It’s no secret that one of the most crucial factors for success in business is solid financial planning. In fact, an Ibis World Report shows that the demand for financial planning and advisors is growing strongly, with industry revenue expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 1.8%.
With the global pandemic tossing conventions up into the air, 2020 has been a whirlwind year for companies. Many businesses have reshuffled or even drastically slimmed down budgets to stay afloat during this turbulent time. Resources are precious, and knowing exactly where and how your money is being spent is vital to staying afloat (and hopefully thriving) in the coming year.
While many companies look to external providers to manage their finances, and others balance the books in-house, the fact is that quality software is needed for both of these methods. Without it, keeping track of budgets, tracking expenditures and forecasting for the future all become time-consuming, complicated procedures. And goodness knows, time is its own valuable commodity nowadays!
If you’re considering investing in financial planning software, but are still on the fence, never fear!
Here are three excellent reasons why you need financial planning software in 2021:
- Consolidated Data
There’s nothing worse than having all your information in different locations. In fact, its almost impossible to analyse and understand financial data when its scattered across various platforms, spreadsheets and files. Quality financial planning software keeps all your data in one place. Not only that, it categorizes it as well – meaning the breadcrumb trail is easy to follow and root causes are that much quicker to identify.
- Automated Reporting
It’s one of the most dreaded moments in a CFO’s year – Report Time. Whether you need to crunch the numbers on a weekly, monthly or yearly basis, doing this manually can be soul-destroying. It also eats into valuable time, and often results in human errors which then have to be rectified. Investing in good financial planning software means reports will be generated automatically, with real-time figures from your database.
- Predictive Modeling
Arguably one of the best features of this kind of software is the ability to get accurate projections for the future. You’ll be able to get financial forecasts based on rigorous assessment of your track record so far, as well as all the data you’ve been inputting into the system. You’ll even be able to create contingency plans for possible scenarios with the click of a button – which will then be implemented should your circumstances change!
These are just a few of the many advantages that investing in financial planning software has to offer. With more and more companies moving online, and teams working remotely, having all your data in one place is becoming essential for accuracy and efficiency. If everybody in your finance department is singing from the same sheet, the actual task of balancing the books and keeping track of your budget becomes significantly easier! And who doesn’t want that – am I right?
Now that you’ve read about what financial planning software can do for you, why not check out some of the amazing tools out there and get the ball rolling today?
Author Bio:
Heather Wilkinson is a globe-trotting content creator and PR enthusiast at Serpwizz who’s finally put down roots in her native UK. When she isn’t working, you’ll find her pretending to care about Minecraft for her son’s sake, while secretly reading the latest Ace Atkins novel (or sleeping – her second favourite past-time).
