embedded Has natively built reporting and insights with an industry-leading business intelligence tool ✅ 🆇 Conclusion To get the most out of your FP&A team and processes, you need a financial planning platform that will enable those processes, empower your team and help you exceed your business goals.  That makes choosing the right solution crucial. Understanding what you hope to achieve, the functionality you need to accomplish those goals and the learning curve to expect for your team should all play a part in making that decision. From there, it’s all about carefully comparing the pros and cons to make sure you get the solution that best meets all your needs—then putting your new platform to use to make your organization’s objectives a reality. Frequently Asked Questions What should I look for in FP&A tools? What you should look for in your FP&A tools depends on your most pressing needs and the planning processes you have in place. You should also consider your people and the change involved in bringing in any new technology investment. Look for a familiar, flexible interface that lets your team stay agile and proactive, is scalable as your business grows and connects your data for more informed analysis and decision making. Automation, collaboration and visualization functionality are also key if you hope to fully empower your FP&A team. What does FP&A software do? Gartner says financial planning and analysis (FP&A) software supports “the office of finance’s budgeting, planning and forecasting efforts. Many also supplement the office’s budgeting and planning process support with modeling, collaboration analytics and performance-reporting capabilities, to increase its ability to manage performance by linking corporate strategy and execution.” It empowers you to better understand your business’s overall financial health, look ahead to make better decisions for the future and collaborate on budgeting and planning. What is xP&A and how is extended planning different from FP&A? According to Gartner, extended planning and analysis (xP&A) “extends” traditional FP&A solutions focused solely on finance into other planning domains—such as workforce planning, sales, operations and marketing. Solutions that enable xP&A help organizations exploit the challenges faced when introducing new cloud-based business processes and navigating economic uncertainties. In other words, this tech-powered planning approach enables finance teams to build agility, resilience and alignment into financial, strategic and operational planning. What other solutions does Vena provide? Vena offers solutions across FP&A, sales performance management and financial close management. We also have pre-configured industry solutions designed specifically for banking and credit unions, SaaS, insurance, manufacturing, real estate, hotel and lodging, higher education, healthcare, professional sports, not for profit and professional services.

Every organization uses data.  Financial professionals arguably manage the most sensitive data in the world—the information involving someone's personal and financial identity. That's why these companies especially need to consider adopting the single source of truth methodology. What is a single source of truth (SSOT)? Let's take a moment to review what it is and how implementing SSOT principles to your data collection and storage will benefit your business.  💡 Key Takeaways: Single source of truth refers to the philosophy that an organization must have a central repository for data storage, collection and analysis. Benefits of SSOT include better data for decision making, less time searching for correct data and overall increased productivity. Boost your team's productivity, ensure data security and increase transparency for stakeholders, employees and the public using the SSOT methodology. The principles of SSOT determine that all data should be reliable and consistent, accessible to all who need it and updated promptly. What Is Single Source of Truth (SSOT)?                                                                                                  Source: YouTube    SSOT is a philosophy for data collection, storage and analysis within an organization that then aggregates that information into central repositories. Extrapolating data from a single source increases the accuracy of statements, budgetary forecasting and various other FP&A reports.  A search engine is the most common use of the SSOT methodology. Software programs, databases, platforms and websites are other common examples of how the SSOT philosophy works. A digital experience platform (DXP) is an excellent single source of truth. Depending on the information you are looking to obtain, your SSOT could be any of the items listed above. It could also include (but is not limited to): Cloud-based applications E-commerce sites Dashboards CRMs CMS ERPs Financial systems Document management systems  DevOps programs                                                                                              Source: HubSpot Top 4 Benefits of SSOT   When your organization employs the SSOT methodology, they prosper from these four benefits:   1. Obtain the Right Information at the Right Time Stop hunting for data. Next to revenue, information is the lifeblood of any organization. When that information spreads across the organization in multiple databases, you get data silos. They are a nightmare for anyone responsible for data collection and reporting. Implementing SSOT principles ensures that your company has the information to make effective business decisions. It also gives them the confidence to take action on an account or with a client knowing they have all the correct information when needed.  2. Spend Less Time Identifying Correct Data Poor data quality costs companies $15 million a year. Roughly 20% of lost business is due to inaccurate data. SSOT reduces the amount of bad data because data accuracy is a key principle of this methodology.  When all your organization's data is in one location, error-free data is readily available.  You have billable hours to worry about. Don't waste time making sure you have the right information. Feel confident knowing that the data you need is available, accurate and only a few clicks away. 3. Increase Your Team's Productivity Your teams are more productive when information is readily available, easy to access and straightforward to analyze. A central database allows you to obtain the most up-to-date information whenever you need it without wasting time searching. 4. Ensure Data Security Data repositories not only ensure the accuracy and availability of data. It also guarantees data security. A cybercrime occurs once every 39 seconds.  Having a central database with state-of-the-art security technology ensures that you, your firm and your clients don't fall victim to a cyber attack due to your company's approach to data storage. SSOT also ensures data compliance with the strict regulations surrounding an organization's data collection, management and storage.   Principle of SSOT Software     There are three basic principles of SSOT: Reliable and Consistent When your organizations apply the SSOT methodology and work to move your data into one central repository, the integration must ensure the reliability and consistency of the data. For instance, if multiple users can add new clients to the database, you'll want to ensure that the system flags duplicate entries. If the client gets entered twice, there is no way of knowing whether you are viewing the most accurate and up-to-date information about that client.  Data from their last interactions with someone from your office could be in either location in your database. That data will be incomplete when you filter data for insights and reporting. Accessible Accuracy is as vital as those who have access. Let's use the example above again. Imagine you have two clerks who enter data into your system, but neither have access to uploaded documents (because of the sensitive nature of the information included).   One clerk earns a promotion and now needs access to documentation within client files to do their job. However, the admin never upgraded the clerk's permissions and now they can't do their job because no one granted access.  Reports do not get filed, deadlines become overdue and clients are less than pleased. Lack of access is as detrimental as inconsistent data.  Up to Date The final principle is one of the most essential in finance. Financial information is extremely fluid and can change (literally) at any moment. Waiting to update data in your system can make that information obsolete by the time it makes its way into a budget, report or statement. Where the Finance Finds Its Single Source of Truth   Accountants, CPAs, and other finance professionals spend approximately 2.5 hours working billable hours each day, meaning that the work you do during non-billable hours needs to be as productive and your time well managed. Having a reliable SSOT makes obtaining the data you need as straightforward as possible.  With Vena, you can collect, store and analyze your data to make well-informed decisions for your organization and your clients. Harness the power of Excel and get the information you need from one central location.