Robert Kugel's Analyst Perspectives

A Finance Department Data Strategy for ESG Compliance

Posted by Robert Kugel on Oct 31, 2022 3:00:00 AM

Sensitivity to environmental, social and governance issues – or ESG – has grown over the years and with it, increasing attention by some investors and government entities urging organizations to measure and disclose ESG metrics. 

Read More

Topics: Office of Finance, Financial Performance Management, ERP and Continuous Accounting, digital finance

The Rising Expectations for Finance Analytics

Posted by Robert Kugel on Oct 26, 2022 3:00:00 AM

It’s likely that finance analytics trace back to when people first began to record transactions on clay tablets. Financial analytics were given a boost with the codification of double-entry bookkeeping, an elegant system for recording transactions that facilitate the assessment of the performance and health of an organization. Further advances were achieved with the first mechanical – and then digital system – for automating computations, while personal computing devices made the numbers accessible to all.

Read More

Topics: Office of Finance, Business Planning, Financial Performance Management, digital finance

Planful Acquires for Marketing Performance in Planning Suite

Posted by Robert Kugel on Oct 19, 2022 3:00:00 AM

Planful recently acquired Plannuh, a marketing-performance management application, to integrate into the Planful platform so that organizations can connect their marketing planning and analysis group with the finance department. There’s the old story of a CEO who said, “I know half my marketing spend is wasted, I just don’t know which half.” Plannuh is designed to answer that question.

Read More

Topics: Marketing Performance Management, Office of Finance, Business Planning, Financial Performance Management, intelligent marketing, digital finance

Profitability Management Conquers Inflationary Pressures

Posted by Robert Kugel on Oct 11, 2022 3:00:00 AM

A year ago, I wrote about how technology could be useful in an inflationary period, correctly anticipating the world we live in now. Responding effectively to changes in costs is always challenging, but even more so because of the choppy and chaotic nature of the current environment. Many organizations have a limited or no ability to raise prices, and are forced to find ways to minimize the impact of rising costs. And while it’s true that some organizations have a degree of pricing power, behind this generalization there is a more complex reality because this ability to raise prices often varies depending on specific products, customers and channels. Companies can best address the challenges of inflation by adopting a technique that Ventana Research calls “profitability management.”

Read More

Topics: Office of Finance, Financial Performance Management, digital finance, Revenue Management, profitability management, Revenue Performance Management

Building a More Predictive Finance Department

Posted by Robert Kugel on Oct 5, 2022 3:00:00 AM

A predictive finance department is one that can command technology to be more forward-looking and action-oriented while still fulfilling its core role of handling the financial elements of its organization including accounting, treasury and corporate finance. Beyond just automating rote tasks, technology also facilitates a shift toward becoming a predictive finance organization. Greater amounts of information, now available in near real time, and the increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI), enable more immediate analyses and assessments of possible courses of action, providing executives and managers the ability to better anticipate change and the agility to adapt quickly to unexpected circumstances.

Read More

Topics: Office of Finance, business intelligence, Data Management, Business Planning, Financial Performance Management, ERP and Continuous Accounting, AI and Machine Learning, digital finance