Solution Reviews :: BA | BI
Forecaster - Microsoft
Forecaster - Microsoft
Website: http://www.microsoft.com/dynamics
Category: General Financial Reporting and Analysis (Budgeting and Forecasting)
Best Fit
Strengths
Brief Product Description and Pricing
Technical Specifications
Integration with Accounting and Ease of Setup
Representative Client List (if available)
Company History and Contact Information
Commentary (The following is provided by the Editor with notes and comments from others.)
- 100 to 2500 employees
- More than 10 cost centers
- Complex budgeting process
Strengths
- Budgeting and Capital Expenditure planning.
- Revenue Modeling.
- Spreadsheet style interface is easy for accountants to work with.
- Flexible input screens can be designed to help budget administrators control what users see and how they enter their numbers.
- Color driven icons and indicators incorporate visual clues to highlight important information.
Brief Product Description and Pricing
- Microsoft® Forecaster is a powerful budgeting and planning application from FRx Software Corporation – a Microsoft subsidiary, was designed specifically for budgeting and planning. Microsoft Forecaster security features include several options for helping safeguard sensitive information. Security set-up for groups, users and assignments are combined into a single screen, making it quick and easy to assign the right level of responsibility to each user. “Power users” can help retain control over their information by performing basic administrative tasks without compromising security features or overwriting what has already been done. Building blocks and reports can only be modified by the original creator of the items. Finally, Budget Administrators can quickly lock all users out of the system for maintenance or other purposes as necessary.
- The price of a complete budgeting and planning solution can range from $8,500 for a single user to $55,000 US for unlimited users, depending on the size and needs of your organization.
Technical Specifications
- Microsoft .NET based
- Microsoft Windows XP and Vista
- Client workstation 256MB RAM and 500+MB of available fixed disk space
- Microsoft SQL Server 2005 (SP2) or Oracle 10g or 9i
Integration with Accounting and Ease of Setup
- General integration with a number of accounting solutions.
Representative Client List (if available)
- Mercy Health Partners
- New Belgium Brewing Co.
- Stahl's
- Hess Oil
- Owen Health
Company History and Contact Information
- Originally developed by FRx and repositioned by Microsoft after the acquisition.
Commentary (The following is provided by the Editor with notes and comments from others.)
- Forecaster integrates with your general ledger. It has a minimal learning curve, helpful wizards and intuitive planning screens. The budgeting process is automated and streamlined, keeping all users up-to-date on the latest budget developments with e-mail notifications and reminders, a centralized bulletin board, and global planning instructions. Predefined security assignments and routings safeguard your data, ensuring that sensitive information is provided only to those authorized to view it.
- With FRx Forecaster, your organization can:
- Involve the managers and staff in a collaborative, automated budgeting process, and understand the impact of budget decisions on interrelated departments.
- Automatically perform complex consolidations and roll-ups with ease.
- Feel confident that the final budget numbers are accurate, can accommodate last minute adjustments, and will improve financial decision making.
Keep business performance on target with accurate plans.
The information provided herein is not warranted in anyway and is subject to change without notice.
We recommend that you confirm information contained herein with the appropriate manufacturer or reseller.
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