How to Meet your 2023 Financial Goals with Oracle EPM

2022 ended on a challenging note for many businesses, who are feeling the strains of inflation, further supply chain issues, and the threat of a recession. As we begin a new year, business leaders need to look for ways to reduce costs, extract greater insights from their data, and futureproof their organizations to weather greater economic downturns. 

There is no one-size-fits-all solution for any business – particularly when it comes to preparing for the unpredictable – but there are tools available which can help improve operations and drive business growth. One such is Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), a software that helps leaders analyze and report on their business, and the process is designed to help organizations plan for future performance. With a solution like Oracle EPM at their disposal, organizations can improve their financial processes and extract greater insights, giving them a competitive edge. 

If you haven’t already invested in an integrated EPM solution, now, as 2023 kicks into gear, is a great time to consider doing so, to ensure your setup for success. And, if you have invested now is a great time to make sure you are taking advantage of all its functionality – Account and Reconciliation, Financial Consolidation and Close, Narrative Reporting, Planning, Profitability and Cost Management, and Tax Reporting.

1) Reduce Operational Costs

When you’re looking at operational costs, having full visibility into every business unit, their efficiency and profitability will help you to make strategic decisions about where to cut costs and where to invest. Too often, companies are spending unnecessary amounts of time and resources on compiling and interpreting spreadsheets. Within Oracle Cloud EPM, users can leverage a whole suite of tools to automate these manual processes and gain actionable insights across key business areas, such as products, customers, sales channels and more. 

Oracle Cloud EPM allows you to combine data from disparate financial systems with data from operational systems, giving you full transparency into the full business structure. From there, you can make decisions about reallocating resources towards areas that drive more business value and give employees more time by automating manual processes. Operating within the cloud cut costs further for the organization by reducing the money needed for ongoing support and maintenance and lowering expenditures on hardware and on-premises applications. 

When business leaders have full transparency into both financial and operational workings, they can make smarter and faster decisions about how to allocate resources. They can determine which areas could benefit from automation, or consolidation in order to save time, or eliminate processes altogether. EPM can help to fill operation gaps and will keep you informed in real time about where inefficiencies lay to help keep things running smoothly allowing time to set future goals.

2) Actionable Insights & Visibility

In addition to gaining added visibility into operations by integrating systems with Oracle EPM, it provides users with better access to data stored in other applications and, importantly, to help transform that data into actionable information. It comes equipped with modules that can connect all Oracle and non-Oracle business applications; eliminate the need for manual data entry and validation; and improve the quality of data within applications. Users can simplify and streamline enterprise functions within one intuitive interface and collaborate with others in real time. By connecting all of your business applications with Oracle EPM, your organization can make informed decisions that will allow you to stay ahead of potential challenges, accelerate transformations, and keep changes aligned across all business applications. 

Altogether, EPM can provide you with a comprehensive look into all business operations, their functionality and the resources involved, which allows you to draw conclusions about how they can be improved. This visibility will result in faster-paced decisions and the ability to accelerate transformations, cloud migrations, and system redesigns. While improving operations and productivity in real time, you’ll be able to learn about the business as a whole. 

3) Futureproof Operations

EPM is a solution which helps businesses to consolidate, budget, analyze and forecast utilizing financial data. With it, you can clearly analyze operational costs, make accurate predictions about future needs, and plot a path that will sustain your company through challenging times. And by automating more processes and allowing for real-time collaboration, your organization can more quickly react to unexpected challenges. Predictive capabilities and improved agility can help your company prepare for a wide range of future scenarios. 

Few people saw the current economic downturn coming, and businesses weren’t set up to respond efficiently. Some companies experienced loss of revenue, others compensated by raising costs, and still others have had to resort to downsizing. EPM alone can’t recession-proof a business, but it can certainly be a helpful tool in making organizations more fiscally sound, flexible, and proactive, so that you’ll be ready for whatever the economic future throws your way.

Learn more about how Apps Associates can help you align and empower your business with EPM.