The role of the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in publicly-traded or global enterprise companies continues to shift over time to create more value for organizations.
CFOs are not limited to reactively analyzing financial performance after the quarter or fiscal year is over. There’s simply too much value that a CFO can provide to management and executive leadership between the time the month starts and the time of close.
Leading CFOs now proactively dive into the data with the help of their financial team and take the role of a strategic advisor — armed with financial information to guide decision-making for the overall company.
But, a CFO’s voice is only as strong as the software that supports data collection and information creation. Relying on legacy platforms, fragmented software, or Excel spreadsheets will keep the CFO in that dated mindset of reacting to finances.
To become a proactive leader and leading voice in the organization, the CFO needs a modern software platform that generates accurate and reliable information for insight, forecasting, and budgeting.
The solution is OneStream XF software. Following the successful implementation of OneStream software, here’s how to get the most out of the OneStream SmartCPM platform.
Using OneStream XF For Financial Insight
Each set of financial data tells its own story. What if you had insight into what the data means beforehand, not after-the-fact?
A CFO’s voice grows louder when they can provide insight into whether the business is heading in the right direction. Instead of fumbling around with spreadsheets or trying to find cohesive answers across fragmented software platforms, OneStream makes it simple to easily convert data into valuable information that can be brought to the table in real time.
The result is access to rapid insight into financial and operating results. It’s about blending analysis of financial performance and business operations to more accurately predict future business performance.
As it relates to financial reporting, CFOs gain more insight into the real FX impact of currency on every balance sheet account across the organization. The CFO also has the ability to track detailed movements and changes for complete cash flow reporting.
Access to multiple levels of insight makes it easier to identify and report on new cash flow and profitability sources by corporate, division, customer, product, region, or channel. This is powerful information to bring to a vision-casting meeting or strategy session to chart the course for the organization moving forward.
Using OneStream XF For Forecasting
Better insight leads to better forecasting, which leads to better business performance.
For too long, CFOs have been handcuffed by static forecasting models in Excel spreadsheets or outdated software. Leading CFOs are embracing real-time access to forecasting models through the OneStream XF platform, replacing spreadsheets and legacy applications that provide limited flexibility and lack integration with financial reporting and other solutions.
The key phrase to remember is strategic planning. OneStream opens the door to long-term forecasting and the ability to analyze alternative value-creation scenarios. The CFO can quickly develop baseline plans for organic growth strategies and potential M&A initiatives. No more waiting for the quarter or year to conclude before leveraging financial data!
Consider just three ways to execute next-level, strategic forecasting with OneStream XF:
- Pressure-test assumptions and flex key value drivers to evaluate impact on financial results.
- Analyze the impact of alternative what-if scenarios and funding options on key liquidity, profitability, and performance ratios.
- Quickly analyze the sensitivity of your cost structure, revenues, or capital structure to external drivers.
Using OneStream XF For Budgeting
Better insight and strategic forecasting leads to smarter budgeting.
If you’re reacting to financial performance, it’s too late to set an accurate budget for the next period. You need to get ahead of the game so that you can create budgets that align with real-time financial data.
OneStream allows CFOs and their teams to better analyze financial performance across multiple entities to make adjustments in real-time. Instead of complicating the analysis, OneStream simplifies the process.
How does it work? OneStream simplifies the entry of budget and forecast revisions by leveraging dynamic web forms to instantly create or update the plan or forecast:
- Guided Workflows and advanced allocations speed data collection and entry.
- Advanced planning techniques can be implemented (top-down, bottom-up, driver-based planning, rolling forecasts, and more).
- Supports corporate and line of business requirements in a single application.
Successful OneStream Implementation Creates Agility
An attribute that ties everything together for the CFO is agility. There is a clear opportunity for CFOs to leverage one unified financial planning software system that supports financial and operational planning, budgeting, forecasting, and reporting for maximum agility.
The result is a prominent voice at the table to contribute to critical organizational decisions.
As a CPM consulting firm, we want to ensure you are on the path to getting the most out of OneStream for insight, forecasting, and budgeting. We also want to ensure you are leveraging the OneStream XF platform to confidently impact business decisions.
If you are not getting the most out of the software or if your initial software implementation partner no longer supports OneStream, we are available to support your organization.
HollandParker specializes in OneStream software implementation. We have successfully implemented OneStream XF for many global enterprise customers, leading to our designation as a platinum OneStream implementation partner.
We would like to extend our capabilities to support your company. Contact us today to see how we can support you and your team achieve greater results utilizing OneStream XF.
