Future of Financial Planning: Smarter EPM with AI
Turn financial planning into a competitive advantage with connected data, AI, and real-time insights.
Intelligent Planning: Finance at the Speed of Change
This paper lays out a clear, actionable path to Intelligent Planning—from first pilots to full-scale transformation. Whether your finance team is aiming to modernize forecasts, embed predictive insights, or finally escape endless manual cycles, this is your roadmap forward.
Your financial planning isn’t slow. It’s stuck.
Static planning cycles and siloed spreadsheets won’t meet the moment. Intelligent Planning helps you replace lag with leadership. Whether you’re just starting the journey or looking to accelerate progress, this paper provides a practical roadmap—from first steps to future-state vision.
Your financial forecasting isn’t broken. It’s just too slow.
You don’t need a time machine—you need a model that moves with your business.
Even when finance knows what’s coming—disruptions, macro shifts, tech advances—most planning cycles can’t react fast enough. Forecasts become outdated before they’re finalized. And instead of leading forward, finance spends too much time explaining the past.
The solution isn’t more tools. It’s a new operating model.
Intelligent planning transforms EPM into a dynamic, AI-enabled capability that helps finance teams:
What is Intelligent Planning?
As its core, Intelligent Planning is a connected, analytics-powered approach to enterprise planning.
It replaces static planning cycles with rolling forecasts, leverages GenAI for narrative insights, and connects financial and operational drivers to help the business act faster and smarter.
Finance teams are evolving from spreadsheet enthusiasts to strategic advisors—testing assumptions, modeling trade-offs, and enabling confident decisions across the C-suite.
“Forecasts update continuously, scenarios refresh on demand, and planning keeps pace with the business”
What it takes to enable Intelligent Planning
Intelligent Planning isn’t just a tech upgrade. It’s transformation across four key fronts:
Unified, AI-ready architecture with predictive models and cloud-native platforms..
FP&A roles evolve from report generators to performance advisors and insight analysts.
Legacy planning gives way to rolling, real-time scenarios and embedded modeling.
Companies scale what works—starting with small wins and expanding capability over time.
What if your data isn’t perfect? (Spoiler: It doesn’t have to be.)
Intelligent Planning doesn’t require flawless data. It requires business-ready data—connected, structured, trusted, and aligned to your drivers.
That means:
- Starting with what you have
- Prioritizing high=value flows (e.g., finance + ops)
- Deploying AI and automation to enhance insight and reduce reconciliation
- Building confidence and transparency in how data informs decisions
How to get started with Intelligent Planning
You don’t need a big-bang transformation.
Most companies already have pieces of the puzzle in place. Intelligent Planning starts with focused moves that scale.
Here’s how leading organizations begin:
1 | Establish your planning baseline
Map out your current tools, processes, and data flows. Identify where models are built, where assumptions live, and what’s getting in the way of speed.
2 | Modernize your data foundation
Start with a single integration—such as connecting finance and operations. Use trusted actuals and drivers. Apply automation to lead and structured data.
3 | Activate AI and automation
Use GenAI to create narrative insights or scenario commentary. Deploy predictive models to support forecasting or variance detection.
4 | Elevate finance roles and workflows
As automation takes over routine tasks, FP&A evolves into a real-time advisory function. New roles—like performance advisors and data modelers—emerge to guide business decisions.
5 | Scale what works
Build momentum with small wins. Pilot Intelligent Planning in one unit, prove value, then expand. Adjust fast, learn continuously, and scale success across the enterprise.
Where it all comes together: The Finance Command Center
Intelligent Planning comes to life in a Finance Command Center—a centralized environment where insights, decisions, and collaboration happen in real time.
Here, FP&A isn’t reporting on what happened. It’s shaping what happens next.
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This is where finance becomes the strategic engine of the enterprise.
Intelligent Planning: Start here. Scale fast.
Our latest paper, Intelligent Planning: The next generation of Finance EPM, lays out a clear, actionable path to Intelligent Planning—from first pilots to full-scale transformation. Whether your finance team is aiming to modernize forecasts, embed predictive insights, or finally escape endless manual cycles, this is your roadmap forward.
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What sets apart good from great finance leaders? It's their ability to harness cutting-edge technology to drive efficiency and foster growth.
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Meet the team
Our KPMG Finance team provide clients with rapid access to hard-to-find skills and technology excellence, enabling their company to accelerate innovation and operate with more agility. Our professionals bring significant functional, industry, and technology experience to every engagement, including the latest AI, cloud, and enterprise data capabilities. Work with us to transform your stubborn operational challenges into leading-edge finance solutions.
