Planful Software Reviews

“Planful Review

Pros

I appreciate the capability to integrate other systems using third-party software. The browser-based reporting feature is visually appealing.

Cons

When it comes to saving HC to finance and HR cubes, there are many additional steps involved. My experience with Adaptive Insights was much more efficient in terms of saving data to the database. However, I encountered an issue with the model for our vendor spend in Spotlight, as it led to incorrectly saving data to other scenarios.

“helpful tool for data management

Pros

What I like about Planful is that it provides real-time data transmission. The application is easy to navigate and offers reliable and precise information with excellent functionalities.

Cons

Planful works very well for me, and I haven't encountered any complications with this application yet.

“Best Budgeting tool

Pros

The software is user-friendly. It allows me to lock down budgets to prevent changes and seamlessly incorporate real-time data from our ERP system for financial reporting. It has significantly reduced the time spent on annual budgeting, saving over 100 hours. The Excel-based interface makes it accessible and understandable for non-financial users. Additionally, it offers segmentation options for controlling access and includes workforce planning capabilities.

Cons

So far, I haven't encountered any issues with the software. However, I have only been using it for a short time.

“I was never able to go live with it

Pros

The product appears to be robust and capable, but the process of going live has been challenging.

Cons

Unfortunately, I was never able to go live with the software, and I didn't derive any value from it. To make matters worse, they made me pay for two years without delivering the expected results.

“In-depth P&Ls

Pros

Planful receives a feed from our accounting software every 5 minutes, ensuring we have the most up-to-date accounting information for accurate budget-to-actuals comparisons.

Cons

Learning to build reports can be time-consuming as the software is quite complex and not suitable for non-tech savvy individuals.

“Robust financial reporting software.

Pros

My favorite feature is the Workforce Planning module. Data loading and updates are fast, and there are numerous options for modeling and allocating compensation items. Training budget preparers is straightforward, and they can easily navigate the system. Reporting options are extensive, both within Planful and externally, and the platform experiences minimal downtime.

Cons

The training documentation could be expanded and enriched in certain areas to provide a more user-friendly administrative experience.

“Planful Overview Review

Pros

The software is extremely intuitive, and its syntax is similar to Excel.

Cons

In my opinion, the training provided is basic and outdated. Considering the efforts put into developing the product, they should invest more time in conducting live sessions to show users how to better utilize the product's great features.

“Planful great value for the money

Pros

The ease of reporting, creation, distribution, and the ability to schedule distributions to non-users are highly valuable.

Cons

The consolidation module could use some improvements, particularly in tracking reconciliations.

“Training review

Pros

Planful is exceptionally user-friendly, and it provides ample help resources. The search engine within the application is efficient, making navigation effortless.

Cons

I'm not fond of the fact that completing certification requires attending in-person classes. These classes are inconvenient for UK users and often don't provide much additional information beyond what is available in the written guides.

“Planful

Pros

The user interface is very intuitive, and the support is excellent. I enjoy the accessibility to create and analyze various reports effortlessly.

Cons

It would be beneficial to have more Excel-like features in the web software.

“Solid Choice

Pros

I appreciate the compact and reasonable size of most features in the software. Although initially intimidating for new users, our small team has been able to manage it across multiple hospitals and user types. With minimal IT support, we have put in the effort to make it valuable.

Cons

Dealing with processes and building infrastructure around raw data can be challenging. Since we don't have a data warehouse, connecting data becomes even more difficult. I consider this software to be a mid-tier product in some ways, so it would be logical for the developers to consider that not all companies have a solid infrastructure to support the fast and elaborate functions provided. Ideally, the system could be more comprehensive or help us establish a one-stop-shop solution.

“Planful: Modern FP&A Solution

Pros

Administering the system is seamless and adaptable. Our previous system required a significant amount of time for maintenance and troubleshooting. With Planful, after going live and achieving stability, it now takes less than 50% of my time. This allows me to focus on process improvement, automation, personal development, and future enhancements. Reporting is extremely user-friendly, both within the platform and with Spotlight, empowering users to create and administer their own reports.

Cons

Loading actual wage data by employee seems more complicated than necessary. Preparing the file for data loading takes approximately one hour per month, while other data load rules take less than five minutes. We also experienced issues in the past with workforce data input and locking between users. However, the extensive workforce UI redesign in 2020 has made it much easier for our team to use.

“Solid tool that will help you manage your budget with ease!

Pros

Planful encompasses all the necessary features in one tool, including workforce planning, budgeting, forecasting, financial reporting, and easy creation of management reports.

Cons

There are several enhancements that I plan to discuss with our customer success manager. However, I have no doubt that with Planful's release schedule, incorporating these items into our environment will be easy. If I had to choose one thing I like least about the software, it would be the suggestion that implementation partners fully understand our structure and the reports we need in the software. When we implemented years ago (which I'm sure has improved since then), there were features and items that weren't even discussed and were only discovered later.

“A great all round FP&A solution that is competitively priced

Pros

We utilized Planful's Reporting and Consolidation functionality and are currently implementing Dynamic Reporting/Spotlight to revamp our internal budgeting and forecasting process. The system is remarkably easy to use after the initial setup, with minimal training required. It offers impressive power and flexibility while maintaining competitive pricing. The support staff and implementation consultants are exceptional.

Cons

The main drawback of the solution is the lack of training materials available. Since it is a relatively new platform, there isn't a wide range of training resources for end users to learn the platform. This creates a greater dependency on the materials provided by Planful, and in my personal opinion, the training courses don't effectively bring a Planful user up to speed. Fortunately, Planful seems to be investing in a new Engage forum, which will undoubtedly assist new users of the system.

“Great FP&A Product

Pros

The Planful team listens to their customers and consistently improves the product. It's user-friendly, and there are abundant resources available, such as support chat, community forums, and training materials.

Cons

The support was lacking when we initially implemented the tool. However, they have made significant improvements and are now truly supportive of any questions I have.

“Review of Planful

Pros

We rely on this software for our monthly financial close process, consolidating financials, and publishing the monthly financial package to management and internal/external partners. The software is easy to navigate and expedites the consolidation of financial data for all entities each month.

Cons

Currently, there aren't any specific features of the software that I dislike. However, the Planful support portal and team haven't always been the most helpful when it comes to troubleshooting issues promptly.

“Less Inituitive than other systems but more modeling capabilities

Pros

The modeling and reporting capabilities in Host distinguish it from other systems. The ability to directly integrate reports with system data pulls is a valuable feature that simplifies workbook complexity.

Cons

The software has limitations in terms of scalability, which may pose challenges when scaling up. Additionally, it is not an intuitive system to learn, especially with the spotlight add-in, and it is not as "ad hoc" ready as some other systems like Hyperion.

“Host Analytics for Board Reporting

Pros

Aggregate data from various sources and create visual representations such as charts and graphs.

Cons

Integrating the software with an OLAP database can be time-consuming, and the setup UI could be improved.

“High Quality Financial Reporting Platform

Pros

The dynamic reports and drill-down capabilities in Planful are major advantages. It allows for precise financial information, and the inclusion of links to source documents enhances transparency in reporting. The Spotlight for Excel add-in facilitates the development of custom, refreshable reports. The forecasting and budgeting tools are also commendable.

Cons

Implementing new software for financial reporting always has a significant learning curve. However, there are several quirks in data loads and reporting cube processing that make things more challenging than they should be.

“Director of Financial Planning & Analysis

Pros

Planful centralizes our planning, budgeting, and forecasting efforts. It enables quick updates and the ability to create alternate scenarios by copying versions. The upload of transactional data promotes self-service research of budget variances by budget owners.

Cons

The core functionality of the software is not well-suited for efficient sales reporting.

“Positive, Discovery, Trial & Error

Pros

Having centralized data storage ensures consistent reporting from month to month, eliminating errors often caused by external excel file linking. The customer service provided is exceptional.

Cons

The PCR functionality can be finicky, and occasional freezing can occur in the modeling process. To ensure accurate and up-to-date reporting, there needs to be better coordination between modeling and PCR, which is expected to be addressed in an upcoming update.

“2+ Year User of Host Analytics EPM Platform

Pros

I can quickly consolidate all our agency financials at the end of the month and close the books promptly.

Cons

I enjoy most aspects of this software; however, I wish that the Spotlight Excel add-in offered by Host could be directly connected to the Core Application. This would eliminate the need to maintain and update a separate model in Excel to ensure accurate data in the Spotlight Excel reports.

“HA is really an efficient tool which made our FP&A activities automated to certain exten

Pros

The reusable formats in Reports make reporting easier, and the customer support typically responds within hours, making our job much more convenient.

Cons

It would be beneficialto have more tutorials available on their Training website.

“Host has helped us scale from ~200 employees to over 1k!

Pros

Similar to Oracle Hyperion but in the cloud, it has lower overhead compared to on-premise tools. The platform is robust, offering more advanced features than other cloud tools. The excel integration is solid, and the product team actively listens to feedback. The pricing is fair, and there is no limit on model size.

Cons

The attractiveness of the user interface, template speed, visualizations, speed of new development, and implementation took longer than expected.

“Host Analytics. An upgrade to our budgeting and reporting software.

Pros

Host Analytics is user-friendly. It helped me organize a large amount of product data for my business. I can generate several financial reports with just a push of a button each month. It also simplifies budgeting and makes month-end tasks easier. The customer service team is excellent and always available when help is needed.

Cons

Setting up a report template can be challenging, as not all modules have the same reporting tools. The functionality in the HR module and capital module needs improvement.

“Use Host for financial planning

Pros

I appreciate the cloud-based model and its speed. It proves to be very useful for scenario planning and collaborative work with my team.

Cons

I find it frustrating that I can't perform calculations in the report without creating a new template. Additionally, as a Mac user, I can't utilize spotlight in Mac Excel.

“It's user friendly

Pros

Making reports is effortless with its user-friendly interface, and it offers numerous excellent features such as drag and drop functionality and templates.

Cons

I hope they add the capability to use workforce reporting for budget vs. actual HR data and provide a dashboard within the next year or so.

“It's a life saver for reporting

Pros

The ease of reporting and planning is remarkable. Reports can be created quickly and easily taught to other users. Being in the cloud, it provides multiple layers of security features for customization.

Cons

The new features and cross-browser support don't work optimally. It's challenging to adjust the row sets precisely, and changing column width is cumbersome in Chrome.

“We had a quick implementation, and find that the environment is very flexible. All end users :-)

Pros

Host Analytics allows interfacing with various types and volumes of data without limitations, as long as a common field is maintained. The implementation process went smoothly with the assistance of a consulting partner, and it significantly reduced our budget manager's reporting time from 3 days to 3 hours. The modeling module utilizes an Excel add-in, maintaining the familiarity and usability of Excel while storing the results centrally, ensuring there is one version of the truth when retrieving data. The customer service is unparalleled, with a dedicated team focused on ensuring their customers' success. Feature updates are frequent and align with customer needs and requests.

Cons

We had to rely on a partner consultant for implementation, mainly because our small company lacks internal IT resources. The initial implementation without a partner encountered delays due to resource and communication issues.

“Great experience for me. We have a dedicated business systems resource on our team who helps a lot.

Pros

I appreciate the flexibility and fluidity of working in the cloud, eliminating the need for versioning excel files and waiting for input from others.

Cons

Setting up input templates and reports requires some initial effort. However, once I have a layout I like, it becomes much easier to work with.

“Host took a lot of data and made it usable.

Pros

Once I set up Host, it becomes effortless to use. It has helped me organize a large amount of product data for my business, and I can easily generate several financial reports each month with just a click. It continues to simplify my month-end tasks, and I even use it for budgeting. Initially, I started using Host for budgeting, but I've discovered its usefulness for many other purposes. I also appreciate its scalability, as I realize there are more capabilities I can explore with the software. The Host customers for life team is always available to assist me when I delve into these possibilities.

Cons

Creating a report template can be challenging, but once it's set up, it works well, and there's always support available at Host to assist me.

“Using Host has been much more user friendly than our previous reporting and planning software.

Pros

I appreciate its user-friendly nature, and the drag and drop feature makes running ad hoc reports a breeze. The templates with line item detail and notes feature are fantastic.

Cons

It would be great if I could use workforce reporting to compare budget vs. actual HR data. I'm also looking forward to having a dashboard within the next year or so.

“Host has helped reduce the amount of time previously spent manually keying into Excel.

Pros

The best thing about Host, in my opinion, is that it eliminates the need for manually entering data in Excel spreadsheets. We can connect to our financial system and upload the necessary data, significantly reducing human errors.

Cons

The interface feels outdated, and as a Chrome user, I experience lag when scrolling through a template, which can be frustrating.

“Good planning tool that integrates well with excel

Pros

This tool allows us to plan with great detail, and the flexibility of the modeling cloud is excellent.

Cons

This tool is decent, but we had to customize it extensively for CAPEX, BS, and cash flow forecasting, which consumed a significant amount of time.

“Great for automating reporting and forecasting

Pros

I love that Host is cloud-based and offers extensive customization options with numerous templates. It also allows multiple users to access it simultaneously.

Cons

The software can be a bit cumbersome at times, resulting in slow performance. It also requires learning certain nuances, which is to be expected.

“Closest cloud experience to excel

Pros

It offers a similar experience to Excel functionalities in the cloud. It takes a native and intuitive approach to solve traditional budgeting and forecasting tasks. The best part is that it doesn't require on-premises development support.

Cons

The initial setup of the environment and templates took a considerable amount of time. If we were to do it again, I would be better positioned to execute the process faster and more efficiently.

“As a first timer with any EPM system it was easy to configure and learn.

Pros

Host seems to have minimal limitations in terms of what it can do. As someone who started with nothing, I appreciate its reporting capabilities the most.

Cons

I'm not a fan of the new currency exchange rate page setup. I preferred being able to see all the rates at once, as we could prior to that release.

“OVerall is a great tool for the ease of standardizing and managing our reports.

Pros

The application makes reporting effortless with automated distribution. The planning tool helped us standardize our budgeting process, and we were highly impressed with the workforce planning module, which made managing our headcount and compensation estimates easy.

Cons

The application is not the most user-friendly for budgeting purposes. While the access was made easy with the SSO solution, the timeout issue has caused some customer complaints.

“Easy to use, customer service has not been the greatest in terms of solving our issues

Pros

I value the ability to customize the reporting to extract the necessary data and automatically send reports to other users.

Cons

I don't have many complaints about the software based on my limited usage in my role. However, customer service was not very responsive in addressing an issue we had with the software, and we ended up resolving it internally.

“The software was in place when I got here, so I have never had any formal education on it. Good!

Pros

The ease of use and accessibility are remarkable! I can use the mobile application and access it online from anywhere, home, office, hotel, or even another office while traveling abroad with utmost convenience.

Cons

Setting up new accounts and entities is somewhat intuitive, but since I don't do it often, I have to go back and review the process each time.

“User friendly product. Great customer support

Pros

I'm amazed at how simple it is to create basic reports, customize them, and schedule their distribution. The interface is scheduled to automatically populate Host with data from our general ledger every night. Consolidating our plan is now more efficient and timely, so making changes is no longer a nightmare.

Cons

Quarterly releases are great, but they don't provide enough time for thorough testing before they are automatically put into production.

“Host Analytics has decreased our dependency on excel and has allowed us to forecast concurrently.

Pros

We absolutely love how easy and flexible the tool is. With monthly releases, the product is continuously improving. Administering the core app and spotlight is straightforward and doesn't consume much time. We can now complete a forecast in just four hours, compared to over a week using Excel.

Cons

It would be fantastic to have more data visualization features integrated into the core app, along with a spotlight extension compatible with Mac.

“I like the functionality of the program and ease of use.

Pros

I appreciate the quick and easy navigation to find what I need. The user interface is intuitive, and I have various options to choose from upon login.

Cons

The lag time when clicking on something is bothersome. Opening reports takes a few extra minutes to reach the desired destination.

“Financial Planning tool with great reporting!

Pros

It's a fantastic reporting tool that can be fully customized to suit our business needs. We can assign different users with different permissions and access levels.

Cons

The initial setup is not self-serve, but that's typical for most financial planning software. It can be overwhelming at first, but it becomes easier with time.

“Very slow, but highly customizable

Pros

The database is incredibly deep, and it seamlessly integrates with our diverse data feeds, providing high flexibility.

Cons

The software is slow, and data retrieval is not immediate. This can be frustrating, especially if the data is not pulled accurately on the first attempt. Collaboration can also be challenging, as the individual models are fragile and require online updates.