At Beyond Plans, we’re seeing a clear shift in what finance leaders expect from their systems. The days of treating planning, reporting, and consolidation as disconnected functions are over. CFOs now want integrated insights, agile processes, and real-time control. Anaplan meets these expectations but to leverage it fully, it’s crucial to understand what’s actually changing.
Why Traditional Finance Systems Are No Longer Enough
Finance teams are under growing pressure. They’re expected to provide sharper strategic guidance, comply with ever-stricter regulations, and manage increasing operational complexity all with limited resources.
Many organizations still rely on outdated tools: spreadsheets, siloed systems, rigid legacy software. These slow down closing processes, make forecasting difficult, and delay critical decision-making. According to CFO Club, 75% of companies spend €1 in financial reporting for every €1,000 of revenue a structurally unsustainable cost.
The Illusion of Dual Platforms: Planning on One Side, Consolidation on the Other
Historically, companies invested in separate, specialized systems: advanced tools for planning and static solutions for consolidation. This led to silos, data duplication, and time-consuming reconciliations.
That imbalance is still visible in IT investment patterns: since the 1990s, innovation has favored planning tools, while consolidation platforms lagged behind. And yet, it’s the convergence of both that empowers CFOs to fully embrace their role as strategic co-pilots.
A Unified Platform: Building a Truly Connected Finance Function
With Anaplan, planning, forecasting, consolidation, and reporting are no longer isolated modules. The platform offers a single, cloud-native workspace where data flows in real time. No more manual exports, no more spreadsheet patchwork, no more rekeying errors.
This integrated approach unlocks tangible benefits:
- Up to 90% faster closing cycles
- Audit time reduced by up to 50%, thanks to automated audit trails
- Forecast accuracy improved by as much as 20%
- A reliable, real-time view of financial performance across the organization
Key Questions Before Upgrading Your Finance Stack
In a recent ebook, Anaplan lays out several key questions questions we at Beyond Plans explore every day with our clients:
- Does the solution give me a reliable, consolidated view of the entire organization?
- Can I adapt it to my needs without relying on IT?
- Does it promote collaboration between accounting, FP&A, controlling, and treasury?
- Is it scalable as the business grows?
- Does it include AI to simulate scenarios and speed up analysis?
- Can I deploy it quickly with pre-built templates?
These are not theoretical criteria. At Beyond Plans, we’ve developed concrete evaluation methods to guide our clients — across industries — through these choices.
Built for Finance Teams, Not Developers
Another key differentiator: Anaplan is designed for business users, not IT specialists. Its no-code environment allows finance teams to manage their models independently. The modern interface, preconfigured templates, and automated reporting features significantly reduce operational burden.
Repositioning finance as an autonomous, strategic actor is a cornerstone of our mission at Beyond Plans. We help finance teams take back control of their tools transforming Anaplan into a platform for empowerment and collaboration.
What This Means for Real-World Projects
On the ground, we see a growing demand for hybrid solutions that cover:
- Strategic planning
- Budgeting and forecasting
- Financial close
- Regulatory and managerial reporting
Anaplan’s Financial Consolidation application supports modular implementation, seamlessly fitting into your broader finance transformation roadmap. With prebuilt models and rapid deployment capabilities, results can be achieved in just a few weeks.
No More Trade-offs Between Control and Compliance
Finance leaders should no longer have to choose between regulatory accuracy and agile decision-making. A modern, integrated platform must deliver both.
Anaplan is recognized by Gartner as a leader in financial planning and a challenger in financial consolidation. But beyond rankings, what really matters is its ability to bring finance functions together around a single, trusted data set.
FAQ
Can Anaplan fully automate financial consolidation?
Yes. Anaplan’s Financial Consolidation application includes accounting rules, automated calculations, audit trails, and generates standardized financial statements.
How long does it take to implement an Anaplan consolidation solution?
An initial deployment can be up and running in 8 to 12 weeks. Its modularity then allows you to add layers (intercompany, tax, cash flow) based on your priorities.
Can Anaplan be connected to multiple ERPs or accounting tools?
Yes. More than 50 connectors are available, covering SAP, Oracle, Sage, Cegid, etc. Beyond Plans also handles complex data flows in multi-entity groups.
