7 reasons to upgrade your spreadsheets to a true

planning platform

Total Company

Contract Revenue

Top Line Revenue Summary

Jan15

Feb15

Mar15

Apr15

May15

Jun15

Jul15

Aug15

Sep15

Oct15

Nov15

Dec15

10M

15M

20M

0M

5M

25M

Q1 Forecast

Professional Services Monitoring Service Revenue Whole Sale

41,603,432(30,508,255)

11,095,17726.67%

(4,569,926)6,525,250

15.68%

25,432,046Q2 FY15Q1 FY15

(19,212,883)6,219,162

24.45%(4,423,624)

1,795,5387.06%

TOTAL REVENUE

TOTAL COST OF SALES

Gross Margin %OPERATING EXPENSES

Operating Margin %

64,222,83024,482,28052,234,90076,717,18076,717,18076,717,18076,967180

64,222,830Q4 FY15Q3 FY15

19,910,22040,816,66060,726,88060,726,88060,949,28080,000,000

64,222,83024,482,28052,234,90076,717,18076,717,18076,717,18076,967180

FY15

GROSS PROFIT

OPERATING INCOME

Total CompanyP&L Summary

Total Company

Contract Revenue

Top Line Revenue Summary

Jan15

Feb15

Mar15

Apr15

May15

Jun15

10M

15M

20M

0M

5M

25M

Professional Services

Monitoring Service Revenue Whole Sale

41,603,432(30,508,255)

11,095,17726.67%

(4,569,926)6,525,250

15.68%

25,432,046Q2 FY15Q1 FY15

(19,212,883)6,219,162

24.45%(4,423,624)

1,795,5387.06%

TOTAL REVENUE

TOTAL COST OF SALES

Gross Margin %OPERATING EXPENSES

Operating Margin %

GROSS PROFIT

OPERATING INCOME

Total CompanyP&L Summary

9 out of 10 businesses still use spreadsheets to plan, budget,

analyze, and report.1

Spreadsheets ARE an important part of the business, but often are pushed beyond their means.

“We had an ancient Excel® financial model—sort of like Dr. Frankenstein’s monster. There were a couple hundred di�erent versions. We knew we had to eliminate the usage of that massive Excel file from our day-to-day business operations.”

- Andrew Chapello, Product Manager of Business Applications, Box

Here are the seven reasons to upgrade from spreadsheets for your planning, budgeting, and reporting.

REASON #1

Data

Your spreadsheet is not a database. It’s easy to get an answer from

spreadsheets, but it’s not necessarily the right answer…it’s static data.

=XLS ×

“We had outgrown the use of Excel as our sole planning solution. Analysis was not real time. There was a major lack in collaboration, and data was not transparent across the organization.”

- Jared Waterman, Vice President of FP&A, Pandora

REASON #2

Accuracy

More than 90% of spreadsheets contain serious errors, while more than 90% of spreadsheet users are convinced that

their models are error-free.2

90%

When working from version 43 of a spreadsheet, imagine how many errors could be misguiding your analysis…and

ultimately, your business.

REASON #3

Scalability

“We didn’t know what kind of business we would have in three years’ time. We didn’t know what adding a hundred stores to the business would do to us. So we wanted a planning solution that could evolve, both in terms of the scale, but also in terms of the direction that we wanted to take.”

- Strahan Wilson, CFO, EAT

With no plan tomigrate o� spreadsheets,

you are harming the company’s potential

opportunity for growth and expansion.

REASON #4

Risk

Recall Fannie Mae’s “honest” mistake?

To jog your memory…in 2013 Fannie Mae had a $1.3 billion error in total shareholder equity tied to

mistakes in spreadsheets.3

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

Is the risk of a mistake like this worth using spreadsheets for “free”?

?

REASON #5

Time

During a recent co-hosted CFO.com and Anaplan webinar…

42% of respondents said they spend more than 20 hours per week using spreadsheets for their

planning, budgeting, and/or reporting.

42%

When migrating o� of spreadsheets and onto a true planning solution, you will see a

massive increase in ROTI—return on time investment. Your team will thank you.

“I like to joke that we wanted to put the A back in FP&A. We needed a system to do the basic blocking and tackling so that we had the time to help the business understand the ‘so what’ behind the data and advise the business on how best to take action.”

- Mike Lemberg, VP of Finance, ServiceSource

REASON #6

Flexibility

We’re not talking about physical flexibility but rather intuitive flexibility.

To properly plan and forecast your business’ future, you need access to both past data

and future possibilities by running scenario-based strategic planning.

REASON #7

Agility

Agility is di�erent than flexibility. Agility is the ability to see an issue or opportunity and take

action or course correct to find a solution.

“Now with Anaplan, each restaurant manager can pull up their financial data anytime from a tablet or smartphone. They can course correct their operating plan and budget on-the-fly based on the real-time insight into a restaurant’s P&L. This visibility and agility did not exist previously, and now it’s automated!”

- Jaime Benson, Finance Manager, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers & Brews

Are these 7 reasons not quite enough to convince you to upgrade from spreadsheets?

Read our white paper: 7 reasons to replace your planning spreadsheets.

SOURCES

1. Ventana Research, “Make automating the o�ce of finance and accounting a priority,” published January 27, 2015. Accessed November 3, 2015. http://ventanaresearch.com/blog/commentblog.aspx?id=4668.

2. Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), “Talking Technology – Spreadsheet Solutions” ACCA, published August 11, 2015. Accessed November 3, 2015. http://www.accaglobal.com/an/en/student/sa/features/talking-technology---spreadsheet-solutions.html.

3. Wailgum, Thomas. “Eight of the worst spreadsheet blunders,” CIO.com, published August 17, 2007. Accessed November 3, 2015. http://www.cio.com/article/2438188/enterprise-software/eight-of-the-worst-spreadsheet-blunders.html.