Cartesis Survey Finds Forecasts Still Missing the Mark; Whitepaper Outlines Research Results: 84% of Organizations Worldwide have Inaccurate Financial Forecasting.

NORWALK, Conn. -- A global investigation into corporate planning has revealed that 84 per cent of businesses have a financial forecast that is less than 95 per cent accurate, while 54 percent report inaccuracies of up to 10 per cent.

The Global Planning Survey, commissioned by business performance management (BPM) specialist Cartesis, interviewed companies in the UK, US, France and Germany about their planning process. Questions surrounded objectives, best practice and satisfaction with planning strategies. The full results will be announced during an Online Seminar, January 25, 2006 at 17:00 CET, 16:00 GMT, 11:00am EST and 8:00am PST.

The study uncovered high levels of dissatisfaction with both the results of financial forecasting and the rift that continues to grow between strategic objectives and the operational tactics employed to achieve them.

"Companies obviously feel there is much room for improvement as they lack confidence in the accuracy of their forecasts," said Trevor Walker, VP product marketing at Cartesis. "Much of the feedback we received over the course of the study suggests a far more consolidated approach to financial planning. Companies improve their planning and forecasting effectiveness through a common infrastructure that provides greater alignment between corporate strategies and operational execution."

Some of the problems encountered by respondents include difficulty consolidating actuals into the plan, and seeing specific plans' details and assumptions. These results point to a need for a more strategically-aligned planning and performance methodology.

While almost 100 per cent of companies surveyed have a financial plan, many express an inability to update it on a quarterly basis because of overwhelming complexity and detail. In fact, almost two thirds of the organizations that took part in the survey update their financial plan only twice a year or less.

"Companies need to revise their Financial Plans in detail, but doing so without the ability to push accountability down the organization and automate the planning process, leads to slow update cycles and inaccurate forecasting," commented Walker. "When accountability is distributed and automation is introduced into the process, it is far easier for management to concentrate on business-critical and value added activities. A fast-delivered BPM environment is key for organizations if they are to realize the full potential of their planning activities."

Walker added: "The responses to our study show that planning strategies have moved to the top of the corporate agenda. But sophisticated global companies need to be confident that their forecasting is accurate - without that, financial planning simply doesn't work."

To register for the Online Seminar please go to www.cartesis.com/planningsurveywebcast. After the January 25th Online seminar, the Cartesis' Global Planning Survey will be available at www.cartesis.com/planningsurveywhitepaper.

The research is based on interviews with senior financial executives in the planning, budgeting and forecasting process at 281 global companies with revenues exceeding $100 million - in the US, UK, Germany and France.

About Cartesis

Cartesis is the largest BPM software specialist in the world providing trusted solutions for driving your company's financial and business performance. Cartesis equips its customers with the control and insight they need to assess and react in today's rapidly changing marketplace. With the recent acquisition of INEA and AIS Corporations, Cartesis offers best-of-breed planning and information delivery applications uniquely integrated with the number one best-in-class financial reporting and compliance solution for a unified approach to business performance management.

Cartesis is the fastest growing software company in the BPM space. One in four Fortune Global 100 companies rely on Cartesis' powerful technology to unify complex information, people and processes in a single data model that can be applied easily and consistently across multiple geographies and business segments. Headquartered in Paris, Cartesis has offices in Brussels, Frankfurt, London, Norwalk (CT), Tokyo, Toronto and Utrecht. The company has more than 1300 corporate customers and partners in 44 countries around the globe. For more information, please visit www.cartesis.com.

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