Strategic Modeling
Although many organizations have moved to cloud-based financial planning solutions, there are still those individuals that utilize spreadsheets for strategic, long-range planning and what-if analysis. Oracle’s latest cloud module, Strategic Modeling, eases the transition for these late adopters by leveraging Oracle’s existing EPBCS suite, giving users the ability to perform modeling and analysis in Excel while still linked to the near-term operational and financial plan.
Strategic Modeling’s strength lies within its robust balance sheet and cash flow forecasting capabilities, as well as built-in financial modeling tools and the ability for end-users to perform their own scenario modeling. For those that are familiar with Oracle’s Hyperion Strategic Finance, Oracle’s new cloud Strategic Modeling has many similar features.
What-if Capabilities
You can evaluate possible outcomes for your long-range plan by creating scenarios to meet specific needs. You can also manipulate assumptions and driver accounts that have a significant impact on data. Lastly, you can calculate changes to one account in order to obtain an identified target value of another account.
Funding Options
By identifying which surplus accounts align with specific debt accounts users are able to pay off existing deficits. This feature also allows the user to specify the order the deficit should be repaid.
Debt Scheduler Utility
This feature allows users to identify and manage the cash flow involved in debt investments, such as debt amortization, payments, interest, and interest rates. The utility provides the ability to set the term of the debt, set the principal, schedule payments, set interest rates, set the debt recapture, and set parameters inherited by other scenarios.
Integrated Enterprise Planning
Since Strategic Modeling is part of the EPBCS suite, data is easily moved between existing modules such as Financials, Capital, Projects, and Workforce along with any existing reporting cubes. This allows users to quickly and seamlessly view detailed budgeted data in their strategic models.
Fully Integrated Financial Statements
Standard Income Statements, Balance Sheets, and Cash Flow Statements are provided with the Strategic Model module.
Customized and Free-Form Reporting
For a more customized reporting approach, users are able to create their own reports using free-style functionality or leverage existing individual reports and inserting or deleting accounts, rows, or columns. Change number formats, fonts, rows, and column settings and alignment. With free-style reports, users can enter data directly into the report by typing or pasting the data from another source. Create formulas referencing other cells in the report or even other reports. And lastly, link accounts by assigning cell attributes.
Financial Benefits
- Forecast modeling
- Long Range Planning, linked to bottom-up forecasts
- What-if scenarios; create your own as well or leverage previous M&A and Cash Flow scenarios
- Out-of-box reporting
- Custom reports with Excel charting
