Solver’s artificial intelligence (AI)-powered extended financial planning and analysis (xFP&A) tools are transforming how finance, IT, and operations leaders anticipate challenges, break down silos, and drive business performance. This summary of our webinar, “Transforming Decision Making With Solver’s AI-Enhanced xFP&A,” explores how bringing together AI with cloud-based platforms is enabling organizations to move beyond traditional budgeting and forecasting, unlocking deeper insights and streamlining operations across departments.
AI Capabilities in xFP&A
Solver, an xFP&A platform, integrates AI capabilities to enhance financial planning and analysis. Its AI-powered features, such as the Copilot Analysis agent, help streamline reporting and predictive modeling. Copilot consolidates help resources, allowing users to ask questions and receive real-time, step-by-step guidance. The agent enables advance analysis of reports, including anomaly detection, trend analysis, root cause analysis, and predictive insights. This can help users identify performance risks, opportunities, and variances efficiently, reducing reliance on manual processes.
Solver’s AI capabilities also include generative features, which create narrative summaries, visualizations, and actionable recommendations. For example, users can generate variance analyses, trend reports, and key performance indicator (KPI) dashboards using data in the report. This functionality helps chief financial officers and analysts make informed decisions quickly, even when new insights are needed or during live presentations.
Data-Driven Decision Making
Solver Data Warehouse can centralize data from various sources, such as QuickBooks, Sage, and Microsoft Dynamics, helping provide access to data from across the organization. This structure allows users to perform cross-functional analyses, correlate data across departments, and generate insights that drive strategic decisions. Solver’s AI tools also facilitate scenario planning and what-if analyses. For instance, users can model the impact of revenue and cost changes on earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) to help them better understand potential outcomes. This capability is particularly valuable for organizations aiming to align financial goals with operational strategies.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
Solver’s xFP&A capabilities extend beyond finance, supporting areas such as sales, billing, and payroll. Its prebuilt templates for industries such as Software as a Service (SaaS), healthcare, and construction allow teams to collaborate effectively by providing a common framework for reporting and planning. The platform’s e-learning resources and marketplace further enhance accessibility, enabling users to better use the platform and address their unique needs.
Industry Impact
Solver’s AI-enhanced xFP&A tools are particularly helpful in industries with complex reporting needs. The platform’s compliance with System and Organization Controls (SOC) 2 and HIPAA standards helps ensure data security, making it suitable for sectors such as healthcare and finance. In addition, its industry-specific kits can help accelerate implementation and adoption.
As AI adoption accelerates across industries, AI governance is becoming increasingly important. Organizations should establish policies to manage AI usage to support data privacy and accuracy. Forvis Mazars offers consulting services to help organizations safely deploy and adopt AI tools.
Best Practices
To enhance the benefits of Solver, organizations should consider these best practices:
- Enable Solver’s AI features. Make sure the Copilot Analysis agent is activated and accessible to users.
- Use specific queries. When interacting with AI tools, providing clear and detailed questions will help you obtain accurate insights.
- Establish AI governance. Develop policies to help regulate AI usage and protect sensitive data.
- Invest in training. Take advantage of Solver’s e-learning resources to build internal know-how.
How Forvis Mazars Can Help
Leveraging Solver’s AI capabilities can help professionals drive efficiency and innovation in finance and operations planning and analysis. If you have any questions or need assistance, please connect with the Solver team at Forvis Mazars today.