A recent survey shows 86% of higher ed institutions still use a combination of spreadsheets, paper and pencil for financial planning and analysis (FP&A). Scenario planning in today’s economy is challenging enough without relying on decades-old decision-support tools and processes.

A growing roster of resilient-minded academic programs now turn to FP&A tools that help automate and facilitate improved decision-making. The new methods help leadership navigate a myriad of critical decision requirements, such as responses to changing enrollment, staffing, financial, and capital needs through a national pandemic and beyond. The playbook examines five methods academic leaders can observe in FP&A best practices, including:

• Mitigating data errors, slow response time, and siloed departmental understanding
• Managing contextualized, automated, and “one version of the truth” planning data
• Assessing holistic, interdepartmental what-if planning scenarios

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