Uncertainty has always existed, but it now plays a larger role in day-to-day decision-making. Supply chains rearrange overnight, potential interest rate fluctuations impact key metrics, competitors make unexpected moves, and customer demand changes constantly. Finance teams are expected to respond quickly and confidently with an accurate, outcome-based plan.
It’s a challenge that is exacerbated by disconnected planning processes, siloed data and tools, and reporting needs that struggle to keep up with the pace of change. How do you adjust, knowing your annual plan will become outdated just a few weeks into the year? What methodologies and systems do you employ to guide the organization through this turbulence?
To stay resilient, organizations need a way to see what’s happening, make sense of it quickly, and adjust their path forward with minimal friction — something a modern corporate performance management (CPM) platform is designed to support. Here’s a high-level look at the seven capabilities every modern enterprise needs, as highlighted in our white paper, "How a Complete CPM Solution Boosts Enterprise Resilience and Fuels Finance Leadership," produced in collaboration with BPM Partners.
1. More frequent, continuous forecasting
A monthly or quarterly forecast isn't sufficient to keep pace with change. Yet according to the 2025 BPM Pulse Survey, only 12% of organizations forecast continuously or as needed.
Most teams want rolling forecasts, but their systems make it too difficult. When forecasts are based on outdated assumptions, teams are forced to make decisions with partial visibility. Forecasts must be directly informed by the latest consolidated actuals, drivers must be incorporated dynamically, and “what-if” scenario modeling must be an inherent capability of the tools so finance teams can update plans faster and keep the business aligned around strategy.
It’s hard to predict the future, but the right tools help you prepare for different outcomes, enabling you to respond with agility and confidence.
2. Scenario planning and simulations
If unpredictability is inevitable, preparation becomes your biggest advantage.
Scenario planning helps organizations explore what could happen and plan thoughtful responses ahead of time. It’s no surprise that 81% of finance professionals rated scenario planning and simulations as important or very important.
Strong simulation capabilities allow finance and operational planners to “respond quickly to economic shifts and operational disruptions as they happen.”
With dynamic scenario modeling, teams can quickly test assumptions across multiple scenarios, explore alternatives, and make confident decisions to mitigate the risk of events taking you by surprise.
3. Unified financial and operational planning
The first signs of trouble rarely appear in the financial statements. They show up in operational metrics, in the form of cost spikes, a supply delay, resource constraints, a dip in productivity, or a surge in demand.
Finance leaders can’t plan effectively without seeing and understanding what’s happening operationally. The BPM Pulse Survey demonstrates this with 92% saying that integrating operational plans with financial plans is important.
The white paper refers to this connected approach as ‘financial and operational signaling.’ When operational trends flow directly into financial planning (and vice versa), the business can react in real time. Leaders can quickly answer questions like:
Can we still hit our revenue targets?
What operational changes would protect margins?
How do resource decisions impact cash flow months down the line?
This transforms the finance function from a scorekeeper into a strategic partner, providing forward-looking insights that guide operational execution and drive profitable growth. Unified planning keeps everyone working from the same map and on track to reach the same goals.
4. Near real-time financial consolidation
Finance teams shouldn’t have to wait days or weeks to get a clear view of actual performance. According to the white paper, consolidation is still “too labor-intensive” for 63% of organizations, and “too manual” for 60%. That’s a problem when business decisions depend on timely, accurate numbers.
Near real-time consolidation gives finance a single version of the truth, allowing teams to:
Identify risks earlier
Speed up reporting cycles
Support ad hoc analysis without scrambling
Provide leadership with reliable insights when they’re needed most
In moments of disruption, waiting on a slugglish month-end cycle is simply too precarious.
5. Shorter cycle times
When your business landscape shifts quickly, speed becomes a competitive advantage, especially for finance teams expected to respond first.
The BPM Pulse Survey found that 75% of finance professionals see streamlined and less-manual processes as the most important part of finance transformation — and 58% cited shorter cycle times specifically.
A unified platform helps shorten budgeting, forecasting, planning, as well as consolidation and closing cycles because data flows smoothly across functions.
Shorter cycles mean more time for analysis, more strategic conversations, and fewer fire drills, especially when disruptions demand immediate action.
6. AI (machine learning, generative AI, and agentic AI)
More than 52% of organizations are already using or testing AI in their planning and reporting processes. While generative AI gets most of the attention, the white paper highlights the growing role of agentic AI, which can automate complex, multi-step tasks, reduce human error, and support faster decision-making, especially when teams are under pressure.
AI enhances every other capability on this list: forecasting, reporting, simulations, consolidation, and analysis. And as organizations grow more comfortable with AI, its impact will only accelerate.
7. Governance and control
Speed matters, but it's pointless — and potentially dangerous — if you can't trust the numbers. End-to-end governance keeps planning, forecasting, consolidation, and reporting accurate and compliant.
Over 98% of finance professionals in the 2025 BPM Pulse Survey said data management, quality, and governance are important, with 71% calling them very important. Centralizing data and automating controls like audit trails and access permissions helps teams spot risks and act fast.
Strong governance isn’t just about compliance. It gives finance leaders a clear, reliable view of the numbers so they can respond confidently when change hits.
All 7 capabilities require one thing: A unified platform
You can’t unlock any of these capabilities with disconnected tools. When planning, forecasting, consolidation, and reporting activities live in silos, important insights get lost between systems or buried under manual processes. A unified, enterprise-wide platform like Anaplan removes those barriers, letting work flow smoothly between task owners.
This is what enables resilience. It's not just faster processes, but smarter, more connected decision-making.
