Workday Adaptive Planning Blog - Where People Who Plan Come to Learn

So, if you’re interested in creating reasonably accurate and reliable forecasts that can warn finance leaders when they need to make major changes, read on. Here are five steps you can take to orchestrate the kind of financial forecasting processes that support the implementation of the executive team’s strategy.

How great financial forecasts can guide business strategy

May 5, 2021

If 2020 taught CFOs anything, it’s that they need well-executed financial forecasts and models from their FP&A team. Accurate forecasts help finance leaders make insightful, data-driven decisions, allowing their organizations to prepare for market conditions and trends, adapt to revenue and expense fluctuations, and execute strategic action plans. So, if… Read More

Under even the best circumstances, companies must manage fluctuating market demand for their products. Failing to keep pace, of course, can result in lost revenue as customers flock to competitors; meanwhile, overestimating demand leads to surplus inventory that eats into profit margins. That’s why demand planning — a complex network of sales data, product life cycle management, and inventory management — is critical to balancing inventory levels with customer satisfaction. In other words, it’s critical to enabling business agility.

How demand planning can shock-proof a business

Sofia Martinez

April 28, 2021

Under even the best circumstances, companies must manage fluctuating market demand for their products. Failing to keep pace, of course, can result in lost revenue as customers flock to competitors; meanwhile, overestimating demand leads to surplus inventory that eats into profit margins. That’s why demand planning — a complex network… Read More

One of the reasons today’s fastest-growing, most innovative businesses use modern FP&A technology because it promotes cross-departmental collaboration. That means projects that have long been considered finance-only responsibilities, such as financial consolidation, can now be a team sport within which department leaders across the business participate. The result is a holistic financial picture of your business that includes key data from all departments.One of the reasons today’s fastest-growing, most innovative businesses use modern FP&A technology because it promotes cross-departmental collaboration. That means projects that have long been considered finance-only responsibilities, such as financial consolidation, can now be a team sport within which department leaders across the business participate. The result is a holistic financial picture of your business that includes key data from all departments.

Ready to make planning a more collaborative process?

Workday Adaptive Planning

April 22, 2021

One of the reasons today’s fastest-growing, most innovative businesses use modern FP&A technology is because it promotes company-wide (or xP&A) collaboration. That means projects that have long been considered finance-only responsibilities, such as financial consolidation, can now be a team sport within which department leaders across the business participate. The result is a holistic financial… Read More

What KPIs should the Office of Finance be tracking?

Workday Adaptive Planning

April 20, 2021

Now more than ever, companies that are unable to adapt or pivot easily to adjust to changing market conditions don’t just risk falling behind. They risk their very future. But business agility isn’t something you can implement overnight. It takes a modern, multifaceted planning environment—one that isn’t weighed down by… Read More

But there’s a better way to navigate today’s choppy business seas: rolling forecasts. Instead of being once-a-year exercises, rolling forecasts happen on a regular cadence. Unlike budgets that may have hundreds of line items, rolling forecasts focus on key business drivers. And rather than focusing on the past, rolling forecasts act as early warning systems when you’ve drifted off-course; they help to raise visibility beyond the traditional budgeting “wall” by continually updating your forecast with actuals, you’ll be able to quickly adjust the levers that drive performance.

Getting on board with continuous planning

Workday Adaptive Planning

April 14, 2021

Many businesses spend weeks or months laboring over the annual plan or budget, even though by the time it’s finished, the market has changed dramatically and its assumptions are out of date. They forecast based on historic data and the best guesses of functional business leaders and line managers. They… Read More

Companies that transformed their previously static planning environments are now weathering this pandemic with notable success. Read on

4 paths to an agile planning environment

Bob Hansen

April 13, 2021

After the events of this past year, it’s easy for organizations to succumb to the feeling they are behind the curve when it comes to business agility. Because no one planned for what assailed businesses in 2020, many might assume it’s too late to establish a more modern and agile… Read More

Few could possibly have predicted how this event could have sent recently minted plans and forecasts for 2020 into trash bins everywhere. But even before the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, CFOs and other execs were keenly aware that business conditions were unpredictable. They were equally aware of the hurdles keeping them from the adaptability and agility needed to outmaneuver and pivot around unforeseen obstacles. The same 75% of survey respondents who said their planning processes left them vulnerable also reported that outdated legacy planning systems, siloed planning processes with limited collaboration, and a lack of relevant workforce skills were keeping them from embracing the one thing their business needed to weather the storms of disruption: agility.

Scenario planning: Gaining a clearer picture of what the future may hold

Workday Adaptive Planning

April 8, 2021

If ever there was a time to marshal all the tools and technology available to help you respond to change as it happens, that time is now. Today’s volatile marketplace calls for continuous planning— a proven approach where static, annual plans are replaced with a continually updated process. By monitoring actuals continuously, you… Read More

The retail industry has gone through decades worth of changes since the start of the global pandemic, and retail CFOs are moving fast to ensure their companies are adapting and thriving. Experts from KPMG and Workday talk about this and more on the Workday Podcast.

Workday Podcast: Retail CFOs are finding ways to thrive amid disruption

Jeremiah Barba

April 6, 2021

Sometimes disruption is the mother of innovation, and that’s increasingly the case in the retail world. Through the difficult times brought on by the global pandemic, some retailers are finding ways to thrive through new technology and operating models. And increasingly, CFOs are at the center of it all. In… Read More

Amid the global COVID-19 pandemic, some companies are emerging stronger, wiser, and ready to make some big changes. And one of the main drivers of these organizational and technological transformations is the finance function. Finance’s evolution into a more strategic planning force within the business was already underway prior to the disruptive impact the pandemic dealt to businesses everywhere.

Strategic Planning for Finance–A Big Win for the CFO Office

Bob Hansen

March 31, 2021

Amid the global COVID-19 pandemic, some companies are emerging stronger, wiser, and ready to make some big changes. And one of the main drivers of these organizational and technological transformations is the finance function. Finance’s evolution into a more strategic planning force within the business was already underway prior to… Read More

Facing ever-mounting pressure to slash costs, boost revenue, and minimize risk, the role of the CFO is under greater scrutiny than ever before. At the same time, the expectations of CFOs continue to rise. No longer just guardians of the company’s bottom line, today’s finance leaders are being asked to take on a broader, deeper set of strategic responsibilities.

3 challenges of CFOs as they strive to deliver greater value

Workday Adaptive Planning

March 25, 2021

Read Part 1 of this series here. Experiences and lessons learned from the global pandemic are helping shape the future of finance. Driven by new ways of working and an uncertain economic landscape, finance leaders are shifting from the tactical to the strategic as they prepare for tomorrow’s new “normal.”… Read More