Redesign Your Planning Process.
Build Forecasts Your Board Can Challenge.
Planning still runs across too many spreadsheets, with weak version control and forecasts that are hard to defend. We work with FP&A to redesign the planning model and build functional demonstrators around your real data before full implementation.
| P&L Line | Budget | Actual | Var. | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 0 | 0 | +0 | +0.0% |
| Product Revenue | 0 | 0 | +0 | +0.0% |
| Services Revenue | 0 | 0 | +0 | +0.0% |
| COGS | -0 | -0 | -0 | -0.0% |
| Gross Profit | 0 | 0 | +0 | +0.0% |
| OpEx | -0 | -0 | +0 | +0.0% |
| EBITDA | 0 | 0 | +0 | +0.0% |
Where Planning Usually Breaks
Most finance teams still plan the same way they did 15 years ago. The tools changed. The structural problems did not. Particularly in capital-intensive businesses, where commodity moves, FX swings, and capex decisions can make any static budget obsolete within weeks.
Fragmented Planning
Revenue in one model, OpEx in another, headcount in a third. No single view of the business.
Version Chaos
Budget_v14_FINAL_FINAL.xlsx. More time reconciling versions than analysing results.
Slow Cycles
Weeks for an annual budget. By the time it is approved, assumptions are already outdated.
Disconnected from Actuals
Planning lives in Excel. Actuals live in the ERP. Variance analysis is a manual monthly exercise.
What We Help You Design
Each area below is a workstream we shape together - not a pre-packaged module. The deliverable is a redesigned process plus a functional demonstrator on your data.
Annual Budgeting
Design a structured budget process that connects top-down targets with bottom-up input - with clear ownership, cadence and consolidation logic.
Rolling Forecasts
Move beyond the static annual budget. Define a continuous forecast horizon, refresh cadence, and how actuals feed back from your close.
Scenario Modelling
Frame the questions worth modelling - revenue shocks, hiring plans, FX moves - and shape a scenario library FP&A can run without rebuilding spreadsheets.
Driver-Based Planning
Stop planning line-by-line. Identify business drivers (headcount, price × volume, utilisation) and design a model architecture FP&A can maintain.
Forecasting Maturity Roadmap
Assess where your forecasting sits today and plan a realistic next step - including where statistical support makes sense and where FP&A judgment must lead.
Decision Support & Board Packs
Connect planning data to working capital, covenants and board-level narratives. Design the views CFOs actually use to make decisions.
From Current State to Designed Target State
There is no universal "after". The target operating model is co-designed with your team, then validated through demonstrators on your data.
Spreadsheet-driven planning
- Dozens of disconnected spreadsheets across departments
- Versions reconciled by hand, with limited audit trail
- Forecasts driven by intuition and last year +/- a percentage
- Scenarios take weeks; only one or two are ever produced
- Variance analysis is a manual ritual after the close
A planning operating model that holds up
- A single planning model with clear ownership per driver
- Versioned scenarios with documented assumptions and changes
- Forecast logic that combines drivers, signals and FP&A judgment
- A scenario library that finance can re-run without rebuilding
- Variance commentary embedded in the workflow, not bolted on after
A Forecast You Can Defend in the Boardroom.
Forecasting maturity is not a feature you switch on. It is a sequence of design choices about drivers, logic, governance and explainability. We help you make those choices deliberately, document them, and prove them with demonstrators before any heavy build.
Where machine-learning support fits, it is framed as a workflow - not a black box. FP&A keeps the pen.
Driver architecture
Which business drivers actually move the P&L? We design a driver hierarchy your team can own and explain.
Forecast logic
Where statistical models help, where judgment must lead. Documented per line item - not a black box.
Explainability & governance
Every forecast comes with assumptions, owners and review trail. Defendable in front of auditors and the board.
Connection to close & reporting
Plans only matter if actuals close the loop. We design how planning and close talk to each other.
A Realistic Path, Not a Leap
We help you locate where you are today and design the next step - not promise a final stage you cannot operate.
Manual & spreadsheet-driven
Planning lives in Excel. Versions managed by file naming. Forecasts are last year +/- a percentage.
Structured & connected
A unified model with clear ownership. Actuals integrate from close. Variance commentary becomes part of the workflow.
Driver-based & scenario-led
Drivers, not line items. Scenario libraries the CFO can re-run. Forecasts that withstand a board challenge.
Model-supported & explainable
Statistical or ML models support FP&A on selected lines, with full explainability and governance. Humans still own the call.
Common Questions
No. We are a finance-led design partner. We help you redesign your planning operating model, build functional demonstrators on your data, and then phase implementation around what proves value - rather than dropping a generic platform on top of your existing problems.
Not by default. The starting point is your current stack and how planning, close and reporting talk to each other. In some cases we recommend changes; in others we redesign the workflow on top of what you already have.
As support for FP&A on specific line items where statistical patterns are strong enough to add signal - always with explainability and human override. We do not present AI as a replacement for finance judgment, and we do not promise generic accuracy gains without first testing on your data.
We co-design a scenario taxonomy with FP&A - which questions actually get asked, which assumptions matter - and shape a structure so the same scenarios can be re-run as conditions change, without rebuilding spreadsheets each time.
It usually starts with a diagnostic of current planning cycles, ownership and pain points. From there we design the target operating model, build functional demonstrators on your real data, and agree a phased implementation plan with your team.
Ready to Redesign How
Your Team Plans?
Start with a diagnostic session. We map your current planning cycles, surface where the model breaks, and outline what a target operating model could look like - with no commitment to a specific tool.