Martin Lloyd on Wed, Oct 19, 2016 @ 12:10 PM
I was recently asked about reporting Bank Balances and Overdrafts in BPC, particularly when the status can vary from month to month. The initial discussion concerned reporting a Bank Account balance as a Short Term Asset - Cash balance or a Short Term Liability - Overdraft but it led on to some more complex scenarios.
If you are using BPC for financial reporting and consolidation this is an issue almost every client has so its worthy of considering the options.
Martin Lloyd on Thu, Oct 13, 2016 @ 05:10 AM
As many of you know, a properly implemented EPM solution can help model changing market conditions. Such
conditions may be commodity prices, competitive pressure in certain product and geographical markets, interest rates, or currency exchange rates. The thinking is, the better the ability to understand the impact to your organization of such volatility drivers, the more time you will have to craft a strategy to react. However, this task is not very simple as you will have all of those influences (and likely many more) nudging your company’s performance indicators up and down simultaneously.
Martin Lloyd on Fri, Oct 07, 2016 @ 07:10 AM
I was recently working at an organisation where the BPC implementation had developed over time with input
from a number of third party sources. There were no problems with functionality but, like most clients, they would appreciate any changes which could produce an improvement in performance. Clearly, a variety of skillsets, approaches, and quality standards had produced a challenging situation for this client, and they asked our team to make suggestions.
Topics: Performance, BPC logic
Martin Lloyd on Thu, May 21, 2015 @ 13:05 PM
Access to Advanced Training
Before being allowed to drive a vehicle unaccompanied, we are required to undergo training on both the theory (stopping distances, speed restrictions, road signs, etc.) and practice (actually handling a car) of driving, as well as passing a number of tests.
Topics: Best Practices, Process Improvement, Training, BPC (Business Planning & Consolidation)
Martin Lloyd on Mon, Feb 03, 2014 @ 09:02 AM
When we report on actual data we are clear what we are looking at: the data will have been taken from our transaction systems and will have been produced in agreement with generally accepted accounting standards. It will represent the actual performance of the organisation. But when we look at budget or forecast data are we as clear what the data represents?
Topics: Center of Excellence, Thought Leadership, Financial Close, BPC (Business Planning & Consolidation), Forecasting
Martin Lloyd on Wed, Jul 17, 2013 @ 11:07 AM
In a previous blog I examined the trend away from the traditional annual budget and periodic reforecasting regime and towards the rolling forecast. I’d now like to examine the particular factors which are driving companies towards rolling forecasts and the implications that this has on the required tools and methodologies.
Topics: Best Practices, Process Improvement, Excel, Thought Leadership, Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), Financial Information Management, BPC (Business Planning & Consolidation), Forecasting
Martin Lloyd on Tue, Jun 11, 2013 @ 12:06 PM
It’s natural to assume that your large customers, who unquestionably are the source of most of your revenue, also deliver the major part of your profit. The Pareto Principle suggests that 80% of your profits come from 20% of your customers and assumes that the 20% are represented by the largest customers.
Topics: Process Improvement, Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), Financial Information Management, Performance, Value
Martin Lloyd on Mon, May 13, 2013 @ 12:05 PM
If you’ve read anything which has come from SAP in the last few months you will have heard of HANA. I understood that SAP thought it was very important but didn’t really understand what it was and how it was going to affect me. After some reading, attending a couple of courses and being involved in some discussions with SAP I know a little more and would like to share it with you.
Topics: HANA, Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), Consolidation, Cloud, Roadmap, Value, Data, BPC (Business Planning & Consolidation)
Martin Lloyd on Thu, Dec 27, 2012 @ 09:12 AM
I've been implementing planning solutions for many years. One of the areas that we often find on the agenda for a planning application design meeting -- or, if it's not on the agenda, something we will bring up -- is the question of whether the organisation has a separate budgeting cycle or whether the budget has been subsumed into a rolling forecast process.
Topics: Process Improvement, Excel, Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), Project Management, Innovation, Performance, Roadmap, Forecasting
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