BUDGETING WITH ONLY 1 EXCEL FILE

The task

Tailor-made budget solution – a design which matches the company’s need

For many companies, the budgeting process is time-consuming. This is often due to the fact that the company does not have one joint place to manage the process and work with the budget. The consequence is that the budget comes about through a widespread and complex set-up, consisting of a large number of Excel files which demand a lot of manual handling and control.

For our client here – a large global production and service company in the field of logistics – there was a desire to streamline the budgeting process and centralise it in one place. With more than 100 budgeting units and a budgeting process based on a large number of Excel files, there was a need to free up time to work with the contents of the budget, rather than having to use time on preparing and consolidating data.

"We wanted to avoid handling lots of Excel files manually and thus reduce the time consumption in connection with preparation of the basis of the budget process. This normally took more than a month. At the same time, we wanted to reduce the risk of mistakes and avoid unnecessarily using a lot of time to check whether all the numbers tallied up. So, it was important for us that our users themselves could easily and simply see consolidated and calculated results of their entries right away”, says the Business Controlling Manager in the company.

And continues: "So what we were on the lookout for was a tailor-made solution founded on a database in which both we as administrators and our users could work ‘live’ with data.”

exacto has helped with this important task, which not only has reduced the number of Excel files from more than 100 to only one single file. It has also has become a perfectly tailored solution which meets the company’s specific demands.

The solution

Everything is gathered in one place – with live data in a user-friendly and intuitive interface

In close dialogue with the company, exacto has developed a budgeting solution in which the whole process is concentrated in one place. The solution consists of an SQL database in which all data are stored, including relevant data from the company’s other systems. In addition to that, only one Excel file, in which the users can work with their part of the budget.

"To go from Excel to database opens up a great many opportunities. You design your own front-end from scratch and are not limited by a layout, as in other solutions. When you want to change something, it is easy. It does not take several days to implement the changes in our Excel template. That can be done really quickly”, says the Business Controlling Manager with responsibility for the budgeting process.

The whole process is managed in the administration module, which includes exactly the functionalities those responsible for the budgeting process must use. User rights can be assigned: nobody sees data they are not allowed to see. One workflow makes it possible to get a quick status report on the budgeting process: what is ready for approval, what awaits. There is also a possibility to roll to a new version. The administrators thus have the best conditions to succeed in managing the company well through the budgeting process.

The 60-70 users work in a familiar Excel set-up, in which the budget data are entered in one and the same Excel file with live updating to the underlying database. Operating and headcount expenses are budgeted in the same place; and the salary budget is generated automatically. The comment function makes it possible to document budget assumptions in the same place as the budget numbers themselves.

The result

Time-saving of up to 85%

With the new budgeting solution, the company has saved a lot of time through the whole budgeting process – all the way up to 85%. The preparation time has been reduced markedly, and the work with control harmonisations and partial consolidations is eliminated. Since "live" data are exclusively worked with in all parts of the budgeting process, users can now see consolidated and calculated results of their entries right away:

"In the old solution, the result first had to be uploaded and calculated. That took approx. 3-5 minutes per update", says the Business Controlling Manager. "The users have been unbelievably happy that they have gotten everything combined in one tool. It is very user-friendly. They were crazy about it from day one and think that it is easy, recognisable and simple for them to use."

An indirect time saver is also picked up there. Before, the HR division had to be involved in the salary portion of the budget. Because the work is now done in a secure solution, based on user rights, the users themselves can handle sensitive salary and headcount data. The salary budget is therefore submitted automatically, as soon as the headcount is entered.

About exacto as the developer of the solution, the word is this: "The fact that we, together with exacto, have gotten the full opportunity to tailor the system so that it suits our needs has been absolutely crucial. We have paid for exactly what we needed and have avoided fixed licences for a standard tool", says the Business Controlling Manager. And there’s this conclusion: "We really have the opportunity to further develop and operate the solution ourselves. It is a freedom not to be locked into one supplier if something unforeseen should arise."