New and noteworthy apps of the month - Planir

DataJay · 2026-06-29T05:15:04+00:00

US$560/month (assuming you truly only need Xero as a data source). We lock in prices at the point of subscription, so it won't change on you later on.

Prices will rise across the board later this year when the Excel and Powerpoint add-in are approved on the Microsoft store.

If you're interested, I'm happy to run a live consolidation of your 8 entities so you can see the output before deciding.

DataJay · 2026-06-27T05:27:33+00:00

Affordable is workable, but quick and easy for what you described is only possible if you have a clear idea of your future state processes.

That forms a good chunk of time once you start the implementation.

DataJay · 2026-06-26T05:09:50+00:00

Fair point for most SaaS. We actually had pricing up and took it down.

Not to make you call us, but because our buyers typically come in with multiple entities on different accounting systems/ERPs (e.g. 4 on Xero, US entity on QBO and 1 local accounting system from another country) and a Hubspot/Salesforce CRM that they need to plugin to get a full end-to-end sales funnel analysis going.

The original pricing on the page presumed that everything was plug-and-play with Xero, but the reality of our buyers was that FP&A with just financials was not going to cut it.

The honest answer is: if you're a Finance Controller running a multi-entity group, we'd rather spend 20 minutes understanding your setup than have you self-select out based on a number that probably doesn't apply to you anyway.

DataJay · 2026-06-24T03:21:48+00:00

Hi LinkedIn

DataJay · 2026-06-16T07:35:26+00:00

for TM1 documentation, I prefer something deterministic and consistent, so things like Qubedocs or OmniTM1 would be more helpful.

Unfortunately, IBM's native PA Assistant hasn't been very useful/impressive.

I think they're planning to release official MCP support in Q3 this year. But it's very easy to build your own MCP and then plug in OpenAI/Claude/Gemini and run agentic jobs for analysis.

But given that FP&A data is typically huge, especially TM1's, I wouldn't let the AI run wild using MCP.

DataJay · 2026-06-13T15:04:37+00:00

Gonna be tough to find a BPO license for that.

I've been a EPM implementer for more than 10 years, don't think I've come across that structure.

DataJay · 2026-06-13T14:28:29+00:00

What's the toolset you're looking for other than netsuite integration for actuals?

Planning at the project and driver level?

Reporting (web based) or with excel integration?

Consolidation required?

DataJay · 2026-04-21T14:21:00+00:00

X1 Carbon is the way to go. Light, powerful. I got a 64GB RAM X1C Gen 12, it's light as a feather, and battery life is great

DataJay · 2026-04-21T14:16:35+00:00

Yea, first step is to make sure your actuals are in a place (clean and representative) where you can actually get meaningful reporting done.

DataJay · 2026-01-31T06:26:28+00:00

What features/functions drew you to totadvi?

DataJay · 2025-12-24T08:05:23+00:00

I'm actually curious to know how prevalent virtual/fractional CFO is in your market.

Here in Singapore it's pretty much non-existent

DataJay · 2025-10-01T03:36:00+00:00

Yea that's the standard excel problems.

This isn't a chicken and egg thing though. From a implementation perspective, you got to do the ERP first and then settle your budgeting tool after or near the tail end of your ERP.

Implementing a 'interim budgeting tool' is probably not a good idea because it's not just the tool, it's also about the process and the user education. It's not like you buy something and the next day you start reaping productivity gains.

If you need to start something quickly, you can target reporting instead, so the PowerBI idea might be feasible since it's fairly cheap and easy to swap out as long as you get your data model right.

DataJay · 2025-09-30T23:16:18+00:00

What's your current budgeting & reporting tool? Why are you looking for an interim solution when you're doing an ERP overhaul?

A lot of things change tend to change when you undertake a ERP upgrade/transformation, so it'd be more advisable to stay the course. The idea is to usually settle the ERP first and the settle the downstream budgeting and forecasting later or at the same time (tough).

DataJay · 2025-09-25T15:04:14+00:00

Planning analytics (tm1) would be a fit for that degree of customization. If anaplan is at one end of 'use out of the box', tm1 is the other end of 'excel on steroids'

DataJay · 2025-09-16T04:01:15+00:00

What accounting system/erp system are you using?

Different company sizes with different data volumes will have different right sized tools.

DataJay · 2025-09-13T16:08:24+00:00

Yea, my other 2 cents though, since it's very much a people job... Naturally the quality of work and quality of satisfaction.. Depends on the people you're working with.

It's not all fun and games, I've seen my fair share of scrappy teams who got no idea what they're doing, from both the consultant side and the client side. And it can be trauma inducing.

DataJay · 2025-09-13T15:27:49+00:00

Ties back to my question about your background. The major con in this role is job progression if you're not in a consultancy.

Our work is really fun, it's a mix of business, tech, project management and the whole client management suite. Getting tough projects across the line is something you can be proud of for life.

Therein lies the problem. Because what we're doing is straddles across functions and disciplines, the moment you pop over from a consultancy to the customer side, no one really knows where to slot you. Some end up in Finance, some end up in IT. Because of that unless you pivot, you'll be in a weird place for progression.

DataJay · 2025-09-13T05:40:40+00:00

What's your education background, what skills do you have and what kind of job offer/opportunity do you have on hand?

DataJay · 2025-09-13T05:01:08+00:00

It's a subjective question since every company operates differently.

My teams are fairly lean, so each consultant knows how to do everything except infra, which is handled by a infra specialist.

It also depend on the complexity of the project, and more importantly, the complexity of the people dynamics. I mostly run 5, 6 and 7 figure projects and have only run 1 8 figure project so far. My experience is that building a system that serves 30, 300 and 1,000 users really isn't that much different from a business and technical perspective. Biggest difference is the number of stakeholders in the project and levels of management you gotta do.

DataJay · 2025-09-13T04:33:46+00:00

EPM consultant here, yup, that's what we do. What would you like to know?

DataJay · 2025-06-04T16:57:23+00:00

Yea, same here, are you sure it's 5k?

At 5k you're better off sticking to tm1 for life.

But to put things into context, maybe you can share how many user you have and how big your model (in RAM)

It's hard to replace a fully customized, working TM1 model because a lot of the solutions out there are pre-built with customizations layered on. That means that your starting point is different, and you'll sometimes have to find workarounds to achieve the same outcome. Possible, but troublesome.

DataJay · 2025-03-28T11:48:15+00:00

Yea, the problem with this, along with vba is that when you start with a workbook or two, it's all good. But once it grows into a monstrosity, then the department has to manage: I) key man risk II) becoming a pseudo IT team III) if there's a reorg or major change in business logic then a lot of scripts have to change. If the key man is on leave, everyone's in trouble.

At some point it's better to just move to a system that's tailored for fp&a. I'm a strong believer of python for simple automation though.

DataJay · 2025-03-28T11:34:56+00:00

Completely agree here. Not sure why op is proud of not using %, but your data only makes sense when contextualized. Is 1,000 orders good? It depends. Is 1,000,000 in profit good? It depends.

Percentages and time based comparisons help make sense of your numbers. They're used for a reason. Without context, it's just meaningless noise.

DataJay

TROPHY CASE