Companies prefer to use to CPM Software Solution to reduce the finance department’s time and effort spent on data collection and analyzing.
FREMONT, CA: Investing in new software is a lot harder than many think, and this is especially true when you want to invest in a Corporate Performance Management (CPM) tool. It is meant to help you with financial tasks such as financial reporting, budgeting, forecasting, consolidation of financial statements, data analytics, and strategic decision-making.
CPM software selection involves several things, including time investment in looking for a tool that fits the nature of the business. It also includes monetary investment in terms of consulting costs, license costs, and staff time costs.
Almost three months to two years are spent on selecting a suitable CPM solution. It also depends on how badly the company needs to have a solution in place, the bidding/budget approval process, and resource availability.
Here are some essential tips for the people who are willing to invest in CPM software:
1. Know your Needs and Budget
Most of the CPM vendors make several promises while selling their solutions to customers. Some of them genuinely can offer these features but some of them are just fakes. So while selecting CPM software, the customer should be aware of their needs and how much they are willing to pay. Generally CPM analytical tools/CPM can cost anywhere from $5,000 to $100,000, so set a realistic budget with some flexibility, before start looking for one.
2. Make this the Finance team´s business, not IT´s business
Many companies make a common mistake while looking for CPM software. Rather than depending on finance teams, they depend on their IT managers for selecting the software. It is a big mistake because this software is meant to help the finance department. This help cannot be efficient if the people themselves who need the software do not oversee the process. If an IT person selects the software, they will only look at the technical side of things. They will not seek what is best for the finance department or what is the actual need of the finance team; instead, they will look for what works best for them in terms of installation and maintenance.
The finance department can maintain good CPM software with very minimal IT involvement upon installation. All the rest of the financial model building must be within the control of the finance department, not IT.
3. Assess your Company’s Degree of Participation in the Deployment
Many CFOs and finance managers make a positive assessment of their participation during the deployment. They are hoping some of their in-house staff can do the rest of the work, so they purchase minimal consulting hours. However, when it comes down to implementation time, their staff is either bogged down with things to do, or they do not have the necessary skills even to participate. So the CFOs should make an honest assessment of the degree of the company’s participation to shorten the deployment time and negotiate a better rate for consulting services.
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