Corporate performance management (CPM) is an umbrella term that refers to practices that assist businesses in organizing and coordinating the optimization of business operations. As a subset of business intelligence processes, CPM involves monitoring and managing an organization’s performance based on key performance indicators (KPIs) such as revenue, ROI, overhead, and operational costs.
However, it should be noted that CPM is not a strategy in and of itself. Companies must develop a framework to ensure that their corporate performance is managed in order to be successful with CPM.
When used properly, CPM’s overarching purpose is to give firms important business insights through operations such as budgeting, scenario analysis, financial planning, forecasting, and data reporting. However, for this to be achievable, they must have the necessary software solution.
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What is Corporate Performance Management (CPM) software
Historically, when CPM-focused software first rolled out in 2001, it was primarily used within financial departments. CPM has matured as a workplace practice since then, and thanks to technological advances, CPM is now designed to be used enterprise-wide.
As a result, CPM software is today regarded as a comprehensive business solution that enables sales, finance, operations, marketing, and human resources to tailor personalized planning apps to their specific needs, boosting efficiency and increasing value creation throughout an organization.
What are the core features of CPM software?
Businesses can use CPM software to automate their most repetitive and complicated activities, streamline their operations and increase productivity and profitability. Let’s take a brief look at some of the main features you may expect to find within the software.
Budgeting, planning, and forecasting (BP&F)
Contemporary forecasting technology enables businesses to estimate financial results weekly, monthly, or annually based on historical data. A modern budgeting solution, such as CPM software, automates processes, saves time, and improves accuracy, but it also assists in managing financial expectations for future periods.
Business leaders obtain a comprehensive planning tool for investment activities, controlling costs, reporting, and analysis by combining automated budgeting and forecasting capabilities.
Financial reporting and compliance
Following on from the preceding point, CPM software and financial reporting work hand in hand, especially when it comes to compliance. As a result, an efficient CPM solution should be informed by statutory laws and regulations to assist businesses in avoiding penalties for non-compliance.
Furthermore, one of the primary goals of CPM is to assist executives in tracking and managing their companies’ financial health concerning specific goals. Thus, CPM software’s financial statement reporting feature enables the organization to assess its success based on various metrics.
Integration with business intelligence (BI) systems
As mentioned, CPM is a subdivision of BI. Therefore, integrating these two systems is imperative for them to function optimally.
In general, the BI system should feed performance data to the CPM system, upon which the CPM software will leverage the data to guide the company towards its strategic objectives.
The primary benefits of CPM software
Now that you have a good grasp of the basic principles surrounding CPM software, let’s look at some of its primary benefits and the value it can bring to a company.
- A more streamlined and productive workflow. Many businesses rely on Excel to handle their day-to-day operations. They prefer to take the more traditional path since the program is relatively inexpensive to learn and operate, and it’s extremely flexible. However, using Excel spreadsheets is famously susceptible to human error and, as a result, can increase everyone’s workload. Companies can use corporate performance management to improve workflows and reduce dependency on spreadsheets. Furthermore, CPM software can aid in the improvement of workflow for a wide range of corporate operations, such as building and approving marketing strategies before users start formulating sales forecasts.
- Simplified calculations. One of the most significant advantages of CPM software is its ability to simplify complex financial operations. Performance management tools can also execute large-scale calculations, such as scenario analysis, by easily modifying data in multiple scenarios and growth and inflation estimations. These tools can compile financial information and compute data into spreadsheets. Moreover, some CPM systems can transfer data between Excel and the program, allowing all critical computations to be exported and eventually converted into plain-language instructions for developing a business model.
- Extensive data analysis. One of the major strengths of CPM software is the level of detail it provides in data analysis. The insights derived from this analysis enable top leaders and management to make more informed decisions that will propel the company forward. Many CPM providers also include dashboards, which can help visualize financial data and provide an overall view of corporate performance over time.
Final word
Overall, CPM software is an effective solution that can assist businesses in reducing their dependency on spreadsheets and gaining greater visibility into their company’s performance. In many ways, well-utilized CPM software combined with suitably integrated BI can help firms gain a competitive advantage in their market by enhancing workflow, simplifying financial computations, providing thorough data analysis, and aligning KPIs with corporate goals. For most enterprises, these benefits certainly make CPM software a worthy investment.
