It’s difficult to switch on your computer at the moment without running into new stories of financial chaos and gloomy predictions for the coming 12 months. It’s clear that the current environment for doing business is challenging in many ways, and it’s sensible to expect a period of uncertainty.
Quite how ‘stormy’ this will be in terms of interest rates, resource constraints, taxation, demand levels, and political instability is unclear – but it’s important to remember that economic uncertainty is nothing new and always passes. Despite the strain faced by all companies, businesses that can read the ‘signs of the times’ and use objective data to implement good business decisions have a better chance of navigating uncertainty, and even thriving and growing in difficult times.
Good Business Planning Has Never Been More Important
Many businesses put planning on hold during uncertain times, scaling back product launches and growth plans, and cancelling investments. This wait-and-see approach is understandable but is not always the most effective strategy during a downturn. When environmental conditions are uncertain – and especially where there are serious risks to navigate – good business planning and forecasting becomes vital.
The key to good business planning in difficult times is to recognise that planning and forecasting itself is a more uncertain business, requiring greater flexibility and more variables. A good integrated financial planning and forecasting platform will help you evaluate different scenarios and stress-test the business in a safe, virtual environment using real-world data. This will not only help you manage and mitigate operational risk but can also identify lucrative opportunities for growth and develop contingency plans.
Good Planning Begins With A Good Planning Tool
Tough times can require tough decisions, but to make and implement these decisions at the right time and in the right way, a better planning strategy is required that recognises the changed business environment. This is why, even if previously you’ve rested on spreadsheets or reports generated by your accounts software to create financial plans and forecasts, this may not be adequate in difficult times for you to make the most astute decisions.
To create viable budgets and business plans with a high level of inbuilt uncertainty, you will benefit from a good, purpose-designed planning tool.
Could your business benefit from investing in financial planning and analysis software
Investing in new software and processes should be a careful decision if a business is facing budgetary pressures or stress factors. However, indicators that your business may benefit from investing in such a software application – e.g. Corporate Planner – include:
- The planning process is inefficient, or it takes too long to access the data required to make effective decisions.
- Financial planning and forecasting is resource-intense and requires too much manual intervention.
- It is difficult to define or share a ‘single version of truth’ on which to reach collaborative decisions.
- Creating multiple scenarios and re-forecasts is difficult due to the time required to do this manually.
- You do not have a single, integrated, dynamic model of all your key business metrics – instead rely on data stored in silos and isolated applications.
The solution is a dedicated planning, forecasting, and reporting tool, that is a ‘true business application’, and not an assembly of complex spreadsheets or in-house applications. This can save valuable time and money by shortening the planning process itself and can also unlock the value of greater financial visibility and responsiveness, giving your business increased resilience.
Unlock The Potential Of Corporate Planner
Account Ability is the Gold Partner Corporate Planner people, helping UK businesses leverage the potential of the world’s leading integrated financial planning application. Corporate Planner is an award-winning software platform, trusted by over 4000 businesses around the world to deliver more efficient planning and budgeting outcomes and more insightful business intelligence.
To find out more about Corporate Planner as a managed service through Account Ability, please call one of our experienced team today on 01242 903169.
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