While Domo’s software digitally connects people, data, and systems together on mobile devices through the cloud, its finance team’s underlying system for financial planning was still stuck in the realm of terrestrial spreadsheets. Working with a massive Excel model spanning more than 100 tabs, the team struggled with version control and usability issues, not to mention untold hours of manual labor. “The spreadsheet was so big we couldn’t send it out,” says John Richards, vice president, finance, at Domo. “Another problem was that only one person could be working on it at any given time, which meant everyone else would have to wait around to do any important work in the model, costing us time and energy.”
Once Domo deployed Workday Adaptive Planning, the entire finance team was able to work on the model at the same time, freeing up time to spend on higher-value tasks. In addition, they connected data from Workday Adaptive Planning into other data from systems like NetSuite ERP through the Domo platform to give executives access to important business data right from their phones, increasing collaboration, data-driven decision-making, and raising the profile of finance. “We’re spending very little time on mundane maintenance-type activities,” says Richards. “Now the norm for my FP&A team is to spend time thinking about what we can do to improve our business partners’ work. It’s helped us focus on the things that are best for the company. And it’s allowed our executive team to have real-time access and a holistic understanding of how we are executing against our models so they can make decisions and take actions that drive the business.”
Challenges.
Cumbersome spreadsheets. Managing an Excel model that included more than 100 tabs.
Inefficient processes. Waiting to do work while someone else was using the live spreadsheet.
- Limited mobile capabilities. Being unable to access real-time data on mobile devices.
Results.
Improved collaboration. Now the whole team works on the model at the same time for improved staff efficiency.
Fewer manual tasks. Integration through the Domo platform with data from other systems like NetSuite ERP to automatically pull in actuals, reducing manual entry.
- More time for strategy. More time is spent conducting business-related analysis, scenario modeling, and decision support.
We find ourselves in more executive-level business meetings helping them with decisions and understanding where the business is, and that’s what we want to be as an FP&A team. Workday Adaptive Planning in combination with Domo has helped us focus on the things that are best for the company.
Vice President of Finance