You may be the market leader in your industry, but without the right financial tools your business is doomed. We’ve seen it before, a small company with an innovative product takes off and grows rapidly without the people or processes in place to support it.

With the pressure of competition on the rise and increased regulatory scrutiny, finance departments are really feeling the strain. In order to grow and prosper in this challenging environment businesses must have effective financial performance management.

Financial performance management is, as the name suggests, the efficient management of financial resources. Ventana Research describes FPM as a specific set of capabilities that includes "defining their company's key performance indicators, formulating strategic plans and forecasts, handling performance reporting, and increasing finance operational efficiency and execution company-wide."

This process involves a set of tasks that has long been burdened by slow, manual, spreadsheet-based procedures. Wheresas FPM solutions allow finance to automate the entire close process, from data collection to financial consolidation to output. Data is brought together from diverse entities and divisions into a single, statutory-based view. The result is a shorter close cycle, with greater accountability and the assured data integrity needed for compliance.

Smart companies seek competitive advantages wherever they can be found. And financial performance management is what allows finance organisations to identify those advantages and compete – and succeed – in today's business environment.