Services · Performance management
Consolidation, planning and reporting, on a governed model.
Two platforms cover most of what a finance function needs at this layer: OneStream and Anaplan. Which one fits depends on the problem, not the logo.
Performance management is the layer most buyers start their search at, and the one most likely to be sold as a single answer to a problem that actually spans several layers underneath it. This page sets out how we think about the choice, and links through to the platform pages in detail.
From £5,000. A structured review of your process, not a sales call.
Platform independent
Two platforms, one honest recommendation.
We are not tied to either vendor, take no reseller margin on either, and will tell you plainly when the right answer is a smaller tool or a redesigned process instead of a platform at all.
OneStream
Consolidation, close, planning and reporting, built around your controls. Strongest where consolidation and statutory reporting sit close to actuals.
OneStream in detail 02Anaplan
Connected planning, modelled on how the business actually plans. Strongest for flexible, driver-based modelling across finance and operations.
Anaplan in detailSome groups run both, connected. Consolidation and statutory reporting in one platform, driver-based planning in the other, reconciled to the same source data. We design and build that combination when it is the honest answer, not the expensive one.
What this layer covers
Design, not just configuration.
A performance management platform inherits every weakness in the systems feeding it. Design has to account for that, not assume clean data.
Consolidation and close
Currency translation, intercompany elimination, minority interest and the group reporting hierarchy, built around your controls rather than a template.
Planning and forecasting
Driver-based models that connect to actuals, so reforecasting is a change to a driver rather than a rebuild under time pressure.
Reporting
A reported view finance can defend, built on data whose provenance is understood, not assumed.
Governance and ownership
Who administers the model, releases changes and owns data quality after go-live, defined before go-live rather than discovered during the first live cycle.
Still worrying about
Questions finance directors ask us.
How do we choose between OneStream and Anaplan?
By starting with the problem, not the shortlist. If the pain is consolidation, close and statutory reporting, OneStream is usually the stronger fit. If the pain is flexible, driver-based planning across finance and operations, Anaplan usually is. A diagnostic makes that comparison specific to your process rather than generic.
Do we need a performance management platform at all?
Not always. Below a certain scale, or where the underlying process is the real problem, the honest answer can be a smaller tool or a redesigned process. We will tell you that during the diagnostic rather than after you have bought a platform.
Can you run both platforms in one group?
Yes, and some groups have good reasons to. It needs careful reconciliation design so both platforms trace back to the same source data, which is finance systems integration work as much as platform work.
Start with the diagnosis, not the platform.
An honest view of whether OneStream, Anaplan, both or neither is the right answer. From £5,000, and the output is yours whether or not you go further.