Planning Maestro Reviews

Pros

Getting data out of our system and into this software is very convenient and easy.

Cons

The update and refresh process can take longer than I expect at times.

Pros

Budgeting can be done at a very detailed level and it adapts well to the specific needs of different industries.

Cons

Updates take a while to roll out and it would be much better if new features were released sooner.

Pros

Having multiple users access the information at the same time is a big advantage and makes collaboration much more efficient.

Cons

Access control across different user levels could be improved since managing permissions for various users is still a bit limited.

Pros

It really shines for me in a few areas especially the financial reporting tool 'Maestro Analytics' along with the Personnel module, budgeting section and forecasting tool. Those are the features I use and appreciate the most. The onboarding process and product support have been outstanding. There's also a broad range of functionality across the platform and the integration with D365 Business Central has been excellent.

Cons

A minor issue is the delay between posting and the data appearing in the financials which I think will be addressed in future updates.

Pros

The rollup features have been a big win for us. We oversee 65 companies with different ownership structures so having the ability to review plans by company, by manager, by division and other views is incredibly useful.

Cons

I have no downsides to report for now.

Pros

Managing several revenue streams is much more practical with this platform because it lets us build custom calculations and set things up the way we need. The reporting choices, especially with the Analytics add-on give us a much clearer view of our data and help us plan ahead with more confidence. On top of that the customer support team has been quick to respond and very helpful whenever anything comes up.

Cons

Nothing negative has been brought up yet.

Pros

Getting started was very easy and the platform has been very user friendly overall. I also appreciate that they keep improving the product and continue to innovate. Also the support has been helpful when needed.

Cons

The only issue has been getting a response from customer support.

Pros

Planning our quarterly budgets has become much more manageable since we started using this.

Cons

I haven't run into any real drawbacks so far.

Pros

This tool has completely changed how we handle budgeting and forecasting. It's very configurable removes the risky manual Excel work, improves our accuracy and saves us a huge amount of time. I can't picture managing our non-profit's finances without it. Apart from that the customer service team is quick to respond knowledgeable and always excellent to work with.

Cons

It takes a while to set up the tool and learn to utilize all of its capabilities. However the customer service team is always there to help.

Pros

Customer support has been excellent and the platform is very user-friendly. I can build multiple budget versions, duplicate existing ones when needed and the data link/driver feature is really helpful. The newer option to lock budget versions is also a valuable addition.

Cons

Unable to delete multiple budget lines and drivers/datalinks. It is also somewhat slow when processing.

Pros

Has been an excellent tool for planning. It's user-friendly, supports long-term budgeting along with more frequent forecasting and once everything is configured it's fairly simple to keep up over time. There's also a lot of flexibility whether your organization wants highly detailed budgeting or a more high-level approach. It connects with several accounting systems which makes bringing actuals into PM very convenient. The refreshable Excel reports are an added bonus.

Cons

Bulk updates can be a little difficult since changes to information sometimes create duplicate records that then need to be cleaned up. It also doesn't have a copy paste function which was available in the previous version of the software.

Pros

One of the best parts of the software is it's proprietary nature which gives it a lot of flexibility. It lets users customize financial reports based on who will be using the information so the reporting feels much more targeted and useful.

Cons

Getting real time data to flow correctly from your source ERP really depends on having the integration set up perfectly. That part can be difficult and time consuming at the beginning especially if you're new to the software or handling this kind of setup for the first time.

Pros

Honestly there isn't anything about it that I liked.

Cons

Using this product ended up feeling like a huge waste of time and effort. The support was very poor, I kept getting bounced from one person to another and the issues never actually got resolved. Our main contact didn't seem to understand the solution well herself and repeatedly said she needed to check with an engineer. Days turned into weeks with no fix in sight. To make matters worse after I complained publicly I was even threatened by their law firm.

Pros

Getting our budget set up was very easy and the pricing made a lot of sense for us. We could build everything ourselves without needing to hire someone just to configure the software which kept costs down. It covers the budgeting features a small business typically needs and it has also delivered strong customer service. Overall it has been a very good value for our organization.

Cons

The downside is that we were still on an older version the last time I checked and there was one report we relied on that we couldn't recreate in the newer version in a way that matched our needs. Most of the errors we deal with also seem to come from the database and we shouldn't have had to fall back on that.

Pros

Our dependence on excel sheets decreased which has been great. The platform gives us a much better structure for collecting and processing data and since it's Windows-based it didn't take long to learn or start using comfortably. We're also able to build multiple versions of a plan very quickly along with different what-if scenarios. Another strong point is how fast we can pull in actuals from our ERP system and then export actual, budget,and forecast data into excel for custom financial reporting and analysis.

Cons

One thing that slows me down is the current support process. Having to send an email just to get on someone's calendar for a call feels too slow. I'd rather be able to call directly wait in a queue if needed and get help right away.

Pros

It has given us much better control over the budgeting process and has really helped us go beyond basic budgeting into longerterm planning without much trouble.

Cons

It does take a bit of time to get comfortable with at first but the support team is excellent and helps you get up to speed.

Pros

It was easy to get the software up and running and it can be configured to fit exactly what you need. Another big plus is how adaptable the budgeting and forecasting model is, you can refine it over time as things change or if you want to build in more detail and depth to your budgets.

Cons

There really is not much to complain about. Since we use the web based version it can be a little awkward at times to save files to the web server and then copy them over to our own server for emailing and internal sharing but that seems to be the direction a lot of software is headed.

Pros

The software is very logical to work with and the support team has been excellent whenever needed.

Cons

I'd still like to see a better module for asset financing.

Pros

Between the integrations, collaboration features, what if analysis and reporting this software covers just about everything I need. It gives me the tools to finish the job quickly and accurately. Because the system integrates well all budget updates stay aligned with the GL without extra work. It also lets multiple people update budget numbers at the same time which makes collaboration across the company much easier. The built in What If tool helps us create fast accurate scenarios that are useful when we need to make important decisions. On top of that Analytics Maestro really brings the best of both worlds together by combining excels reporting strength with the information stored in BM's database.

Cons

Does include its own builtin reporting tool but I personally don't use it. It feels like one more reporting system I would have to learn and that's why I'm not a fan of it. I use Analytics instead because it feels more user friendly and offers more power than most reporting tools I've worked with.

Pros

The amount of detail you can build into a budget is something I really appreciate. Once the initial setup is done updating budgets for the following years takes much less time which is a big win. It's also helpful to view the actuals and use that information when putting together next year's budget.

Cons

Not all of the input data can be printed in report format which is limiting. Another downside is that information can be deleted too easily and there aren't any warning prompts to prevent that.