How to Leverage EPM Software to Improve Revenue Planning

It speeds up the time it takes to issue financial and management reports and helps assure that the data in the reports is accurate and sound. Enterprise performance management (EPM) software allows you to do more work with fewer finance employees and can drive cost savings across the organization. But, really, what is the inevitable goal? The primary purpose of EPM software, and most of the systems business invests in, is to increase revenue and improve the profits for the organization. Here’s how to achieve that.

 

EPM Software Provides Easier Access Revenue Planning Data

When the inaccuracies of manual spreadsheet reporting are gone, the finance department can have confidence in the data they present to the organization and stakeholders.

Using spreadsheets for revenue planning typically requires a manual process of collecting and entering all of the data from Sales, which is often prone to errors. Furthermore, the Finance department is often stuck waiting around for Sales (as well as other departments) to deliver their figures. EPM software can be easily integrated with the sales software or CRM so that the Finance software is always up to date with the latest sales and pipeline data. This is also more accurate, because Finance doesn’t have to manually copy the data from the Sales department’s reports into their own spreadsheets. Eliminating data silos is the first step toward achieving a data-driven organization. With full access to all of the data relative to revenue planning, Finance can spend more time conducting analysis and less time trying to get all the information entered into the system.

Cloud-Based EPM is Easier and More Accurate for Revenue Planning Than Spreadsheets

Cloud-based (or SaaS) software frees the Finance
department from dependence on the IT department. They have full control of their own system, and the system can easily be integrated with the CRM system, and other systems for
faster and more accurate revenue planning.

A complicated snarl of enormous spreadsheets makes it incredibly difficult to conduct regular, accurate revenue planning on a weekly, quarterly, or annual basis. Spreadsheets are prone to the errors that all manual systems are usually plagued with — transposed numbers, missing data fields, duplicates, and other mistakes humans tend to make. EPM software can help eliminate many of these errors, so that you can have confidence in the data. Better yet, EPM software makes it easier and faster to drill deeper into the data when you want to see the underlying details. Now you can have more confidence in your historical reporting as well as your revenue planning, because the data is not only accurate, but the reporting process is automated and made far easier by the software. Both the Finance department and senior management can have confidence in the reports and sales forecasting models produced using an EPM solution.

SaaS or cloud-based EPM software doesn’t just make revenue planning easier and more accurate, it also saves money and eliminates the need for IT oversight. The Finance department can maintain 100% control of their software at all times. Are you ready for more growth and increased profits?

Check out a video from our partner Keen Vision, who demos a method on How to Forecast Sales Revenue.

Watch the Demo