2011 budgeting, forecasting, and planning survey bdg... · 2011 budgeting and planning survey •...

2011 Budgeting, Forecasting, and Planning Survey Insight into Processes, Solutions, and Business and Finance Teams

2011BudgetingandPlanningSurvey•page2

Table of Contents

IntroductiontoQuantrix’s2011Budgeting,Forecasting,andPlanningSurvey .............3

ExecutiveSummary .....................................................................................................4

SectionOne:AboutYourForecastingandPlanningProcess .........................................5Whatbestdescribesyourorganization'sbudgetingandplanningprocess:...............................5Howfarintothefuturedoesyourstrategicplanextend?..........................................................5Howapplicableislastyear'sforecasttoyourupcomingyear'sforecast?..................................6Onaverage,howmanytimesdoyourecastyourbudget,asabusinessforecast,throughouttheyear? .....................................................................................................................................6Howmanyscenariosor"whatif"/ad‐hoctypeofforecastsareyourequiredtoprovideduringthecourseofayear? ..................................................................................................................7Howquicklydoesyourteamneedtoturnaroundrequestsforad‐hocor"what‐if"scenarios?....................................................................................................................................................7Whichofthefollowingfactorspromptsrequestsforalternativeoradditionalscenarios/ad‐hocplans? ...................................................................................................................................8

SectionTwo:AbouttheElementsInvolvedinYourBudgets,Forecasts,andPlans........9Atwhatpointdoyouexpectyourannualbudgettargetstobecomeobsolete? .......................9Whichofthefollowingdoyouuseinyourfinancialplanningandanalysisprocess? ..............12

SectionThree:AboutYourFinancialPlanningandAnalysisTeam ..............................13Whatmanageriallevelsinyourorganizationparticipateinthefinancialplanningandanalysisprocess? ....................................................................................................................................13WhatITpersonnelinyourorganizationareinvolvedinthefinancialplanningandanalysisprocess? ....................................................................................................................................14Onaverage,howmanypeopleinyourorganization,includingITandbusiness,areinvolvedinthefinancialplanningandanalysisprocess? ............................................................................15Doyoushareallorpartofyourbusiness/financialplanswithorganizationsoutsideofyourcompany,suchassuppliersandpartners? ...............................................................................17Onaverage,howmuchtimedoesyourteamspendeachmonthformattingbusiness/financialplanssothattheycanbesharedbothinternallyandexternally? ............................................17Whatpercentofyourteam'stimeisspentonthefollowingactivities? ..................................18

AboutourRespondents .............................................................................................19Whatisthesizeofyourorganization?......................................................................................19Inwhatgeographicareasdoesyourcompanydobusiness?....................................................19Pleaseselectoneanswerthatbestdescribesthemarketstowhichyousell. .........................20Pleasechooseoneitemfromthefollowinglistthatmostcloselymatchesyourtitle: ............20

AboutQuantrixModeler............................................................................................21


IntroductiontoQuantrix’s2011Budgeting,Forecasting,andPlanningSurvey Asaleadingproviderofbusinessmodelingandanalyticssolutions,Quantrixisinterestedinhowbusinessandfinanceprofessionalsdevelopaccurateandinsightfulforecasts,budgets,andplans.Thecompanysurveyeditslistofcustomersabouttheircompany’sforecastingandplanningprocess,team,andtoolsetssothatitcouldgaininsightintoindustrytrends.ThesurveywasconductedduringFebruary2011,with267responses.Respondentswereofferednoguaranteedindividualincentive,butwereabletoenterforachancetowineitheraKindleelectronicreadingdevice,ora$150USdonationtothecharityoftheirchoice.Thefollowingpageshighlightresultsfromthesurvey.Respondentsvariedacrosscompanysize,geography,andindustry;readerscanfindfurtherinformationonrespondentdemographicsstartingonpage19.Chartsrepresentaveragesacrossalldemographicresponses.Wherethedatavaryfromtheaveragesinsignificantways,moreinformationisincludedinthetext.Thissurveyusesthesetermstomeanthefollowing:

• Budget:Aone‐yearfinancialplanofdetailedrevenueandexpensesbyprofitandcostcenters,consolidatedatthecorporatelevel.

• StrategicPlan:Amulti‐yearplanusedbyanorganizationtoalignitsorganizationandbudgetstructurewithorganizationalpriorities,missions,andobjectives.Alsousedforstrategicinitiativessuchasacquisitionsormarketexpansionandtoidentifysourcesandusesofcapital.

• ScenarioPlan:Anad‐hocplantoanalyzevariationtobudgetorplansand/ortoaspecificbusinessevent/request.

• BusinessForecast:Periodic(e.g.quarterlyormonthly)revisionstobudgetsandplansbasedonactualresultsandnewdata.

• Sales&OperationsForecast:Anestimateoffutureoperationaloutcomesthatuseshistoricalinternaloperationalandsalesdatainadditiontoexternalmarketandeconomicindicators;usuallyasub‐componenttobudgetsandplansbasedonactualresultsandnewdata.

AllinformationonthesepagesisproprietarytoQuantrix,andcanbeusedwithpermissiononly.Shouldyouwishtousetextordatafromthereport,[email protected].


ExecutiveSummary

Top‐levelinformationfromtheQuantrix2011BudgetingandForecastingsurvey:

• Businessandfinanceprofessionalsspendasignificantamountoftimerecastingbudgetsandrespondingtoad‐hocqueries.Mostcompaniesreportthattheymustreworkbudgetsquarterlyandthattheymustrespondtomorethanfourrequestsforad‐hocscenariosperyear.Turnaroundtimeisimportant:onaverage,companiesrequestscenarioswithinoneweekorless,but40%ofverylargecompaniessaytheymustrespondwithin24hours.

• Sharingbudgets,forecasts,strategicplans,andothermodelswithco‐workers,

management,andexternalbusinesspartnersisincreasinglyimportantforcompaniesasthepaceofbusinessaccelerates.Thissurveydiscoveredthat,onaverage,morethan35peopleareinvolvedinthefinancialplanningandanalysisprocessandthatcompaniessharefinancialplanswithmorethan60individuals.Companieswithmorethan5,000employeesworkwithmorethan335peopleintheprocess,andshareplanswithmorethan350peoplewithintheirorganization.

• Businessandfinanceprofessionalsarespendingalotoftimeonroutine,administrative

tasks,ratherthanonin‐depthanalysis:Approximatelytwo‐thirdsoftheirtimeisspentadministeringtheoverallprocessandcollectingandvalidatingdata.Onlyforonethirdofthetimearetheyactuallyconductingvalue‐addedanalysis.

• Themostimportantdriverforthecreationofscenariosandadhocplansis“variance

fromforecast”.Sinceprofessionalsarespendingtwo‐thirdsoftheirtimeonroutinetasksratherthanvalue‐addanalysis,whatisbeingsacrificedisquality.Ideally,companiesshouldbeplacingmoreimportanceonthebusinessfactorsdrivingscenarios/adhocplansratherthanonthecurrentplanbeingwrong.

Thefinancialplanningandanalysisprocessinvolvesacomplexarrayofpeopleandtools,andtoomuchtimeandeffortiswastedinnon‐essentialtasks.Thesepressurescanonlybeovercomewithrobusttoolsetsthatenableprofessionalstogather,analyze,model,andsharedataefficientlyandeffectively.


SectionOne:AboutYourForecastingandPlanningProcess

Whatbestdescribesyourorganization'sbudgetingandplanningprocess:

Mostrespondentstothesurveyreportthattheydevelopastrategicplanthatincorporatesabudget.Whilethisenablescompaniestohaveonlyonemodelforbusinessandfinancepurposes,itcanbecomeextremelylargeandcomplex.Verylargecompanies(thosewithmorethan5,000employees)reportthattheyrelyonbothbudgetsandstrategicplans:65%reporttheyuseboth,comparedwith46%ofrespondentsfromallcompanysizes.Companiesthatselltoconsumers(B‐to‐C)aremorelikelytohavebothabudgetandastrategicplan(57.1%)thanthosethatselltootherbusinesses(B‐to‐B).

Howfarintothefuturedoesyourstrategicplanextend?

Themajorityofrespondentstothesurveyreportthattheirstrategicplansextendforthreeyearsormore.Notsurprisingly,verylargecompanies(thosewithmorethan5,000employees)developlong‐termstrategicplans:55%ofthesecompanieshaveplansthatextendfouryearsormore,comparedwith32%atcompaniesofallsizes.

Ourcompanyhasjustabudget.

Ourcompanyhasbothabudgetandastrategic(muli‐year)plan.

Ourcompanyhasastrategicplanthatincorporatesabudgetforthenextfiscalyear.

Ourcompanyhasastrategicplanbuthaseliminated,orneverusesabudget.

Oneyear

Twoyears

Threeyears

Fouryearsormore

22%

46%

28%

4%

20%

16%

32%

32%


Howapplicableislastyear'sforecasttoyourupcomingyear'sforecast?1=notapplicable;2=somewhatapplicable;3=extremelyapplicable

Averageanswer:2.2Theaverageanswerwas2.2–slightlymorethan“somewhat”applicable.Asthepaceofbusinessaccelerates,companiesneedrobustmodelingandanalyticssolutionstodevelopaccurateandinsightfulforecasts–theycannolongerrelyonlastyear’sinformationasastrongguide.

Onaverage,howmanytimesdoyourecastyourbudget,asabusinessforecast,throughouttheyear?

Onceayearisstillthemostcommontimeframeforthebudgetingcycle,withmorethanhalfofallrespondentsreportingthattheyrecasttheirbudgetsquarterly.Verylargecompanies(thosewithmorethan5,000employees)andcompaniesthatselltoconsumers(B‐to‐C)reportthattheyrecasttheirbudgetmorefrequently:35%ofverylargecompanies,and32%ofB‐to‐Ccompaniesreportmonthlyrevisions,comparedwith21%acrossallcompanysizesandsalesstrategies.

Monthly

Quarterly

Annually

Never

21%

53%

17%10%


Howmanyscenariosor"whatif"/ad‐hoctypeofforecastsareyourequiredtoprovideduringthecourseofayear?

Thetoptwocategoriesforrespondentswere4‐6scenariosperyearand1‐3scenariosperyear.Verylargecompanies(thosewith5,000ormoreemployees)andverysmallcompanies(thosewithlessthan50employees)actuallygeneratemorescenariosthantheaverage:Morethan25%ofsmallcompaniesand30%ofverylargecompaniesgenerate12+scenariosperyearasopposedtothe17%averageforcompaniesofallsizes.

Howquicklydoesyourteamneedtoturnaroundrequestsforad‐hocor"what‐if"scenarios?

Themajorityofrespondentsreportthattheymustprovidead‐hocscenarioswithinoneweek–ashorttimeframefordetailedinsightandanalysis.Verylargecompanies(with5,000ormore

12+scenariosperyear

7‐11scenariosperyear



Wedonotprovidead‐hocscenarios

Within24hours

Withinoneweek

Withintwoweeks

Onemonthormore

Wedonotprovidead‐hocscenarios

17%

7%

29%

29%

18%

23%

40%11%

10%

16%


employees)andverysmallcompanies(thosewith50employeesorless)actuallyneedtoprovidefasterresponsethantheaverage:40%ofverylargecompaniesand27%ofverysmallcompaniessaytheyneedtorespondtoquerieswithin24hours,comparedwith23%ofallcompanies.Business‐to‐consumercompanies(B‐to‐C)reportthehighestneedforfastturnaround,with42.8%reportingtheyneedtorespondwithin24hours.

Whichofthefollowingfactorspromptsrequestsforalternativeoradditionalscenarios/ad‐hocplans?

Byfar,thebiggestpromptforadditionalscenariosisavariancefromforecast;companiesrelyonalternativeviewswhentheirexpectationsarenotmet.While71.6%ofcompaniesofallsizesreportthatvariancefromforecastdrivesanewscenario,85%ofverylargecompaniesreportthesame.Andwhile33%ofallcompaniesreportthatcompetitiondrivesanewplan,50%ofverylargecompaniessayit’saprompt.Notsurprisingly,plansofverylargecompaniesalsoaremoreinfluencedbycurrencyrates,with45%indicatingthatchangingcurrencyrateswillpromptanewplanversus23.4%ofcompaniesofallsizes.

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Variancefromforecast

Newcompeitororcompeiivebehavior

Newmarket

Newproduct

Changingcommodityprices

Changingcurrencyrates


SectionTwo:AbouttheElementsInvolvedinYourBudgets,Forecasts,andPlans

Atwhatpointdoyouexpectyourannualbudgettargetstobecomeobsolete?

Companiescontinuetodevelopbudgets,butmorethanhalfofrespondentsreportthatatsomepointwithintheyear,theybecomeobsolete.Morethanathirdofrespondentssaythatthishappenswithinthefirstsixmonthsoftheyear.Thesedatasupportanimportantconceptinbusinessandfinanceforecastingandplanning:thefutureisuncertain,andtheplayingfieldisawayschanging.Businesspeoplewithdomainknowledgeandskillsneedflexibletoolsthatenablethemtoreworkplansinrealtimeinordertomaintainacompetitiveadvantage.AsDwightEisenhowersaid,“Plansareworthless,butplanningiseverything.”Ascompaniescontinuetostepupthepaceoftheirplanningactivity,theyneedtoolstosupportthisdynamicprocess.

Beforeyearbeginstheyarealreadyobsolete

Onetothreemonthswithinthefiscalyear

Fourtosixmonthswithinthefiscalyear

Seventoninemonthswithinthefiscalyear

10to12monthswithinthefiscalyear

Never,theyarealwaysuseful

9%

19%

20%11%6%

35%


Howimportantarethefollowingmarketforcesandbusinessdriverstoyourforecast?(Currentvs.NextYear;Scale:1=VeryImportant,2=SomewhatImportant,3=NotImportant)

Answerstothisquestionsupportreportscitingtheendtotheglobalrecession;themostimportantbusinessdriverforthesurveyrespondents,bothcurrentlyandanticipatedfornextyear,ispreparingforgrowth.Therewasverylittledistinctionintherankingofthesefactorsacrossalldemographics,withcompaniesofallsizesandsalesstrategiesreportingsimilarresults.Year‐to‐yearvariancesalsowerenotsignificantamongrespondents.

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3

Downsizing

PreparingforGrowth

Outsourcing

CostCuqng

ChannelExpansion

CapitalPurchases

MulinaionalPoliicalEvents

CurrencyFluctuaion

CompeiiveAcions

CommodityPricing

NextYear

Current


PleaserankthefollowingfactorsintermsofhowmuchofanINFORMATIONchallengetheypresenttoyourabilitytodevelopaccurate,insightfulforecasts,plans,andbudgets.(Scaleof1–5,Where1=LeastChallenging)

Businessandfinanceprofessionalswillnotbesurprisedtolearnthatintermsofgatheringinformation,nopartoftheprocessiseasy.Respondentsreportedthatgettingaccesstotherightpeoplewastheeasiestpartoftheequation,butgettingcomprehensive,reliabledataontimewasproblematicforallrespondents.PleaserankthefollowingfactorsintermsofhowmuchofaTECHNICALchallengetheypresenttoyourabilitytodevelopaccurate,insightfulforecasts,plans,andbudgets.(Scaleof1‐5,Where1=LeastChallenging)

Asinthepreviouschartthatlistedinformationalchallenges,companiesreportacross‐the‐boardtechnicalchallengesinpreparingbudgetsandforecasts.Byfarthelargestchallengeisin

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3

Geqngaccesstotherightpeopleforinformaion.

Geqngreliabledata.

Geqngcomprehensivedata.

Geqngdatainaimelyfashion.

2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 3 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4

Overcominginternaldatasilos/needto"rollup"mulipleandinconsistentsourcesofdata

throughouttheorganizaion.

Customprogrammingrequiredtoaccessinternaldata.

Abilitytoviewdatainmulipledimensions(e.g.,byregion,productgroup,division,country,etc.)

Decipheringplanningmodel'sformulasand/ordatasources.

Replicaionoferrorsinlegacydatabases/planningtools


managingthemultipleandinconsistentsourcesofdatatheyencounter.Followingthatarethechallengesinvolvedindecipheringtheunderlyingformulasanddatasourcesofmodels.Verylargecompanies(thosewithmorethan5,000employees)reportthatovercominginternaldatasilosisexceptionallychallenging:theaverageresponserankeditat3.9ona5‐pointscale,comparedwiththeaveragerankof3.3acrossallcompanysizes.

Whichofthefollowingdoyouuseinyourfinancialplanningandanalysisprocess?

Thechallengesofusingdesktopspreadsheettoolsaresignificantandwellknown:theyareerror‐prone,createdatasilos,arenottransparent,andhaveissueswithscalability.However,theycontinuetobewidelyusedbyrespondents,withmorethan90%reportingthattheyareusedintheirfinancialplanningandanalysisprocess–90%ofverylargecompaniesrelyonthistool,rightontargetwiththe90.4%across‐the‐boardaverage.Notsurprisingly,smallercompaniesdonotrelyonERPsoftwareasmuchastheirpeersatlargercompanies:9%ofverysmallcompanies(lessthan50employees)reportusingthissoftware,comparedwith45%ofverylargecompanies(morethan5,000employees)and22%ofcompaniesofallsizes.

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Spreadsheets(e.g.Excel)

Mulidimensionalbusinessmodelingtools(e.g.Quantrix)

ERPbudgeingmodule

Standalonebudgeingandplanningtool

Businessintelligencetools


SectionThree:AboutYourFinancialPlanningandAnalysisTeam

Whatmanageriallevelsinyourorganizationparticipateinthefinancialplanningandanalysisprocess?

Budgeting,forecasting,andplanningrequirestheinsightofallmanageriallevels:respondentstothesurveyreportthateveryone,fromtheCEOtoregionalandproductmanagers,isinvolvedinthefinancialplanningandanalysisprocess.Thisprocesscontinuestobecomplex,torequiretheinputofavarietyofpeoplewithinacompany,andshowsnosignsofabating.

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

CEO

CFO

Controller

DepartmentalManagers

GeneralManagers

RegionalManagers

ProductManagers

ChannelManagers

Sales&Markeing

Financialplanners


WhatITpersonnelinyourorganizationareinvolvedinthefinancialplanningandanalysisprocess?

ITislessinvolvedinbudgetingandforecastingthanbusinessprofessionals,butmorethanhalfofrespondentscitesomelevelofITinvolvement,fromchoosingtoolsetstoextractingdata.Companiesthatselltoconsumers(B‐to‐C)relymoreontheirITdepartmentsinthefinancialplanningprocessthanotherbusinesses.While48.8%ofallcompaniesreportthatITisnotinvolvedintheirplanningprocess,only42.8%ofB‐to‐Cfirmssaythesame.

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

CIOandupper‐levelITtochooseanddeploytoolsets.

ITmanagementtodetermineandimplementsecurityprotocols.

ITmanagementandstafftoestablishprocessfordataaccess.

ITstafftoprograminterfacesusedtoextractdatafromdatawarehouses.

ITisnotinvolvedinmycompany'splanningprocess.


Onaverage,howmanypeopleinyourorganization,includingITandbusiness,areinvolvedinthefinancialplanningandanalysisprocess?

35.46–averageacrossallrespondents

CompanySize

#ofPeopleInvolved

Oneofthebiggestchallengesinthefinancialanalysisandplanningprocessismanagingthenumberofpeopleinvolved.Acrossallcompanydemographics,theaveragenumberismorethan35.Thelargerthecompany,themorepeopleareinvolved:Verylargecompanies(withmorethan5,000employees)reportthatcloseto350peopleareinvolvedintheFP&Aprocess,astaggeringnumberofindividualstotrack,inform,andinteractwith.

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400

<50

51‐100

101‐1,000

1,001‐5,000

>5,001


Onaverage,withhowmanypeoplewithinyourorganizationdoyousharefinancialplans?(e.g.,CEO,boardofdirectors,countrymanagers,salesmanagers,etc.)

63.38–averageacrossallrespondentsCompanySize

#ofPeopleInvolved

Oncebudgets,forecasts,andplansaredeveloped,businessandfinanceprofessionalsneedtosharethemwithasignificantnumberofpeoplewithintheirorganization.Thisfactorshouldbeaprimaryconcernwhenchoosingsolutions–professionalsmustbeabletosharedataeasily,andwithoutrequiringtheinstallationofspecializedsoftwaretoolsets.Thelargerthecompany,themorepeopleareinvolved.Atcompanieswithmorethan5,000employees,morethan350peoplereceivetheplans;companieswithbetween100and1,000employeessharewithmorethan100people.Evensmallcompaniesneedtoshareplans:thosewithlessthan50employeessharewith14people,andthosewithbetween50and100employeessharewith15.

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400

<50

51‐100

101‐1,000

1,001‐5,000

>5,001


Doyoushareallorpartofyourbusiness/financialplanswithorganizationsoutsideofyourcompany,suchassuppliersandpartners?

Lessthanone‐quarterofcompaniessurveyedsharetheirbusinessandfinancialplanswithpeopleoutsideofthecompany.However,theresponsestothisquestiondiffersignificantlybetweenthosecompaniesthatselltoconsumers(B‐to‐C)andthosethatselltootherbusinesses(B‐to‐B):While23%ofallcompaniesshareplansexternally,14.2%ofB‐to‐Cfirmsand25.6%ofB‐to‐Bfirmsshare.

Onaverage,howmuchtimedoesyourteamspendeachmonthformattingbusiness/financialplanssothattheycanbesharedbothinternallyandexternally?

Thelargerthecompany,themoretimeitspendsformattingplansforsharing:25.9%ofcompaniesbetween100and1,000employeesindicatedtheyspendbetween11and20hourspermonthformattingplansforsharing,comparedwith21%acrosscompaniesofallsizes.And23.8%ofcompaniesbetween1,000and5,000employeesindicatetheyspendmorethan20hoursamonthonthistask,comparedwith16%ofresponsesfromallcompanysizes.Business‐to‐consumerfirmsalsospendalotoftimeformattingdata:21.4%ofthesefirmssaytheyspendmorethan20hourspermonthonthistask.

Yes,wesharefinancialplansexternally

No,wedonotsharefinancialplansexternally

Wehavenotsharedplansinthepastbutplanondoingsointhefuture

Lessthan5hourspermonth

Between6and10hourspermonth

Between11and20hourspermonth

Morethan20hourspermonth

23%

71%

7%

37%

27%

21%

16%


Whatpercentofyourteam'stimeisspentonthefollowingactivities?

Whilecompaniesmightbesurprisedathowtheirhighlytrainedbusinessandfinancialprofessionalsspendtheirtime,theindividualsthemselveswillnotbe:onaverage,theyspendmorethantwo‐thirdsoftheirtimeontheroutineaspectsofcollectingandvalidatingdataandadministeringthefinancialprocessratherthanonconductingthevalue‐addedanalysisrequiredtogenerateinsightfulandmeaningfulbudgets,forecasts,andplans.Companiesclearlywouldbenefitfromadvancedtoolsetsthatdrivetimeoutoftheadministrativeaspectsofthefinancialplanningandanalysisprocessandenablemoretimeforstrategicanalysis.

CollecingandValidaingData

AdministeringProcess

ConducingValue‐AddedAnalysis

36%

28%

31%


AboutourRespondentsTotalnumberofresponses:267

Whatisthesizeofyourorganization?

Inwhatgeographicareasdoesyourcompanydobusiness?

Lessthan50employees

50to100employees

101to1,000employees

1,001to5,000employees

Morethan5,000employees

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

NorthAmerica

LainAmerica

Europe

Africa

Asia

Oceania

32%

13%31%

12%12%


Pleaseselectoneanswerthatbestdescribesthemarketstowhichyousell.

Pleasechooseoneitemfromthefollowinglistthatmostcloselymatchesyourtitle:

Businesstobusiness

Businesstoconsumer

Bothbusinesstobusinessandbusinesstoconsumer

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

CEO

CFO

CIO/ITManagement

Controller

DepartmentalManager

OtherManagerial

Sales&Markeing

FP&A

45%

16%

39%


AboutQuantrixModelerQuantrixModeler’smultidimensionalbusinessmodelingandanalytics(BMA)softwareenablesfinancialprofessionalstobreakawayfromtherestrictionsofspreadsheettechnologyandenterprisebusinessintelligenceapplicationstoquicklydevelopfinancialmodelsofthehighestintegrity,flexibility,andtransparency.QuantrixModelerisadesktopbusinessmodelingandanalytics(BMA)softwaresolutionthatenablesfinancialandbusinessplannerstounderstandtheimpactofdecisionsthroughmulti‐dimensionalmodeling,visualizations,and“whatif”scenarios.Quantrixhasreleasedversion4.0ofQuantrixModeler.KeynewfeaturesincludetheabilitytopublishmodelstotheQloud,dramaticimprovementincalculationspeed,andtheabilityforuserstowritetheirownscriptstodrivemodels.Sharingbudgets,forecasts,strategicplans,andothermodelswithco‐workers,management,andexternalbusinesspartnershasbecomeincreasinglyimportantforcompaniesasthepaceofbusinessaccelerates.Asthissurveyhasdiscovered,onaverage,morethan35peopleareinvolvedinthefinancialplanningandanalysisprocessandcompaniessharefinancialplanswithmorethan60individuals.FeaturesofQuantrixModeler4.0include:

ShareModelsviaQuantrixQloud–ThenewversionenablesuserstopublishbusinessandfinancialmodelstotheQuantrixQloud,apublishingserverhostedbyQuantrix.Userscaninvitecolleaguesorclientstosecurelyviewmodelsortheycanmakemodelsavailabletothegeneralpublic.Individualsloginviaawebbrowser,anddonotneedtoinstalltheQuantrixModelerapplicationtoviewmodels.

SpeedCalculationbyUpto85%–Version4.0includesanewcalculationstrategythatcandramaticallyimprovethetimeittakesforamodeltocalculate.Inadditiontothecell‐by‐cellcalculationstrategy,Version4.0offersarange‐basedapproach.Quantrixloggedspeedimprovementsofbetween50and85percentduringinternaltestingonmodelsthatcontainedupto21millioncells.

CustomizeModelActionswithScripting–ThenewversionusesaJavalanguagecalledGroovyScriptsthatenablesuserstowritescriptstodrivemodels.Userscannowdevelopmini‐applications,addcustommenuitems,createcanvasbuttons,andeditactionsandfunctions.

Quantrixversion4.0isavailableforbothWindowsandMacintoshplatforms.VisittheQuantrixwebsitetodownloadatrial,viewawebinarofthenewfeaturesandfunctionsofversion4.0,ortoviewamodelpublishedontheQuantrixQloud.

2011 budgeting, forecasting, and planning survey bdg... · 2011 budgeting and planning survey •...

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