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Unit4 FP&A

What is Unit4 FP&A?

Flexible, integrated performance management platform for planning, budgeting and forecasting, reporting, analysis, dashboarding and financial consolidation with complementary predefined business and industry solutions; focused on Unit4 ERP customers

BI, Analytics & CPM
● Reporting / Dashboards
● Analysis
– Advanced Analytics
●● Planning
● Financial Consolidation

= Function covered, ●● = Functional focus

= Function covered
●●
= Functional focus

About Unit4 FP&A

The information in this section has been provided by the vendor of Unit4 FP&A.

Self-description of the vendor

No vendor self-description available

Unit4 FP&A screenshots

Unit4 FP&A videos

References
Magnox, East of England Ambulance Service, WSP, Migros Aare, FH Campus Wien
Partners
Magnox, East of England Ambulance Service, WSP, Migros Aare, FH Campus Wien

Unit4 FP&A BARC Review & Rating

This section contains our independent analyst views on Unit4 FP&A.

Provider and product description

Unit4 is a global provider of cloud-based enterprise software for HCM, financials and FP&A. To strengthen its offerings for CPM and analytics, Unit4 acquired the German vendor Prevero in 2016. Prevero originally delivered CPM software to support planning, budgeting and forecasting; analytics and reporting processes and has now been fully integrated into Unit4’s ERP application ecosystem to provide its Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) solutions. While Unit4 FP&A historically attracted a strong customer base in the DACH and EMEA regions, its appeal has subsequently broadened to mid-market and enterprise-level customers worldwide.

Unit4 FP&A solutions focus on people-centric industries, namely professional services, the public sector, not-for-profit organizations and higher education, but they also have a strong customer base in the utilities, manufacturing and retail industries. These sectors are supported with prebuilt business applications for financial planning; sales and operations planning; people planning and analytics; reporting and analytics; financial consolidation and IFRS 16. Unit4 FP&A solutions are available as standalone applications or integrated into Unit4’s ERP suite. They deliver CPM technology with native integration to Unit4’s enterprise solutions. Unit4 FP&A is available for deployment in the Microsoft Azure cloud.

Built on a highly flexible platform, Unit4 FP&A applications are adaptable to various CPM and analytics use cases. The solutions give business users the platform and tools they need to configure their planning, budgeting and forecasting; analytics; reporting and financial consolidation applications to meet individual requirements, without having to have a technical background. For data storage and navigation, Unit4 FP&A uses a ROLAP approach and offers typical OLAP navigation capabilities in its clients.

For planning, budgeting and forecasting, Unit4 FP&A provides comprehensive capabilities to support top-down, bottom-up and mixed planning processes. Its flexible development environment allows customers to address various planning topics on one common platform, with different aggregation levels (e.g., strategic as well as operational planning) for an integrated corporate planning approach (including financial planning). Planners can enter budget data in the FP&A Designer (rich client), web client or Excel add-in. In addition to Unit4 FP&A’s core capabilities, comprehensive predefined business applications and solutions for specific use cases and industries enhance the platform.

Unit4 FP&A also offers complementary reporting and analytics functionality. Report creation is done in a tabular, Excel-like grid (‘worksheets’) in the FP&A Designer using tables and different chart types. Flexible options are available for formatting the tabular grid. Moreover, individual dashboards can be created in the web browser via drag-and-drop including existing worksheets and a wide variety of widgets (for visualization, analysis and input of data).

For financial consolidation purposes, Unit4 FP&A offers a prebuilt application that includes legal consolidation covering several consolidation standards as well as reporting capabilities and predefined disclosure statements.

Strengths and challenges of Unit4 FP&A

BARC’s viewpoint on the product’s strengths and challenges.

Strengths
  • Integrated and feature-rich CPM and analytics platform for planning and budgeting, reporting, analysis, dashboarding and financial consolidation available in the Microsoft Azure cloud.
  • Flexible, no-code development environment aimed at business power users for building tailored CPM and analytics applications, created in an Excel-like tabular grid in the FP&A Designer.
  • Extensive planning, budgeting and forecasting functionality for all kinds of planning approaches (top-down, bottom-up or combinations of both), planning topics and aggregation levels (e.g., strategic as well as operational planning, including financial planning).
  • Predefined business applications and content (topical and industry-focused) with dedicated support and release management enhance the platform and enable accelerated project implementation.
Challenges
  • Cloud-only for new implementations. Unit4 has informed all FP&A customers that its solutions will no longer be maintained on premises from 2027. While Unit4 continues the webification of FP&A, the functionality of the product’s HTML5 web client is still limited compared to the FP&A Designer (e.g., no administration, no modeling).
  • Unit4 FP&A is a very flexible CPM platform. However, companies should handle this flexibility with care during implementation and seek support from the provider. While it can be used to address a wide range of use cases, sub-optimal design of the data model and cumbersome calculations can result in disadvantages such as performance problems, especially with large amounts of data and concurrent users.
  • Today, Unit4 FP&A’s go-to-market strategy strongly focuses on cross-selling with the ERP suite to new customers and upselling to existing ERP customers. Indirect sales to non-Unit4 ERP customers are addressed via the company’s partner network. Due to this strategy, BARC expects the visibility of the product on the standalone market to decrease in the medium term.
  • Further development of the product is geared to integration with Unit4's own ERP system (e.g., synchronization of users/structures/data, drill through in details, prebuilt solutions, etc.). This reduces its innovative power for further development to address functionality and trending topics. Overall, it has a rather slow speed of development and innovative power compared to competitors, which is confirmed by customer feedback in this year’s Planning Survey.
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Unit4 FP&A User Reviews & Experiences

The information contained in this section is based on user feedback and actual experience with Unit4 FP&A.

The information and figures are largely drawn from BARC’s The BI & Analytics Survey, The Planning Survey, The Financial Consolidation Survey and The Data Management Survey. You can find out more about these surveys by clicking on the relevant links.

Summary of user review highlights from Unit4 FP&A

What users like about Unit4 FP&A and where the product scores best in a user comparison.

With 4 top ranks and 16 leading positions, Unit4 FP&A achieves an excellent set of results in this year’s Planning Survey. High ratings in KPIs such as Implementer Support, Self-Service, Ease of Use and Flexibility underline Unit4 FP&A’s solid position in the planning software market. Its functionality for planning, workflow and simulation is robust. These features are essential for organizations seeking streamlined planning processes and effective management of planning, budgeting and forecasting operations. Companies can benefit from using Unit4 FP&A in terms of better integration of financial planning with operational planning, reduced planning complexity and more precise/detailed planning. 78 percent of Unit4 FP&A users say they would “definitely” or “probably” recommend their planning product to other organizations – a great indicator of customer satisfaction with the vendor and its product.

Why users buy Unit4 FP&A and what problems they have using it

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Full user reviews and KPI results for Unit4 FP&A

All key figures for Unit4 FP&A at a glance.

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Individual user reviews for Unit4 FP&A

Role
Financial Analyst
Number of employees
100 - 2.500
Industry
Municipal government
Source
Invited by the vendor, The Planning Survey 24, 04/2024
What do you like best?

The ability to create custom design to meet the organization’s needs.

What do you like least/what could be improved?

FP&A does not handle large amounts of data well: reports take too long to run and sometimes have to be exported to Excel. For example, a complex report in BPC currently takes about 10 seconds to run in SAP-BPC. In FP&A, the same report cannot run within the FP&A web or design clients and must be directly exported to Excel. Other reports in BPC that take under 10 seconds to run can take over 45 minutes to run in FP&A.

What key advice would you give to other companies looking to introduce/use the product?

FP&A is a good product for companies transitioning away from Excel as the primary budgeting tool. It allows for complete custom design. However, for our organization, FP&A does not run as fast as promised and has difficulty with large amounts of data, causing some reports/data to only be available when exported back to Excel. All of FP&A design consultants are in Europe. None are available in North America. For a Canadian organization, this can make it extremely difficult and ineffective for custom design. Implementation time may be greatly increased by the time zone differences.

How would you sum up your experience?

Generally, FP&A is OK, certainly much better than using Excel for budgeting. Our organization is currently using BPC (which is end of life) and transitioning to FP&A. BPC handles data much more effectively and is easier for users to use, especially for the creation of ad hoc reports. BPC programing is much more difficult. FP&A is easier to program/design. However, reports can take too long to run to be effective.

Role
Line of business employee
Number of employees
100 - 2.500
Industry
IT
Source
Invited by the vendor, The Planning Survey 24, 04/2024
What do you like best?

Unit4 ermöglicht unternehmensspezifische Besonderheiten individuell in unser Modell einzubauen. Die Möglichkeiten sind gefühlt unendlich und trotzdem ist die Oberfläche ausgesprochen userfreundlich.

What do you like least/what could be improved?

Wissen über das Modell und die Funktionsweise von Unit4 an Kolleg:innen, Vorgesetzte und Führungskräfte zu vermitteln ist eine Herausforderung, was dazu führt, dass gelegentlich Wünsche bzw. Ideen kommen, die anders umzusetzen sind, als sich das die Führungskräfte und Kolleg:innen vorstellen. Dadurch wird die Lösungsfindung regelmäßig verlängert.

What key advice would you give to other companies looking to introduce/use the product?

Wenn Euer Unternehmen ein komplexeres individuelles Modell aufbaut, baut ein Modell, das mögliche Entwicklungen der nächsten 5 Jahre bereits berücksichtigt und denkt weiter als bis zum unmittelbaren aktuellen Bedarf. Im Nachhinein das Modell oder Teile davon umzubauen kann mühsam, aufwendig und fehleranfällig sein.

How would you sum up your experience?

Ich arbeite erst seit etwa 7 Monaten mit Unit4 und bin begeistert von den Möglichkeiten und der Handhabung. Trotz dieser habe ich nach wie vor das Gefühl, dass es noch viele Möglichkeiten zur Nutzung gibt, die ich bisher noch nicht nutze. Das Tool kann so viel und erleichtert die Arbeit sehr, wenn man weiß, wie es richtig zu bedienen ist. Fehler finden ist allerdings teilweise auch eine Herausforderung und ohne unseren Consultant, der das Modell aufgebaut hat, nicht immer möglich.

Role
Line of business employee
Number of employees
100 - 2.500
Industry
Retail
Source
Invited by the vendor, The Planning Survey 24, 04/2024
What do you like best?

Leichte Bedienung durch die Enduser. Stabiles System. Funktioniert immer.

What do you like least/what could be improved?

What key advice would you give to other companies looking to introduce/use the product?

Vorher genau überlegen, was man will/braucht. Umso zufriedener ist man nachher.

How would you sum up your experience?

Das, was ich brauche, bekomme ich, und wenn Änderungen in der Struktur notwendig sind, sind diese leicht umzusetzen.

Role
Head of business department
Number of employees
100 - 2.500
Industry
Utilities
Source
Invited by the vendor, The Planning Survey 24, 04/2024
What do you like best?

Vielfältigkeit der Lösungsmöglichkeiten, Auswertungsmöglichkeiten. Fachkompetenz und Lösungsorientierung unseres Unit4-Beraters.

What do you like least/what could be improved?

Mehr Flexibilität bzgl. On-premise vs Cloud-Lösung.

What key advice would you give to other companies looking to introduce/use the product?

Genug zeitliche Ressourcen bereitstellen. Know-how Transfer auf die internen Poweruser sicherstellen.

How would you sum up your experience?

Role
Project manager for planning from business department
Number of employees
100 - 2.500
Industry
Education
Source
BARC Panel, The Planning Survey 24, 04/2024
What do you like best?

Flexibilität.

What do you like least/what could be improved?

Support, erzwungener Umstieg in Cloud ab Ende 2024.

What key advice would you give to other companies looking to introduce/use the product?

Pflichtenheft, genaue Dokumentation der vereinbarten Implementierungsziele, fähiger und williger Admin/Power User für die Software

How would you sum up your experience?

Wir konnten damit unsere Budgetierung und auch das Reporting auf ein neues Level heben.

Role
Line of business employee
Number of employees
100 - 2.500
Industry
Utilities
Source
Invited by the vendor, The Planning Survey 24, 04/2024
What do you like best?

Fachbereich kann unabhängig von der IT selbstständig (auch ohne Unterstützung von UNIT4) das Modell anpassen Möglichkeit zum Austausch mit anderen Anwendern Regelmäßige Infoveranstaltungen zu neuen Möglichkeiten der Systemnutzung und Ausblick, was es zukünftig geben wird Nähe zu den Anwendern. Anregungen werden nach Möglichkeit und Prio der Nutzer bei Updates berücksichtigt.

What do you like least/what could be improved?

Schulungsvideos auch auf Deutsch anbieten.

What key advice would you give to other companies looking to introduce/use the product?

In jedem Fall ist es sinnvoll, das Planungsmodell gemeinsam mit UNIT4 FP&A aufzubauen und sich eigenes Know-how aufzubauen, um Probleme auch ohne FP&A lösen zu können. Je besser man das Modell selbst versteht, desto besser ist auch der Austausch bei Problemen mit UNIT4 FP&A.

How would you sum up your experience?

Sehr anwenderorientiert (leider werden aufgrund von Unternehmensentscheidungen lange nicht alle Möglichkeiten von UNIT4 FP&A im Unternehmen genutzt).

Role
Consultant
Number of employees
100 - 2.500
Industry
Consulting
Source
BARC Panel, The Planning Survey 24, 04/2024
What do you like best?

Die Flexibilität in der Modellierung.

What do you like least/what could be improved?

What key advice would you give to other companies looking to introduce/use the product?

Unbedingt vorher mit einem Kunden sprechen und Erfahrungen erfragen. Eine realistische Einschätzung der im Projekt beteiligten Personen auf Unternehmensseite hinsichtlich Verfügbarkeit und technisch/fachliches Know-how treffen. Wer hier blauäugig vorgeht schießt sich selbst ins Knie. An die Fachabteilung angrenzende Organisationsbereiche formell/offiziell ins Projektteam holen und regelmäßig miteinbeziehen.

How would you sum up your experience?

Sehr gut.

Role
Line of business employee
Number of employees
100 - 2.500
Industry
Utilities
Source
Invited by the vendor, The Planning Survey 24, 04/2024
What do you like best?

Self-Service BI, modellierbar frei nach eigenen Wünschen und Vorstellungen.

What do you like least/what could be improved?

Performance

What key advice would you give to other companies looking to introduce/use the product?

Überdenkt die Modellierung durchgehend neu. Lieber 2x integrieren, als 1x jahrelang mit magerer Performance eine Modellierung aufgebaut zu haben und nur weil sie funktioniert und zu groß geworden ist, diese Modellierung nicht mehr anrühren.

How would you sum up your experience?

Role
Project manager for planning from business department
Number of employees
More than 2.500
Industry
Education
Source
Invited by the vendor, The Planning Survey 24, 04/2024
What do you like best?

Very flexible.

What do you like least/what could be improved?

Performance and some more standard functionalities.

What key advice would you give to other companies looking to introduce/use the product?

Have a very strict definition on what you require from the system. It helps you focus, and the system is so flexible that everything can be build.

How would you sum up your experience?

Very flexible solution which could use an increase in performance. Ease of use is great for end users, but it is not very easy for functional admins, even basic functionalities require a tailor-made solution.

Role
Project manager for planning from business department
Number of employees
More than 2.500
Industry
Retail
Source
BARC Panel, The Planning Survey 24, 04/2024
What do you like best?

Hohe Flexiblität in Modellierung und schnelle Anforderungsumsetzung.

What do you like least/what could be improved?

What key advice would you give to other companies looking to introduce/use the product?

Fachliche Anforderungen genau klären und erst dann umsetzen. Hohe Flexibilität und Anforderungsumsetzung nicht dazu nutzen, jeden Wunsch zu erfüllen.

How would you sum up your experience?

Sehr gut!

Role
Line of business employee
Number of employees
More than 2.500
Industry
Retail
Source
Invited by the vendor, The Planning Survey 24, 04/2024
What do you like best?

Funktionalität, Wissen der Berater, Anpassbarkeit.

What do you like least/what could be improved?

Support.

What key advice would you give to other companies looking to introduce/use the product?

How would you sum up your experience?

Ein durchweg sehr gutes Planungstool.

Role
Head of business department
Number of employees
More than 2.500
Industry
Utilities
Source
Invited by the vendor, The Planning Survey 24, 04/2024
What do you like best?

Super Fachleute, die gewillt sind zu helfen.

What do you like least/what could be improved?

Die Clientlösung mit 4 Release wechseln pro Jahr. Geringe Flexibilität bei der Anbindung der Lösung an die IT des Kunden.

What key advice would you give to other companies looking to introduce/use the product?

Prüft vorher, ob Ihr in der Lage seid, die Software selbst zu pflegen und zu bearbeiten.

How would you sum up your experience?

Sehr durchwachsen. Der Support bei Problemen ist zu kompliziert und dauert häufig zu lange.

Awards
Survey Information
Number of reviews for Unit4 FP&A
37
Reviewed versions
V10 3%, V21 10%, V22 23%, V23 65%
Peer groups in the survey
Midsize/Departmental Implementations, Products for Planning, Budgeting & Forecasting, Integrated Products for Planning and Financial Consolidation, Worldwide Implementations
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