For companies of a certain size, professional corporate planning is essential for economic success. By defining long-term goals and short- and medium-term planning targets, it creates the necessary framework to which the company is aligned.
Digital tools have significantly changed corporate planning over the last few decades. Whether as a component of ERP software or as a completely independent solution, computer-aided planning projects have become indispensable. In recent years, AI-based data analysis tools have once again revolutionized digital planning.
Software solutions such as Jedox enable precise and reliable projections and therefore also the planning of company figures and targets. As an official Jedox partner, we support companies in Switzerland in using Jedox technology efficiently and successfully.
What does corporate planning involve?
Corporate planning projects are typically categorized according to two aspects. On the one hand, with regard to the time horizon of the planning. A distinction is made between- strategic planning with a very long time horizon
- Tactical planning, which includes medium-term goals to achieve the strategic goals
- Operational planning of acute processes in the course of operations
On the other hand, corporate planning is often also organized in terms of content with a view to different business areas. These are, for example
- Personnel or personnel requirements and resource planning
- Investment planning
- Budget, capital requirements and financing planning
Define goals and strategies
Strategic corporate planning offers the opportunity to define general objectives for your company. When setting these, it is important to define realistic goals from the outset. Your company will not be helped if you set overly optimistic sales targets that are unrealistic to meet. On the contrary, in the worst case scenario, this will result in further unrealizable partial targets. This then jeopardizes the entire planning.
A realistic assessment of the status quo should therefore always precede the setting of company targets. With Jedox, you have the option of collecting data from all departments and subjecting it to a large-scale analysis, provided you do this in advance. The advanced budget forecasting modules create a realistic basis for your planning. This is helpful for both bottom-up and top-down planning projects.
Only when the overarching corporate goals have been defined does the more concrete planning begin. Resource and capacity planning on the one hand and budget planning on the other play a key role here.
Planning resources and capacities
A realistic assessment of medium-term potential is also important when planning your company's resource capacities. This applies equally to the projection of logistical and material resources as it does to personnel planning. Digital solutions such as Jedox use intelligent analysis technology to help with the assessment.
Bottlenecks in particular, which can become a challenge as your company grows, can be identified at an early stage. Such bottlenecks often occur in places that are difficult to identify using conventional models. For example, when machine maintenance is due and the necessary parts or employees are not available in time.
By automatically analyzing as much data as possible in the company, Jedox can provide valuable information on planning gaps. Your digital business planning thus develops real added value compared to other approaches.
Budget planning and management
Planning and organizing financial leeway and budgets are a particularly important part of corporate planning. After all, funds are in many ways the most important resource with which your company works. Planning errors in this area can have a negative impact on all other planning. At the same time, overly conservative financial planning naturally impairs your company's growth potential.
Fortunately, Jedox can play to its strengths when it comes to supporting budget planning. Data on financial information in particular is available in large quantities in every company. Typically, this data is already sufficiently structured. This means that it can be quickly integrated into advanced forecasting models with the help of intelligent Jedox technology.
How can successes and failures in corporate planning be evaluated?
For planning to be truly meaningful, your company's successes must be regularly compared with it. This so-called plan/actual comparison should be carried out as often as possible (at least for sub-plans). Deviations from the plan are thus recognized at an early stage and give you the necessary scope to take countermeasures.
Intelligent software solutions such as Jedox simplify this regular check considerably. Deviations from the target are detected more quickly than with manual checks. This means that the plan/actual comparison can be established in many areas.
Corporate planning with Jedox: Consilix AG is your contact in Switzerland
Are you interested in implementing your corporate planning with Jedox? We at Consilix are your contact for this topic. As an official Jedox partner, we support companies throughout Switzerland in the implementation of performance management and planning projects.
Do you still have questions or would you like to start consulting right away? Feel free to get in touch with us. Our team is available by phone, e-mail and via our contact form and looks forward to hearing from you.