Overview
What is Centage?
Centage (Planning Maestro) offers a way to plan, budget, forecast and report financial performance by enabling finance teams to see into the future, and test the impact of different scenarios, in order to make faster decisions with confidence. The software streamlines…
Centage is Great for Consolidated Reporting and Planning
Centage: The only tool that solves your budgeting problems
Centage: It's all Great
Rollups are a breeze with Centage!
Working with Planning Maestro - Centage
My Experience with Centage Planning and Analytics Maestro
Absolutely great product!
TrustRadius Insights
Planning Maestro - a success!
Transformative Budgeting
Planning Maestro high benefit to cost ratio
Allowed us to increase monthly reporting without increased personnel expense!
Popular Features
- Financial budgeting (11)9.898%
- Role-Based Security Model (10)9.292%
- Multi-User Support (named login) (10)9.191%
- Management reporting (11)8.686%
Reviewer Pros & Cons
Pricing
What is Centage?
Centage (Planning Maestro) offers a way to plan, budget, forecast and report financial performance by enabling finance teams to see into the future, and test the impact of different scenarios, in order to make faster decisions with confidence. The software streamlines the entire planning process,…
Entry-level set up fee?
- Setup fee required
Offerings
- Free Trial
- Free/Freemium Version
- Premium Consulting/Integration Services
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Alternatives Pricing
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The SAP Analytics Cloud solution brings together analytics and planning with integration to SAP applications and access to heterogenous data sources. As the analytics and planning solution within SAP Business Technology Platform, SAP Analytics Cloud supports trusted insights and integrated planning…
What is IBM Planning Analytics?
IBM Planning Analytics, powered by IBM TM1®, is an integrated planning solution designed to promote collaboration across the organization and help keep pace with the speed of modern business. With its calculation engine, this enterprise performance management solution is designed to help users move…
Features
BI Standard Reporting
Standard reporting means pre-built or canned reports available to users without having to create them.
- 4.6Customizable dashboards(3) Ratings
Customizable dashboards are dashboards providing the builder some degree of control over the look and feel and display options.
Ad-hoc Reporting
Ad-Hoc Reports are reports built by the user to meet highly specific requirements.
- 7Drill-down analysis(9) Ratings
Drill down analysis is the ability to get to a further level of detail by going deeper into the hierarchy.
- 6.4Formatting capabilities(7) Ratings
Ability to format output e.g. conditional formatting, lines, headers, footers.
- 7.6Report sharing and collaboration(6) Ratings
Report sharing and collaboration is the ability to easily share reports with others.
Report Output and Scheduling
Ability to schedule and manager report output.
- 5.5Publish to Web(1) Ratings
- 8.3Publish to PDF(3) Ratings
- 8.6Report Versioning(5) Ratings
Report versioning is the assignment of version numbers to each version of a report to help in tracking.
- 7.3Report Delivery Scheduling(1) Ratings
Report Delivery Schedule is the ability to have reports delivered to a destination at a specific data and time.
Data Discovery and Visualization
Data Discovery and Visualization is the analysis of multiple data sources in a search for patterns and outliers and the ability to represent the data visually.
- 8.1Predictive Analytics(4) Ratings
Predictive Analytics is the ability to build forecasting models based on existing data sets.
Access Control and Security
Access control means being able to determine who has access to which data.
- 9.1Multi-User Support (named login)(10) Ratings
Named model access means that users have access based on name and password.
- 9.2Role-Based Security Model(10) Ratings
Role-based access means that access to data is determined by job or position in the corporation.
- 9.2Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)(10) Ratings
Multiple access permission levels means that different levels of users have different rights.
- 9Report-Level Access Control(9) Ratings
Report-level access control means that the type of report determines who has access to it.
- 8.4Single Sign-On (SSO)(4) Ratings
Allows users to use one set of login credentials to access multiple applications
Budgeting, Planning, and Forecasting
These activities are designed to assist with both data-driven operational, short-term planning and strategic long term planning
- 8.5Long-term financial planning(8) Ratings
3-5 year financial plan with cashflow.
- 9.8Financial budgeting(11) Ratings
Annual budget for revenue and operating expenses, headcount/compensation, capital expenses, projects, etc.
- 8.9Forecasting(10) Ratings
Combining actuals and budgets, rolling forecasts, driver-based models.
- 8.4Scenario modeling(9) Ratings
Financial or operational modeling of alternate future states and planning for each.
- 8.6Management reporting(11) Ratings
Budget vs. actual or forecast, P&L’s, performance over time, between products etc.
Consolidation and Close
Consolidation of data from multiple entities with currency management, reporting and audit trails.
- 8.6Financial data consolidation(6) Ratings
Consolidating data from several entities into a single statement using US GAAP, IFRS or other standards.
- 8.3Local and consolidated reporting(7) Ratings
Ability to report against individual business entities and the consolidated umbrella entity.
Financial Reporting and Compliance
Financial statements and regulatory filings
- 8Financial Statement Reporting(9) Ratings
Creation and production of balance sheets, income statements, cash flows, other schedules
- 8.4Management Reporting(10) Ratings
Tools facilitating creation of internal ad hoc or standard reports.
- 8.9Excel-based Reporting(10) Ratings
Ad hoc or formatted reports using MS Excel.
- 7.6Automated board and financial reporting(6) Ratings
Tools to help automate creation of regulatory reports such as SEC filings and board books.
Analytics and Reporting
Dashboards and scorecards for KPI monitoring and benchmarking
- 7.6Personalized dashboards(3) Ratings
Create custom dashboards and reports without the help of IT or administrators.
- 7.9Cost and profitability analysis(4) Ratings
Cost and profitability analysis provides data for business decision making.
- 7.6Key Performance Indicator setting(3) Ratings
Ability to set key performance indicators for measuring progress towards goals.
Integration
Ability to integrate with external applications.
- 7.8Flat file integration(6) Ratings
Integration of flat files like text documents and comma separated files
- 8.9Excel data integration(7) Ratings
Ability to integrate directly with Excel data.
- 7.1Direct links to 3rd-party data sources(5) Ratings
Integration with external applications like ERP, CRM, HCM
Product Details
- About
- Integrations
- Competitors
- Tech Details
- FAQs
What is Centage?
Centage Features
Budgeting, Planning, and Forecasting Features
- Supported: Long-term financial planning
- Supported: Financial budgeting
- Supported: Forecasting
- Supported: Scenario modeling
- Supported: Management reporting
Consolidation and Close Features
- Supported: Financial data consolidation
- Supported: Local and consolidated reporting
Financial Reporting and Compliance Features
- Supported: Financial Statement Reporting
- Supported: Management Reporting
- Supported: Excel-based Reporting
- Supported: Automated board and financial reporting
Analytics and Reporting Features
- Supported: Personalized dashboards
- Supported: Cost and profitability analysis
- Supported: Key Performance Indicator setting
Integration Features
- Supported: Flat file integration
- Supported: Excel data integration
- Supported: Direct links to 3rd-party data sources
BI Standard Reporting Features
- Supported: Customizable dashboards
Ad-hoc Reporting Features
- Supported: Drill-down analysis
- Supported: Formatting capabilities
- Supported: Predictive modeling
- Supported: Report sharing and collaboration
Report Output and Scheduling Features
- Supported: Publish to Web
- Supported: Publish to PDF
- Supported: Report Versioning
- Supported: Report Delivery Scheduling
Data Discovery and Visualization Features
- Supported: Predictive Analytics
Access Control and Security Features
- Supported: Multi-User Support (named login)
- Supported: Role-Based Security Model
- Supported: Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)
- Supported: Report-Level Access Control
- Supported: Single Sign-On (SSO)
Centage Screenshots
Centage Integrations
Centage Competitors
Centage Technical Details
Deployment Types | Software as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based |
---|---|
Operating Systems | Unspecified |
Mobile Application | No |
Frequently Asked Questions
Comparisons
Compare with
Reviews and Ratings
(17)Community Insights
- Business Problems Solved
- Pros
- Cons
- Recommendations
Many users heavily rely on the Budget Maestro platform for its Analytics Maestro capabilities. With this feature, users can create custom dashboards that allow them to compare actuals against the budget. These visuals have been well-perceived across organizations, as they make it easy to cascade the results to multiple offices with just a simple click. Planning Maestro is also widely used as the primary budgeting system. It provides an efficient and robust platform for creating multiple budget versions, detailed budgeting with descriptions, data linking of expenses to revenues, personnel/salary budgeting, monthly budgeting, simplified reporting, different hierarchies, and work flow. This makes it a valuable tool for developing annual budgets and preparing monthly/quarterly financial statements for management and the Board of Directors. Additionally, many outsourced accounting and CFO staff recommend using Budget Maestro for organizations dealing with cash management and budgeting concerns, as it helps alleviate the fatigue of using Excel-based techniques. Before partnering with Planning Maestro, companies often faced issues when preparing staffing plans, especially when dealing with last-minute changes. Fortunately, Planning Maestro has been able to streamline this process and make it much more efficient. Lastly, the Analytics Maestro Excel add-in tool simplifies the creation of adhoc reports within Excel, allowing users to leverage all the great features of Excel for analysis purposes.
Value-adding platform: According to several users, the Analytics Maestro Platform has been found to add tremendous value to their business operations. They appreciate the newer cloud-based version that eliminates size constraints and allows for seamless usage.
Responsive customer support: Reviewers consistently praise the platform for its extremely supportive and timely customer support. The quick response from the implementation and ongoing support teams in addressing any issues or concerns is highly valued by users.
Detailed budgeting feature: Many users find the detailed budgeting feature of the platform particularly useful as it allows them to work with shared chart of accounts, providing names and descriptions for better organization and clarity in financial planning. The option to upload budgets using excel-based templates simplifies the budgeting process further.
Rollout Time: Some users have found the rollout of the cloud-based solution to be time-consuming, which impacted their productivity and ability to fully utilize the system's features.
Learning Curve: Reviewers mentioned that learning how to use the product to its fullest capabilities with the older version was a time-consuming process. They had to invest additional time and effort into training themselves or their teams on using the product effectively.
Delayed Refreshing: Users have expressed frustration with the delayed refreshing when changing dimensions or budgets in the system. This delay hinders their workflow and slows down their analysis process, leading to inefficiencies in their work.
Users commonly recommend the following:
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Analyze data and structure requirements before selecting a budgeting tool. It is important to thoroughly analyze the data and understand the organization's requirements before choosing a budgeting tool. This allows for a better fit between the tool and their needs.
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Utilize support during the setup process. Users advise taking advantage of the support provided by Budget Maestro during the setup process to avoid any potential mistakes. They appreciate the assistance in ensuring a smooth implementation.
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Consider using Centage or Budget Maestro for budgeting and forecasting needs. Users highly recommend Centage as one of the best budgeting tools for complementing data needs. They also praise Budget Maestro as a reliable budgeting and forecasting tool, citing its efficient implementation team and strong product for end users. Additionally, Budget Maestro is noted for its ability to combine multiple excel spreadsheets into one software solution.
Overall, users suggest thorough analysis of data needs, leveraging support during setup, and considering Centage or Budget Maestro for budgeting and forecasting requirements.
Attribute Ratings
Reviews
(1-12 of 12)Being able to report through analytics has shaved many hours off of our reporting cycle.
- Reporting through Analytics Maestro cube
- Budgets with segmentation (product class & departments)
- Integrated with NetSuite
- Integration with NetSuite was slow to set up
- Would prefer to have transactional data in Centage from NetSuite, not just daily summaries
Centage works great with simplifying and streamlining actuals reporting (and with budget comparisons). Budgets also allow upload which is quick and easy once you figure out the format.
We have many many budget holder, it would be nice if Centage had different user level pricing (perhaps they do) as most of our users only touch budgets and only 1 or 2 need full access.
Centage is Great for Consolidated Reporting and Planning
- Reporting Through Analytics Maestro
- Handling complex calculations - called Drivers - to plan
- Compiling, reporting and budgeting with a lot of different dimensions
- A little more speed in making those complex calculations.
- A little more speed deploying the data from actuals into the plan.
Centage: The only tool that solves your budgeting problems
- flexibility to match your business needs
- easy to see what calculations are incorporated in the budget and make changes easily
- excellent reporting tool
- upload/download of data is very easy
- Collapsing rows in the reports - it was a good feature in Budget Maestro but removed in Planning Maestro
- Undo button would be good to have
- Navigation is still complicated in some areas and new users have difficulty to learn the tool
Centage: It's all Great
- The ability to enter information as needed.
- The ability to sort and see information in the way we need.
- Customer Support
- Head count is a bit strange as each period is considered one Headcount for a total of 12 per year, so we have to adjust when running reports
- would love to be able to attach related expenses in payroll to a kind of employee instead of doing each individually. It's time consuming.
- Have the help more available instead of having to log into separate place
Rollups are a breeze with Centage!
- Allow data importing
- Department / company rollups
- Comparison reporting across years and across budgets / actuals.
Working with Planning Maestro - Centage
- Security setting at the level of the user
- Expense allocation methods
- Reporting of Income statement and others
- Easy definition of parameters such as accounts, cost centers and project cods
- We would need the actuals to be brought from our accounting system GP by project code. This is missing at the moment and we are a project driven organization.
My Experience with Centage Planning and Analytics Maestro
- Planning personnel with all the related benefit expenses is very accurate and we are able to forecast increases as well.
- Storing separate versions of the budget allows us to finalize for the year and have access to the data while we update the default plan with any changes.
- I ilke the way you can add intelligence see the detail of calculations below th eline item.
- I like writing Planning Maestro reports to see drill downs of any item and tie them to our ERP Budget
- The Analytics Maestro reports are pretty confusing to create and update. I wish it worked as well as Management Reporter. I continue to load budget into Dynamics SL and run reports there at the GL account/subaccount level
- I wish that vendors and customers were based structures that could be auto-updated from my ERP like GL accounts. I have to add them manually.
- Having to manually update our cube seems unnecessary. Shouldn't the cube update itself whenever we make a change?
Absolutely great product!
- It keeps up with personnel and all aspects of it.
- It allows us to input information into each location and department and filter each section in the same way.
- It is very quick to update the cube and reports to see any changes you have made inside the budget.
- The allocations of personnel do not work well for our company. We have to add multiple lines of each person in admin because our expenses get distributed to many departments.
- The reports inside Planning Maestro should be able to collapse and expand.
- There is not an easy way to track counts of sales from the plan to the report.
Planning Maestro - a success!
For reporting, we previously used our ERP system, which is extremely difficult to create or modify financial reports. The analytics Maestro Excel add-in tool made creating adhoc reports within Excel simple and easy. You can create reports and still use all the great features of Excel for analysis.
- Use of drivers to develop functions that become the foundation of a budget or forecast
- Staffing Module
- Copying or editing large amounts of departmental or business function data/budgets/forecasts
- Implementation and ongoing support teams - thorough and quick to respond/take action
- Copying line item details. Planning Maestro is good at copying large swathes of data, but copying single line items could speed up the process of adding new line item details.
- Speed up the refresh rate of the Analytics Maestro tool
Transformative Budgeting
- Planning Maestro can simplify and automates the budgeting process, by creating an environment where teams can collaborate and update data as needed.
- The software uses historical data to generate financial forecasts. It enables users to create various scenarios, perform what-if analyses, and assess different business decisions on financial outcomes.
- You can have real-time dashboards and reports, offering insights into key financial metrics, variances, and performance indicators.
- Slightly heavier lift to get people trained on the new system compared to other tools on the market
Planning Maestro high benefit to cost ratio
- Detailed budgeting even for shared chart of accounts with names and descriptions
- Multiple budget versions, easy to copy versions
- Easy navigation
- Several layers of security rules
- Uploading of budgets using excel based templates
- Several options for filtering
- Personnel or salary budgeting
- Monthly budgeting
- When changing dimensions (chart of accounts) or budgets, delay refreshing until line edits are completed
- When refreshing data bases, add option to exclude static versions so they don't add processing time
- Analytics Maestro Platform adds tremendous value.
- Newer version offering is cloud based which adds value on size constraints.
- Customer support has always been extremely supportive and timely on responses.
- Took some time to roll out the cloud-based solution.
- The older version (not cloud-based) we used took about an hour to refresh after data load.
- The older version did take some time learning how to use the product to its fullest capabilities.