Operational Plan Variance

How do we best support, coordinate, and manage the delivery of meaningful plans?

Once Finance understands the why behind performance variances, it must leverage this knowledge to re-evaluate and improve future operating plans. Finance should offer input and feedback to guide other business areas. These business areas, in turn, provide frontline information to Finance. This coordinated effort allows your organization to test and develop more predictable and reality-based business plans for better performance.

With the Operational Plan Variance decision area, you can set planning goals and scorecarding metrics for performance management elements such as:

  • Operating and overhead cost variance ($ and %)
  • Product cost / sales ratio (%)
  • Actual versus plan (%)
  • Average unit cost ($)
  • Distribution, labor, marketing, overhead, and production costs ($ and %)
  • Sales per employee ($).
  • SG&A ($ and %)

You can analyze these goals and metrics by a number of dimensions to find opportunities and challenges in the data:

  • Fiscal month / year
  • General ledger lines
  • Division / department
  • Brand and Product line.

Using the Operational Plan Variance area

You set targets based on your goals and metrics in Operational Plan Variance. You monitor your success by looking at how you measure up against your targets. Further, you dive into your results to find out more about these elements driving performance management.

  • Operating cost variance ($ and %) : Which account types have contributed the most to over-budget variances?
  • Actual versus plan (%) : Did we achieve our store upgrade objectives?
  • Overhead costs ($) : How do our overhead and production costs compare with last year?
 
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Reporting and Performance Management
Online Demo
See reporting as part of managing performance for every department.
Become the trusted advisor and compliance enforcer in your company.
Book
Download the finance chapter of the Performance Manager book.
Ventana Research - 2007 Performance Management Vendor and Product Scorecard
Article
Cognos ranked as a leading vendor for Performance Management in latest PM Scorecard
Consolidation Automation: Advancing Compliance and Performance Management
White Paper
Automate with the right tools, and your compliance and performance management efforts can be mutually supportive.
Cognos Virtual Finance Forum 2008
Web Link
Practical advice & proven practices in FPM. Compelling conference sessions, solution demos, and first-hand customer successes.
 
I'm interested in better performance— my next steps
 
Finance
Reporting and Performance Management
Online Demo
See reporting as part of managing performance for every department.
Become the trusted advisor and compliance enforcer in your company.
Book
Download the finance chapter of the Performance Manager book.
Ventana Research - 2007 Performance Management Vendor and Product Scorecard
Article
Cognos ranked as a leading vendor for Performance Management in latest PM Scorecard
Consolidation Automation: Advancing Compliance and Performance Management
White Paper
Automate with the right tools, and your compliance and performance management efforts can be mutually supportive.
Virtual Finance Forum June 4
Web Link
Practical advice & proven practices in FPM. Compelling conference sessions, solution demos, and first-hand customer successes.
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