We are software developers and venture builders looking for controlling software that supports central planning processes at the company level, enables profit center managers to make forecasts during the year, and provides regular target/actual analyses.
We have the following requirements for the software:
Structural characteristics
- Cloud-based
- Multi-client capable (if multi-client capability is not available, the software may still be considered)
- Different business area structures with 1-n occurrences each
- Cross-client employee deployment (secondary priority: creation of outgoing invoices with default values from time entries and storable cost rates)
- Definable calculation of imputed allocation rates for central functions by profit center
- Drill-down at all points
- User authorization structure with regard to the scope of what is displayed and editability
- Income types can be assigned to sales and other income (according to P&L structure)
Company
- Multi-year budget planning (1st year on a monthly basis, then quarters or years can be set)
- Forecast calculation(s) for the current year
- Profit centers; different structure (depending on profit center group)
- A profit center contains 1-n cost centers
- Locations and team structure (disciplinary responsibility)
- Multi-level central planning assumptions (e.g., inflation, material costs, personnel per client; growth rates per profit center, etc.)
- Structure Total company definable
- Transferable to P&L structure
- Determination and distribution of different imputation rates from different central areas to the profit centers
- Planning process: changes made in previous periods have an effect on future periods
- Target/actual deviations can be displayed both against annual planning and against forecasts made during the year
- Profit and loss effectiveness and cash inflows from sales may diverge over time
- P2: Liquidity calculation
Personnel
- Master data = basis for resource planning by storing contract data (contract types freelancer/employee/... ; scope in terms of time and money, location, team...)
- Record personnel resource allocation planning with user restrictions (profit center managers)
- For planning activities, cross-company comparison of contract scope/planned times per employee
- Evaluation with stored contract data plus central, parameterizable company contributions to social security
- Actual data basis for hours worked = existing time recording software (necessary due to connection to “programming support”)
- Various views (profit centers, teams)
Material costs
- Planning structure based on cost center and cost type structure (real accounts), transferred 1:1 from DATEV postings
- Visibility of individual documents/postings (as imported) in the planning processes
Special function (downstream priority)
- Invoicing for selected profit centers
Actual data (imports)
- Monthly Excel/csv download from DATEV (P&L accounts + balance sheet with individual postings)
- Monthly Excel/csv download of payroll journal from DATEV payroll accounting
- Actual times Import from existing time tracking software (currently Excel/csv)
- Absence import from existing personnel management software (currently Excel/csv)
- Ability to delete imports per period and re-import them
- (lower priority:) declarative, individually definable data preprocessing, e.g., allocation of general time to project times depending on monthly time entries per employee
Data output
- definable reports online and with file outputs Excel (lower priority: Google Sheets)
Five software workstations are required initially. The requirement may be expanded in stages to approx. 15 software workstations.