Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 includes robust planning, budgeting, forecasting, consolidation, and financial reporting capabilities. Business analysts can use the Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 model-driven approach to centrally manage the business rules, financial data, user roles, and workflows that drive plan and budget creation across and up and down the organization.

Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 also features a flexible design to handle real world complexity. For example, Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 provides operating units and departments with the flexibility to plan based on their unique business models while synchronizing their plans, budget, and forecasts with those at the corporate level. Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 integrates data from multiple enterprise systems into a single, consolidated, and current repository of financial information. This integration ensures that all plans, budgets, forecasts, and statutory and management reports are built using the most consistent and current financial information.

Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 Features and Benefits

Improved Planning, Budgeting, and Forecasting  For most line managers, an inability to link their departmental budgets to overall corporate strategy complicates the budgeting process. Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 solves this problem because budget analysts can now develop budgeting and planning models that derive from overall strategic objectives. Budget analysts can quickly create input forms that contain business rules and assumptions. The analysts can then distribute the forms to line managers to enter their budget data. The forms already contain rules and drivers that make the manager’s job much easier and enable budget analysts to compile submitted budgets more quickly into a single, unified view.

Robust Workflow and Collaboration  Planning and budgeting processes are often highly iterative and time consuming, and the processes place a large administrative burden on the Finance organization. Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 features workflow-driven processes that enable more effective collaboration and dramatically reduce the time and effort required to improve productivity. Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 uses proven Microsoft technologies such as Microsoft Office Outlook, Office SharePoint Portal Server, and other Office applications to centrally create and manage processes such as task assignments, plan creation, budget and forecast submissions, and approvals.

Faster Financial Reporting and Consolidation  Statutory and management reporting are time consuming and labor intensive processes. From basic data gathering, consolidation, and report creation, Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 automates the process from beginning to end. Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 takes advantage of SQL Server 2005 to integrate financial data from multiple general ledgers and reporting systems to achieve a single, integrated set of financial information from which reports can be created. Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 also includes functionality to perform vital functions such as consolidation, reconciliation, currency conversions, and allocations. And Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 features robust security capabilities that protect sensitive financial information and ensure regulatory compliance by controlling who can access and modify financial information.