Cloud xP&A is a platform-centric enterprise planning strategy to extend financial planning and analysis (FP&A) with multidiscipline planning capabilities that are packaged, marketed and sold as an integrated operational planning solution. xP&A solutions must include a cohesive, composable, data-harmonized vendor platform that can accommodate emerging technologies, horizontal functional and vertical-specific solutions for their target market(s)
Gartner defines financial close and consolidation solutions (FCCS) as applications that enable corporate controllers and their teams to manage the organization’s group close, consolidation and reporting processes. The FCCS market equips organizations to (1) manage and drive financial control across their close cycles through configurable workflows and dashboards that support collaboration and provide a centralized auditable view; (2) execute financial consolidation across multiple legal entities (LEs) and geographies; (3) meet accounting standards for currency translation, intercompany elimination and top-side adjustments; and (4) generate reporting that adheres to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and regional compliance.
Gartner defines financial planning software as the key tool that enables organizations to automate and streamline their enterprisewide financial planning processes. The software supports planning, budgeting and forecasting processes by connecting relevant operational and driver data to profit and loss, balance sheet and cash-flow financial statements. Additionally, the software offers enhanced decision support and analytics that can be customized to unique planning requirements. To provide this support, financial planning software offers data integration, data modeling, reporting and workflow capabilities, which all enhance a user’s ability to effectively manage the planning process and their organization’s financial performance.