Using Profit Margin Budget Dashboards to Streamline the Planning Process

    How can Budget Dashboard s Drive Faster and Better Decisions? As Budget Managers increasingly become key drivers in the Planning Process, they must rely on modern self-service corporate performance management (CPM) and business intelligence (BI) tools. Using interactive Budget Dashboards like the Profit Margin Budget Dashboard template shown below enables them and users from the executive team to experience near real time budget analysis that help drive faster and better decisions. Who uses Profit Margin Budget Dashboard s and What are Some Key Analytical Features? In today’s fast-paced business environment, Budget Managers are under high pressure to supply end users like board members and executives with timely and concise Budget Dashboards. Companies use key features like the ones below to support their users with effective analysis that helps drive strategically aligned budgets.
    • Actual YTD plus Forecast current year versus the Budget for next year
    • Profit metrics shown both as amounts and in percent
    • Interactive trend charts comparing current year estimate (Actual YTD + Forecast) with next year's budget
    The Profit Margin Budget Dashboard template can be used as a key element of the Planning process: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="2560"] Example of a Profit Margin Budget Dashboard to Streamline the Planning Process Example of a Profit Margin Budget Dashboard to Streamline the Planning Process[/caption] The Profit Margin Budget Dashboard is a ready-to-use Budget Dashboard from the Solver Marketplace A Brief Description of the Profit Margin Budget Dashboard Template Budget Dashboards like the one seen in the image above are interactive and parameter driven and typically contain sections with trend charts and KPIs for Gross Profit, EBITDA and Net Profit. One of the important features that aid the user in the analysis process is the ability to select the last closed period and the entire dashboard will automatically display profitability estimates (Actual YTD + Forecast) for the current year and compare these to the budget for next year. Profit Margin Budget Dashboards are often used in conjunction with revenue and expense budget input templates, revenue/expense budget dashboards and profit & loss budget reports. Data Integration to Transaction Systems Most organizations these days want automated and streamlined planning, reporting and analysis. However, many of the benefits described earlier rely on best of breed Corporate Performance Management (CPM) tools and/or Business Intelligence (BI) capabilities as well as data marts or data warehouses that use pre-built integrations to the organization’s ERP system. Oftentimes, they also need integrations to other key data sources like CRM, subscription systems, payroll tools, etc. Modern, cloud-based ERPs like Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance (D365 Finance), Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (D365 BC), Sage Intacct, Acumatica, Netsuite and SAP have robust APIs which allow for dynamic integrations to CPM and BI tools that are fully automated and flexible to run on a schedule or on-demand. Additional Resources to Aid with Research of Templates, CPM and BI Tools
    November 24, 2021