Setting the right Vision and Goals for EPM

Often EPM projects are justified based on the cost savings that come from the compression of planning and reporting cycle times and the corresponding reduction in effort that is required from Finance in its coordination role and across the enterprise in terms of data entry and reporting effort by the business.

Cost reductions and efficiency gains are very real outcomes from implementing a new comprehensive enterprise planning and reporting system, but there are bigger benefits on offer.

To not miss out on these, it is important to keep a focussed eye on the improvements in enterprise performance that will come from better alignment of budgets to strategic plans, more accurate forecasts, agile decision making and action based on better information, and more time for advice from Finance as business partners.

To help achieve this, it is good practice to create a Vision statement for the new EPM system that encompasses both. Then to set specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely Goals for the cost and time savings arising from the streamlined planning and reporting processes and the enterprise performance improvements.

What do you think?

Comments are most welcome, including any examples of vision statements and goals that have made a big difference.

The CFO Group is a global provider of enterprise performance management systems to large, complex corporations and national and state governments. Our customers use these systems to manage their planning, budgeting, and forecasting processes, and the subsequent monitoring, analysis and reporting of actual results.