Customer Spotlight

The Belgian subsidiary of the French Group, Carrefour Belgium, employs close to 19,000 people and generated revenues of roughly 5.3 billion euros exclusive of VAT.

"A budget is modeled a bit like a sculpture. We work on rough masses, and then we get into the details, refining until we achieve a perfect balance. This is precisely what we can do with BusinessObjects Planning. The tool allows us to prepare the budgets in the bottom-up phase and ensure year-round monitoring. BusinessObjects Planning is simple, logical, efficient, and unbelievably flexible."

says Fabienne Michiels, Financial Control Systems Manager, Finance & Management Department, Carrefour Belgium.

"For many years, the whole budgeting process was done in Excel. It was slow, cumbersome and highly decentralized. The data was not reliable and we weren't particularly efficient," admits Fabienne Michiels.

Budgeting from top-down to bottom-up

Each year, in mid-August, General Management defines each of its Business Units' objectives for the coming year in the main areas: revenue growth, margin, wage bill, etc. For Carrefour Belgium, the budget starts as a series of large masses that Financial Control and its controllers must fine-tune per business and per department. This is the top-down approach. The figures are then consolidated and presented: the budget is approved, and here we are in early October!

But how is it done? This is the bottom-up approach, and this is where BusinessObjects Planning steps in. Throughout the three budgeting phases (workforce, central service operating expenses and store operating budgets), BusinessObjects Planning is used to translate strategic objectives into detailed operating statements, produce what-if scenarios, consolidate the whole and analyze any fluctuations.

Stunning power and extreme simplicity

With BusinessObjects Planning, users work with a standard Excel spreadsheet: they are comfortable because they are familiar with the environment: "The great advantage for us is the seamless connection between Excel and BusinessObjects Planning."

With BusinessObjects Planning, cost center managers and controllers can perform simulations on all the budget masses making up the expected results. Today, Carrefour Belgium has a much more precise, detailed and controlled budgeting process.

Fabienne Michiels also likes the way the tool can adapt to her own thinking. "I can let my imagination run free. The product has tremendous potential but it's not restrictive, unlike many software programs that are very powerful but force you to follow a predefined path.