Empowering Higher Education: Workday Adaptive Planning Tackles FP&A Challenges Head-On
In the realm of higher education, FP&A teams confront a distinct set of financial hurdles. Amidst dwindling government funding and changing student demographics, they grapple with balancing tight budgets while ensuring academic excellence. The need for infrastructural upgrades, technological advancements, and competitive faculty salaries further strains their financial blueprints. Moreover, the unpredictability of enrolment numbers each year, coupled with the increasing demand for scholarships and financial aid, adds layers of complexity.
In this complex environment, you need clear, quick insights to make smart decisions. That’s why finance teams choose Workday Adaptive Planning.
To learn more about our FP&A Solutions for education institutes with Workday Adaptive Planning, arrange a call with one of our Consultants.
Helping you address the key FP&A challenges
in Higher Education
Fluctuating Enrolment
Student enrolment numbers can vary year-to-year based on various factors such as economic conditions, competition from other institutions, or changes in curriculum offerings. These fluctuations impact revenue from tuition fees. Workday Adaptive Planning can actively manage capacity planning and help educational institutes optimise the utilisation of valuable resources, across the organisation.
Tuition and Financial Aid
Setting tuition rates while balancing the need for financial aid and scholarships is a delicate act. It requires robust forecasting to ensure that financial aid allocations don’t adversely impact the institution’s bottom line. Workday Adaptive Planning makes forecasting a simple, continuous and fast process with connected, driver-based planning rules that can update a complete forecast whenever data, drivers or KPIs change.
Long-term Capital Projects
Planning for large-scale projects like building new facilities or renovating existing ones requires long-term financial planning and securing funds. With Workday Adaptive Planning new what-if scenarios can be created on-the-fly in minutes. Organisations can effectively model the impact of changes to future investment plans and improve decision making.
Stakeholder Expectations
Balancing the expectations of diverse stakeholders, including students, parents, faculty, donors, and regulatory bodies, adds another layer of complexity to financial planning. By reducing manual effort and errors, Workday Adaptive Planning allows FP&A professionals to spend more time understanding the story behind the numbers and providing insight led recommendations to a wide range of stakeholders.
Why Workday Adaptive Planning is the Best Choice for Higher Education establishments
- Dynamic Forecasting – With unpredictable funding and enrolment fluctuations, Workday Adaptive Planning’s real-time forecasting allows institutions to adjust their budgets on-the-fly, ensuring financial agility.
- Unified Data View – Workday consolidates data from diverse revenue streams, from tuition fees to donations and grants. This holistic view streamlines financial analysis and decision-making.
- Scenario Planning – In the face of uncertainties like funding cuts or infrastructure needs, the tool enables educational institutions to model different financial scenarios, helping them prepare for various outcomes.
- Collaborative Budgeting – Workday promotes cross-departmental collaboration, ensuring that financial plans align with academic and operational goals. This collaborative approach ensures transparency and stakeholder buy-in.
- Advanced Reporting – With the need to satisfy various stakeholders, the platform’s customisable reporting capabilities provide tailored insights, from departmental budgets to institution-wide financial overviews.
- Streamlined Grant Management – For institutions relying heavily on research grants, Workday facilitates efficient grant budgeting, tracking, and reporting, ensuring compliance and optimal fund utilisation.
- Cloud-based Access – Workday’s cloud solution offers scalability and remote access, vital for large educational establishments with multiple campuses or departments.
- User-friendly Interface – The intuitive design allows both financial professionals and other department heads (like academic department chairs or research leads) to utilise its capabilities effectively.
- Integration Capabilities – Workday can integrate seamlessly with other systems in use at educational institutions, such as student information systems, ensuring a smooth data flow and reducing manual data entry.
- Compliance and Security – Recognising the regulatory demands of the education sector, Workday offers robust compliance features and ensures data security, giving institutions peace of mind.
- Tuition and Financial Aid Planning – The tool allows for detailed modelling of tuition scenarios, taking into account financial aid, scholarships, and other discounts, helping institutions set optimal tuition rates.
By providing a robust, flexible, and user-friendly platform, Workday Adaptive Planning empowers educational establishments’ FP&A teams to navigate their sector’s unique financial challenges with confidence and foresight.
SUCCESS STORIES
Getting access to that financial data in real-time will allow the team to play a more strategic role in the business. The idea is that they can build out three and five-year plans in a far easier and more time-efficient manner. We’ll now do spot check forecasts and ‘temperature checks’ throughout the year because we can with Workday Adaptive Planning.
