Automatically adjust revenue plan or forecast based on fresh data from source systems

Description

This functionality enables businesses to keep their financial plans and forecasts accurately aligned with real-time data, thereby enhancing decision-making, operational efficiency, and business agility. This requires an automated feed from source systems and a CPM system that re-calculates drivers and formulas that produce the revenue plan as new source data is introduced.

Example Use Case

Scenario: An international retail company utilizes CPM software to plan its revenues and forecast future sales. As the retail environment is highly dynamic, the company frequently updates sales data from multiple source systems including e-commerce platforms, in-store POS systems, and warehouse management systems.

Solution: They implement an automated feed from their source systems into the CPM tool, updating the revenue plans and forecasts in real-time. These changes allow for an accurate, current view of the business, enabling quicker, more informed decision making.

Considerations

For a plan to be re-calculated, it should have drivers already created that calculate based on source data in the system. For example, when new sales data comes in from an eCommerce platform, the drivers for distribution costs should automatically re-calculate and potentially move up or down based on sales performance.

This is inclusive of predictive or AI modeling methods. Those should also re-generate based on new data being introduced to the system as opposed to having to manually trigger them.

Questions to Ask a Vendor

• Real-time Updates: How promptly does your system adjust the revenue plan or forecast after receiving fresh data? Do we need to wait for the system to recalculate overnight?
• Forecasting Methods: Do we need to trigger any updates, or do all the forecasting methods automatically refresh the forecast?