Finance leaders today operate in an environment where things are constantly changing. Sudden, often unexpected, shifts mean financial planning has never been more challenging and organisations have to adapt and respond quickly. Despite the intense need for dynamic planning, many organisations are held back by legacy technology, systems and processes. Year-long planning cycles compound this challenge with assumptions and recommendations often becoming outdated within a matter of weeks. Spreadsheets and manual data capture mean that insights into a problem are only possible once the next problem has arrived. This need not be the case.

Thanks to modern cloud-based planning technology, finance teams have data-driven tools at their disposal. These help unlock crucial insights, such as the key drivers that affect performance and market trends that will impact the bottom line. Organisations have more data at their fingertips than at any time in history, and now they also have the tools to make use of it. 

However, technology is only part of the solution. To keep up with fast-paced times, a change of mindset is also needed. Financial planning can no longer be an annual, set-and-forget process. Finance teams need to embrace a proactive approach to planning, so decision-makers have up-to-date intelligence to continuously monitor issues and swiftly execute decisions. They can do this in a number of proven ways.

Review the strategic vision

Strategic vision cannot be static, and the vision that drove success last year may no longer be relevant for the next year. It is important to continuously monitor your strategic vision and ensure its relevancy by evaluating whether you’re still going in the right direction and have the right roadmap in place to get you there.

This continuously adaptive strategy needs to be underpinned by clear and consistent data from operational and financial systems. Manual systems can be error prone, with issues such as data duplication and inconsistent records. Using outdated or incorrect information when making important decisions risks rendering this dynamic process useless.

Cloud-based, centralised data provides a single source of truth, eliminating the risk that comes with manual processes. This gives financial leaders the information they need when they need it - helping improve team effectiveness and efficiency.

Plan in real-time

To ensure planning is effective and relevant, it is important to use real-time data. Using months’ old data risks leaving decision makers in the dark when it comes to responding to immediate shifts in the external environment.

Modern cloud solutions help organisations feed their models with real-time, fresh data alongside advanced analytics tools. This enables finance teams to gain timely, actionable insight into what’s happening. 

Additionally, cloud solutions enable self-service capabilities, so departments and functions can analyse their own data, freeing up time for the finance team to create forward-looking forecasts, rather than managing a stream of one-off requests.

Consider a variety of timeframes

Unlike rigid annual forecasts, continuous forecasting enables finance leaders to understand how a change could impact performance over different timeframes. Finance teams can look ahead and map how performance may shift in the light of different scenarios. This type of scenario analysis can help teams run forecasts that factor in a range of hypotheticals, enabling the organisation to better react should these hypotheticals become reality.

A rolling forecasting and budgeting process also makes it easier for a company to make more targeted and effective investments, as shorter cycle periods tend to be more accurate. Making it possible for teams to request resources more frequently makes it possible for the company to grow and change more organically. This has real benefits, such as the potential to make the hiring process more streamlined and drive down staffing costs by having real-time insight into the organisation's needs.

Data-powered planning

In these ever-changing and difficult times, finance teams are increasingly being relied upon to help navigate through this uncertainty. Without accurate planning and forecasting, this is no easy feat. A flexible planning approach that can quickly adapt as the external environment shifts is a crucial tool for finance leaders. To help guide their organisations through challenging times, finance leaders need to take a real-time, data-driven approach to planning, powered by cloud-based data storage and analytics. It’s the best way to ensure organisations are armed with the most up-to-date intelligence while remaining agile enough to adapt continually.