PowerPoint or Google Slides integration to automatically update presentations with any version of a budget or forecast

Description

PowerPoint or Google Slides integration with Corporate Performance Management (CPM) software refers to the capability of the software to automatically update presentations with any version of a budget or forecast. This feature reduces manual effort, saves time, and ensures real-time access to the latest data for board presentations.

Example Use Case

Scenario: A large corporation uses CPM software to manage its budgets and forecasts. The finance team is required to present updated financial forecasts to the company's board each quarter. This involves lengthy manual data export, analysis, and presentation creation processes.

Solution: By integrating the CPM software with PowerPoint or Google Slides, any updates or changes made to the budgets and forecasts in the CPM system are automatically reflected in the board presentation. This eliminates the need for manual data handling, reduces errors, and ensures the board receives the most accurate and current data during presentations.

Considerations

This requirement is much like the Microsoft Word requirement in that we're looking for a direct connection to the CPM database via a plug-in that lies inside PowerPoint. This means that linking Microsoft Office objects does not count. We prefer to avoid objects because, if the Excel file changes, the objects have a habit of breaking.

For Google Slides, the same applies. We're looking for a purpose-built Slides plug-in that does not rely on Sheets to generate data.

The plug-in should maintain the data formatting and aesthetics of the original presentation. In other words, when a refresh takes place, the formatting stays as is.

Questions to Ask a Vendor

• Available Plug-Ins: Do you offer a plug-in for both PowerPoint and Slides? (PowerPoint will be the most common)
• Formatting: When we refresh the data, what happens to the formatting?
• New Metadata: What happens when new accounts or dimensions are added? Do we need to manually update the slides or will they be pulled in automatically?