Imagine finishing your month-end process and having a clear view of the measurements that spell success for your company. If you’re currently using Excel, or other on-premise solutions, for tracking and managing the company, this might be a complete fantasy at the moment. But it is within your reach with corporate performance management software (CPM).
Are all metrics measured the same?
Looking at corporate data requires three categories: measurements, metrics, and KPIs. Measurements are any set of numbers that are tracked within a business; number of sales, total revenue, etc. These measurements are simply numbers until you compare them and turn them into metrics. A metric shows the number of sales over time or the amount of revenue from online customers. When two measurements are combined, they become a metric. The most important metrics for a company become the KPIs.
Key performance indicators, or KPIs, help you understand whether or not your company is on the right track for success. Looking at KPIs on a monthly, quarterly, and yearly basis can help decision makers create strategies that will guide the business toward long-term success. However, defining KPIs and using them effectively can be a challenge because of the massive volume of data today’s organizations are generating. Picking the right measurements for success depends not only on which metrics are trackable, but also which are aligned with the company’s overall goals.
KPIs become clear with cloud corporate performance management software
Cloud corporate performance management (CPM) solutions have been on the market for a while, but they’ve come a long way in recent years. While they used to be targeted at expert users, solutions like Adaptive Insights have evolved to be more accessible and intuitive. As a result, organizations can easily handle budgeting, financial modeling, discovering trends, and creating a variety of reports.
Getting real-time data on actual costs will result in more accurate forecasts and more success long term.
Reporting is where these tools help elevate the KPIs beyond the other metrics so strategic decisions can be made and accurate plans can be executed. For example, your organization may need to keep several markets in mind while making decisions. If traditional Excel-based metrics are used, it can be hard to gain insight into actual costs involved and how those costs will affect profit margins in real time. Timely projections will be an impossibility.
Software, such as the Adaptive Suite, can offer real-time visibility into KPIs, which gives your organization the information it needs to make the right decisions. Getting real-time data on actual costs will result in more accurate forecasts and more success long term.
Adaptive Insights, the #1 rated CPM solution, can provide a 360-degree view of the past, present, and future of your organization, including the KPIs.
Ready to keep your KPIs in check?
