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        Office of Finance

        Our Expertise

        After a decade of limited technology innovation, the office of finance computing landscape now is experiencing significant transformation. This shift can be seen in areas including ERP, accounting and financial performance management applications like budgeting, closing and planning applications that now are readily available for licensing through subscription and in the cloud. In-memory computing and big data infrastructure make it easier to process larger volumes of data as well as identify risk and opportunities to improve results. “We’ve always done it this way” won’t do anymore. Finance organizations must adapt to the expanding potential from what technology is making practical.

        Ventana Research offers fact-based strategic advisory services to the Office of Finance that are designed to resolve process and people issues by addressing the underlying defects in technology (software) and information (data). Through its understanding of the vendor landscape and technology trends, Ventana Research enables it clients to maximize their substantial investment in technology for ERP, financial consolidation and reporting, budgeting and planning, price and revenue management, subscription management and finance analytics.

        Contact us to learn more.

        Quote.svg

        By 2027, all providers of software aimed at the office of finance will differentiate their offerings by the capabilities and accuracy of their AI functionality.
        Robert Kugel

        Robert Kugel

        Executive Director, Business Research

        Our Latest News & Research

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        Analyst Perspectives

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        Focus Areas

        Browse the Content

        Choose a focus area and explore.

        Ventana On-Demand (VOD) is an advisory service that provides access to exclusive research and monthly dialogue with our analysts.Visit the services page to learn more.
        Analyst Perspective
        Zoho’s Roadmap Addresses Evolving Enterprise Needs

        Zoho’s product roadmap focuses on creating easy-to-use, cost-effective applications that increase productivity across all parts of an enterprise.

        Analyst Perspective
        Productivity by 1,000 Cuts: Building AI Feasibility From the Bottom Up

        Initial productivity gains from simple applications that are invisible to the user will prove AI’s feasibility and value and build trust in the technology.

        Analyst Perspective
        Why AI Should Be a Focus for the Office of Finance

        Adoption of new technologies like AI must be a priority if Finance organizations are to reduce workloads and improve performance.

        Analyst Perspective
        Planning to Get Ahead of What’s Next in the 21st Century

        Employing AI in operational, financial and contingency planning provides a full view of potential opportunities and risks to better manage for the future.

        Analyst Perspective
        Technology Makes Purchasing More Effective

        Technology can streamline processes, automate controls and reduce manual tasks, freeing up time to serve the needs of the enterprise more effectively.

        Market Perspective
        Polaris Earns Office of Finance Digital Leadership Award with OneStream for 2023

        Polaris earned the 2023 Office of Finance Digital Leadership Award for using OneStream to unify forecasts with financial planning to predict performance.

        Analyst Perspective
        Office of Finance 2024 Market Agenda: AI Begins Boosting Productivity

        The Ventana Research 2024 Office of Finance Market Agenda explores increased productivity through the application of AI technologies and digitization.

        eBook
        The Strategic Benefits of Intercompany Financial Management

        IFM can generate significant savings for multinational companies, yet the topic is obscure because usually, nobody oversees IFM.

        Analyst Perspective
        Risk Management is Essential for AI and Generative Development

        Coalition of AI leaders to prioritize, develop and support risk management practices for AI and generative AI to spur adoption and benefits from new tech.

        Analyst Perspective
        Billtrust Automates Receivables to Speed the Cash Cycle

        Gain productivity and accelerate your organization’s cash cycle by managing accounts receivable processes end-to-end using Billtrust.

        Analyst Perspective
        Tap Into AI To Do More by Doing Less

        Maximizing the power of artificial intelligence for planning, budgeting and analysis tasks enables greater accuracy and productivity with less effort.

        Analyst Perspective
        Research Reveals the Importance of Technology in Shortening the Close

        Achieving a faster accounting close is within reach, but organizations must adopt the right digital strategy to accomplish it.

        Analyst Perspective
        insightsoftware’s Portfolio Boosts Office of Finance Productivity

        insightsoftware’s portfolio of products increases organizational productivity by streamlining various Office of Finance processes.

        Analyst Perspective
        Board Enables High-Performing FP&A Organizations

        Organizations that want to improve resiliency, adaptability and performance should look at integrated business planning software from Board for their FP&A.

        Analyst Perspective
        A Practical Approach to Managing ESG

        Centralize responsibility for ESG reporting and compliance with the FP&A group to achieve accuracy control and efficiency objectives.

        Analyst Perspective
        NetSuite Emphasizes AI and Expanded Capabilities at SuiteWorld

        Enhancements announced by Oracle NetSuite at the SuiteWorld user conference offer a rich set of capabilities that improve business performance.

        Market Perspective
        insightsoftware is Vendor of Merit in Business Planning Buyers Guide

        Ventana Research’s 2023 Buyers Guide on Business Planning evaluates insightsoftware.

        Market Perspective
        Infor is Vendor of Merit in Business Planning Buyers Guide

        Ventana Research’s 2023 Buyers Guide on Business Planning evaluates Infor.

        Market Perspective
        Wolters Kluwer is Vendor of Merit in Business Planning Buyers Guide

        Ventana Research’s 2023 Buyers Guide on Business Planning evaluates Wotlers Kluwer.

        Market Perspective
        Prophix Software is Vendor of Merit in Business Planning Buyers Guide

        Ventana Research’s 2023 Buyers Guide on Business Planning evaluates Prophix.

        Market Perspective
        Vena Solutions is Vendor of Merit in Business Planning Buyers Guide

        Ventana Research’s 2023 Buyers Guide on Business Planning evaluates Vena Solutions.

        Analyst Perspective
        Workday Rising Highlights Responsible AI

        Responsible artificial intelligence is Workday’s data governance approach to AI designed to build trust by evaluating risks and providing transparency.

        Market Perspective
        Planful is Vendor of Merit in Business Planning Buyers Guide

        Ventana Research’s 2023 Buyers Guide on Business Planning evaluates Planful.

        Market Perspective
        Workday is Exemplary in Business Planning Buyers Guide

        Ventana Research’s 2023 Buyers Guide on Business Planning evaluates Workday.

        Market Perspective
        OneStream Software is Exemplary in Business Planning Buyers Guide

        Ventana Research’s 2023 Buyers Guide on Business Planning evaluates OneStream.

        Market Perspective
        Board International is Exemplary in Business Planning Buyers Guide

        Ventana Research’s 2023 Buyers Guide on Business Planning evaluates Board International.

        Market Perspective
        IBM is Exemplary in Business Planning Buyers Guide

        Ventana Research’s 2023 Buyers Guide on Business Planning evaluates IBM.

        Market Perspective
        Anaplan is Exemplary in Business Planning Buyers Guide

        Ventana Research’s 2023 Buyers Guide on Business Planning evaluates Anaplan.

        Market Perspective
        SAP is Exemplary in Business Planning Buyers Guide

        Ventana Research’s 2023 Buyers Guide on Business Planning evaluates SAP.

        Market Perspective
        Oracle is Exemplary in Business Planning Buyers Guide

        Ventana Research’s 2023 Buyers Guide on Business Planning evaluates Oracle.

        Analyst Perspective
        The Buyers Guide for Business Planning Classifies and Rates Vendors

        The Business Planning Buyers Guide 2023 gauges how well offerings from twelve vendors match buyers’ requirements for business planning software products.

        Analyst Perspective
        Business Planning Buyers Guide: Market Observations

        Ventana Research offers market observations from the Business Planning Guide 2023 for Office of Finance software products.

        Analyst Perspective
        AI for Working Capital Management

        AI-assisted working capital management systems increase staff productivity by automating processes and ensuring timely handoffs, reviews and approvals.

        Viewpoint
        Financial Technology Innovation Enables Midsize CFO Effectiveness

        IT innovation enables midsize finance departments with the potential to be more productive.

        Analyst Perspective
        With Generative AI, Any Dog Can Write a Contract

        Despite recent concerns, generative AI presents significant opportunity to streamline routine business functions, freeing staff for more complex tasks.

        Analyst Perspective
        Adopt the Virtual Audit to Improve Audit Quality

        A virtual audit allows remote access to systems for more efficient, accurate and higher-quality audits and financial statements at potentially lower costs.

        Analyst Perspective
        Advanced Technology Enables Analytic Autonomy

        As AI advances, technology will enable analysts to build models that empower workers to investigate issues, revise plans and explore potential scenarios.

        Market Perspective
        JAGGAER for Digitally Transforming Sourcing and Purchasing

        JAGGAER is the source for purchasing power: JAGGAER One spend management software increases visibility, utilizes analytics, automation to optimize workflow.

        Analyst Perspective
        Not Your Grandpa’s Consolidate and Close Software

        Digitally transform your financial consolidation process by adopting new, improved, integrated software to boost productivity and effectiveness.

        Market Perspective
        FloQast Streamlines Compliance for a Faster Close

        FloQast’s software helps midsize to small enterprise organizations streamline financial control elements and reduce risk while accelerating the accounting close.

        Analyst Perspective
        The Question of Generative AI Costs

        Generative AI is expanding rapidly. Analyst Robert Kugel focuses on how investment and operating costs could be distributed along the value chain.

        Analyst Perspective
        Sage Positioned to Gain from Seismic Shift in ERP Market

        At its Partner Summit, Sage unveiled key innovations that will enable small and medium size organizations to be more competitive and scalable than ever.

        eBook
        Data: The Keystone of Digital Transformation

        Data quality is the key to finance and accounting excellence.

        Analyst Perspective
        Planful Invests in Finance and Accounting Effectiveness

        At its Perform23 industry conference, Planful highlighted ongoing investments to enable finance and accounting departments to improve effectiveness.

        Analyst Perspective
        Data is the Strategic Raw Material of Finance Departments

        Adopt a total quality management approach to managing financial data to improve performance and ensure continuity, resiliency under any circumstances.

        Market Perspective
        Workiva Earns Office of Finance Digital Innovation Award for 2023

        Workiva makes ESG compliance and reporting easier, more assured and more productive, earning it the 2023 Office of Finance Digital Innovation Award.

        Analyst Perspective
        Accounts Receivable Automation is More Valuable Than You Think

        Expand the potential of Office of Finance organizations with technology options to enhance purchasing, sourcing, and payments automation.

        Analyst Perspective
        Technology Enables Working Capital Optimization

        Technology can help organizations optimize the cost of working capital by managing inventories, accounts receivable and accounts payable.

        Analyst Perspective
        OneStream Advances Generative AI to Improve Productivity

        OneStream is enhancing productivity for accounting and financial planning and analysis organizations with its Sensible ML and Sensible GPT AI applications.

        Analyst Perspective
        Using Continuous Accounting to Improve Performance

        The expanded scope of continuous accounting, supported by technological advances, enables improved performance and recruiting benefits for finance teams.

        Market Perspective
        Zycus Manages Source-to-Pay for Greater Profitability and Control

        Zycus offers source-to-pay software that automates the entire procurement process, reducing manual effort and improving control over organizational spend.

        Analyst Perspective
        Reasons Your Midsize Organization Needs a Finance Technology Update

        Midsize organizations can use practical and affordable technology to improve performance of planning and budgeting and consolidation and closing.

        Market Perspective
        Basware Automates Procure-to-Pay for Greater Profitability and Control

        Basware’s procure-to-pay software automates the entire procurement process, from purchasing to invoice processing and payment reconciliation.

        Analyst Perspective
        Now with the Miracle Ingredient AI!

        Don’t dismiss the buzz; AI offers finance teams a myriad of practical benefits including improved accuracy, reduced risk and enhanced decision-making.

        Analyst Perspective
        Coupa’s Procure-to-Pay Platform Optimizes Spend Processes

        Coupa’s procure-to-pay platform streamlines spend processes, shortens cycles, reduces costs and provides greater visibility into cash flow.

        Analyst Perspective
        Close Automation is Essential for Digital Finance Transformation

        Software that automates the accounting close makes the process more efficient, reduces the risk of errors and enhances the organization’s effectiveness.

        Analyst Perspective
        The Continuous Audit Improves Quality and Efficiency

        Following the virtual audit model, the continuous audit spreads the work of a full annual audit across the year for more efficient use of resources.

        Analyst Perspective
        Our Focus on Close, Consolidate and Report in Finance

        Finance departments should consider new technology to advance their close, consolidate and report processes to achieve superior control, faster results.

        Analyst Perspective
        Accounts Payable Automation is More Valuable Than You Think

        Having digital access to all accounts payable-related data delivers organizational benefits such as reduced process friction and improved finances.

        Analyst Perspective
        Our Focus on Purchasing, Sourcing and Payments in 2023

        Digitally transforming sourcing and procurement enables delivery of expertise, insights across the enterprise while maximizing efficiency, minimizing costs.

        White Paper
        A Global Tax Management Platform Is a Must-Have

        The Base Erosion and Profit Shifting initiative was designed to rein in what has been viewed as excessive tax avoidance by multinational corporations.

        Analyst Perspective
        More Effective Contingency Planning Improves Agility

        Today’s dedicated planning and budgeting software supports scenario planning to enable leaders to manage more effectively and achieve greater agility.

        Analyst Perspective
        Insightsoftware Enables a Predictive and Effective Finance Department

        Insightsoftware’s applications streamline office of finance functions, enabling more time for analysts to analyze and deliver actionable insights.

        Analyst Perspective
        Trintech Streamlines a Transformed Record-to-Report

        Trintech’s accounting software modernizes the finance department, using automation to speed and streamline processes, improve efficiency, deliver insights.

        Market Perspective
        Auditoria Empowers Finance Through AI and ML

        Auditoria.AI eliminates pain points in the finance department using automation, AI/ML to reduce manual and repetitive tasks while improving accuracy and control.

        Analyst Perspective
        Intercompany Financial Management for Accountability and Accounting

        Corporations with a high volume of intercompany financial transactions should adopt technology that helps manage, reconcile bookkeeping between entities.

        Analyst Perspective
        FinancialForce Sharpens Customer Focus in Services Businesses

        FinancialForce’s ERP and professional services automation software streamlines processes across administrative, customer-facing and accounting operations.

        Analyst Perspective
        Optimizing Subscription Management for Finance and Accounting

        Companies that want to launch subscription or recurring business models should employ software to modernize and streamline processes, ensure data integrity.

        Analyst Perspective
        Office of Finance 2023 Market Agenda: A Brave New World

        The Ventana Research 2023 Market Agenda for the Office of Finance will highlight the transformational role of today’s maturing technologies.

        Analyst Perspective
        Professional Services Automation Increases Efficiency

        Professional services automation software reduces administrative overhead and enhances organizational effectiveness, allowing workers to focus on clients.

        Market Perspective
        Rootstock Builds on Roots of ERP for Cloud Computing

        Rootstock Cloud ERP was created for the Salesforce platform to enable effective sales and operations planning for manufacturing and service organizations.

        Analyst Perspective
        Epicor Enriches Vertical-Plus Approach for Growth

        Epicor has focused its ERP platform development on the unique needs of specific vertical industries through focused acquisitions and internal development.

        Analyst Perspective
        Workiva Simplifies ESG Reporting

        Workiva offers an environmental, social and governance application that enables organizations to manage tasks necessary for reporting on ESG matters.

        Market Perspective
        Serco Wins Digital Leadership Award in Office of Finance with Trintech

        Serco earned the 2022 Digital Leadership Award in Office of Finance for using Trintech’s Cadency platform to advance the financial close process.

        Analyst Perspective
        The Planning Center of Excellence

        Companies need a Planning Center of Excellence as a practical way of achieving scenario planning rapidly at a sufficiently granular level.

        Analyst Perspective
        Virtual Audits Improve Financial Statement Quality, Work-Life Balance

        A virtual audit takes advantage of software to achieve higher audit quality with less effort while improving working conditions for the audit firm’s team.

        Analyst Perspective
        Manage Your Spending Purse with Emburse

        Emburse software promotes smarter money management, employing automation, digital tools to see how and where money is being spent and streamline accounting.

        Market Perspective
        Zoho Sweetens its Suite of Applications

        Zoho offers a unified suite of business management tools that support reduced administrative overhead so an organization can grow and scale with agility.

        Analyst Perspective
        Accelerate Closing with a Faster Tax Provision Process

        Using software instead of spreadsheets reduces the time and complexity of the tax provision process for a faster accounting close.

        Analyst Perspective
        Vena Provides Practical Support for Integrated Business Planning

        Vena Solutions offers midsize organizations a platform to comprehensively address strategy, operations and finance through integrated business planning.

        Analyst Perspective
        Oracle NetSuite Goes Full Suite Ahead to Deliver Customer Value

        NetSuite’s customer-centric product strategy seeks to engage customers in more of what the software offers to demonstrate value.

        Analyst Perspective
        Technology Puts the ‘A’ Back in FP&A

        Financial planning and analysis groups need to take advantage of technology that reduces manual tasks, freeing up time to concentrate on analytical work.

        Analyst Perspective
        IBM Planning Analytics Enables Agility Based on Insight

        IBM’s Planning Analytics supports integrated business planning, enabling scenario testing to quickly understand potential outcomes and risks.

        Analyst Perspective
        Planning for a More Uncertain World with Board International

        Board’s platform enables financial planning and analysis groups to improve forecast and planning accuracy and accelerate analysis and reporting.

        Analyst Perspective
        Prophix’s Finance Platform Boosts Midsize Departments’ Effectiveness

        Prophix’s cloud financial software accelerates reporting and analysis by automating manual tasks, freeing up valuable time to dedicate to broader goals.

        Analyst Perspective
        Vertex Manages End-to-End Indirect Tax Compliance Worldwide

        Vertex automates and centralizes indirect tax management, eliminating error-prone manual processes and increasing control, visibility.

        Analyst Perspective
        A New Approach to ERP for a More Effective Finance Department

        Cloud-based ERP will transform the value of the technology and the benefits it delivers, which include superior security, performance and efficiency.

        Analyst Perspective
        A Finance Department Data Strategy for ESG Compliance

        Sensitivity to environmental, social and governance issues – or ESG – has grown over the years and with it, increasing attention by some investors and government entities urging organizations to measure and disclose ESG metrics.

        Analyst Perspective
        The Rising Expectations for Finance Analytics

        Organizations must use the right software and have the right data available to improve the scope, quality, business impact and timeliness of analytics.

        Analyst Perspective
        Planful Acquires for Marketing Performance in Planning Suite

        Planful is bringing its FP&A tools to the marketing department, giving organizations a more comprehensive view of their planning, performance.

        Research Perspective
        Know Sooner, Act Faster to Gain Competitive Advantage

        An important measure of the effectiveness of a finance and accounting department is the time it takes to close the books.

        Analyst Perspective
        Profitability Management Conquers Inflationary Pressures

        Profitability management is a software-enabled discipline that integrates finance and sales to achieve an optimal balance of revenue and margin objectives.

        Analyst Perspective
        Building a More Predictive Finance Department

        A predictive finance department is one that can command technology to be more forward-looking and action-oriented while still fulfilling its core role of handling the financial elements of its organization including accounting, treasury and corporate

        Analyst Perspective
        Workday Rising Shows Advances for the Office of Finance

        Workday held its first in-person Rising user group meeting since 2019 in Orlando. Three topics are worth commenting on: Workday’s Extend offering, its industry accelerators and its progress with the Workday Adaptive Planning offering.

        Analyst Perspective
        External Data Supports a More Predictive Finance Department

        Organizations do not live in a vacuum and things happening outside their walls have a direct impact on how they perform. So, it is essential for them to incorporate external data in their forecasting, planning and budgeting, especially for predictive

        Analyst Perspective
        Straight-Through Processing Reduces Friction and Builds Trust

        General Omar Bradley is credited with saying, “Amateurs study strategy, professionals study logistics.” This is a battlefield commander’s perspective on the often-overlooked importance of mastering the nitty-gritty in achieving military objectives. I

        Analyst Perspective
        Fluence Technologies Automates for Fast Close-to-Report

        The lockdowns of 2020 forced accounting departments to adapt to managing their close-to-report cycle without face-to-face contact, prompting many to adopt digital technologies to facilitate the process. It gave further impetus to the digital transfor

        Analyst Perspective
        To Attract the Best Talent, Make Accounting Cool

        Especially in the United States, baby boomer retirements and fewer graduates with accounting degrees is posing a growing challenge to finance department executives in attracting and retaining the best accounting talent. The solution, which may not se

        Analyst Perspective
        Sourcing and Purchasing Need Digital Transformation

        “Digital finance transformation” became an even more important topic over the past two years as finance and accounting departments have had to cope with an unrelenting set of new challenges that have had a profound impact on business operations, fina

        Viewpoint
        Thriving in Uncertain Times by Planning with Agility

        For the past few years, organizations the world over have been forced to deal with volatile markets and rapidly changing environments caused by an ongoing series of unexpected events. The only certainty facing executives in these times is persistent

        Viewpoint
        Continuous Planning Provides Action, Agility and Accuracy

        The term “continuous planning” may conjure up images of never-ending meetings in which nothing gets accomplished, but Ventana Research uses it to describe a highly collaborative, action-oriented approach to corporate planning built on frequent, short

        Webinar
        Intercompany Financial Management

        Well-executed Intercompany Financial Management (IFM) can have a significant impact on the bottom line for large multinational organizations. IFM is a discipline for structuring and handling transactions within a corporation and between its legal ent

        Webinar
        Webinar : Revenue and Margin Improvement

        Pricing determines not just revenue, but also margin. And margin is vital to ensuring profitability. So pricing both serves to generate volume, and hence revenue. Given the importance of pricing, it is surprising how few companies use data and purpos

        Podcast
        Business Continuity in the Public Sector

        What business continuity lessons have public sector organizations learned during recent challenging times?

        Viewpoint
        Software Drives the 21st Century Tax Department

        The challenges facing tax departments are mounting. Governments worldwide are scrutinizing companies’ reporting more closely in an attempt to raise revenue.

        Webinar
        Continuous Accounting for ​Recurring Revenue ​and Subscription Businesses​

        Subscription and recurring revenue models are proving to be the way forward for many of today’s organizations. But what challenges arise for the Office of Finance as companies shift toward this way of doing business? How can organizations harness the

        Infographic
        CONTINUOUS PLANNING to Improve Business Performance

        Continuous Planning is a high participation, collaborative approach that connects and aligns operational and financial forecasts to support action-oriented planning. This method promotes agility that is valuable both in times of crises and in a stead

        Infographic
        MANAGE PROFITABILITY to Boost Your BOTTOM LINE

        Profitability management is especially valuable as corporations confront cost-price pressures, shifting demand and supply conditions, and structural changes in markets and economies. Having the right tool along with the right data is the first step t

        Videocast
        Build An Actionable Profitability Management Initiative

        Everyone running a business knows that the bottom line is the bottom line. But how does your company manage profitability? There’s an important distinction between managing to profit objectives and what Ventana Research calls “profitability managemen

        Videocast
        Moving Beyond Traditional FP&A

        The ability of the finance department to execute rapid planning, forecasting and budgeting cycles is a major factor that determines a company’s adaptability to change because the planning process enables executives to guide the organization on the pa

        Videocast
        The Need for Profitability Management

        Being able to determine a company's true economic costs is one of the values of profitability management and analytics-driven business discipline designed to help organizations maximize market share and profitability. Watch and listen to Robert Kugel

        QandA
        Accounting for Selling Costs Gets Complicated

        In this exclusive Q&A, Robert Kugel, SVP & Research Director at Ventana Research, answers questions about why new standards are getting so much attention, what the associated costs to companies will be due to the new standards, why standard ERP syst

        QandA
        Know When the Time is Right to Migrate

        Software can become functionally obsolete even if it still operates. This makes it difficult to know when it’s time to replace a legacy system. Finance organizations should assess replacing existing software when it limits departmental efficiency, fl

        QandA
        Why Invest in Profitability Management

        Profitability management is designed to achieve consistently higher financial returns compared to this standard approach by performing profitability analysis at a more granular level to produce a clearer picture of economic costs and cost drivers. Re

        Analyst Perspective
        Anaplan at a Crossroads

        Anaplan offers a cloud-based business planning platform that incorporates a modeling and calculation engine. The tool makes it relatively easy to add or expand the scope of plans that can be connected and monitored on a single platform. This Integrat

        QandA
        Accounting in a Time of Crisis

        How do you close the books when faced with a distributed working environment and other operational constraints? Robert Kugel sheds light on the value of virtualizing the accounting close to make the process more efficient and resilient.

        QandA
        The Imperative for Sales Planning

        To reach the best possible outcomes, sales leaders must be able to govern and optimize the processes they rely on; meeting this challenge is the essence of sales performance. However, those leading and working in sales must cope with myriad often dis

        QandA
        Finance Q&A: Five Ways FP&A is Evolving

        How will digital transformation affect the role of Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A)? How will AI affect these FP&A organizations? Robert Kugel sheds light on how FP&A is evolving.

        QandA
        Ventana Research When Spreadsheets Aren’t Enough: Managing Accounting Standards Changes

        New standards for lease accounting and revenue recognition are challenging finance departments. Robert Kugel sheds light on how the complexity of the new standards, the cross-functional processes for managing them, require software systems – not spre

        QandA
        Planning for Continuity in the Public Sector

        Dedicated planning and budgeting software improves public sector finance department efficiency and enables responsive, high-quality service. Read the Q&A.

        Self-Assessment
        Enhancing Collaboration Between HR and the Office of Finance

        In today’s fluid operating environment, organizations must be agile and resilient to deal with shifts in how and where people work, ever-changing regulations and mounting competition to attract and retain top talent. However, while addressing these c

        White Paper
        Introducing the Virtual Audit

        A business crisis alerts finance leaders to their organization’s vulnerabilities. When lockdowns prevented people from being in their offices in 2020, organizations with the right technology and processes demonstrated their ability to adapt, overcome

        White Paper
        The Digital Transformation Partnership

        Information technology will have a greater impact on how the finance department operates over the next 10 years than it has over the past 50. The cumulative impact of a decade of steady technology evolution along with the demographic shift to digital

        Market Perspective
        OneStream Earns Office of Finance Digital Innovation Award for 2022

        The annual Ventana Research Digital Innovation Awards showcase advances in the productivity and potential of business applications as well as technology that contributes significantly to the improved processes and performance of an organization. Our

        White Paper
        The Value of Continuous Accounting for Business

        Many senior finance executives want their department to play a more strategic role in the management and operations of their company.

        White Paper
        The Value of Close Automation for Midsize Organizations

        Midsize organizations and their finance and accounting departments face a different set of challenges than those faced by small businesses or large enterprises. They’ve outgrown the often-informal systems and processes that worked when they were smal

        White Paper
        A Practical AI Strategy for FP&A

        The use of artificial intelligence (AI) that harnesses machine learning (ML) will be the single most important trend in business software this decade because it can multiply the investment value of such applications and provide software companies an

        White Paper
        Taking Control of Profitability

        Profitability management is an analytics-driven business discipline designed to enable organizations to achieve their market share and profitability objectives.

        Research Perspective
        Continuous Accounting Drives Strategic Transformation

        Ventana Research uses the term “continuous accounting” to describe how recent advances in information technology can help finance organizations to fundamentally restructure their departmental operations to transform their function. Whereas most past

        Research Perspective
        Gaining an Edge in Banking with Business Analytics

        Business analytics today involves far more than reports and spreadsheets. But despite significant investments in business intelligence (BI) software, many midsize banks continue to operate with a limited set of analytic capabilities, focused largely

        Research Perspective
        Let’s Talk about the Business, Not Just the Budget

        People have been complaining about budgeting forever. Technology helps the CFO and finance organization produce a detailed budget and analyze “the numbers” with less effort than was required in the past. Dissatisfaction remains, however, because tech

        Research Perspective
        Achieve Agility in Planning and Execution

        Finance executives have come to value contingency planning and adaptability in the face of uncertainty, whether it is caused by a worldwide crisis or simply the variance of day-today business.

        Research Perspective
        The Advance of Business-Owned Technology

        CIOs face a constant challenge as they deploy resources: they must find the balance between focusing on strategic projects while still performing essential “keep the lights on” activities like user support and applications maintenance. To increase re

        Research Perspective
        Build an Actionable Profitability Management Initiative

        Corporations continually confront profitability issues and opportunities caused by competitors’ actions, shifts in demand, as well as changes in commodity prices and other factor costs.

        Research Perspective
        Business Continuity in the Public Sector

        Business continuity is the ability of an organization to maintain normal operations without compromise, regardless of external conditions. Because they provide emergency and other critical services, government organizations must be able to maintain b

        Research Perspective
        Making Tax Provision the Solution, Not the Problem

        The tax provision and tax reporting processes being used by organizations are receiving greater attention from CFOs and audit committees for two important reasons. One is an intensified determination to shorten the accounting close. The other is to a

        Research Perspective
        Digital Transformation in Payments and Spend Management

        Organizations have traditionally handled the multiple components of payments and spend management in a scattershot manner due to the legacy of paper-based systems used by individual business units. As a result, even when they switch from paper to sof

        Research Perspective
        The Impact of AI on Finance and Accounting

        Futurists and software vendors have been pointing to a day when artificial intelligence (AI) using machine learning (ML) will perform miracles such as providing life-saving diagnoses and recommending treatments for even rare diseases in seconds.

        Research Perspective
        Bottom-Line Impact - How the Modern CFO Leverages Sourcing and Procurement

        Digital finance transformation is a way to improve the performance of the finance department by using digital technologies to integrate and automate business processes. Improving performance isn’t just about efficiency and cost savings, though.

        Research Perspective
        Next-Generation Workforce Planning

        Traditional workforce planning is a set of processes performed by the Human Resources (HR) function, working with business units and departments to address short- and long- term staffing needs. In this model, HR provides guidelines on pay rates per l

        Research Perspective
        Five Ingredients for Finance Transformation

        Over the next 10 years, technology will do more to change the finance and accounting organization than it has over the past 50. A spate of advances in databases, data processing, analytics and tools addressing the user experience as well as the appli

        Research Perspective
        The Imperative for Integrated Planning

        The purpose of planning is not planning; it is decision making. And the purpose of reimagining operational planning as a continuous, connected process is to deliver business value, making these processes faster, more agile and more intelligent so tha

        Research Perspective
        Enabling Advanced Monetization

        Digitally native organizations are those that have existed from their inception primarily in the digital world, and that typically engage with customers and deliver their products or services via a digital interaction. Well-known examples include Net

        Research Perspective
        Virtualize the Close

        As finance and accounting departments seek to improve performance, virtualization of processes will play an important role. Virtual accounting uses software to eliminate manual processes as much as possible, and it is marked by a substantial reductio

        Research Perspective
        Achieving Sustainable Continuity for the Office of Finance

        The critical lesson learned from any crisis is the importance of resiliency to cope with sometimes rapidly changing circumstances. Technology has demonstrated that it provides the essential ingredient to achieving this resiliency.

        Research Perspective
        Strategic Considerations for Financial Consolidation Systems

        Consolidating and closing the accounting books is an essential core process for the Office of Finance. Efficient and reliable consolidation—the process of combining financial results from multiple legal entities and subsidiary companies—is essential

        Research Perspective
        Making the Case for Automating the Close

        There is longstanding agreement on the importance of a company closing its books as quickly as possible. A short close becomes all the more important during periods of business disruption and uncertainty because it allows an organization to accelerat

        Research Perspective
        Best Practices for a More Effective Close

        The number of days it takes it to close the company’s books—that is, the number of days into the following month required to complete all the activities associated with the financial close—is a reliable way to gauge the effectiveness of a finance dep

        Research Perspective
        The Continuous Accounting Platform

        Ventana Research uses the term “continuous accounting” to describe an approach to managing the finance and accounting function to boost its performance. Using technology, departments can spread workloads continuously over a fiscal period to shorten t

        eBook
        The New Corporate Productivity Tool

        Companies routinely collaborate in creating, editing, updating, proofreading, and approving composite documents.

        eBook
        Taking Control of Corporate Spend

        As organizational spend continues to evolve, key expenses such as business travel and employee spend are becoming increasingly difficult to control. Organizations that have deployed separate manual processes to manage aspects of spending often contin

        eBook
        Reimagine Tax Provision

        The tax provision and tax reporting processes are getting greater attention from CFOs and audit committees for three reasons.

        eBook
        Ventana Research Five Things Every CEO and CFO Must Know About Pricing

        More effective management of pricing usually is the biggest profitability lever available to corporations.

        Videocast
        Planning to Succeed

        Technology is important to planning and sales performance management. The right technology will give executives and managers a clear picture of the current sales situation and provide the tools needed to make reliable forecasts for the future. This a

        Analyst Perspective
        FP&A Needs a Data Strategy for Meeting Internal ESG Goals

        Environmental, social and governance issues have grown increasingly pressing over the past few years as investors and government entities urge organizations to measure and disclose ESG metrics. I’ve already covered the broader topic as it relates to

        eBook
        Taking Stock of Legacy Software

        It can be hard to spot deterioration in software. Performance degradation happens subtly over time in all software, including finance department software such as performance management and ERP systems. However, our research finds a correlation betwee

        eBook
        A Guide to Buying Close Management Software

        Close automation software designed for midsize companies is relatively new. Successful midsize companies may find they need to automate their close when it takes longer to close, when mistakes, dropped balls and preventable delays increase, or if err

        Analyst Perspective
        Adopt the Fast Follower Paradigm for Finance

        To gain full advantage of technology, finance and accounting organizations must become “fast followers,” avoiding the bleeding edge but breaking the habit of waiting until the last possible moment before adopting proven advances.

        Analyst Perspective
        A Faster Close Fixes Other Accounting Issues

        Since its inception 20 years ago, Ventana Research has advocated for a shorter accounting close because it can improve the performance of the entire organization, not just finance and accounting. An important benefit of a shorter close is increased s

        Analyst Perspective
        Finance Research Reveals No Progress to a Shorter Close

        We conducted our recent Smart Close Dynamic Insights Research in part to assess to what extent the substantial disruptions of the pandemic have impacted the accounting close. When office lockdowns began in the first quarter of 2020, many finance depa

        Analyst Perspective
        OneStream’s Sensible ML Tasks AI for Business Planning

        OneStream offers a platform designed to serve the needs of accounting and financial planning and analysis organizations. The software handles financial close and consolidation, planning and budgeting, analysis and reporting. For me, the most signific

        Analyst Perspective
        A Data Pantry Speeds Development of Machine Learning Models

        A few years ago – somewhat tongue in cheek – I began using the term “data pantry” to describe a type of data store that’s part of a business application platform, created for a specific set of users and use cases. It’s a data pantry because, unlike a

        Analyst Perspective
        AI Will Create Strategic Advantage for the Office of Finance

        Artificial intelligence using machine learning has passed through the bright, shiny object stage and software vendors are well into the process of making the concept a reality in their offerings.

        Analyst Perspective
        Using External Data in Planning

        Organizations need to use external data in planning and budgeting, both data and third-party forecasts. This need also extends to external data in training artificial intelligence systems to assist in planning and for predictive analytics.

        Analyst Perspective
        Sage Intacct Moves into Manufacturing to Spur Growth

        Sage recently announced that it is expanding its Sage Intacct software offering to support discrete manufacturing, with its initial foray into this competitive market centered in France. The move supports the company’s strategy of building out the sc

        Analyst Perspective
        Reordered Global Trade Requires Agile Sales and Operations Planning

        I first wrote about a new era of trade a few years ago to make the point that the period of optimizing supply chains for the lowest cost was over, and that companies needed to redesign them to achieve greater resiliency. That observation proved corre

        Analyst Perspective
        Blockchain Payment Systems Have Significant Potential

        How payments are effected is an afterthought to many involved in a transaction, but flaws in this process can be a source of pain and frustration for those in the back office, especially in accounting and treasury. To improve the way payments are han

        Analyst Perspective
        Spend Management is More Effective with Software and Cards

        The term "corporate spend" usually refers to the incidental but still significant outlays organizations make to support operations. Especially in nonmanufacturing industries, purchases of indirect goods and business services – such as computers, offi

        Analyst Perspective
        Simplifying Budgeting and Planning is FP&A’s Mission

        Ventana Research recently published the results of our Business Planning Value Index Research and I commented on its connection to our emphasis on using software to unify planning processes across an enterprise to improve performance. Since 2007, we

        Market Perspective
        Vertex Enhances Tax Compliance Technology

        Indirect taxes — known variously as sales-and-use, value-added or goods-and-services tax — can get complicated, particularly in countries that have overly complex tax regimes such as Brazil, India and the United States. For example, in the U.S., stat

        Analyst Perspective
        Value-Added Tax Transformation Streamlines Compliance

        Value-added tax is a type of levy that is applied at each step of a transaction chain, from basic inputs to the final good or service. The amount assessed is based on the value added by an organization (hence the name) when a transaction occurs. VAT

        Market Perspective
        Fluence Offers Finance Streamlined Financial Close

        Financial consolidation is the process of combining financial data (notably assets, liabilities, income and expenses) from multiple subsidiaries’ general ledgers across an organization for the purpose of creating a parent company report. The current

        Market Perspective
        Infor is Innovative Vendor in the 2022 Business Planning Value Index

        Ventana Research is sharing insights about Infor, drawn from our latest Value Index research, which assesses how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements.

        Market Perspective
        Unit4 Expansion Targets Enhancements for People-Centric Organization

        I recently attended an analyst conference held by Unit4, an enterprise resource planning vendor focused on midsize organizations in people-centric industries. The conference was intended to communicate the company’s strategy, product updates and road

        Market Perspective
        Unit4 is a Vendor of Merit in the 2022 Business Planning Value Index

        Ventana Research is sharing insights about Unit4, drawn from our latest Value Index research, which assesses how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements.

        Market Perspective
        Planful is a Vendor of Merit in the 2022 Business Planning Value Index

        Ventana Research is sharing insights about Planful, drawn from our latest Value Index research, which assesses how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements.

        Market Perspective
        Prophix is a Vendor of Merit in the 2022 Business Planning Value Index

        Ventana Research is sharing insights about Prophix, drawn from our latest Value Index research, which assesses how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements.

        Webinar
        Continuous Accounting for ​Recurring Revenue ​and Subscription Businesses​

        Join analyst Robert Kugel and Zuora’s Yash Mahajani to learn about key opportunities and challenges associated with recurring revenue for accounting and finance teams.

        Market Perspective
        Vena Solutions is Vendor of Merit in 2022 Business Planning Value Index

        Ventana Research is sharing insights about Vena Solutions, drawn from our latest Value Index research, which assesses how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements.

        Market Perspective
        insightsoftware is Vendor of Merit in Business Planning Value Index

        Ventana Research is sharing insights about insightsoftware, drawn from our latest Value Index research, which assesses how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements.

        Analyst Perspective
        Automate the Close Cycle for Consistently Better Performance

        Software that automates the full scope of the accounting close, including reconciliations, consolidation and reporting, has grown more capable and affordable over the past five years. By enabling consistent process management that captures best pract

        Market Perspective
        Workday is a Vendor of Assurance in the Business Planning Value Index

        Ventana Research is sharing insights about Workday, drawn from our latest Value Index research, which assesses how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements.

        Market Perspective
        OneStream Software is Exemplary in 2022 Business Planning Value Index

        Ventana Research is sharing insights about OneStream Software, drawn from our latest Value Index research, which assesses how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements.

        Market Perspective
        Wolters Kluwer is Vendor of Assurance in Business Planning Value Index

        Ventana Research is sharing insights about Wolters Kluwer, drawn from our latest Value Index research, which assesses how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements.

        Market Perspective
        Anaplan is Exemplary in 2022 Business Planning Value Index

        Ventana Research is sharing insights about Anaplan, drawn from our latest Value Index research, which assesses how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements.

        Analyst Perspective
        Why Automating Reconciliations Must be a Priority

        Reconciling accounts at the end of a period is one of those mundane finance department tasks that are ripe for automation. Reconciliation is the process of comparing account data (at the balance or item level) that exists either in two accounting sys

        Market Perspective
        Board International is Exemplary in the Business Planning Value Index

        Ventana Research is sharing insights about Board, drawn from our latest Value Index research, which assesses how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements.

        Market Perspective
        Oracle is Innovative in the 2022 Business Planning Value Index

        Ventana Research is sharing insights about Oracle, drawn from our latest Value Index research, which assesses how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements.

        Market Perspective
        SAP is Exemplary in the 2022 Business Planning Value Index

        Ventana Research is sharing insights about SAP, drawn from our latest Value Index research, which assesses how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements.

        Market Perspective
        IBM is Exemplary in the 2022 Business Planning Value Index

        Ventana Research is sharing insights about IBM, drawn from our latest Value Index research, which assesses how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements.

        Analyst Perspective
        Progress for AI in Office of Finance Applications

        The use of artificial intelligence (AI) using machine learning (ML) will be the single most important trend in business software this decade because it can multiply the investment value of such applications and provide vendors an important source of

        Analyst Perspective
        Business Planning Software Unifies Siloed Planning

        Having just completed the 2022 Ventana Research Value Index for Business Planning, I want to share some of my observations about the business planning software market and how it has advanced as an important part of our market coverage for almost two

        Analyst Perspective
        The Value Index for Business Planning Classifies and Rates Vendors

        I am happy to share insights gleaned from our latest Value Index research, an assessment of how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements.

        Analyst Perspective
        The Office of Finance Market Agenda for 2022: Effectiveness and Profits

        Ventana Research recently announced its 2022 Market Agenda for the Office of Finance, continuing the guidance we have offered since 2003 on the practical use of technology for the finance and accounting department.

        Analyst Perspective
        2022 Market Agenda: Digital Business Enables Organizational Resilience

        Ventana Research has announced its market agenda for 2022, continuing the tradition of reliability in our efforts to educate and guide the technology market. Our assessments are backed by our expertise and independence, as we do not share our market

        Analyst Perspective
        Augmented Reality Will Evolutionize Business Computing

        As with many IT innovations, augmented reality (AR), extended reality (XR) and the related topic of spatial computing had been discussed to death long before they became a practical reality. As a user interface, AR is already well understood in terms

        Market Perspective
        Teledyne Technologies Earns Digital Leadership Award in Office of Finance with OneStream Software for 2021

        The annual Ventana Research Digital Leadership Awards recognize organizations and individuals that utilize technology to advance business and IT. The Digital Leadership Awards showcase the professional leadership and their use of business application

        Market Perspective
        Emburse Audit Employs AI to Improve Spend-Related Processes

        Historically, it’s been difficult to convince chief financial officers to invest in technology that makes it easier to spend money. That’s probably because before digital technologies, the natural impediments to spending stood as crude but effective

        Analyst Perspective
        Configure, Price and Quote Software Supports Profitability Management

        Pricing is an issue that almost every for-profit company confronts – and usually agonizes over. Chief financial officers must play a part in setting the strategic direction of pricing in their organization. They should not be involved in tactical pri

        Market Perspective
        Migros Aare Earns Overall Digital Leadership Award with Unit4 for 2021

        The annual Ventana Research Digital Leadership Awards recognize organizations and individuals that utilize technology to advance business and IT. The Digital Leadership Awards showcase the professional leadership and their use of business application

        Market Perspective
        FloQast Automates Accounting for Faster Close

        Over the past decade, close-management software has evolved to enable even midsize organizations to streamline department processes, operate in a virtual mode, accelerate the accounting close and reduce staff stress. It’s one step toward continuous a

        Market Perspective
        Power ON Modernizes Business Planning

        Power ON is software designed for organizations to streamline their business planning, budgeting, forecasting, reviewing and reporting, in order to make these processes more effective and accurate.

        Market Perspective
        Xero Energizes Small Business with Cloud-Based Accounting and Finance

        A digital finance and accounting organization is one that uses software to enhance efficiency by eliminating manual operations and automating workflows, improving financial data quality. This is especially relevant to small to midsize organizations t

        Analyst Perspective
        Tackling ESG Reporting Challenges

        Robert Kugel discusses the reality, predictions, considerations and benefits about Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) reporting for organizations.

        VentanaCast
        From Data-Driven to Data Leader

        Finance organizations must provide data-driven advice on the best response to adverse events that still achieves business objectives.

        Infographic
        MANAGE PROFITABILITY to Boost Your BOTTOM LINE

        Profitability management is especially valuable as corporations confront cost-price pressures, shifting demand and supply conditions, and structural changes in markets and economies. Having the right tool along with the right data is the first step t

        QandA
        Finance Q&A: Five Ways FP&A is Evolving

        How will digital transformation affect the role of Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A)?

        Viewpoint
        Building the Best Team and Reducing Turnover for Organizational Resilience

        In today’s fluid operating environment, organizations must be agile and resilient to deal successfully with unpredictable events and rapid changes in their operating environment.

        Analyst Perspective
        Fix Sales and Operations Planning to Improve Financial Efficiency

        For decades, sourcing and supply chain management was focused almost exclusively on achieving the lowest cost, and the world’s trade environment supported this approach. However, I observed that the new era of trade, supply chain planning and executi

        Analyst Perspective
        Evolving ERP Systems Redefining Office of Finance Operations

        Over the past decade, how organizations manage processes and record data related to transactional events captured by an enterprise resource planning system has undergone a significant evolution. Some of the more recent changes have been the result of

        Infographic
        CONTINUOUS PLANNING to Improve Business Performance

        Continuous Planning is a high participation, collaborative approach that connects and aligns operational and financial forecasts to support action-oriented planning. This method promotes agility that is valuable both in times of crises and in a stead

        Analyst Perspective
        Digitally Transform Purchasing to Improve Performance

        Digital transformation of the Office of Finance has been a recurring theme for several years, but adoption accelerated when offices were locked down and organizations had to collaborate remotely

        Research Perspective
        Digital Transformation in Payments and Spend Management

        Organizations have traditionally handled the multiple components of payments and spend management in a scattershot manner due to the legacy of paper-based systems used by individual business units.

        Analyst Perspective
        Digitize Tax Departments for Increased Strategic Value

        Managing corporate income taxes is a challenge for chief financial officers. Tax codes are often complex, so tax accounting as well as the data required for tax provisions and tax compliance are different enough from statutory accounting to create si

        Viewpoint
        Digital Transformation with Application Platforms

        Digital transformation is achieved by using digital technologies to create new (or modify existing) processes and methods to meet evolving business and market requirements. For finance departments the term is associated with, among other changes, usi

        Videocast
        Build An Actionable Profitability Management Initiative

        Everyone running a business knows that the bottom line is the bottom line. But how does your company manage profitability? There’s an important distinction between managing to profit objectives and what Ventana Research calls “profitability managemen

        Analyst Perspective
        Managing Price Inflation Effectively with Technology

        A looming challenge for companies in the developed world is price inflation, an issue periodically fretted over – but not experienced at a macroeconomic level in most developed economies – over the past four decades.

        Viewpoint
        Three Key Planning Deficiencies Impeding Successful Decision Making

        Any crisis, whether worldwide or impacting a single organization, tests an executive team’s ability to seize a fleeting opportunity, address an existential problem or mitigate future risks. Global turmoil highlights the need for the financial plannin

        Viewpoint
        Future-Proofing Forecasting

        An important and durable lesson of recent massive disruptions is that organizations need to forecast and plan with agility so they can quickly adapt to evolving economic, market, legal, regulatory and behavioral conditions. Organizations that have in

        Analyst Perspective
        Essential Technology for Continuous Planning

        As a result of the rapidly changing business landscape in 2020 and the need to quickly – and intelligently – change business plans and budgets, many more companies have been deciding to adopt a continuous planning approach to be able to add speed and

        Analyst Perspective
        Meet the Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) Reporting Challenge

        Environmental, social and governance reporting by public corporations has become a top-of-mind issue for senior executives and boards of directors as countries increasingly consider or mandate its implementation in some form.

        QandA
        Why Invest in Profitability Management

        Standard planning software helps executives achieve profitability objectives by establishing top-level revenue targets and setting aggregated expense limitations. On the other hand, profitability management is designed to achieve consistently higher

        Analyst Perspective
        Zuora Earns Office of Finance Digital Innovation Award for 2021

        The annual Ventana Research Digital Innovation Awards showcase advances in the productivity and potential of business applications, as well as technology that contributes significantly to the improved processes and performance of an organization.

        Analyst Perspective
        Finance IT Improves Departmental Performance

        A year of business uncertainty, lockdowns and operational disruptions forced finance and accounting organizations to adapt and change in many ways that are proving to be permanent.

        Research Perspective
        The Imperative for Integrated Planning

        The purpose of planning is not planning; it is decision making. And the purpose of reimagining operational planning as a continuous, connected process is to deliver business value, making these processes faster, more agile and more intelligent so tha

        Analyst Perspective
        Controllers: Always Be Closing

        These days it strikes me that the motto of successful salespeople – "ABC: Always Be Closing!" – should apply equally to corporate controllers, albeit in the accounting sense.

        Viewpoint
        Gain Competitive Advantage Using External Data and Predictive Intelligence

        Darwin never claimed that evolutionary success came down to survival of the fittest. To the contrary, he stated, “it is not the strongest that survives; but…the one that is able best to adapt and adjust to the changing environment in which it finds i

        White Paper
        Introducing the Virtual Audit

        A business crisis alerts finance leaders to their organization’s vulnerabilities. When lockdowns prevented people from being in their offices in 2020, organizations with the right technology and processes demonstrated their ability to adapt, overcome

        Research Perspective
        Business Continuity in the Public Sector

        Business continuity is the ability of an organization to maintain normal operations without compromise, regardless of external conditions. Because they provide emergency and other critical services, government organizations must be able to maintain b

        Analyst Perspective
        Digital Process Reengineering Improves Business Performance

        Business process reengineering (BPR) was a consulting fashion in the early 1990s that spurred many companies to purchase their first ERP systems. BPR proposes a fundamental redesign of core business processes to achieve substantial improvements in ma

        Research Perspective
        Build an Actionable Profitability Management Initiative

        Corporations continually confront profitability issues and opportunities caused by competitors’ actions, shifts in demand, as well as changes in commodity prices and other factor costs.

        Analyst Perspective
        Reduce Risk and Improve Departmental Effectiveness with Intercompany Financial Management

        Ventana Research defines intercompany financial management as a discipline for structuring and handling transactions within a corporation and between its legal entities.

        Analyst Perspective
        Integrated Business Planning Uses Zero-Based Budgeting to Improve Performance

        The objectives of zero-based budgeting are well aligned with what I call integrated business planning, a technology-enabled approach to managing the forward-looking activities of a corporation including forecasting, planning and budgeting.

        Analyst Perspective
        Unit4 Democratizes Agile, Data-Driven Decision-Making

        Unit4’s Financial Planning and Analysis (formerly Prevero) is a planning and budgeting application designed for the requirements of midsize corporations and the public sector.

        Analyst Perspective
        Consolidation Software Builds Staff Effectiveness in Midsize Companies

        Financial consolidation software assists companies in executing their accounting close process - especially those that use multiple ERP systems or have multiple legal entities - and with other characteristics that can complicate the process such as k

        Analyst Perspective
        FourQ Builds Confidence and Trust in Intercompany Financial Management

        FourQ is an intercompany financial management (IFM) Solution-as-a-Service provider. IFM is a discipline for structuring and handling transactions within a corporation and between its legal entities, and is designed to maximize staff efficiency and ac

        Analyst Perspective
        Modern ERP Improves Organizational Performance

        The ERP system is at the core of nearly every organization’s record keeping and business process management. Its smooth and uninterrupted functioning is essential to an organization’s accounting and finance functions.

        Viewpoint
        Five Reasons for Upgrading Your Entry-Level Accounting System

        Small business owners are fortunate to have a choice of feature-rich, flexible, and affordable entry-level accounting packages. Eventually, though, successful businesses grow and will often find that the very accounting software that once made things

        Viewpoint
        Multinational Corporations Need Intercompany Financial Management

        Ventana Research defines intercompany financial management (IFM) as a discipline for structuring and handling transactions within a corporation and between its legal entities that is designed to maximize staff efficiency and accounting accuracy while

        Analyst Perspective
        IBM Planning Analytics Makes Planning Easier for Business Unit Leaders

        IBM Planning Analytics, formerly known as TM1, is a comprehensive planning and analytics application designed to integrate and streamline an organization’s planning processes. It can support multiple planning use cases on a single platform, including

        Analyst Perspective
        Trintech Speeds up Financial Close with Automation

        Organizations have long sought ways to achieve a fast but “clean” (accurate) financial close. The most widely accepted benchmark is to be able to close within one business week.

        Analyst Perspective
        A Virtual Audit Enables Savings Through Efficiency

        The challenges of the pandemic prevented auditors from visiting client offices, which led to widespread adoption of remote audit processes.

        Analyst Perspective
        Streamlining Spending for Savings and Control

        Irked by the need to account for every penny of his college expenses, poet Robert Frost penned the lines:

        Analyst Perspective
        Robotic Process Automation is a Core Finance Competency

        Robotic Process Automation (RPA) has emerged as a core digital technology for finance and accounting organizations. It can drive significant gains in productivity and efficiency by automating mechanical, repetitive accounting processes in a continuou

        Analyst Perspective
        The Office of Finance Market Agenda for 2021: Accelerating Adoption of Digital Technology

        Ventana Research recently announced its 2021 market agenda for the Office of Finance, continuing the guidance we’ve offered since 2003 on the practical use of technology for the finance and accounting department.

        Analyst Perspective
        Profitability Management: A CFO Priority to Gain Competitive Advantage

        Profitability management produces a sustainable competitive advantage but by 2025 only one-third of companies will have implemented a profitability management initiative, explains Ventana Research SVP and Research Director Robert Kugel.

        Analyst Perspective
        The Ventana Research 2021 Market Agenda: How Digital Effectiveness Impacts Organizational Agility

        Ventana Research has announced its market agenda for 2021, continuing the tradition of transparency in our efforts to educate and guide the technology market but also our independence as we do not share our market agenda or analyst perspectives with

        Analyst Perspective
        Use Software for More Effective Tax Management

        The post-pandemic world will see much returned to normal, but there will also be change. For businesses that faced shutdowns, these changes will include higher taxes to pay for the costs of mitigating the economic impact, and the loss of tax revenue.

        Research Perspective
        Achieve Agility in Planning and Execution

        Finance executives have come to value contingency planning and adaptability in the face of uncertainty, whether it is caused by a worldwide crisis or simply the variance of day-today business.

        Analyst Perspective
        BlackLine Matches Receivables for Continuous Accounting

        BlackLine recently held its first virtual user conference, Beyond the Black, where it detailed numerous additions and enhancements to its applications.

        Analyst Perspective
        Continuous Planning is Optimized with AI and External Data

        In the context of planning, budgeting and benchmarking, external data includes information about the world outside an organization such as economic and market statistics, competitors and customers.

        White Paper
        The Digital Transformation Partnership

        Information technology will have a greater impact on how the finance department operates over the next 10 years than it has over the past 50. The cumulative impact of a decade of steady technology evolution along with the demographic shift to digital

        Viewpoint
        The Way Forward with RPA

        Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a core digital technology for increasing productivity and efficiency, speeding the completion of work, and increasing its quality and controllability.

        Viewpoint
        Agile Planning for Small and Midsize Organizations

        The purpose of planning is to enable executives and managers to make better-informed decisions more consistently. Planning within an organization requires setting objectives and weighing the alternative methods of achieving those objectives, because

        Viewpoint
        The CFO Answer Machine: Past, Present and Future Visibility for Small and Midsize Companies

        Effective financial management requires the ability to understand an organization’s current condition while having visibility into its potential future state.

        Analyst Perspective
        Make Accounts Receivable Pay

        Can you imagine a more arcane and boring topic than accounts receivable? Unless you are the CFO, controller, chief accounting officer or treasurer of an organization, maybe not.

        Videocast
        Moving Beyond Traditional FP&A

        Charles Darwin never said evolution was a matter of the survival of the fittest. On the contrary, he said: It is not the strongest of the species, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.

        Analyst Perspective
        Profitability Management is a CFO Imperative

        One of the oddities of corporate management is that, as a rule, nobody oversees managing profitability.

        Research Perspective
        Achieving Sustainable Continuity for the Office of Finance

        The critical lesson learned from any crisis is the importance of resiliency to cope with sometimes rapidly changing circumstances. Technology has demonstrated that it provides the essential ingredient to achieving this resiliency.

        Analyst Perspective
        Value-Based Planning Improves Corporate Performance

        In preparing this research note I took the precaution of searching “value-based planning” to see what came up. Over the years, the term has been used in several contexts each with different shadings.

        Analyst Perspective
        Fundamental Change is Coming to ERP Systems

        Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are central to nearly every organization’s management of operational and financial business processes.

        Podcast
        Business Continuity in the Public Sector Podcast

        What business continuity lessons have public sector organizations learned during recent challenging times? How can planning and budgeting software contribute to agility that helps promote business continuity? How can the accounting and finance depart

        Analyst Perspective
        Sustainable Sourcing and Supply Chains

        A couple of years ago, I started talking about a “New Era of Trade.” Its starting point was the world financial crisis in 2007, but the evidence that we were experiencing a shift only became obvious years later.

        Analyst Perspective
        DADs Address the Mother of All Data Problems

        An important recent development in software designed for the Office of Finance is the addition of what we’re calling a data aggregation device (DAD) for analytical applications.

        Analyst Perspective
        Updating FP&A’s Mission - A New Approach for the 2020s

        In this Analyst Perspective from Robert Kugel, learn how FP&A can redefine its mission to achieve the long-stated goal of making it more of a strategic partner with the rest of the organization.

        Analyst Perspective
        Scenario Planning is a Strategic Imperative

        A great deal has changed in how finance and accounting departments operate since the start of 2020.

        Analyst Perspective
        OneStream Wins Our Innovation Award in Office of Finance with Analytic Blend

        One of the challenges of being a practically minded technology analyst is squaring the importance of “the next big thing” with the reality of what most organizations are doing.

        White Paper
        The Value of Close Automation for Midsize Organizations

        Midsize organizations face a unique set of challenges. Software can help enable growth without adding administrative overhead, and close automation is a great place to start.

        Research Perspective
        Business Continuity in the Public Sector

        Dedicated planning and budgeting software will help government organizations build the ability to maintain business continuity.

        Analyst Perspective
        Workiva Chains Liberates FP&A

        Workiva recently introduced Chains, a visual workflow tool for the Workiva platform.

        Analyst Perspective
        2020 Reporting: Improving Visibility, Transparency and Perspective

        FP&A and business analysts can make reporting more effective by reimagining how, what and when their company does its reporting.

        QandA
        Planning for Continuity in the Public Sector

        Dedicated planning and budgeting software improves public sector finance department efficiency and enables responsive, high-quality service.

        Analyst Perspective
        The Corporate Tax Management Software Imperative

        Recent events are forcing corporations to adopt dedicated software for tax provision, transfer pricing and tax analysis.

        White Paper
        Virtualizing the Close

        Virtual accounting enables the department to achieve speed and resilience without sacrificing accuracy and control. Start by virtualizing the close.

        Research Perspective
        Virtualize the Close

        “Virtualizing” the accounting close involves applying software automation, substantially reducing manual and paper-based processes and incorporating electronic collaboration. Virtualization enables finance and accounting departments to achieve speed

        Analyst Perspective
        Move Finance to the Cloud

        In a recent note on virtualizing the close, I observed that finance and accounting organizations that can operate in a virtual mode are better able to adapt to changing circumstances and overcome obstacles.

        Analyst Perspective
        Price Optimization: Cover Your Bases

        Pricing is an eternally vexing issue in business. Over the years, organizations have used different strategies to establish prices for their products, depending on custom, the nature of the business and the degree of competitiveness in the market.

        Analyst Perspective
        Host Analytics Becomes Planful

        Host Analytics recently announced it will now go by the name Planful.

        Analyst Perspective
        The Office of Finance is a Numbers Factory

        Yes, it’s an easy metaphor, but a worthwhile one to consider. For the Office of Finance, figures are its raw material.

        Analyst Perspective
        Blockchains Pose Problems of Persistence and Trust

        I’ve written before about blockchain’s significant potential. A lot of the current discussion on the topic centers on cryptocurrencies and financial trading platforms, both of which are already in operation.

        Analyst Perspective
        Workday Does Source-to-Pay

        In late February I attended Spark, the Scout annual user group meeting. This was the third and likely the last such meeting, as Scout was recently acquired by Workday.

        Analyst Perspective
        Make Automating Finance and Accounting a Priority

        We find in our recent Change in the Office of Finance benchmark research an indication of the value of using automation to execute finance department functions.

        Analyst Perspective
        Fortune Favors the Prepared

        I like Louis Pasteur’s observation that “fortune favors the prepared mind.” So-called black swan events happen regularly and can have a very negative effect on a business.

        Analyst Perspective
        Fortune Favors the Prepared (Video)

        I like Louis Pasteur’s observation that “fortune favors the prepared mind.” So-called black swan events happen regularly and can have a very negative effect on a business.

        Analyst Perspective
        Rating CFO Performance in Audit Costs

        For decades I’ve heard people talk about cutting audit costs to reduce administrative overhead but based on my observations, I was skeptical — mostly because, until recently, the documented success stories haven’t been about going from good to great

        Analyst Perspective
        The Next-Generation CFO

        I was invited to sit on a panel at CFO 3.0 events held in San Francisco and New York hosted by Sage Intacct.

        Analyst Perspective
        Three Essentials for a Digital Office of Finance

        One of the objectives of our recent Change in the Office of Finance benchmark research was to assess the technological capabilities of finance and accounting departments.

        Analyst Perspective
        The Bottom Line is the Bottom Line

        The Chief Financial Officer can enable her or his finance department play a more strategic role in company operations by adopting what I call profitability management.

        Viewpoint
        Plan for Business Continuity, Sustainability and Success

        Dedicated software is the most effective tool for organizations seeking to plan for business continuity, sustainability and success

        Analyst Perspective
        Virtualizing the Close

        The global pandemic crisis was, in effect, an unrehearsed stress test measuring the resiliency of the department. The crisis highlighted the importance of sustaining confidence in the accuracy and control of accounting processes, not just efficiency.

        Analyst Perspective
        The Central Ledger: Restructuring Accounting with Technology

        Sometimes it takes a while for technology to fundamentally change how work is done. That’s because several innovations usually have to come together before a transformation can occur.

        Analyst Perspective
        Fortune Favors the Prepared

        I like Louis Pasteur’s observation that “fortune favors the prepared mind.” So-called black swan events happen regularly and can have a very negative effect on a business.

        Viewpoint
        Building Agility Through Continuous Planning

        Finance executives need to rethink their planning and budgeting processes to make them faster, more agile and more predictive to achieve their objectives under any circumstances.

        QandA
        Accounting in a Time of Crisis

        There are times when organizations can be overwhelmed by financial stress while simultaneously embracing distributed working environments and other operational constraints they weren’t prepared for. Finance and accounting departments that can utilize

        Research Perspective
        The Advance of Business-Owned Technology

        CIOs face the constant challenge of having resources available for strategic projects while still performing essential “keep-the-lights-on” activities. IT organizations can shed non-essential workloads, especially as they forge a relationship with th

        White Paper
        Taking Control of Profitability

        The basic concepts used for measuring, analyzing and managing profitability are well established. The challenge has been to translate the concepts into practical methods and processes. Technology now enables organizations to address those challenges.

        Research Perspective
        When Spreadsheets Aren’t the Right Choice

        The electronic spreadsheet is among the top five most important advances in business management to come along in the last 100 years. It has revolutionized almost all aspects of finance and accounting.

        Research Perspective
        The Continuous Accounting Platform

        A central aspect of continuous accounting is controlling accounting and other data that affects financial statements continuously, from start to finish. This form of control, known as “straight-through processing,” addresses the significant issue of

        Research Perspective
        Five Ingredients for Finance Transformation

        Over the next ten years, technology will do more to change the nature of the work done in the finance and accounting organization than it has over the past 50. A range of technology advances affecting databases, data processing, analytics, user exper

        White Paper
        Efficiently Achieving Sustainable Compliance

        Still using spreadsheets for SOX404 and 302 compliance? Organizations need software, not spreadsheets, to achieve sustainable and efficient compliance

        Research Perspective
        Making the Case for Automating the Close

        There is longstanding agreement on the importance of a company closing its books as quickly as possible. A short close becomes all the more important during periods of business disruption and uncertainty because it allows an organization to accelerat

        Research Perspective
        Best Practices for a More Effective Close

        The number of days it takes it to close the company�s books � that is; the number of days into the following month required to completed all the activities associated with the financial close � is a reliable way to gauge the effectiveness of a finan

        Want to see all the research?
        Click Here

        Ventana Research 16th Annual Digital Innovation Award Winner

        Workiva-Logo-Digital_and_Web-White

        Workiva for Workiva ESG


        Ventana Research 16th Annual Digital Leadership Award Winners

        Using

        Market Agenda Calendar

        Ventana Research maintains a rigorous approach to its areas of research expertise through a methodology of processes and activities to ensure we provide the best possible insights on technology across business and IT. This is represented in our Market Agenda, which is a foundation for providing actionable information and guidance to help you identify opportunities for improved competitiveness and effectiveness. Other industry analyst firms lack methodology and a publicly available research agenda and are easily biased by clients and the industry. We take pride in our reputation for independence and provide our research calendar and agenda for visibility into the upcoming months of activity.

        March

        • Analyst and Market Perspectives
          Productivity by 1,000 Cuts: Building AI Feasibility From the Bottom Up;
          Digitize Tax for Productivity and Savings;
          Boosting Finance Department Efficiency with ERP
        • Buyers Guides
          Consolidation and Close Management in design

        April

        • Analyst and Market Perspectives
          VAT Tax Automation;
          Close Management Software;
          Straight-Through Processing Speeds End-to-End Completion
        • Buyers Guides
          Consolidation and Close Management in collection

        May

        • Analyst and Market Perspectives
          Payments Technology Assessment
        • Buyers Guides
          Consolidation and Close Management in collection

        Want to see our plans for business and technology this year?
        DOWNLOAD THE MARKET AGENDA

        Vendors Covered

        Vendors Not Covered or Recommended

        • Acumatica
        • Avalara
        • Basware
        • Dun & Bradstreet
        • E2open
        • Exact Software
        • Fiserv
        • FreeBalance
        • HighRadius
        • Infor
        • Intuit
        • Jedox
        • Kyriba
        • Mesh Payments
        • Nomis Solutions
        • OpenGov
        • PitchBook
        • Procurify
        • Ramco
        • Solifi
        • Sovos Compliance LLC
        • Taulia
        • TechnologyOne
        • Thomson Reuters
        • Worldline
        • Yooz
        •  
        For more information on Vendor coverage, or to become a covered vendor, click here.

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