FP&A
Consulting on Annual Planning and Forecasting Software Selection: Considerations for Migration from Excel to Professional Platforms
A user is seeking to transition from pure Excel-based annual planning to professional software, which needs to support over 35 budget owners continuing to use existing Excel templates and offer robust reporting features (such as Cognos). Candidate solutions include Adaptive, Host, and Vena, requiring seamless integration with JDE and Excel. This article compiles their core requirements and selection considerations.
CEO Inaction Endangers Corporate Survival (Part 2)
In a series of discussions on Proformative, a financial executive anonymously disclosed that a family business CEO obstructs formal board meetings and the financial outlook is concerning, yet the executive still upholds fiduciary duties to all shareholders, including family members.
CEO Inaction Endangers Company: Final Part of Series Discussion
In a series discussion on Proformative, a CFO shares their confusion when facing CEO inaction and blocked shareholder communication, exploring whether the CFO should bypass the CEO to directly report financial crises to shareholders. This is the third part of the series; the author has taken action and will disclose the results later.
Travel Expense Management Software Promotion Encounters Resistance: Executives Insist on Excel, How Should Financial Managers Respond?
At the 'Travel Expense Management' webinar hosted by Proformative, a participant reported that the biggest pain point in their company is that executives do not use T&E software correctly, preferring instead to record expenses in Excel. This issue sparked discussion on system promotion and executive cooperation.
Discussion on Reasonable Solutions for Extending Supplier Payment Terms
This article focuses on the scenario where a client owes $45,000 for architectural and engineering services from a single invoice, analyzing key considerations such as a reasonable installment payment schedule, the farthest acceptable payment arrangement, and whether a written agreement is necessary.
Optimizing Business Travel Costs for SMEs: Money-Saving Solutions for Small Companies
A small business with annual revenue under $10 million primarily travels within California, occasionally heading to the Midwest. To reduce expenses on flights, car rentals, and hotels, the company is seeking suitable savings solutions. Based on this need, this article provides referenceable travel management approaches and tool recommendations.
How many expense reports does your company process each month?
This article explores the topic of monthly expense reimbursement processing volumes in companies. A practitioner states that they manually process about 500-600 corporate credit card reimbursement forms per month and seeks industry comparison data.
How Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Can Obtain Macro Industry Benchmark Data: A Practical Guide for CFOs and CEOs
For private small and medium-sized enterprises with revenues between $10 million and $100 million, their CFOs or CEOs often face a challenge: how to systematically obtain macro industry data to compare company performance against the broader market environment. This article outlines available data sources and key indicators, including industry size and growth, target market expansion, purchasing trends (such as the monthly purchasing manager confidence index released by the University of Michigan), and inflation data, and emphasizes the importance of regularly collecting this data to assess the company's relative performance.
Should employees participate in the formulation of financial policies?
A community nonprofit organization with a board of directors and six employees is developing financial policies such as travel reimbursement and credit card usage. The question is: should non-financial employees have the opportunity to provide feedback, or should the board/finance committee decide directly? This article sorts out relevant considerations.
Corporate Travel Management Service Provider Recommendation Requirements: Annual Budget of $750,000, Requiring Mobile App and Human Customer Service
A company is looking for a reasonably priced travel management company, with annual travel spending of approximately $750,000, most trips being self-booked and domestic only. The company requires the provider to offer a robust mobile app and access to human customer service, and is currently considering Egencia, seeking relevant feedback.