For organizations with calendar year-ends, November is typically the month for finalizing next year's performance plans. While these can feature a balance of measures, these incentive plans often focus heavily on tying bonus payouts to achieving budget targets. So, is tying incentives to budget targets pay for performance? No. At best, it is pay for negotiated results, and it's a management process that can kill your organization.

In December 2007, cookie maker Otis Spunkmeyer turned to a hosted software package to improve its budgeting and sales forecasting processes. Today, the finance team wishes only that they had decided much sooner to stop relying on Excel for business performance management (BPM).

In this Business Finance Expert Video, Steve Player, Beyond Budgeting Round Table, explains how approaches to traditional budgeting have broken down over the last eighteen months, and lays out the steps finance executives need to take to replace traditional budgeting processes.

The monthly (and annual) close process is a critical part of an organization's internal controls. How well that close process is managed has a direct impact on timely decision making during the normal course of business and on the level of reporting risks the CFO and controller have to consider. It is not unusual for close processes and account reconciliation management to be manually intensive, time-consuming, and error prone. However, they don't have to be.

"Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth," boxer Mike Tyson said. Last fall's economic downturn was a smack in the mouth for many organizations. When you get punched, you often must do what boxers do: Cover up and protect yourself from further damage. But you will never win if you stay covered up, hunkered down, or withdrawn from your pursuits. You have to find ways to re-engage, says budgeting expert Steve Player.

Operational business intelligence (BI) aims to boost efficiency and improve customer service. Timely, real-time data is key to ensuring operational BI is successful. Read Ventana Research's "Operational BI Drives Demand for Timely Data" in the BPM Resource Center to learn about the results of the "Operational Business Intelligence" study.

All companies must take risks to survive, and the most successful companies are those that actively integrate risk management into their decision-making processes. This white paper explains how a risk management program can help identify opportunities for value creation while also protecting against potential threats.

Tax audits are increasing in pace, scope, and severity as a result of the economic conditions. Read this paper from Sabrix to learn how today's elevated audit risk is impacting your cash flow, and what you can do about it.

When it comes to tracking the success of your company's business performance applications, what you don't see can hurt you. In this on-demand webcast, you'll hear how performance management technology is capable of eliminating costly BPM blind spots. We'll reveal the findings of a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting that examined the potential return on investment that enterprises may realize by deploying Tagetik 3.0 performance management software.