Satori Group's Budgeting and Forecasting Solution (Envisage)

Envisage is a new paradigm in providing Continuous Forecasting, Budgeting and Reporting for organisations. Envisage a solution that is quick to implement, is designed to suit your organisation and will help reduce the time and effort of these crucial business processes.

Envisage – a Centrally Controlled Financial Repository that is secure, can be managed by finance and contains all the information of the organisation to collectively understand the past and predict the future.

The Solution

Planning Methods

Envisage has a number of leading methods for deriving a Continuous Forecast. The idea is to be continuously forecasting at least 18 to 24 periods forward, thus when it comes to “Budget Time”, this is merely a refinement of the forecast process. No need for a latest “estimate”. Also this is a process that is continuous ie: it has been done on a regular basis so it should be familiar and at the same level of detail.

Envisage provides a number of methods to derive numbers such as:

• Targets – enter a target value and this spreads over the remaining periods either on days, last year or proportionally.
• Percentage – a % of an account in a specified Business Unit. This mean that the target account will flex when the source value changes.
• Schedule – a schedule of working out how the number entered was derived.  Eg: Legal fees ($1000), project 1 ($2500), project 2 ($3500). The total of $7000 would be stored with the associated detail.
• Growth % - automatically take last year / month and increase base on a specified factor.

The benefit of these methods is that only if the business driver or assumption changes, does the forecast need to be updated. This also means that as a month is “actualised”, the forecast updates the next forecast period and is added on.

This saves a significant amount of the time, cost and effort level that is expended on the budget process.  Another benefit of this process is that it creates business unit level accountability of the forecast.

Benefits

Envisage: the Continuous Forecasting and Budgeting Solution

Easy to Implement:

• Takes days not months to implement
• Contains pre-packaged reports that are easy to change
• Rule based formulae that require no code to modify
• Employs a secure, central database
• Over 8 specialist modules

Easy to Maintain:

• Uses the MS Excel environment for set-up, maintenance, reporting and analysis
• Hierarchies can be loaded from source systems
• Monthly Actuals automated
• Forecast updated after Actualising
• Can snapshot forecasts and budgets

Easy to use:

• Detailed worksheets eliminate the need for supporting spreadsheets
• Leverages existing Excel skills and knowledge
• Uses wizard to guide administrators
• Centrally control and manage application

Envisage:  A complete system

• Based around a powerful, secure multi-user, multi-dimensional database
• A central repository of the organisations knowledge and information
• Ability to understanding the past and shaping the future
• Supports Continuous Forecasting by allowing unlimited forward projections eg: 24 or 36 periods
• Integrates periodic forecasting and annual budget into a single seamless process
• Complete solution for Forecasting, Budget, Management Reporting and other user defined requirements

Envisage:  A cost effective solution

• No expensive set-up costs that are found in other systems
• Minimal maintenance – no specialist IT technical skills required
• Database integrity at spreadsheet cost
• Typical implementation time within 4-6 weeks
• Ability to customise to suit unique requirements