By: Hillary Sich

With the start of a new year, most company budgets are complete and now is a great time to reflect on the most recent budget process.

1. Was the process seamless?

2. Was it an easy process for individual budget contributors?

3. Did an individual in the organization have to enter data from all contributors into a “master” common Excel spreadsheet?

4. Were there errors and/or broken formulas in the master Excel Budget spreadsheet?

If the answer to 1 or 2 was “no” or the answer to 3 or 4 was “yes”, then it is most likely time to explore other budgeting options.

Early in my career when I was deeply involved in budgeting I only used Excel (and Lotus 123 – not to give away my age). At my last Controller position, we made the jump to Anaplan for Budgeting and Forecasting. Anaplan change changed my answers to 1 and 2 above to “yes”, particularly in regard to the ease for individual contributors to create and update budgets and forecasts.

Correspondingly, the answer to question 3 above changed to “no”. Instead of spending my time entering budget numbers supplied by others, I was able to analyze budgets and provide feedback on a timely basis. In addition, I also had another enhancement that was previously missing: a secure audit trail of all entries and changes.

As for question 4, errors became mostly an afterthought. Whereas each cell is a risk in Excel, Anaplan provides implicit guardrails in its structure – meaning, the formula needs to be entered only once. The end result was an accurate budget, produced on time without errors caused by broken Excel spreadsheets.

Since I have joined Allitix, an Anaplan Partner, I now realize that what I accomplished as an Anaplan customer was just the tip of the iceberg.

Anaplan functionality extends far beyond Budgeting and Forecasting. Consider the benefit to:

· Human Resources – Headcount reporting, Training and Development tracking

· Sales – Goal setting and tracking, Incentive Compensation Calculations, Territory and Quota

· Accounting – Utilization reporting, Contract billing tracking, Accounts Receivable performance

· Supply Chain – immediate feedback on inventory supply and demand

For more on Anaplan ROI, please see my article “Are you Achieving your Maximum ROI?”

We can help with your budgeting needs!

About the Author:

Hillary Sich is a Master Anaplanner with several years of Anaplan experience on the Client side. The move to Allitix Consultant is a perfect fit for her industry experience as a Controller, Assistant Controller, Accounting Manager, Process Improvement Specialist and Anaplan Administrator.

Hillary has focused on Budgeting and Planning and Financial Reporting across industries including Hospitality, Food and Beverage and Service Industries such as HVAC.

Budgeting Retrospect: Some Considerations