The Children’s Society
The Children’s Society puts finance in the hands of its people with Workday Adaptive Planning
Background
How one charity transformed budgeting and reporting for 90+ budget holders.
The Children’s Society is a national charity working to transform the hopes and happiness of young people facing abuse, exploitation and neglect, employing over 850 people supporting its mission across many different regions, with many different local challenges.
When it set out to modernise how it managed its finances, the goal was clear: make budgeting and reporting easier, faster and more useful for everyone. With over 90 budget holders and a company-wide restructure underway, it needed a system that could scale, flex and grow with its needs.
“It used to take a month to do a quarter’s planning”
For years, budgeting at The Children’s Society had been managed through spreadsheets in a previous system that was slow to update, hard to control, and difficult to share. Finance was managing the numbers, but it was tricky to empower budget holders with the insight they needed.
Yulia Pasiuk, Director of Financial Planning & Analysis at The Children’s Society and part of a team of 12, explained:
“The budgeting process used to be very manual. Everything came through in spreadsheets, we’d clean and compile the data, but it wasn’t easy for budget holders to engage with the numbers. It could often take us up to a month to do a quarter’s planning.”
The charity needed a solution that would do more than just replace spreadsheets. It had to be something the finance team could own and manage without leaning on IT or external consultants. A streamlined process that removed opportunity for error and provided clear reporting and analysis, and most importantly allowed a level of autonomy for the budget holders.
“We really liked that Workday Adaptive Planning didn’t require IT resource to maintain it. We didn’t want to have to raise tickets or depend on others to change things. Now, we can do it ourselves.”
Tailored for FP&A and over 90+ budget holders
The finance team worked with ICit to configure Workday Adaptive Planning to reflect the charity’s structure, building tailored reports for different roles and user levels. Budget holders now see detailed analysis of the numbers that matter to them, while senior leaders get a high-level, executive view of the overall picture.
Pasiuk continued: “We have over 90 budget holders. They all use the same dashboard layout and colour scheme, which keeps things consistent. And because they can filter by team or cost centre, they only see what’s relevant to them.”
Each user gets just the level of detail they need, helping them take ownership of their budgets without being overwhelmed.
Clearer insight for better decisions
Senior leadership now has access to visual, interactive dashboards that help steer strategic decisions, no more static PDF reports or waiting on finance for updates.
Pasiuk explained: “For our exec team, we designed a summary dashboard that gives a snapshot of net position and total income at a glance. It’s clear, simple and easy to use – exactly what they need.”
Budget holders can log in any time and get an up-to-date view of their spend, while finance can track performance in real-time, all in one place.
Fully self-sufficient—and excited about what’s next
Today, The Children’s Society’s finance team is fully in control of the system thanks to ICit’s training and development support around implementation. The team is now able to be self-sufficient, managing users, updating dimensions, and building reports independently.
Workday’s twice-yearly updates mean there’s always something new to explore, and they regularly attend ICit events to learn from other users and explore the latest Workday Adaptive Planning product enhancements.
“We’re already looking at what else we can do – scenario planning, more forecasting tools, deeper analysis. The great thing is, we know we can do it ourselves now.”
Ready to build a smarter finance function?
The Children’s Society is proof that with the right support, it’s possible to build a finance system that’s flexible, user-friendly, and future-proof.
Whether you’re managing dozens of budget holders or rethinking your reporting process, ICit and Workday Adaptive Planning can help you transform your FP&A capabilities.
Our team of specialist Workday Consultants can discuss your exact business needs, advise you on how to implement Workday Adaptive Planning within your finance practices and also offer training to those staff who will be using the software day-to-day.
Get in touch today
To find out more about the benefits of Workday Adaptive Planning, or ask any specific questions about how it could improve your current financial software options, please get in touch with us today.
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