From Data to Decisions: Transform Your Financial Consolidation & Reporting Processes to Unlock Unparalleled Strategic Growth

In a recent white paper titled, ‘Consolidation 3.0: The Future of Finance is Here’, Anaplan makes a bold case for Financial Consolidation software solutions claiming it to be a non-negotiable, ‘mission-critical investment’. Why? Anaplan’s cloud-native, no-code Connected Planning capabilities sets them apart from its competitors, propelling them to the top as an industry leading Financial Close, Consolidation & Reporting provider. 

Anaplan reveals that organizations are on the cusp of a new generation of Financial Consolidation & Reporting solutions, calling this new era ‘Consolidation 3.0’. 

Alluding to the fact that an organization’s failure to invest in industry leading Financial Consolidation and Reporting software solutions could be the reason for: 

• Organizational inefficiencies, 
• Higher occurrence of human error, 
• Inaccurate and inaccessible data, 
• Delayed or fragmented financial insight generation, 
• Inaccurate decision making,
• High revenue losses, etc., 

Anaplan – inadvertently - highlights that the need of the hour for every Finance team is to invest in this ‘next generation of Financial Consolidation solutions’: Consolidation 3.0. 

But, in the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI) haven’t companies already levelled up their technology investments to leverage greater insight generation from their financial data stores? Research and advisory firm, Forrester reveals that ‘companies use less than 20% of all enterprise data available’ to them when making an organizational decision’. What’s more, CPA Practice Advisor shares that, ‘44% of respondents cited errors due to manual processes as one of the biggest challenges during financial closes’. 

Read on to explore what Consolidation 3.0 has to offer and how Anaplan is leading the charge in this new iteration of Financial Consolidation & Reporting.

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What is Financial Consolidation?

According to Onestream, ‘Financial consolidation is an accounting process in which financial transaction data from multiple entities, subdivisions, and subsidiaries is aggregated and merged into a single set of financial statements. This provides comprehensive financial reports for specific reporting periods, including the essential pro forma statements required by Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).’ 

Onestream states that, ‘The practice of financial consolidation encompasses complex calculations and consolidation adjustments, including intercompany reconciliation, transaction elimination, and foreign currency conversion.’ 

By consolidating a company’s financial data into a single source of truth using Financial Consolidation software, organizations are well-positioned and are able to garner visibility of all their financial data points including – but not limited to - their profits, expenses, investments and overall financial health. 

Deloitte in an article titled, ‘Transform Finance with Next-Generation Consolidation on Anaplan’ talks about how the Consolidation function has changed in recent years and goes on to offer readers insights into the key trends of the Financial Consolidation market via the following illustration: 

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What is Financial Reporting? 

Oracle’s Net Suite offers a comprehensive definition of Financial Reporting as it says, ‘Financial reporting is the process of communicating financial data to external and internal stakeholders. It includes core financial statements, such as the company’s quarterly and year-end income statement, balance sheet and statement of cash flows.’

‘External stakeholders, such as investors, shareholders and creditors, use a company’s financial reporting to evaluate its financial health and creditworthiness. Other external shareholders include regulatory agencies like the IRS and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which require financial reporting for legal and compliance reasons. Internal stakeholders, such as the company’s CEO and other top managers, use financial reporting to gauge performance and inform decision-making, and as a foundation for building budgets and projections.’

So, the weight of an organization’s financial decisions relies heavily on the efficiency and accuracy of its Financial Reporting processes. Therefore, investing in Financial Consolidation & Reporting solutions that deliver on the promise of creating tangible value and growth is a no-brainer in today’s tech and business landscape.

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How Financial Consolidation & Reporting with Anaplan can Lead to Exponential Growth 

Anaplan, which was ranked as a Challenger in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Financial Close and Consolidation Solutions, shares that ‘The failure to wholeheartedly leverage recent technological improvements has left organizations with persistent issues around speed, accuracy, and cost-efficiency in financial consolidation’ and goes on to highlight the consequences associated with low innovation:

• Delayed time to value: ‍
  Finance teams often struggle with the heavy reliance on IT and third-party vendors to set up and maintain their systems. This dependence makes implementation complex and time-consuming, and it significantly increases the total cost of ownership, which can sometimes be triple the original price.
  
  Even after all that effort, these solutions frequently fall short. They may offer only basic consolidation, lack a clear audit trail, and don't provide real-time visibility. On top of that, their rigid design makes it difficult to quickly adapt to changing business needs.
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• Delayed close: 
  ‍Financial consolidation processes frequently rely on disparate spreadsheets and outdated systems, creating an environment of fragmentation across systems, data, and teams. This lack of integration makes the process cumbersome and unreliable, leading to delays in closing the books and hindering timely decision-making.
  
  Siloed processes, offline workarounds, and limited data integration impede transparency and collaboration, raising serious concerns regarding data accuracy. As a result, team members are forced to perform extensive manual work to complete essential tasks within the close cycle, placing an unnecessary burden on already overstretched resources.
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By replacing legacy systems and previous generation technology with Anaplan’s Consolidation 3.0, Anaplan says that organizations stand to make dramatic improvements within their Financial Consolidation & Reporting processes. Some of these improvements include: 

• Greater autonomy for finance teams: ‍
  With Anaplan’s new and improved no-code based solution that allows members to manage and make solution upgrades and tweaks directly from the front-end, finance teams can exercise greater control and authority over the Financial Close and Consolidation process. 
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• Minimal overheads and lower total cost of ownership:‍
  By eliminating the need for coding and adopting a cloud-native platform, organizations can significantly lower costs associated with both setup and ongoing maintenance.
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• Faster time to value with out-of-the-box features: ‍
  By using pre-defined logic, models, and best practices, organizations can reduce their dependence on expensive consultants and overtaxed IT teams. This approach drives efficiency, allowing internal resources to focus on more strategic, high-value activities.
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• Greater data confidence and reduced risk:
  ‍By integrating systems and improving transparency, organizations can ensure the precision of their Financial Consolidation and Reporting. This results in a clearer, real-time financial picture that provides higher quality insights, enabling stronger and more strategic decision-making.
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• Accelerated time to close:
  ‍By leveraging integrated tools, features, and templates, organizations can significantly improve the month-end close process. Automation, streamlined workflows, and standardized rules eliminate the errors and risks associated with manual tasks, ultimately saving both time and resources.

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Key Takeaways 

According to Anaplan, businesses are entering a new era of Financial Consolidation and Reporting, ‘Consolidation 3.0.’ This new generation of software is presented as a crucial investment for organizations looking to overcome common challenges like human error, inaccurate data, and slow insight generation in the decision-making process. Anaplan suggests that failing to adopt these advanced solutions can lead to significant inefficiencies, poor decision-making, and revenue losses.

While Financial Consolidation is the process of combining financial data from multiple business entities into a single set of financial statements, Financial Reporting communicates this consolidated data to stakeholders—both internal (like executives, managers and teams) and external (like investors and regulators)—to inform critical business decisions and ensure compliance.

Anaplan claims its Consolidation 3.0 solution can help organizations achieve significant improvements by addressing the weaknesses of older systems. These older systems are often rigid, reliant on manual processes and fragmented across different spreadsheets and platforms, leading to costly delays and a lack of real-time visibility. 

In contrast, Anaplan's cloud-native, no-code solution is designed to give finance teams greater autonomy, reduce implementation costs, and accelerate the financial close. By automating workflows and providing a unified, transparent view of data, it aims to deliver faster insights, greater data accuracy and a lower total cost of ownership.

Looking to invest in Anaplan’s Financial Consolidation & Reporting software to transform your data and unlock unparalleled decision support? Get in touch.