Balance sheet can be sliced by multiple dimensions

Description

Slicing a balance sheet by multiple dimensions in Corporate Performance Management (CPM) software enables users to analyze financial data from multiple perspectives. This feature allows stakeholders to view the financial performance across different dimensions such as geographical regions, business lines, cost centers, time periods, or any other categorizations relevant to the business.

Example Use Case

Scenario: A global retail corporation uses CPM software to track and analyze their balance sheets. They want a detailed understanding of liabilities, assets, and equity across different dimensions such as product lines, store locations, and time periods.

Solution: With the balance sheet slicing feature, the corporation can view their assets in Electronics versus Home Appliances product lines, compare equity across Stores in North America versus Stores in Europe, or observe changes in liabilities over different fiscal quarters. This multidimensional view allows the organization to make informed decisions based on detailed, context-rich financial insights.

Considerations

This requirement only refers to the Balance Sheet. Businesses that plan at the Balance Sheet level are usually more interested in understanding long-term obligations, capital needs, planning dividends and so on. In general, they're looking at financial health. Operations is secondary.

Products that include a pre-built Balance Sheet will generally be easier to use with dimensions, in part because the Balance Sheet was created with that use case in mind. In some isolated cases with less sophisticated products, consultants will rush this build, created a fixed report that is only mean to be refreshed.

Questions to Ask a Vendor

• Ease of use: How easy is it to slice balance sheets by multiple dimensions using your software, particularly for users without extensive technical knowledge?
• What-Ifs: Can we create versions of the Balance Sheet and subsequently compare them side by side against locations, subsidiaries, and so on?