Planful Announces Newest Addition to Predict Suite of Native AI/ML Applications, Predict: Projections

Planful Inc., the pioneer of end-to-end financial close, consolidation, and financial planning & analysis (FP&A) cloud software, announced a significant expansion of its Planful Predict suite of native artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) products, designed specifically for complex financial data.

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At Planful Perform 2021, the company debuted Predict: Projections, an intelligent forecasting solution based on proprietary algorithms developed by Planful. This new application enhances human judgement, enabling finance professionals of any skill level to seamlessly prepare AI-enhanced forecasts by learning the user’s planning environment over time. In addition, Planful announced enhancements to its Predict: Signals anomaly detection solution, with multiple upgrades based on customer input, including embedding the tool into Planful’s reporting function.

“After seeing the enhancements to Planful’s Predict: Signals firsthand, we’re excited by what Planful is able to offer with Predict: Projections,” said Stephen Smith, Manager of Business and Financial Reporting, CalPortland, a major building materials producer and distributor. “This release has the capabilities and features we’ve been hoping for. Not only are we looking forward to the time savings we’ll achieve with Projections, but being able to access Signals through the reporting function, as well, is a significant step forward that will definitely accelerate our planning activities.”

Major Time Savings with Predict: Projections

Predict: Projections, which joins Predict: Signals as the second application in the Planful Predict portfolio, enables the rapid consumption of data, facilitating quicker and more informed judgement calls. It accurately identifies and processes millions of data points, making it suitable for even the most complex planning scenarios. Users, from novice to expert, will be able to auto-generate scenarios or values with confidence, removing up to thousands of hours of manual planning time per year. Predict: Projections learns from each planning cycle, sharpening its recommendations over time to give users confidence that they are building accurate financial plans and forecasts quickly.

Planful’s Chief Technical Officer Sanjay Vyas noted, “Our mission is to give our customers the best specialized AI/ML technology on the market, but in a frictionless way–no data scientists; no third party tools; and no moving data between systems. Financial data is far more complex than operational data, rendering off-the-shelf AI/ML tools unsuitable. This is why we’ve used our expertise working with financial data to build our own proprietary data science capabilities natively in our platform. The feedback from early customer adoption is exciting.”

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Enhancements to Predict: Signals

Since its debut n June 2021, Predict: Signals has undergone a number of workflow upgrades to increase usability and value for customers. Advancements include:

• Predict: Signals is now embedded into the reporting function of the Planful platform, making it easy for end users to review the context for specific numbers, with no additional navigation.
• Engineering upgrades now support access to data hierarchies for more accurate reports. Filters enable smart use of data from multiple sources, regardless of data setup or structure.
• More robust context for anomalies, including the ability to calculate signals dynamically, as users drill down into flagged issues.
• A new dashboard UI featuring interactive data grids for enhanced investigation. The grid communicates the severity of anomalies; additional filters allow users to investigate data at deeper levels on-the-fly.

“Our customers are the driving force behind why we’re pursuing leadership in AI/ML technology that is purpose built for the Office of the CFO,” said Grant Halloran, Planful Chief Executive Officer. “The Finance professionals of today require modern technology that is easy to use and simply works, so they can increase decision velocity to propel their businesses forward. We will continue innovating based on the feedback we receive from the Planful community.”

The Planful Predict portfolio will continue to expand over time to encompass a full suite of native AI/ML solutions that empower business users to accelerate insight-driven decisions.

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