Balance Sheet, Cash Flow, and Income Statements can be viewed by any combination of dimensions

Description

In the sphere of Corporate Performance Management (CPM) software, the ability to view Balance Sheet, Cash Flow, and Income Statements by any combination of dimensions is a primary motivator to move off of Excel. This flexibility allows for multi-faceted analysis and reporting based on diverse data classifications such as department, region, product line, or other relevant metrics.

Example Use Case

Scenario: A global retail corporation uses CPM software to track and analyze its financial performance across different business segments. With a multitude of dimensions including regional sales data, departmental revenue, and product category profitability, they need a robust reporting capability in their financial statements.

Solution: The CPM software allows for flexible viewing of their Balance Sheet, Cash Flow, and Income Statements by any combination of these dimensions. For instance, they can easily analyze the profitability of Electronics department in the North America region or compare the cash flow generated by Apparel and Homegoods departments in their European outlets.

Considerations

This requirement mandates a system that is multi-dimensional as a part of its architecture. During the demo, if you see the ability to pick dimensions from dropdowns, drag them, summarize them and so on, you're on the right track. Make sure the system can accommodate sufficient dimensions for your use case. Not all systems can handle a large number of dimensions due to the processing power needed to make the system function.

Also consider what the vendor considers a dimension. For example, is currency a dimension? If it is, you can easily change the reporting currency. What about time, version, etc?

Questions to Ask a Vendor

• Reporting Flexibility: How easily can users select and combine dimensions to view and analyze Balance Sheet, Cash Flow, and Income Statements?
• Available Dimensions: What do you consider a dimension in the system? What isn't?
• Dimension Count: We require subsidiary, department, product, project, class, location, and time. Can your system handle that?