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

COVID-19 wreaked havoc on nearly every industry and business. Many businesses were forced to close physical locations, pivot to remote work, or scramble to deliver their services via digital channels. Others had to navigate supply chain disruptions, order cancelations, and lost customers. Still others saw equally dramatic, if positive, disruption. Retailers deemed essential (grocery and drug stores) saw revenues reach historic highs in March, while online merchants recorded record sales as consumers fled in-person shopping for the relative safety of ordering from home. Those upsurges required businesses to quickly scale their workforce, material orders, and operations.

Making the case for continuous planning

July 22, 2021

Imagine all the CFOs whose freshly minted annual plans for 2020 looked great at first. “This plan is so accurate,” many might have thought, “it should come with spoiler warnings.” But as we all know, 2020 had other plans in mind. The pandemic wreaked havoc on nearly every industry and business.… Read More

Tech Effect sat down with Chris Dimuzio, PwC’s Finance Transformation leader and Michael Magaro, senior vice president, Corporate Finance at Workday, to discuss what’s happening in today’s finance function — from broader business partnering to innovation and investment in enabling technologies.v

From defense to offense: CFOs look to drive growth in a digital economy

Workday Adaptive Planning

July 20, 2021

The pandemic has significantly impacted many aspects of finance — from closing the books remotely to near-constant scenario planning and shoring up supply chains. Faced with the need to be more agile and decision-ready, finance organizations are evaluating their processes and prioritizing key areas to deliver the outcomes they seek.… Read More

At a recent Fortune CFO Collaborative event, leaders from a variety of industries came together to talk about the critical role of the CFO in a post-pandemic world. Sheryl Estrada, financial leadership writer, CFO Daily, ‎Fortune, highlighted some of the key talking points, including the evolution of the CFO role and what can be a pain point— the explosion of data. What follows are excerpts from her article.

The critical role of the CFO in a post-pandemic world

Workday Adaptive Planning

July 15, 2021

At a recent Fortune CFO Collaborative event, leaders from a variety of industries came together to talk about the critical role of the CFO in a post-pandemic world. Sheryl Estrada, financial leadership writer, CFO Daily, ‎Fortune, highlighted some of the key talking points, including the evolution of the CFO role and what… Read More

Here are three pitfalls to avoid as you work to get the most strategic value out of forecasting and generate buy-in and momentum with your leadership team and business partners.

3 FP&A forecast mistakes you don’t want to make

Workday Adaptive Planning

July 13, 2021

It’s not just meteorologists who can get forecasting wrong. If FP&A pros don’t take a thoughtful approach to establishing rolling forecasts, they can hit some unexpected stormy weather along the way. When that occurs, you run the risk of forecasts ending up, well, not being forecasts at all. They morph… Read More

In a volatile, ever-changing market as we are now experiencing with the pandemic, businesses must be nimble to survive—if not thrive. Yet many companies still use outmoded financial systems to track progress and predict success. They rely on static budgets that are updated just once a year and quickly become dated. In fact, a majority of annual forecasts are obsolete after just four to six months. Static budgets are not only unreliable for long-term planning, but they are also a major obstacle to agile decision-making.

Lesser-known reasons to get on the rolling forecast bandwagon

Workday Adaptive Planning

July 8, 2021

In a volatile, ever-changing market, businesses must be nimble to survive—if not thrive. Yet many companies still use outmoded financial systems to track progress and predict success. They rely on static budgets that are updated just once a year and quickly become dated. In fact, a majority of annual forecasts… Read More

As the role of CFO continues to become more strategic and collaborative, CFOs are expecting their teams to follow suit. As such, many finance leaders are requiring their teams to broaden their understanding of other functions and pushing them to communicate and collaborate more effectively, both internally and externally. According to our studies, collaborative work now consumes a significant portion of the finance team’s week.

Modern planning is a team sport

Workday Adaptive Planning

July 6, 2021

As the role of CFO continues to become more strategic and collaborative, CFOs are expecting their teams to follow suit. As such, many finance leaders are requiring their teams to broaden their understanding of other functions and pushing them to communicate and collaborate more effectively, both internally and externally. According… Read More

Instead of working closely together to plan and forecast, finance and business resort to negotiations that can involve high levels of conflict. Why is this, and how can it be changed to strengthen collaboration between finance and the business—and therefore transform FP&A?

How to strengthen collaboration between finance and the business

Workday Adaptive Planning

June 29, 2021

Many companies suffer from poor communication and collaboration between financial and nonfinancial managers. Operating managers don’t have sufficient input or buy-in to the financial planning process, and they aren’t educated about how their decisions can influence overall profitability. For its part, finance isn’t able to offer real performance insights that might truly… Read More

Stand out as a strategic FP&A thinker

Workday Adaptive Planning

June 23, 2021

You stay late to meet your deadlines. You triple-check your reports to keep them error-free. You turn around one-off requests at the drop of a dime. But you still haven’t gotten that big promotion. That may mean there’s a disconnect between the work you’re doing and the work your boss… Read More

Continuous planning gives FP&A organizations a real-time view of the business. When decision-makers have the ability to understand what’s happening with the business now, they can accurately model what is likely to happen in the future. Unlike outdated, static planning, continuous planning enables agility with plans that are always current, insight with easily created and iterated what-if scenarios.

How continuous planning enables a more agile organization

Bob Hansen

June 16, 2021

Every finance leader knows the routine. Every year, as budgeting season approaches, the rest of the business turns to finance in order to make sense of the last 12 months and prepare for the next 12. First, you look backwards, to assess the progress towards last year’s stated objectives. You… Read More

This article looks at a global survey of 162 finance managers and senior executives that reveals significant conflicts between finance leaders’ aspirations and how they do their day-to-day work.

Harvard study: The digital future is here–are you ready?

Workday Adaptive Planning

June 8, 2021

An exponential increase in business data, mixed with emerging analytics capabilities, has created a huge opportunity for finance to take center stage in the creation of the data-driven enterprise. Yet, against the backdrop of a global pandemic, a recent study by Harvard Business Review Analytic Services, sponsored by Workday, found a wide… Read More