In a world where data and speed of decision making are increasingly crucial, businesses cannot rely on Excel or manual processes alone. They need a tool that can connect all financial and operational data, simulate scenarios and support accurate real-time decision making.
That is it. EPM – Enterprise Performance Management, the platform helps Enterprise Planning (EPM Planning), forecast (EPM forecasting) and comprehensive performance analysis, ushering in an era of proactive, transparent and intelligent finance.
first. What is EPM? (Enterprise Performance Management)
In the data age, businesses need more than an accounting tool. They need a "strategic brain" — where performance can be planned, forecasted, analyzed, and tracked in real time. That's the role of EPM (Enterprise Performance Management).
EPM is an enterprise performance management system that helps Connect all financial and operational data into a single platform. Instead of managing it separately on Excel, EPM integrates tightly with ERP, CRM, BI to provide a holistic view for CFO and FP&A in planning, analysis, and forecasting.
In other words, EPM helps turn past data into future insights, supporting leaders in making data-driven decision making.
2. Why is EPM becoming a trend to replace Excel and manual processes?
For many years, Excel was the “king” of financial planning. But as businesses expand, data becomes more complex, and decision-making speeds up — Excel is no longer powerful.
EPM was born to solve those limitations:
- Make fast decisions based on real-time data: CFOs can update forecasts instantly when there are changes from the market or department.
- Eliminate manual and errors: The system automatically synthesizes data, replacing error-prone manual data entry processes.
- Support modern techniques: Rolling forecasts, what-if analysis, driver-based planning — features that Excel finds difficult to implement effectively.
- AI & RPA Integration: Solutions such as Sactona AI applications forecast, automatically collect data, reduce forecast time from weeks to days.
- Financial User Friendly: The Excel-like interface, requiring no programming, makes the tool easy for FP&A to master.
Businesses using modern EPM can reduce 50–80% forecast time, while increasing accuracy with real-time data.
3. The role of EPM in Digital Finance Transformation
EPM is more than just software – it is the core foundation of Digital Finance.
- Financial & Operational Data Integration: Connect departments (Sales, Production, Human Resources, Purchasing) on the same system, helping CFOs control and optimize capital resources.
- Support “Agile Planning” and “Real-time Forecasting” strategies: CFOs can simulate multiple scenarios to adapt to rapid market fluctuations.
- Within the Bizzi ecosystem: Combine with Bizzi solutions such as Expense, ARM, B-Invoice, IPA,.. to create an automated, transparent and unified financial process.
EPM is the foundation of real-time finance, where data is updated instantly and decisions are made based on insight instead of gut feeling.
EPM Planning: How to plan your finances smarter & more accurately with Sactona
In modern businesses, financial planning is not just about budgeting, but also about ensuring flexibility and quick response to fluctuations. This is why epm planning become the core tool to help CFOs and FP&A automate processes and control the entire financial cycle on a unified platform.
1. Financial planning process using EPM
Instead of using dozens of separate Excel files, EPM provides a unified process:
- Data collection: The system automatically retrieves data from ERP, CRM, accounting, banking...
- Budgeting: Build a company-wide or departmental budget plan.
- Scenario analysis: Simulate “what-if” scenarios to see the impact of volatility.
- Monitor & Adjust: Compare plan and reality, update forecast continuously.
EPM helps FP&A focuses on value analysis rather than manual data entry, while reducing errors and increasing response speed.
2. Modern planning techniques:
Modern EPM enables CFOs and FP&A to deploy advanced planning methods:
- Driver-Based Planning: Plan based on key drivers (revenue, costs, personnel).
- Scenario Planning: Simulate multiple financial scenarios: optimistic, baseline, pessimistic.
- Top-down & Bottom-up Planning: Combine strategic direction from leadership and real-world department data.
These techniques help businesses react flexibly and ensure that plans are always “alive” with reality.
3. EPM Planning in Sactona
Solution Distributed by Sactona d Bizzi stands out for its ability to preserve Excel formulas, ease of use and quick deployment:
- Multi-level budgeting: Allows parent company – subsidiary to simultaneously build plans and automatically consolidate.
- Proactive FP&A: Generate reports and manage budgets yourself without IT.
- Powerful ERP connectivity: Direct integration with SAP, Oracle, Dynamics via API.
- Friendly interface: Excel-like, easy to use, suitable for Vietnamese finance teams.
Thanks to that, the business reduced the implementation time from 6-8 months to 2 months, requiring only 2 main staff to operate.
What is EPM Forecasting? Accelerate your forecasting process with Sactona solution
As the market changes constantly, static forecasts are no longer effective. EPM forecasting was born to help businesses predict and react faster, through real-time data updates and flexible forecasting models.
Solution epm accelerated forecasting Bizzi Sactona's helps FP&A not only monitor but also proactively control financial factors, bringing outstanding initiative and accuracy in each forecast period.
1. Concept and role
Forecasting is the heart of an EPM system — helping businesses forecast future revenue, expenses, cash flow, and profits.
Instead of static budgeting, modern businesses are moving towards rolling forecast – continuous forecasting by month or quarter, flexible to fluctuations.
2. Methods and techniques in EPM forecasting
EPM supports many techniques to help CFOs have a more comprehensive view:
- Predictive Analytics & AI Forecasting: Analyze data trends for more accurate predictions.
- What-if Analysis: Simulate the impact of market fluctuations, exchange rates, and costs.
- Variance Analysis: Measure the difference between forecast and actual.
- Continuous Forecasting: Dynamic forecast updates as new data becomes available.
3. Forecast Acceleration EPM
EPM helps reduce Forecast Cycle Time from weeks to days thanks to:
- Automatic data collection from ERP, accounting, BI.
- Real-time update: Any changes from departments are immediately reflected in the forecast.
- Automatic Workflow: Support fast and transparent review – approval process.
4. Sactona – The solution to speed up forecasting
In the global EPM solutions ecosystem, Sactona stands out with its “Finance-driven, not IT-driven” orientation – that is, designed specifically for the finance team (FP&A, CFO, Controller), instead of requiring complex technical capabilities.
Leading Japanese corporations such as Panasonic, Fujifilm, Monex Group has been successfully applied Sactona EPM in the financial planning and forecasting process, delivering impressive results:
- Reduce forecast period to 5.5 days: Compared to the traditional forecast cycle of 2–3 weeks, Sactona helps shorten the time for data processing, simulation and synthesis thanks to automation mechanisms and smart approval workflows.
- No coding required, no IT dependency: With an intuitive Excel interface and the ability to preserve formulas, FP&A users can create, edit, and deploy models without IT support.
- FP&A proactively simulates scenarios: Sactona supports simulating dozens of “what-if scenarios” in the same spreadsheet, helping administrators flexibly forecast the impact of fluctuations in exchange rates, costs or revenue.
- Fast Deployment – High ROI: With a standardized process, a basic project only requires 2 people and 2 months of implementation. ROI is achieved after 3–6 months thanks to saving forecast time, reducing errors and optimizing operating costs.
Unlike many complex EPM platforms, Sactona holds the philosophy of “simple, scalable, and smart” – simple to start, flexible to scale, and smart through automation.
EPM ecosystem: connecting planning, forecasting and corporate financial management
A powerful EPM system does not work alone. When integrated with other financial automation solutions, it becomes total performance management platformBizzi Vietnam has expanded its capabilities. EPM planning and forecasting by connecting Sactona to the entire Bizzi Platform ecosystem – creating a closed financial chain, synchronized data and faster decision making than ever before.
1. Link EPM with other Bizzi modules
Bizzi is under construction Finance Automation Platform – a comprehensive fintech ecosystem in which EPM (Sactona) Act as a central hub for data connectivity and decision coordination.
- Bizzi Expense: Helping businesses control spending according to budget and plan, data is synchronized directly into EPM's cost forecast module, ensuring forecasts always reflect operational reality.
- Bizzi ARM (Account Receivable Management): Managing debt and cash flow due helps EPM accurately forecast cashflow and liquidity.
- B-Invoice: Export and manage output electronic invoices
- Bizzi Bot + IPA: Automate data entry and invoice reconciliation, reducing up to 90% of manual work and human error during planning.
Thanks to this seamless connection, EPM is no longer a stand-alone tool but become the central “data hub” in the entire financial process.
2. Combined benefits of combining EPM + Bizzi Platform
The combination of EPM and Bizzi modules provides synergistic benefits, creating a process “Closed-loop Financial Planning” – where plans, forecasts and actual data continuously interact with each other:
- Closed-loop financial planning: Actual data from ERP, invoices, and expenses is pushed back into the EPM system, keeping plans and forecasts calibrated in real time.
- Real-time dashboard: Leaders can track KPIs, budget fluctuations, and forecast costs and revenues on a daily basis.
- Financial agility: CFOs and FP&A are able to react quickly to market changes, thanks to continuous forecasting and flexible simulation.
When EPM operates within the Bizzi ecosystem, businesses not only digitize their financial processes but also achieve “intelligent finance” – proactive and data-driven finance.
Top 5 benefits of EPM Forecasting to help businesses accelerate and make accurate decisions
Businesses are looking for ways to optimize financial processes, reduce FP&A workload, and improve forecasting quality. EPM forecasting is the key to helping them achieve that. Here are five outstanding benefits that epm accelerated forecasting bring to modern financial institutions.
1. Accelerate Forecast Cycle Time
EPM automates the entire process from data collection → analysis → reporting, helping FP&A reduce forecast cycles from weeks to just days.
2. Improve Forecast Accuracy
EPM connects data from multiple sources, updates in real time, and eliminates manual entry errors, helping forecasts more accurately reflect real-world situations.
3. Reduce FP&A operating costs
Automation and system integration help businesses cut personnel costs, processing time and reduce dependence on IT.
4. Optimize strategic decision making
CFOs and CEOs can access quick, intuitive insights from analytical dashboards, supporting investment decisions, capital allocation, and strategic planning.
5. Increase ROI & business value
EPM saves costs, reduces errors, and increases productivity — with financial results seen within just 3–6 months of implementation.
Comparing EPM and Traditional Excel/ERP – Why Sactona is a Big Step Forward for FP&A
Most businesses still rely on Excel or traditional ERP for financial management. However, as the scale and speed of business increase, these tools show their limitations. Here is a specific comparison showing epm planning and EPM Forecasting – especially with the Sactona solution – how it excels in speeding up, improving accuracy and reducing operating costs.
| Criteria | Traditional Excel / ERP | Bizzi Sactona EPM |
| Forecast time | 2–3 weeks, depending on manual data entry and compilation | 3–5 days thanks to automation and real-time data |
| Accuracy | Easy to deviate, disjointed between departments, difficult to control version | Centralized data, real-time updates, reducing errors and duplication |
| Scenario Analysis | Limitation, must create many separate Excel files | Built-in what-if, driver-based planning, flexible simulation on one platform |
| IT Dependence | High – need IT support every time model is updated | Low – Excel-like interface, FP&A operates automatically without coding |
| Integration capabilities | Tied to ERP, lack of operational data or CRM | Direct connection to ERP, CRM, BI → create a comprehensive financial picture |
| ROI (return on investment) | 12–18 months, high maintenance cost | 3–6 months, fast deployment, lower cost than 40% |
| Scalability | Difficulty with data increase, need to upgrade system | Easily scalable to multiple units, branches, and countries |
| Collaboration | Send files via email, easy to duplicate versions | Work simultaneously on the same model, with version control |
| User experience | Disjointed, complex interface | Intuitive, friendly, like Excel but much more powerful |
Further analysis:
- Excel and traditional ERP only reflects the past. EPM helps businesses looking to the future with rolling forecast.
- Transactional ERP, while EPM handles strategic (strategic) — helps CFOs and FP&A make decisions based on holistic data, not just accounting books.
- Sactona especially suitable for Vietnamese businesses thanks to its ability keep Excel formula, no code required, and rapid deployment – helps FP&A to be completely proactive without depending on IT.
Sactona doesn't just replace Excel, it is a major step forward in modern financial management capacity, helping businesses move from reactive to proactive operations, based on data and intelligent simulation models.
EPM Forecasting Applications in Manufacturing, Retail, Services & Finance
Customization is one of EPM's greatest strengths. Depending on the industry, EPM forecasting can be designed to forecast revenue, costs or cash flow, helping managers make quick and accurate decisions. Below are specific application examples in each field.
1. Manufacturing
- Challenge: Supply chains fluctuate, raw material costs change, and production demands are unstable.
- EPM Solution:
- Forecast output based on factory capacity and market demand.
- Optimize costs of raw materials, human resources and energy.
- Plan production under multiple scenarios: high demand, low demand, fluctuating transportation costs.
- Benefit: Help factories reduce inventory by 10–20% and increase working capital efficiency.
2. Retail Industry
- Challenge: Seasonality, rapidly changing consumer behavior, data scattered across multiple branches.
- EPM Solution:
- Analyze revenue by region, product group, and time.
- Seasonal and promotion-driven forecasting.
- Directly connect data from your POS or CRM system to your EPM dashboard.
- Benefit: Helps retailers optimize inventory, accurately predict demand, and make more effective promotional decisions.
3. Service Industry / F&B Chain
- Challenge: Fluctuations in raw material prices, labor costs and revenue are uneven among branches.
- EPM Solution:
- Track revenue and expenses of each branch in real time.
- Forecast operating costs, profits and break-even points.
- Simulate the impact of raw material prices, customer volume, or marketing campaigns.
- Benefit: Optimize profits, improve net profit margins and respond quickly to market price changes.
4. Real Estate & Construction Industry
- Challenge: Long-term project cash flow, multiple funding sources and schedule changes.
- EPM Solution:
- Manage and forecast project cash flow according to construction progress.
- Control investment budget, incurred costs and stage profits.
- Combine ERP data and project planning in a single dashboard.
- Benefit: Improve capital control, reduce liquidity risk and increase efficiency of investment capital use.
5. Finance and Banking Industry
- Challenge: Managing credit risk, interest rate volatility and interbank cash flow.
- EPM Solution:
- Portfolio risk modeling.
- Forecast short and long term cash flow.
- Monitor liquidity ratios and capital adequacy ratios.
- Benefit: Help banks optimize cash flow, control risks and meet Basel II/III standards.
Thanks to the ability to simulate, analyze multidimensionally and drill-down data from overview to detail, EPM becomes a “fast decision-making tool” for all fields, especially when businesses need to react immediately to market fluctuations.
Important KPIs to evaluate the effectiveness of EPM forecasting and planning
A system epm planning and forecasting EPM is only truly effective when the business has a clear measurement mechanism. The following KPIs help CFOs and FP&A assess the success of EPM implementation and continuously improve internal financial performance.
| KPI | Meaning |
| Forecast Cycle Time (hours/day) | Time to complete a forecast cycle; reflects performance and automation capabilities. |
| Forecast Accuracy (%) | Accuracy between forecast and actual results; assessment of data and model quality. |
| Budget vs Actual Variance (%) | Variance between plan and actual; helps FP&A identify deviations early. |
| Time-to-Insight | Time from data acquisition to generating actionable insights for leadership. |
| ROI of EPM (3–6 months) | Payback period of the system; reflects the efficiency of financial technology investment. |
Continuously monitoring these KPIs helps businesses not only optimize EPM operations but also continuously improve decision-making accuracy and speed across the organization.
EPM Planning & Forecasting: 10 Frequently Asked Questions from CFO & FP&A
- How does EPM help with financial planning?
EPM automatically collects data from ERP, CRM, and departments, helping FP&A budget, simulate scenarios, and track plans in real time—replacing manual Excel processes.
- How does EPM accelerate the revenue forecasting process?
By automating and continuously rolling forecasts, EPM helps shorten forecasting time from weeks to days, increasing accuracy and speed of decision making.
- What are the outstanding features of Bizzi EPM?
Bizzi EPM (Sactona) supports financial planning, forecasting, consolidation and reporting with a friendly Excel interface, direct integration of ERP, CRM, BI and e-invoicing systems.
- Which businesses are suitable to deploy Bizzi Sactona?
Suitable for medium and large sized businesses (revenue >200 billion), need to plan - forecast - consolidate financial data and want to reduce IT dependence.
- How is EPM different from ERP or Excel?
ERP manages transactions, while EPM helps forecast and make strategic decisions. Bizzi EPM shortens forecast time to 3–5 days, ROI only 3–6 months.
- Does EPM integrate ERP?
Yes. Bizzi EPM connects directly to SAP, Oracle, Dynamics… via API or CSV, automatically syncing data without changing existing ERP.
- Does EPM have risk and scenario simulation?
Yes. Supports what-if analysis and driver-based planning, helping CFOs quickly assess the impact of fluctuations in revenue, costs, or exchange rates.
- How does EPM help CFOs make faster decisions?
Real-time KPI dashboards and drill-down reports help CFOs gain a complete financial picture, detect discrepancies, and take immediate action.
- Does EPM offload FP&A?
Yes. 70–80% automates data entry and aggregation, allowing FP&A to focus on strategic analysis instead of manual Excel processing.
- Is the cost of implementing Bizzi EPM high?
Optimal cost, fast implementation time (2–3 months), ROI after only 3–6 months — 40% lower than international EPM platforms.
Sactona – Solution to Accelerate Planning & Forecasting for Vietnamese Enterprises
Amid the wave of financial digital transformation, Sactona is considered one of the solutions epm accelerated forecasting most effective for the Vietnamese market. With the philosophy of “Finance-driven, not IT-driven”, Bizzi provides a platform that helps CFOs and FP&A master planning, forecasting and decision-making in real time – without depending on the technical team.
With over 20 years of experience from Outlook ConsultingSactona is designed to meet complex financial management requirements, yet remains simple and easy to use for FP&A teams.
Outstanding benefits:
- Reduce 70% forecast time and planning.
- Increase data accuracy, ensuring transparency.
- No coding required, no IT dependency.
- Fast ROI (3–6 months) and lower implementation costs 40% compared to other global EPM platforms.
- Suitable for Vietnamese businesses: especially organizations with revenue of 200 billion or more, need to optimize financial processes and consolidated reporting.
Sactona is the bridge between ERP and smart financial strategy, helping Vietnamese CFOs make quick, accurate decisions and lead businesses in the data age.
Conclude
EPM is more than just a planning tool – it is comprehensive financial performance management system, helping businesses connect data, forecast quickly and operate proactively.
In the context of economic fluctuations, the application of EPM Forecasting and epm planning Modernization will be the foundation to help Vietnamese CFOs improve strategic capacity, promote performance and sustainable digital transformation.
👉 Learn about the Sactona solution now to experience the next generation of financial management capabilities, helping Vietnamese CFOs and FP&A confidently lead the digital transformation journey.
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