LONDON, May 29 /PRNewswire/ --

- Examining Planning and Budgeting in Europe

At the 2008 Tagetik User Conference, Business Application Research Center (BARC) released the preliminary results of its latest study titled "Planning and Budgeting in Europe - Status quo and opportunities for Performance Management". BARC researched different planning requirements and approaches in 500 European companies.

"We focused on planning and budgeting due to the complex and changing nature of these processes," explains Dr. Carsten Bange, CEO at BARC. "As organisations grow and more stakeholders become involved, these processes quickly become even more challenging."

The study found that in addition to traditional planning approaches, a strong majority (68%) of the companies surveyed use cash-flow and balance sheet planning. 54% of companies without subsidiaries rely on one-year planning, with only 31% planning 3-5 years in advance. The opposite trend holds true for corporations with subsidiaries where 52% conduct long-term planning of 3-5 years and 36% planning only one year ahead.

The study reveals that there is a connection between compliance and planning requirements. 72% of respondents incorporate plausibility checks and tracking features in their planning processes with over a third supporting tracking features for internal and external audits.

With regards to enabling technologies, 82% of companies still rely on Excel in some form for planning and have high levels of dissatisfaction. Companies that work with specialised planning software have the highest approval level with 72% being rather or very satisfied.

The study confirms that planning is a long, expensive process. On average, 42 days per annum is devoted to planning activities however, planning is more time-consuming for multi-national companies, averaging at 55 days, and in the Banking and Insurance industry (45% longer than other industries). Companies with specialised planning software reported 25% shorter cycles compared to those only using Excel whilst those with a single solution had a 50% shorter cycle than those using a combination of solutions.

"Tagetik has always aligned its strategy with customer satisfaction and needs," explains Manuel Vellutini, Chief Operating Officer of Tagetik. "It is important to understand how these changes have affected the planning and budgeting processes."

"Our vision at Tagetik is to develop a software solution that unifies budgeting, planning and forecasting at both strategic and operational levels together with financial closing and reporting," summarises Vellutini. "The findings in BARC's latest research study solidify our intuition and we are pleased that our software development is on target with what companies need and want."

BARC Business Application Research Center

Business Application Research Center - BARC - is a leading independent software industry analyst delivering information to more than 1000 customers each year. For more than ten years, BARC has specialised in core research areas including Performance Management, Business Intelligence and Data Management as well as Enterprise Content Management.

Tagetik

Tagetik is a global provider of the new generation of Corporate Performance Management and Financial Governance solutions. The extensive experience in the Corporate Performance Management market has enabled Tagetik to offer a software solution that helps companies automate processes, obtain the necessary transparency and data accuracy for compliance, improve governance, reduce costs as well as meet industry-specific requirements.

Press Contact: Shak Akhtar +44(0)8708510540 press@tagetik.com

Press Contact: Shak Akhtar, +44(0)8708510540, press@tagetik.com