How Dynegy moved off spreadsheets and transformed their financial planning process

Moving off spreadsheets is one of the most common challenges finance teams face, and one of the most consequential decisions they’ll make. The manual work, the version control issues, the lack of audit trails, and the sheer time lost to data wrangling are problems that compound as organizations grow.

We recently hosted a webinar to address exactly this challenge, and heard directly from a Planful customer who has been through the journey firsthand.

Jason Talley, Lead Business Analyst at Dynegy (recently acquired by Vistra Energy), shared his experience managing financial planning for an organization with 45 plants, $4 billion in revenue, and around 350 users. Without drill-down capabilities, automated data loads, or audit trails, his team was spending the majority of their time on manual work just to produce basic budgets and forecasts. He needed a solution that was scalable, flexible, and manageable by finance. Most importantly, he needed to give his team back their most valuable asset: time.

Here’s what Jason had to say.

On how much time spreadsheets were consuming

Q: You mentioned your pre-Planful environment where you were data-wrangling in Excel, validating in Excel, and so on. Can you share how much of your time was spent on those kinds of tasks?

“I would say 50 to 75% of our time was spent wrangling spreadsheets and trying to handle any issues that were coming from the consolidation of those spreadsheets. I know the FP&A team had a very manual and tedious process, especially with the size of organization we had and the number of folks involved. We were able to significantly reduce how long that cycle took and were able to include commentary in the reports straight from the system, which saved time in communication as well.”

On the moment they knew something had to change

Q: Was there an “aha” moment? A revelation when you said, “Enough is enough, we have to find something better”?

“I’m going to reiterate the time spent and the lack of automation. That was the ‘aha’ moment for finance, as well as getting a single source of truth and getting everyone in the same platform using the same templates. There’s no data wrangling. Maybe the occasional question comes up or you spend time orienting a new user, but those were basic needs once the platform was built out for us. I should mention, our project was implemented in about three and a half months at most, so we were able to get set up for the new budget year and start our forecasting process with just a little bit of training time for power users. Then the power users rolled it out to the remaining users. That was really a huge win for us.”

On getting data into the system

Q: Where are you getting your data? Is it coming from the general ledger?

“At first we were able to quickly build manual data load rules to pull in that data from several sources we had identified. Once we mapped that out, we were able to automate the data loads to populate in Planful on a schedule. That was something we really liked: the ability to start simple with our data loads and move to more advanced automation capabilities later.”

On advice for teams beginning their evaluation

Q: For those folks who might be beginning their evaluation process for different solutions, what advice might you have on where to start or what to keep in mind?

“Know what your big wins are. Don’t feel like you have to have a huge implementation timeline to get everything done. Start simple and know that you can scale. You can build your core for the budgeting and forecasting process very quickly. From there, focus on your training and how you want different users to be involved. You can have certain power users from the financial planning side or some from the ops side and roll it out to a more general user base from there after they are trained. Basically, don’t try to do everything all at once, but ensure you can get more advanced as you go. Your more advanced reporting can always be developed over time.”

Ready to move off spreadsheets?

Jason’s experience at Dynegy reflects what finance teams of all sizes encounter when they outgrow spreadsheet-based planning. The good news is that the path forward doesn’t have to be complex or time-consuming. With the right platform and the right approach, teams can be up and running quickly and scale from there.

To learn more about evaluating financial planning and close solutions and key considerations when moving off spreadsheets, see Planful in action.

Key takeaways

• Dynegy was spending 50 to 75% of their FP&A team’s time on manual spreadsheet work before moving to Planful, time that is now redirected toward analysis and strategic support.
• Implementation took approximately three and a half months, allowing the team to be fully operational for the new budget year with minimal disruption.
• Starting simple and scaling over time is a more effective approach than trying to implement everything at once. Build the core process first, then layer in advanced capabilities as the team grows into the platform.

FAQs

How long does it take to move off spreadsheets and implement a financial planning platform?

Implementation timelines vary by organization size and complexity, but Dynegy’s experience shows it’s possible to be fully operational in as little as three to four months. Starting with core budgeting and forecasting workflows and expanding from there keeps the initial implementation manageable and reduces time to value.

What are the biggest signs a finance team has outgrown spreadsheets?

The clearest signs are when a significant portion of the team’s time is spent managing and reconciling spreadsheets rather than analyzing data, when version control becomes a persistent problem, when there is no single source of truth across the organization, and when the planning process can’t scale to meet the needs of a growing business.

How does Planful support organizations with complex data requirements?

Planful allows organizations to start with manual data load rules and progress to fully automated data loads on a schedule as their needs evolve. This flexibility means teams don’t have to solve every data integration challenge upfront. They can build incrementally and add sophistication over time without disrupting core planning workflows.