Texas publication focuses on growth mode with real-time budgeting & analysis

The client

Community Impact is a digital and print publication that delivers quality business and community-based news across Texas. 

While looking for a new ERP and reporting tool, Community Impact found a solution to their two key challenges: building a dynamic budget and reporting faster. E78 implemented Workday Adaptive Planning, and Simon’s finance team shifted from tactical to strategic.

Reporting cycles were cut down significantly. Resource bandwidths expanded for new value-adding projects. Real time scenario analyses helped leadership make key decisions, as the company redirects its attention to scalable growth.

The challenge

Along with quicker access to actionable insights around their financials, Simon reached out to E78 for support with:

• Consolidating their budgeting & forecasting processes and moving them out of Excel
• Reduce financial reporting cycle times from various cost centers
• Build a strategic long-term plan with flexible, cloud-based analysis

E78 implemented Workday Adaptive Planning to solve [our] pain points by cutting the time in half to set goals and receive feedback from leadership. Moving out of Excel onto Workday Adaptive Planning has been life-changing for my team.

— Jennifer Simon, CFO, Community Impact

The solution

After Community Impact’s Workday Adaptive Planning implementation, E78 helped the company:

• Enhance Goal Setting Time by 50%: Simon can set quarterly goals and receive leadership feedback faster for more time to focus on strategic execution
• Build a 5-Year Plan: Community Impact can budget and plan with confidence around their financials
• Report Financials Faster: Finance sends their basic and executive reports 25% and 36% faster, respectively
• Operate in a Cloud-Based FP&A Tool: Moving out of Excel has consolidated 50 spreadsheets into a single cloud tool for real-time analysis – cutting out hours of tactical resource time
• Expand Strategic Contribution: Finance can focus on value-adding projects with reduced tactical analysis

My CEO would ask me questions that would have taken me hours before. I can now make What-If adjustments in real-time.

The result

E78 has helped Community Impact accelerate their vision for a more strategic finance function with the implementation of Workday Adaptive Planning. The publication company has since consolidated its financials and P&L’s into a singular budgeting and planning tool.

Simon and her team continue to utilize the platform’s real-time analysis function to enhance their operations, adjust for multiple factors and make smart, data-driven decisions.