Every business decision conveys a narrative. Yet, when finance teams must reconcile data across multiple disconnected systems, that narrative becomes difficult to compose, and often arrives late, remains incomplete, or, at worst, is unreliable. Consequentially, leaders are forced to make critical decisions based on a fragmented view of reality.
This challenge extends beyond process inefficiency; it fundamentally impairs decision-making.
When data resides in disconnected silos, organizations not only slow their financial consolidation and reporting cycles but also constrain their ability to respond proactively to emerging opportunities and potential risks.
The most successful organizations are those that seamlessly integrate best-in-class consolidation, planning, and reporting solutions across a unified environment.
Crafting the narrative: Familiar tools, greater control
On their own, spreadsheets and Microsoft Office tools (Excel, PowerPoint, Word) are both essential and flawed. They’re universal, flexible, and familiar — but without governance, they expose the business to unnecessary risk. A simple formula error, an unauthorized adjustment, or a broken link can compromise the entire reporting process.
This is where Anaplan XL Reporting and the Anaplan Disclosure Management application make the difference. These solutions let you continue working in the Microsoft Office environment you already know, while layering in the governance and control features that spreadsheets alone cannot provide. With Anaplan, your finance team gains:
- Role-based permissions to protect data integrity
- Audit trails and version control to ensure transparency
- Automated updates when source data changes and roll-forwards from one cycle to the next keep reports accurate, consistent, and trustworthy
As a result, your team keeps the reporting experience they’re comfortable with, but without the fragility and risk that comes with disconnected spreadsheets. Instead of worrying about broken formulas or inconsistent versions, leaders can rely on reports as a solid foundation for collaboration and decision-making.
Beyond reporting: Financial consolidation and planning solutions
But reporting is only one part of the decision-making equation. Anaplan also strengthens the processes that feed into those reports:
- The Anaplan Financial Consolidation application streamlines and automates complex consolidation activities across entities, currencies, and ownership structures — reducing consolidated reporting cycles from weeks to days. By producing fast, accurate actuals, your accounting team can provide timely insight into the current financial health of your business and easily refresh FP&A processes for improved accuracy and confidence in forecasting.
- The Anaplan Integrated Financial Planning application connects corporate and business unit finance across foundational processes, enabling both strategic and financial planning. The application provides out-of-the-box capabilities for long-range planning tied to real-time scenario modeling across revenue, operating expenses, headcount expenses, capital planning, integrated financial statements and more. Embedded AI supports forecast accuracy improvements of up to 20%, surfacing and aligning operational drivers with financial outcomes, and equipping leaders with forward-looking visibility to anticipate change.
Together, these purpose-built applications accelerate your return on investment and ensure that consolidation, planning, and reporting work in unison. Your business can consolidate faster, plan smarter, and report with integrity, creating a connected environment where every decision is grounded in timely, accurate, and trusted insights.
Evidence from industry leaders
Organizations across industries are realizing the value of unified consolidation and planning with Anaplan:
- A global chemical manufacturer reduced its consolidated reporting cycle from one month to just two days, achieving a 93% acceleration and freeing its teams to focus on strategic response during the pandemic
- Bayer achieved a 66% improvement in scenario planning speed, enabling finance leaders to model options and make decisions in real time
- AB InBev realized a 90% time savings in company-wide data integration, giving executives near-instant insight into multiple scenarios to support timely action
The future of finance is not about working harder to reconcile the past. It is about working smarter to enable better decisions for the future. When your business unifies financial consolidation and planning, you gain more than faster month-end cycles or accurate reports — you gain the ability to make decisions with confidence and agility.
