Automated budgeting process
More than 100 separate workbooks were replaced with a standardized set of centrally managed templates connected to a common database.
Flexible cost-allocation model
The solution supports more than 100 allocation rules reflecting the structure of costs across two companies and enables the controlling team to test alternative allocation drivers without rebuilding the model.
Consistent and validated data
FlexiEPM retrieves data directly from company databases and uses mapping dictionaries and validation reports to identify missing or incorrectly assigned records.
Finance-owned administration
The controlling team manages user access, process stages, budget locks, and model configuration without involving the IT department.
Project overview
The implementation was delivered in two stages:
- a cost-allocation model for two companies;
- a budgeting process involving approximately 40 users.
Each stage took approximately four months and was completed before the beginning of the relevant business cycle.
The cost-allocation model integrates data from more than a dozen sources and applies over 100 allocation rules. Source data can be loaded through a single automated process, while manual data input remains available for areas undergoing organizational changes, such as newly established cost centres.
The budgeting solution replaced more than 100 distributed workbooks with a common set of database-connected templates. Changes introduced by the controlling team are immediately reflected in the templates available to all users.
Customer perspective
TU INTER Polska S.A.
Challenge
INTER Polska’s budgeting and cost-allocation processes were based on more than 100 dedicated Excel workbooks stored in different locations.
Business units and branches worked in separate files. At this scale, collecting the latest versions became time-consuming and error-prone. Consolidating the data could take up to two days, while the IT department was required to maintain access rights to folders and individual files.
Cost allocation presented an additional challenge. The company needed a model capable of representing two legal entities, multiple cost categories, and a complex set of business allocation drivers.
The previous model was computationally intensive and difficult to modify. Testing alternative allocation keys or introducing changes could take several hours, limiting the team’s ability to analyse different scenarios.
INTER Polska therefore required a platform that would:
- automate data collection and calculation;
- improve data quality and consistency;
- support a large group of business users;
- enable rapid recalculation;
- allow the controlling team to manage the process independently.
Solution
FlexiEPM was implemented as an integrated platform for budgeting and cost allocation.
The complex cost model was converted into a transparent and centrally governed set of system rules. Data is retrieved directly from company databases, eliminating the need to exchange and consolidate source files.
FlexiEPM also supports manual input for areas in which business structures are still changing. Mapping tables, master-data dictionaries, and validation reports allow the controlling team to identify missing data and incorrect assignments before calculations are completed.
For budgeting, FlexiEPM replaced more than 100 separate workbooks with one standardized set of input templates connected to a central database.
Approximately 40 users participate in the budgeting process. The controlling team manages:
- user permissions;
- budget stages and deadlines;
- process locks;
- template and model configuration;
- validation and consolidation.
These activities no longer require operational support from IT.
Business impact
FlexiEPM changed the role of the controlling team from technical process administration to financial analysis.
Data consolidation and refresh now take approximately ten minutes instead of several hours or days. Current data and templates are maintained centrally, eliminating uncertainty over file versions.
The cost-allocation process is repeatable, controlled, and auditable. More than 100 allocation rules can be recalculated quickly, and allocation drivers can be adjusted without rebuilding the entire model.
Management receives results faster, while the controlling team can spend more time interpreting performance and less time distributing files, consolidating workbooks, and resolving technical issues.
Project in numbers
40
approximately 40 active budgeting users
~15 min
instead of hours to consolidate and refresh data
+100
allocation rules supporting the full cost model,
2
companies running their budgeting process in FlexiEPM
