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, future planning and unlocks the value of AI.
One compelling application of the Finance Data Warehouse is in employee forecasting. In nearly all businesses, employee costs are significant. Understanding and accurately forecasting these costs, as well as 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 clients use, meaning they 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 tailored datasets for Power BI and/or business-specific AI use cases.
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 down to the employee level 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, where relevant, headcount or new starters can be used to automatically model other relevant costs. 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, including a secure way to unlock value from AI. A finance-centric data warehouse also means monthly report packs and annual reporting are faster and less risky.
Brydens BI works with clients around Australia and worldwide. Because of our extensive financial experience, we often serve as an extension of the finance team, providing advice and support as required. Feel free to reach out if you’d like to learn more.