Excel is one of the most commonly used applications for financial planning and analysis. It offers a variety of functions and is easy to use. However, Excel also has its disadvantages, which are increasingly prompting companies to switch to a specialized planning solution like fiplana. In this blog post, we will look at five reasons why companies are choosing to move away from Excel and opt for an analysis and planning solution like fiplana.

1. No revision/backup options in Excel

Excel is a file-based application, which means that any changes you make to a file are immediately saved. This leads to a lack of revisions and backups, as Excel does not provide a way to access older versions of a file or create automatic backups. If you make a critical change to a file and accidentally save it, this can lead to serious problems. With fiplana, you can be confident that you always have access to older versions of your planning and analysis data. Fiplana offers complete revision history and automatic backups to protect you from unexpected data loss.

2. No collaboration capabilities in Excel

In Excel, multiple people can work on a file simultaneously, but there are no collaboration capabilities. This means that you have to open and edit a file one after the other, which can lead to delays and errors. If you have a larger team involved in financial planning and analysis, this can become a significant challenge.

Fiplana offers a wide range of collaboration features that allow multiple users to work on the same file simultaneously. This improves the efficiency and accuracy of financial planning and analysis and enables your team to collaborate quickly and easily.

3. Complexity of formulas in Excel

Excel can quickly become overwhelmed by the complexity of financial planning and analysis. The more data and formulas there are in a file, the slower the file becomes, and it becomes more difficult to find the relevant information quickly and effectively. It also becomes more complex to understand, develop, and maintain the data model. This can lead to data loss and delays and compromise efficiency.

Fiplana provides a powerful and scalable solution for financial planning and analysis. It can handle a large amount of data and formulas without issues. Fiplana is also capable of reducing the complexity of your planning models, leading to better performance and higher accuracy.

4. Excel is not designed for big data

The tool was designed for processing smaller data sets and is not optimized for handling large datasets. There are better solutions for processing big data, such as specialized databases or cloud-based solutions specifically developed for large data volumes.

Furthermore, Fiplana offers the ability to process larger data sets. Users can perform complex data analyses to gain valuable insights from their data. Additionally, the tool provides a secure cloud-based platform that authorized users can access.

5. Excel requires ongoing maintenance

When data is entered manually, it needs to be updated regularly to ensure that it is correct and up-to-date.

Fiplana can automatically retrieve data from various sources and update it in real time, eliminating the need for data maintenance.

In summary, there are many reasons why Excel may not be the best option for managing data. Fiplana offers a better software solution that is scalable, free of errors, collaborative, secure, and maintenance-free. So if you're looking for a way to organize and manage your data, consider Fiplana as your financial planning and analysis tool. In addition, the connection of various source systems from different departments creates an integrated database that allows different user groups to manage their finances and processes in real time and communicate with each other. They create individually configurable reports and dashboards to track the performance of their financial planning at any time and identify trends. Other functionalities include the creation of automated budgeting processes and forecasts, reports or profitability analyses as well as the integration of real-time data.