In today’s complex and rapidly evolving business landscape, financial leaders are not just number crunchers but strategic decision-makers. Central to this transformation has been the rise of the Finance Data Warehouse (or finance data mart) designed for and owned by Finance. A centralised repository for detailed financial data and relevant operational data that underpins analytics, decision-making, and future planning.
One compelling application of the Finance Data Warehouse is in the domain of employee forecasting. In nearly all businesses, employee costs are significant. Understanding and accurately forecasting these costs and changes in FTE and Headcount becomes vital.
Employee Forecasting made easy.
Nearly all Brydens BI clients have a sophisticated Employee Planning model that is informed daily or monthly of actual changes via automated (API) connections or monthly file uploads, along with a simple interface to manage all future forecast changes. This level of automation and control becomes critical as clients reach hundreds or thousands of employees. Due to its ease of writeback, Calumo is typically the front-end tool used by clients who no longer have dozens of Excel files with employee data. Being able to rely on a central source of truth that they control reduces risk, saves time and makes Finance more relevant. In addition, with central, clean and trusted data, reporting with other tools, such as Power BI or Excel, becomes easier and more useful. Several Brydens BI clients leverage the Finance Data Warehouse that underpins Calumo to generate specific datasets tailor-made for Power BI.
The Finance Data Warehouse automatically updates rolling forecasts with new employees, terminations, and salary or cost centre changes. This automation saves significant time and reduces risk. Importantly, it also provides key business users with up-to-date, by-employee data they can discuss with Finance and use to make decisions. Being able to discuss variances and quickly drill to employees makes everything easier.
Using the Finance Data Warehouse to budget and forecast employees and all related costs, such as salaries, superannuation, and payroll taxes, simplifies core forecasting challenges. In addition, and where relevant, headcount or new starters can be used to model other relevant costs automatically. This also means that what-if style forecasting is straightforward.
Employee Forecasting is just the beginning.
In addition to Employee forecasting, once the General Ledger, HR Systems, and other relevant operational systems are linked to the Finance Data Warehouse, more possibilities are unlocked. For some clients, Brydens BI calculates and reports commissions, provides workforce planning capability, automates allocations (based on FTE and other metrics), and generates employee analytics and related visualisations through Calumo or Power BI.
In conclusion, the Finance Data Warehouse is not just a tool; it’s a game changer. By harnessing its capabilities, finance leaders can ensure more robust, accurate, and strategic employee forecasting while empowering their teams, removing significant unproductive work and providing the foundation for additional value-add. A finance-centric data warehouse also means monthly report packs and annual reporting, especially when linked to a tool like CDM (Certent Disclosure Management), becomes faster with less risk.
Brydens BI works with clients around Australia and worldwide. Because of our extensive finance experience, we often become an extension of the finance team and provide advice and support as required. Feel free to reach out if you want to know more.