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Planning is a crucial part of business management. Getting it right can set your business on a path towards growth and ongoing success, while getting it wrong can cost you time, money and opportunities. Using the latest planning processes can help you get the outcomes right more often. With this in mind, the question is, could outdated planning processes be costing your business money? In short, the answer is yes. Outdated planning systems are almost certainly costing your business money…

This year, Australian businesses have faced multiple disruptions, from extreme weather events to a global pandemic. These disruptions have brought a host of challenges to the front and centre of business decision-making. However, one of the most important lessons businesses can take from this experience is that proactive and agile businesses have a greater chance of not just survival, but future and ongoing success. Agility is crucial for businesses of all sizes, however for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), rapidly…

In the current dynamic market, businesses need to constantly plan and monitor business performance in real time so they can be ready when the market takes its next sharp turn. This relies on the ability to instantly access live data insights so that decision-makers can easily identify where to focus their efforts, and areas that need to be downscaled or retired completely. Many small and medium-sized businesses continue to use Excel spreadsheets to crunch numbers, develop plans and monitor performance.…

Excel spreadsheets have been used for more than 35 years as a preferred business planning and monitoring tool for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs). Excel’s popularity is due, in part, to its relatively low cost and ease of use. However, in the digitised business environment that has accelerated in recent months, spreadsheets may be becoming redundant. One thing that 2020 has taught business is that any market, anywhere, can be highly volatile and suddenly take a sharp turn. Organisations of all sizes, and…

In the post-pandemic world, no business can afford to waste time or money. However, many managers and employees are losing around a day each month on manual expense processes.1 Even the routine operation of consolidating and reconciling Excel spreadsheets is taking significant time and resources for finance teams and small business managers. More time is wasted when the spreadsheet crashes or freezes, or is found to be an old version. Some of the key time-wasting activities involved in Excel spreadsheets include: Consolidating and reconciling data from…