How does everyone architect their model for strategic planning?

PrevContributor
PrevContributor
in Modeling

For strategic planning, our executive team has a need for a 3-5 yr plan which they can tweak/adjust on the fly.  For example, setting broad goals (x% revenue growth, y% gross margin, etc.), which would flow through Balance Sheet/Cash Flow.   However, our Anaplan model is quite complex, and we have many modules that feed into the broader financial statements (IS/BS/CF).  So any "override module" containing these goals would have to alter all the appropriate line items, which seems 1) hard to build, 2) may slow down model performance. Looking for any tips on how to provide this functionality.  Do you all have separate/concurrent Excel models, or do you only use Anaplan for a part of the broader Excel model, or have you built something into Anaplan for this? Thanks! Kevin

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  • jeremiebrunet
    jeremiebrunet
    Answer ✓
    Hi Kevin,

    You could create a set of simplified IS/BS/CF modules that would pull the data from your "real" IS/BS/CF modules on the one hand (you might need to create line item subsets if your accounts are line items) and on the other hand from your top-down assumptions and strategic planning modules. This way you wouldn't have to touch the formulas in your financial statements modules and you could even calculate variances between scenarios.

    Hope this helps.

    Jérémie

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