“We don’t have any system. Excel is good, but, well…”
Most companies use Excel to solve problems in their daily operations. We’ve noticed that sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. Here are some of the most common problems we’ve idenfitied when using Excel as a solution:
- Easy to make mistakes
- Difficult for more than one user to work with the same data
- No traceability of changes
- Inadequate integration with underlying systems
- Few understand how the solution works technically
If you want a modern web-based system tailored to your processes, tightly integrated with underlying systems, searchable, has access control, and can operate in the cloud – then we have the solution for you. We have transformed many solutions in Excel into systems containing all the good features of a business system, but without its drawbacks. Systems that the customer can change and scale in pace with the changing needs of their business.
We start with your current solution, data and processes to produce a requirements specification and suggestions for a new solution together with you. We gradually develop the solution’s components, with frequent check-off points, in small short projects that can rapidly impact your business. Using solutions built on our Comflow platform, you quickly get a high-quality solution. We know business. And we know business systems, technology and systems development
Success story example – Sales budgeting system
The challenge
In the customer’s old Excel solution, ERP system data was exported once a month to 20 Excel files distributed to each sales unit with over 60,000 budget lines. The file was then sent to each sales unit, which updated the budget at the lowest budget line level. The volumes were then aggregated via pivot tables to different levels. Any adjustments were made at the budget line level. When the budget was completed it was sent back to the central division, where the data was manually copied to a common Excel file for analysis and further processing. Different versions were managed by creating different Excel sheets. Overall, these tasks were extensive and cumbersome, the budget quality dubious, and collaboration between the business units lacking.
The solution
Enter a new web-based solution for budgeting. A budget is created and published centrally, based on history or previous budget. Each business unit updates and approves its budget at any level. When the entire budget is approved, a new version is created that is further processed centrally. When the budget is approved by management, it is transferred to the CRM system.
The benefits
- Generates supporting data for future decision-making.
- Is integrated with the ERP system.
- Access to different parts of the budget is controlled through permissions.
- A new budget can be created based on history or any previous budget.
- The volumes are aggregated upwards and distributed downwards automatically.
- Items, campaigns, and more can be added by the user.
- Amounts are automatically converted to different currencies.
- Business units can gradually complete and approve the budget.
- Multiple versions of a budget can be created and compared with each other.
So, what about Excel? The entire process is not included in the new solution. The decision is to replace Excel incrementally and focus on the process steps that provide the greatest effect. Data can therefore be easily exported from the tool to Excel and further processed in the process.