Corporate Performance Management

Corporate Performance Management (CPM) is an umbrella term coined by research agency Gartner to describe the methodologies, metrics, processes and systems used to monitor and manage an enterprise’s business performance. According to Gartner the focus of CPM functionality is on uniting financial consolidation and reporting with the processes and systems used to support strategic planning and financial budgeting. This allows a consistent view of business performance across internal and external reporting. Quadrum Consulting has experience in both selecting and implementing successful CPM solutions.

Financial Reporting

Financial Reporting applications enable you to reconcile, consolidate, summarise and aggregate the financial data in your company based on different accounting standards and international regulations. These applications are a fundamental part of CPM because they create the audited, enterprise-level view of financial information that must be shared with other CPM applications to analyse variance from targets.

Reporting on Key Performance Indicators

Financial Reporting and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are obviously integral to any business reporting for all the stake holders involved. Quadrum Consulting can assist you in defining the KPIs and their related measurements, allowing you to put systems in place for analysis and reporting right down to the lowest reporting level for all KPIs, including profitability, marginal contribution and costs.

Budgeting and Planning

Excel-based budgeting was previously common practice across all organisations. However, your risks and the time required for your people to compile information from spreadsheet schedules can be significantly reduced by incorporating a suitable BI solution that automatically collects, collates and compiles the information into a single database. This makes for easy reading and reporting of reliable data. Quadrum Consulting uses varied BI solutions that allow for the modelling of the budget as a true business planning solution.

Forecasting

You can use forecasting on both the individual and group consolidation bases. Using information from the reporting and budgeting applications, you can create accurate forecasts which assist management in their tasks of keeping up with trends and all other related business issues. The BI forecasting solution provides outstanding “what-if” modelling options.

Dashboards and Scorecards

A dashboard is a collection of graphical or tabular business performance metrics, often drawing data from multiple sources in order to provide a comprehensive view of a user’s business environment. According to Gartner a scorecard is a generic BI capability that includes the functionality of dashboards, but also has the capability to link KPIs to a strategy map with a hierarchical cause-and-effect relationship among the KPIs. Scorecards are used in conjunction with a particular methodology, such as the balanced scorecard, value-based management or Six Sigma. Utilised correctly, dashboards and scorecards give an overall view of an organisation and allow the user to evaluate KPIs quickly and easily. Quadrum can provide you with well designed and easy to- access dashboards and scorecards that will make the most of the information available in your company.

Profitability Analysis

The analysis of profits for products, services, clients and channels is vital to the survival of your business. By utilising BI software and applying our expertise, Quadrum Consulting provides you with the most accurate revenue and costing determination. This type of analysis is often built on an effective ABC base.

Activity Based Costing

Activity-Based Costing (ABC) is a method of estimating the resources required to operate an organization’s business processes, produce its products and serve its customers. In a business organization, the ABC methodology assigns an organization’s resource costs through activities to the products and services provided to its customers. This process of first defining the activities in your business is a way of accurately assessing how your costs are related to the way you do business. It assists in preventing the “cross subsidisation” of cost allocations and gives you a view of what individual products and services actually cost. With a better understanding of your product and customer cost and profitability, you will be able to use ABC to support strategic decisions such as pricing, outsourcing and identification and measurement of process improvement initiatives. Quadrum Consulting provides companies with business expertise and software in producing these solutions.

Enterprise Resource Planning

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems attempt to integrate several data sources and processes of an organization into a unified system. Quadrum Consulting has assisted clients to understand what their ERP needs are and how to implement a successful ERP system. This is a key requirement when formulating the

long-term strategies for a company, ensuring a profitable and successful organisation.

Group Consolidation

If you manage a holding company you will probably have multiple-entity reporting structures within your group. These might include business units, subsidiaries, associates and joint ventures, all of which potentially present you with huge challenges when reporting on this multi-tiered structure. The group companies might, in addition, have multiple accounting systems and accounting bases. This is often evident when a group has grown locally/internationally through acquisitions within the company. Financial performance within each individual company needs to be closely monitored, yet the multiple systems can pose serious challenges for management. Holding companies which have a complex reporting structure can be simplified with the correct BI reporting tool. All related consolidation accounting can be facilitated – examples include intercompany account elimination, subsidiary reporting and foreign exchange conversions. Quadrum Consulting assists you in setting a solution in place for the consolidation of all financial reporting. This facilitation of the entire reporting process within the group will make your reporting deadlines more achievable and highly accurate. Reports can be effectively designed through the close interaction with Quadrum Consulting. The proper design of hierarchical structures and accounting  dimensions will ensure that reports are fully-functional and can be dynamically modified, rather than being rigid and static.