A Day in the Life of a Planning Consultant
Steve Hitchman
Director, M-Power Solutions

• We partner with our clients to deliver best practice planning & reporting processes
• We do this by leveraging the power of Oracle / Hyperion technology
• Our team is mainly Finance professionals supported by IT specialists
• We have been implementing the Hyperion technology for 7 years
• We are based in Perth along with most of our clients

Agenda

Client says:
“ Our planning process sucks. We have seen a
presentation of Oracle’s Planning tool.
What do we need to consider up front if we
want to implement this ”

Check List
• Link to your Business Strategy/Vision

Example Finance Function Strategy
Aspiration
Data Systems & technology
• Common chart of accounts
The finance function is a trusted, proactive, and responsive partner to the • Standardize transaction systems
• Automate performance reporting.
business to facilitate and support the achievement of strategic goals. This is
achieved through timely and accurate business performance management and Process & Control
analytic insight, managing risk through an efficient control framework, and
• Documented Policies and Procedures,
supporting growth initiatives. • Business processes that are efficient
and effective,
• Reduce the month end close and
report process.
Enabling the Business (Finance activities)
People and structure
• Finance people who understand
• Manage financial resources • Process finance and accounting
business,
• Manage the tax Function transactions • Clearly articulate ‘who does what,
• Perform investment operations • Perform internal and external reporting where’,
• Manage external relationships • Centralise core processes where
possible.
Transformation Guide
Business Partnering
From To • Communicate Vision and initiatives to
the broader business,
‘manual’ ‘automated’
• Analysis based on business KPI’s,
‘transactional’ ‘analytical’ • Activity pursue growth & improvement
‘complex’ ‘simple’ initiatives.
‘multiple’ ‘single’

Example Focus of
improvements
Support Services as a Business
Partner
• Minimal
Involvement Role Transformation
• Problem Finding Decision
• Post-hoc Critique Support
• Sophisticated Analysis
• Confrontational Decision • Strategic/Market Issues
• Technical Compliance with External Support
Control • Problem Solving
Rules Process
• Data Collection Redesign • Embedded
• Organizational hierarchy driven Reporting • Accountability
Control
• Technology constrained • Cost/Benefit Sensitive
• Relevant to Business
• Manually Intensive Reporting • Information Rich
• Cumbersome Transaction • Integrated
• Redundant Integrated
Processing Systems Transaction • Automated
Processing • Streamlined
Old Paradigm New Paradigm
Reduced Cost

Check List
• Link to your Business Strategy/Vision
Don’t silo the planning process

Enterprise Performance
Management (EPM)

Check List
• Link to your Business Strategy/Vision
• Don’t silo the planning process
Develop a System Strategy/Vision, short & long term

Example System
Architecture

Check List
• Link to your Business Strategy/Vision
• Don’t silo the planning process
• Develop a System Strategy/Vision, short & long term
Clearly define your measures of success

Measures of
Success
• Reporting that provides value added analysis in a timely fashion
• An increased focus on trends and graphical reporting covering Actual
and Plan / Estimate
• A tiered reporting structure that meets the differing needs of Executive,
Middle and Lower management
• A framework that delivers the data but also facilitates answering the
“why” question
• Reduction of manual spreadsheets and increased process automation
• Automated generation of management reports linked directly through to
source systems
• Reduce the number of spreadsheets at the heart of the current month
end and planning processes.
• Reduction in the month end cycle. Currently books are closed day 4,
reports are finalized day 10

Check List
• Link to your Business Strategy/Vision
• Don’t silo the planning process
• Develop a System Strategy/Vision, short & long term
• Clearly define your measures of success
Ensure the chart of accounts is optimised

Chart of Accounts
• Does your chart support business analysis and financial statements?
• When was it last reviewed? Needs a bi annual spring clean
• Does it support simple delivery of a P&L

Check List
• Link to your Business Strategy/Vision
• Don’t silo the planning process
• Develop a System Strategy/Vision, short & long term
• Clearly define your measures of success
• Ensure the chart of accounts is optimised
To what extent are you seeking to standardise?

Standardisation
• Do you have multiple divisions / departments / locations etc.
• Do they all plan the same way?
• Do you want a standard solution?
• How standard is standard?
• What to do if:-
• Site 1 General Manager wants to Plan one way
• Site 2 General Manager wants to Plan another way
• Agree a mandate up front with stakeholders

Check List
• Link to your Business Strategy/Vision
• Don’t silo the planning process
• Develop a System Strategy/Vision, short & long term
• Clearly define your measures of success
• Ensure the chart of accounts is optimised
• To what extent are you seeking to standardise?
Re engineer existing spreadsheets before you start

Re Engineer Existing
Spreadsheets
• Are existing spreadsheets efficient?
• Excel remains the best tool to prototype / suss out how
something should be modeled
• We all know how to use it
• If your spreadsheets are a mess go at least part way to
cleaning them up in excel

Check List
• Link to your Business Strategy/Vision
• Don’t silo the planning process
• Develop a System Strategy/Vision, short & long term
• Clearly define your measures of success
• Ensure the chart of accounts is optimised
• To what extent are you seeking to standardise?
• Re engineer existing spreadsheets before you start
Set realistic expectations with key stakeholders

Set Realistic
Expectations
• A piece of software cannot on its own make your business process better
• Define your process vision at the start
• Think about and plan for change management
• Excel will never be eliminated, aim to go from this to this
CENTRAL PLANNING SYSTEM
• Not everything about excel is bad

Check List
• Link to your Business Strategy/Vision
• Don’t silo the planning process
• Develop a System Strategy/Vision, short & long term
• Clearly define your measures of success
• Ensure the chart of accounts is optimised
• To what extent are you seeking to standardise?
• Re engineer existing spreadsheets before you start
• Set realistic expectations with key stakeholders

Agenda

Consultant says
“ What do you want ”

High Level
Requirements
• Reduce reliance on spreadsheets
• Facilitate rolling forecasts / budget updates
• Bring together operational and financial planning using driver principles
• Increase the time horizon for planning (typically 5 years)
• Align actual and plan data to facilitate variance analysis
• “We spend 80% of our time talking about what has already happened, vs.
20% on the future, how do we reverse that trend?”
• Single system we can use across our entire company

Agenda

Client says
“ what will this thing actually look like”

National Level Assumptions
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State Level Sales Assumptions - WA
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Sales Manager Level Sales Assumptions - WA
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Headcount & Salary Planning by Individual
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Employee On-Cost Rates entered centrally
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Overheads – Input Centrally, recharged to Cost Centres by
Headcount based at each office
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Professional Indemnity ######
Insurance – input in ######
total, partially manually ######
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allocated to product ######
line, then recharged by ######
Rep Headcount ######
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High Level Sensitivity Analysis

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Plan by Ore Body xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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Plan for Revenue
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Plan for Revenue
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Royalty Costs
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Balance Sheet Royalty Liabilities
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Dashboards for all
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Agenda

We all say
“ Has it been worth it, have we
achieved what we set out to achieve ”

“Having the one set of both physical and financial
numbers that we can rely upon has meant that we are
now able to have meaningful communication on what
the issues are and what we need to do to address
them.”
Fatchuddin
Planning and Reporting Manager
Newmont Asia Pacific

“For us Hyperion Planning is so much more than just a
budgeting tool. Its truly an enterprise performance
management tool.
We now have day to day insight into how our
operations are performing against forecasts and
budgets, rather than having to wait until the end of the
week or month”
Keith Mayes
Group Manager Planning and Analysis
Oz Minerals (formerly Oxiana)

Agenda