Today, strategic plans are more important than ever before. Most experts agree that more businesses face an unstable business environment than we have seen for some time. Because of major changes in the business environment, your familiarity with strategic planning and your ability to implement it is critical.

While many businesses will actually prepare a formal written strategic plan (this is particularly true in much larger businesses or in businesses entering new markets), the central focus of a strategic plan for most businesses should be to identify specific strategic goals and objectives that will improve the financial performance of the business.

While these goals and objectives should be documented and used later as a follow up measure of success or failure, they often do not result in a formal written strategic plan for small businesses.

Numerous software tools might be useful in preparing the key elements of a strategic plan. The sampling of software tools covered in this article may help the accountant and business manager accumulate and analyze data in a way that leads to good strategic decisions. They are not typically classified as “Strategic Planning Tools.” Instead, they are generally called business planning tools.

The last two products covered are marketed as tools to be used in generating formal business plans that typically would be used to obtain investor financing or bank loans. Never-the-less, they contain the features and functions necessary to automate the process of developing specific strategic goals and objectives. 

ACCPAC CFO
A unique tool in that it is not designed to perform some traditional accounting function, such as recording transactions or preparing the budget. ACCPAC CFO is designed for businesses interested in improving their strategic method of financial analysis. ACCPAC CFO has a base cost around $1,000. 

In other words, it helps accountants and other financial professionals dissect and analyze data with the objective of setting strategic goals to improve financial performance. In the words of their marketing department, “ACCPAC CFO is a financial diagnostic and strategic analysis tool that begins where your General Ledger and traditional financial reports end.” 

The product is simple to learn and use. It uses a “scorecard” metaphor to display all the critical business numbers (both dollar amounts and measurements like day’s sales in inventory) on one easy-to-understand page. Users can change one number and see the impact of the change on the pro forma income statement and balance sheet accounts. It certainly is a unique approach to interpreting financial data.

ACCPAC CFO allows you to:

• Perform "What If Scenarios." For example: What would be the impact of reducing your receivables from 70 to 60 days?
• Perform “Goal Seeking." For example: What strategies can you employ to improve your cash flow from negative $325,000 to break even?
• Create a Budget or Forecast report. The Roll Forward function enables you to create a budget or forecast in two keystrokes.
• Import financial data from Caseware. 
• Import financial data from an Excel template (in version 2.0B). 

Business Plan Pro
Business Plan Pro from PaloAlto Software is designed primarily to prepare a formal business plan for obtaining financing from investors, venture capitalist and/or banks. 

For those interested in developing a strategic plan for their business, it offers a simple, straightforward (and inexpensive) tool. Its step-by-step analysis process helps you understand where your business is going and what strategic goals and objectives are needed to get there.

Although it is very sophisticated and has powerful analytical capabilities, it is designed to be sold to the masses and is extremely reasonably priced at under $100.

In addition to the built-in analytical tools for analyzing financial information and preparing forecasts, Business Plan Pro also has the following useful tools:

• 8,000+ Industry Profiles – More industry information than any other business planning software.
• Built-in Graphic Forecaster™ – Forecast your sales graphically on a chart, and your numbers are automatically transferred to your sales forecast table.
• Easy-to-Use Tables – Estimate your numbers and the pre-formatted tables build your financial statements for you.
• Expert Analysis – The Plan Review feature checks your financials for accuracy and your plan for completeness.

BizPlan Builder
BizPlan Builder from Jian Tools for Sales, Inc. is similar to Business Plan Pro in that it is designed primarily to help people prepare a formal business plan for the purpose of obtaining funding.

Like Business Plan Pro, it contains many useful tools to help business owners, managers and accountants understand where the business is going and what strategic goals and objectives are needed to achieve the desired financial result. At a price of less than $100, it is clearly worth the investment in order to gain a better understanding of your company’s financial situation.

Features include sample business plans that can be easily edited or exported to your favorite word-processor and a collection of enlightening Excel spreadsheet tools — simply fill in the variables and print. 

Features to look for when comparing software products for planning include:

• Industry Analysis 
• Customer Profile 
• Economic Factors 
• Demographics 
• Psychographics 
• Competition 
• Risk
• Sales Strategy 
• Positioning
• Pricing Strategies
• Comprehensive Ratio Analysis 
• Break-Even Analysis 
• Sensitivity Analysis.

Achieving success in today’s changing business environment demands strategic planning. Utilizing software for your strategic planning efforts helps make the job attainable, focused and realistic. 

About the Author
Val D. Steed, CPA, MA, is chief executive officer of K2 Enterprises. He is a presenter of MACPA CPE courses, including upcoming seminars in February and March. He has 11 years experience in public practice and has been involved with information systems and the technology industry for over 19 years.