Using Excel for financial functions is on the decline, per the 2018 Benchmarking the Accounting and Finance Function report conducted by the Financial Executives Research Foundation. Many companies moving off Excel cite the need for better collaborative tools and the need to be able to...
By Alan Hart, Centage Guest Blog Author, Principal Consultant at Pacific Shine Group
How to leverage the existence of a General Ledger in your planning & budgeting software In a recent post I brought up the need for a GL (General Ledger), integrated into the planning and budgeting software and resembling an actual accounting software GL Why Have...
By Alan Hart, Centage Guest Blog Author, Principal Consultant at Pacific Shine Group
A seemingly strange concept turns out to be a brilliant idea At first this looks rather strange. A general ledger with both automated and manual journal entries capabilities is common place in all accounting software applications or in the ERP solutionâs financial section. But why...
By Alan Hart, Centage Guest Blog Author, Principal Consultant at Pacific Shine Group
What really matters in the budget preparation and analysis process and why it should be implemented I was just reading an article on TechTarget.com by Barry Wilderman of Wilderman Associates, titled: The Benefits of using CPM (Corporate Performance Management) analytical tools for budgeting. Here the author walks the...
By Alan Hart, Centage Guest Blog Author, Principal Consultant at Pacific Shine Group
Why using inadequate tools and approximating the balance of forecasted Balance Sheet accounts is a bad approach for budgeting I recently had a discussion with a colleague who is a partner in a local management consulting firm about organizations’ attitude toward the planning and budgeting...
Using spreadsheets and hard drive-based business budgeting software can keep a large volume of business data organized can be useful, but the advantages of a cloud-based solution are difficult to deny. From maintaining a single streamlined edition of the master file to permitting unlimited users...
By Alan Hart, Centage Guest Blog Author, Principal Consultant at Pacific Shine Group
How you can have Planning Maestro manage this task with ease and accuracy All organizations rely on software products in their daily operations across all departments and business segments. Enterprise software ranges from ERP, accounting and finance applications to engineering, CAD, CAM, marketing and sales...
By Alan Hart, Centage Guest Blog Author, Principal Consultant at Pacific Shine Group
How technology reduces the “art” element in successful FP&A activities This morning I received an e-mail from Proformative.com inviting me to a webinar titled “The Art (and some Science) of Great FP&A”. I am glad to see a resurgence of such an important facet in any company’s...
By Alan Hart, Centage Guest Blog Author, Principal Consultant at Pacific Shine Group
How loan covenant compliance can be forecasted with Budget Maestro and Displayed by Analytics Maestro  There has been a recent series of blog posts on this site of why companies must regularly forecast their balance sheets Why you Must Forecast your Balance Sheet Part 2....