The Ledger

Adding Value to Your Budget

“A solid budget generally includes a macroeconomic forecast for the upcoming year; a description of the business outlook; revenue forecasts by business segments, geography, product lines, and so forth; and pro-forma financial statements, including estimates for the current year, projections for the upcoming year, and comparative numbers from previous years.”

The budgeting process in any organization is critical. Because of how important budgets are to the success of the business, creating a more accurate and reliable budget would provide added value to the process. Two additional pieces could be added to the budget package to improve the quality of the budget numbers and to help explain the rationale behind the numbers: organic and inorganic growth, and capacity costs.

Read More at Strategic Finance Magazine >

Reimagining the Financial Services Industry with Strategy

The financial services industry is changing rapidly, and conditions are becoming more challenging than ever. Competition is not only coming from peers, but also from nontraditional new entrants, such as financial technology firms. To become more agile, traditional financial services companies need to re-imagine the way they run their businesses. This will require includes continually reshaping their business models and being able to measure, analyze, and evaluate the financial impact to meet the demands of a new digital organization.This shift in the role of finance can be achieved only when the organization transforms and redefines itself, and adopts the right technology as the foundation for executing a smart digital operation.

Read More at The Digitalist by SAP >

Strong Data Analytics Leads to Greater Profitability Through Creativity

Many companies are using digital platforms that are acquiring more data on consumer tastes than ever before. These companies are not, for the most part, using their data to make creative decisions about how to produce content. They’re employing the data to match viewers to the content that meets their tastes. For example, Netflix was put on the map as a creator of innovative original entertainment. They accomplished this by connecting their content with their audiences in a way that broadcasters never could. This is how the wealth of data maintained by digital entertainment platforms can foster more creative freedom, not less. Instead of focusing solely on offerings with surefire mass appeal, these platforms can take a chance on unique content because they can deliver that content directly to the best audience.

Read More at The Harvard Business Review >

Using Data to Power Your Digital Transformation

“If technology is the engine that drives digital transformation, data is the fuel. For forward-looking organizations it’s powering new insights, new ways of working, new products and services, and disruptive new business models. But in some industries, the gap between digital thrivers and survivors is growing as IT organizations are overwhelmed by information-related challenges. As data complexity and volumes skyrocket, business users are pressing for even greater speed and agility to meet customer demands and identify new revenue opportunities.”

Read More at The Digitalist by SAP >