Whitebirch Technology

Whitebirch Planning is the most advanced financial modeling system on the market – and the first viable alternative to the spreadsheet. It’s fast, reliable, and easily auditable. Whitebirch’s unique design and system architecture deliver robust, fully integrated financial models, in less time, with greater accuracy than was ever possible with spreadsheet technology.

Innovative object-based model construction, scenario overlay technology and model consolidations make it the most accurate, flexible solution for building budgets, forecasts, and multi-year plans.

Object-based model construction delivers the unusual combination of structure and flexibility. You work at a high level with financial objects that contain multiple line items, while built-in logic defines how they fit into the financial statements. The object-based model design ensures accuracy. Re-organize the objects at will, with no fear of broken links and errors.

Scenario overlay technology permits layering of multiple values, assumptions, or events, so that numerous scenarios can be created and analyzed simultaneously in a single model. This revolutionary design eliminates the need to create and maintain multiple model versions – a requirement and major drawback of spreadsheets.

Model consolidations are seamlessly executed. Multi-company or multiple entities can be modeled and analyzed individually and then viewed together. Models can be “live-linked” to create a composite model including all objects from all models. As changes are made, the links can be instantly updated to reflect all changes.

Real-time collaboration reduces cycle time as participant’s work and view changes to the plan instantly. Multiple users can work on the same model concurrently, and the change-tracking feature ensures efficiency in a multi-party environment.

Scenario Overlay Technology

Virtually any business condition can be analyzed when key data – historical, actual, budget, forecast, and unlimited scenarios – all reside within the same model. Whitebirch Planning’s revolutionary design lets you layer multiple values, assumptions, or events, which allows numerous scenarios to be created simultaneously in a single model.

Build a base plan, and use any number of scenario overlays to make key changes that differentiate possible outcomes. Simply turn the layers on or off to understand the financial impact of each scenario without losing the original data. Then choose which combination of scenarios to view and compare.

A change to the underlying model flows seamlessly through all scenarios, making model maintenance a breeze. Gone are the days when you needed a different spreadsheet for each scenario – a seemingly simple option, but one that adds time and complexity. This innovative approach eliminates the need to create and maintain multiple model versions.

Object-Based Modeling

Whitebirch’s underlying technology uses flexible financial objects to create a model. Object-based modeling eliminates the time-consuming, error-prone process of assembling model components and verifying complex formulas and references – freeing you to concentrate on more strategic tasks.

Each object contains built-in logic to generate all the financial statement line items, ensuring the integrity of the model and the accuracy of all calculations. The objects are designed to integrate seamlessly with one another.

A library of financial objects includes revenue, expenses, assets, liabilities and equity, to speed the model building process. You simply specify the parameters and let the software do the rest. It’s highly customizable – you can use standard formulas or override with custom ones.

Based on your requirements, create as many objects as you need, shift them in time, and organize them in any level of detail, all without broken links or formula errors. You can also create interdependencies between objects using formulas, including conditional expressions.

Design the model to your specifications. Objects can be organized into any number of nested groups. Use them for product lines, distribution channels, business units, departments, or divisions.

Know your projections are correct. Built-in business and accounting rules assure the integrity of the model and the accuracy of all projections.

Select and vary parameters. Object parameters can be treated as a constant or vary over time. You can give them multiple values in different scenarios, and they can be calculated as a formula that is a function of one or more line items, including conditional expressions.

Use built-in formulas or override. Some objects, such as loans or assets, have built-in formulas for calculations such as loan payments or asset depreciation. The user has the option to override the built-in formulas.

Real-time Collaboration

Truly useful financial models are rarely built in isolation. Collaboration is essential for building consensus and making smarter business decisions. Using any Web browser, Whitebirch Planning offers real-time collaboration, enabling multiple users to participate in the budgeting, forecasting, and planning process.

Whitebirch Planning allows anywhere, anytime access by multiple users, both within an organization and externally with customers, partners, investors, etc. Users can work either online in a collaborative real-time setting or offline. Models can be moved seamlessly and securely between the two environments.

Deployable over any type of network and extremely scalable, Whitebirch Planning lets multiple users work on the same model concurrently. As changes to a model are made, others will see them in real-time. You decide the appropriate permissions and grant write, read-only, or reports-only access. And the change-tracking feature ensures efficiency in a multi-party environment .

Model Linking and Consolidations

Whether for company consolidations, department roll ups, or merger and acquisition analysis, Whitebirch Planning lets you combine multiple models into a single larger model. With Whitebirch’s innovative design, you have unheard of power and flexibility. Each entity can be modeled and analyzed individually and then viewed together.

Multiple models can be “live-linked” to create a composite model, including all objects from all models. As changes are made, the links can be instantly updated to reflect all changes. Amazingly, this includes all formulas, overlays, and scenarios.

The evaluation of a merger or acquisition requires due diligence to assure the deal will yield the expected results. You need to see the financial picture of each entity on its own, but also combined. Using Whitebirch Planning, you can factor in anticipated merger costs and savings, making it easy to analyze the financial impact.