Blog — Planir

Plan

What Driver-Based Budgeting Looks Like in Practice

Most budgets are built by applying growth rates to last year's line items. Driver-based budgets start from operational reality — units, headcount, pricing — and the difference shows up in board defensibility.

Apr 2026 10 min read

Report

The Financial Section Takes 3 Days, the Strategic Narrative Takes 3 Hours

Finance Controllers spend the majority of the reporting cycle on the part that should be automated, and a fraction on the part boards actually discuss.

Apr 2026 8 min read

FP&A Practice

Why Not Just Use Claude? An Honest Assessment for Finance Controllers

You can upload a Xero export to Claude and get variance commentary for the price of a coffee. Here is where that workflow holds up, and where the gap widens for monthly reporting cycles and budget construction.

Apr 2026 11 min read

FP&A Practice

How to Structure a Board Pack Financial Section That Boards Actually Read

The financial section of a board pack is usually the first thing opened and the last thing remembered. Here is how to change that.

May 2026 9 min read

FP&A Practice

Variance Commentary: What to Include and What to Skip

Most variance commentary explains what happened. The version your board actually wants explains why it happened and what it means for the next quarter.

May 2026 8 min read

Analyse

Dimensional Analysis: Why "OPEX Increased 22%" Is Not an Answer

Your board does not want to know that costs went up. They want to know which department, which product line, which region, and what it means. Here is how dimensional analysis changes the conversation.

May 2026 9 min read

Report

Multi-Entity Consolidation in Excel: Why It Works Until It Doesn't

Four entities across three currencies in a spreadsheet works fine, until one intercompany elimination is wrong and the whole consolidated view needs rebuilding.

Jun 2026 9 min read

Plan

Cell-Level Justifications: Why the Reasoning Matters as Much as the Number

Your board asks where a revenue projection came from. If the answer is documented at the cell level, you are presenting. If it is not, you are scrambling.

Jun 2026 8 min read

Analyse

The Trust Question: When to Trust Generated Financial Commentary

A Finance Controller's professional reputation rides on every number in the board pack. Here is the framework for knowing when generated analysis is ready to review, and when it is not.

Jun 2026 8 min read

Insights for finance teams who run the numbers

What Driver-Based Budgeting Looks Like in Practice

The Financial Section Takes 3 Days, the Strategic Narrative Takes 3 Hours

Why Not Just Use Claude? An Honest Assessment for Finance Controllers

How to Structure a Board Pack Financial Section That Boards Actually Read

Variance Commentary: What to Include and What to Skip

Dimensional Analysis: Why "OPEX Increased 22%" Is Not an Answer

Multi-Entity Consolidation in Excel: Why It Works Until It Doesn't

Cell-Level Justifications: Why the Reasoning Matters as Much as the Number

The Trust Question: When to Trust Generated Financial Commentary

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