Business Performance Management (BPM)

Business Performance Management (BPM) refers to the mechanisms companies put in place to measure performance and communicate results internally and externally. The goal of CPM is to use current and historical performance data to improve future performance and decision making.

Business Performance Management is also known as Corporate Performance Management (CPM) and Enterprise Performance Management (EPM).

Business performance management includes these business processes:

• Budgeting, planning, and forecasting
• Business modeling
• Dashboarding
• Consolidation
• Financial, statutory and management reporting
• Compliance, corporate governance, and internal controls
• Risk management
• Business and predictive analytics

Knowledge is power. Shooting from the hip is not. When it comes to decision making, the more financial information you’re privy to, the more calculated your decisions will be. As a bonus, when stakeholders can see how financial information interrelates across departments, they get a 360-degree view of the financial impact that decision will have.

Business performance management makes staff more efficient.
Business performance management software is built to streamline financial processes. The software automates processes like data collection and reporting. By using tools that have features like a single set of data, collaboration tools, built-in workflow, dashboards and pre-built templates, the users of performance data are able to complete financial processes faster.

Business performance management promotes alignment across LoBs, departments, branches, and divisions.
Does the left hand know what the right hand is doing? Business performance management software provides users with a look into financial data at every level of granularity, from a high level to the minutiae. While regional users can access the information that pertains to them, global users can get a bird’s eye view of the trends happening across the organization and then better prioritize budgets, plans and action.

Business performance management helps management identify risks.
With frequent monitoring using tools like performance dashboards and real-time updates to KPIs, management can identify risks and respond in a more timely manner.

How to improve business performance management:

• Deploy a single BPM solution across your entire organization.
• Use a single BPM solution to manage all financial processes, from close to disclosure.
• Connect all applications and systems that house performance data to a single data source.

Understanding corporate performance management trends is really important because CPM trends impact the way businesses plan, operate, and execute short- and long-term strategy.