Budgeting is often seen as the domain of a finance department – and with all the pivot tables and linked formulas, it’s tempting to leave it there. But there’s a better way. Here’s how an integrated business planning platform helps involve the whole business, unearthing unified, accurate, efficient and real-time insight.
The importance of choosing collaboration over compartmentalisation
Budgeting is often seen as the domain of your finance team. It is a process that involves number crunching, plenty of Excel spreadsheets, and getting lost in pivot tables. While your first thought might be, ‘Leave them to it,’ this siloed approach often leads to missed opportunities and inefficiencies. Here’s how.
The problem: A data disconnect
If the finance team is the mastermind behind your company budget, the data you’re seeing probably isn’t quite hitting the mark – and you’ll wait days or weeks to get the reports you’ve requested.
This back-and-forth to get the information you need takes valuable time and resources and leaves room for manual error. It also creates a huge disconnect between operational units and the realities of budgeting. And when there’s no business-wide buy-in or communication, proper alignment, engagement and insight all suffer.
The solution: A configurable tool with front-row seats
A configurable financial management and reporting tool like Workday Adaptive is the answer. It brings operational units across the business closer to the data, so it’s no longer owned by IT or finance.
This connection makes your business units integral, active participants in the process and gives them a greater understanding of how their activities impact the overall budget. They can also pull valuable insights from this unified, configurable data pool, streamlining workflows and enhancing decision-making. But the benefits don’t end there.
- Phased implementation for the win
Change can be scary, and retiring hundreds of Excel spreadsheets overnight is far from realistic. Workday Adaptive can be implemented in phases (you can even keep your Excel spreadsheets), starting with your business’s most critical pain points. This approach will help manage your implementation resources while demonstrating the tool’s immediate value – crucial for getting buy-in across the business. - No IT degree required
Forget about intimidating interfaces that require an IT or finance degree to interpret. Workday Adaptive has a user-friendly design that is equally as easy for finance or the front office to navigate. This is essential for uptake, and positions the software as everyone’s new right-hand man from the outset. - Scalability as you grow
As your business grows, Workday Adaptive will adapt and evolve alongside it, drawing from one portal and one source of information. There’s no risk of getting bogged down by outdated systems – plus, every time you conquer a new region, it’s just a matter of adding a few lines to your existing reports for seamless integration and scalability. - Reporting that flexes to fit
Each department will need to slice and dice data to suit its unique reporting needs. Instead of reinventing the wheel each time, an integrated business planning platform like Workday Adaptive flexes the data to fit. Best of all, with the user-friendly design, it’s just a matter of dragging and dropping to configure your reports the way you like, and no waiting around for IT to do it.
Workday Adaptive - for deeper insights and better outcomes
Moving from siloed budgeting to a collaborative approach makes your budgeting process more efficient and accurate while fostering engagement and understanding across your business’s operational units. From there, you can access crucial, real-time insights for more strategic decision-making, and drive better outcomes for your business.
Ready to trade your stagnant spreadsheets for a collaborative tool with real buy-in? Make the switch to Workday Adaptive today.
