For those that have been in the NetSuite ecosystem for a few years you may recall a time where NetSuite partnered with Adaptive Insights to create a module known as NetSuite Financial Planning to offer clients a cloud-based planning and forecasting solution that was imbedded in NetSuite. Since the recent acquisition by Oracle, the NetSuite Financial Planning module is no longer available, however Oracle has created a connector to tightly integrate NetSuite with Oracle Planning and Budgeting Cloud Service, also known as PBCS.
A little history on Oracle Planning and Budgeting Cloud Service… For over a decade, Hyperion Planning has consistently been recognized as a market leader in the Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) space. However as the demand for SaaS-based EPM tools have increased over the past five years, Oracle has retooled its best-in-class capabilities for the cloud and since being released in 2014 has seen rapid adoption to the tune of 2,500 customers.
Oracle is a cloud-based planning tool that provides planning and budgeting functionality capabilities within the flexible and customizable framework that enables companies to address a wide variety of financial, sales, and operational planning use cases across many industries. In this post, we’ll take a look at Oracle Planning & Budgeting Cloud Service (PBCS) and how it might be useful to NetSuite customers to consider as they move from an Excel based planning process to a cloud-based financial planning solution.
Three Benefits of Oracle PBCS for NetSuite
#1: Eliminate inefficient forecasting processes
Spreadsheets have been central to operations for many SMB’s and mid-market companies. PBCS allows you to migrate from spreadsheets, decreasing the risk of errors and inaccuracies. Furthermore, PBCS increases the ability for team members and departments across the organization to collaborate and have visibility into forecasts, making that data all the more actionable.
#2: Better forecasting
With Oracle planning cloud modeling capabilities, approval workflows, and reporting, sales and strategic planning goals can be linked to short and long-term financial plans. PBCS also performs business logic to provide instant analysis and reporting. Furthermore, PBCS’ analysis engine understands market volatility and uses predictive analytics to answer the elusive question of “what if,” thus minimizing risk and uncertainty.
#3: Microsoft Office Integration
Planning and budgeting cloud service comes with Smart View with Ad Hoc Planning in Excel (Smart View and Ad Hoc Planning are the next generation of the Excel Essbase add-in). Office documents can also be dynamically updated in a single click as data changes in PBCS.
Budgeting and forecasting can be one of the most intensive processes within an organization. It is no longer necessary to rely exclusively on spreadsheets to analyze data and generate reports – and why would you, when there is a way to increase both efficiency and accuracy of your forecasting process. Oracle NetSuite PBCS provides a low cost and fast deployment option that is tightly integrated with NetSuite.
