Why Private Equity Firms Must Embrace EPM & CPM Over Excel
In today’s high-stakes investment landscape, Private Equity (PE) firms can no longer afford to operate with fragmented tools and outdated methods. Excel, while once revolutionary, is now a bottleneck. In its place, Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) and Corporate Performance Management (CPM) platforms are emerging as critical enablers of operational agility and financial insight, both within portfolio companies and across the PE firm itself.
This shift isn’t just about efficiency. It’s about creating a unified, intelligent, and scalable foundation for value creation.
Excel Is Holding You Back
Let’s be honest: Excel was never designed to scale across multiple business units, let alone a complex portfolio of companies. Here’s what’s typically going wrong:
Disjointed reporting and forecasting
Each portfolio company produces its own reports, formats, and assumptions, making roll-ups labor-intensive and error-prone.
No single source of truth
Teams spend more time reconciling numbers than analysing them.
Lagging insights
By the time spreadsheets are consolidated, the data is already stale.
Limited collaboration
Finance, operations, and commercial teams struggle to work together, especially in remote or fast-paced environments.
EPM/CPM: The Unified Backbone for Performance
Modern EPM and CPM platforms like Board, OneStream, and Anaplan transform reporting, forecasting, and strategic planning by delivering:
A Single, Unified Reporting Framework
Standardised KPIs and dashboards across all portfolio companies.
Drill-down capability from group-level metrics to individual cost centres.
Consistent templates, assumptions, and timelines, eliminating reporting guesswork.
Automated Consolidation & Rolling Forecasts
Real-time updates and rolling forecasts for more responsive decisions.
Automated financial consolidation, reducing month-end from weeks to days.
Support for IFRS, GAAP, and statutory compliance without duplicative work.
Integration with External & Alternative Data
Pull in market, economic, inflation, FX, or supply chain data to inform models.
Incorporate ESG scores, benchmarking data, and sector-specific insights directly into dashboards.
Enables scenario planning that reflects not just internal performance, but external risks and opportunities.
Strategic Benefits for Portfolio Companies
For the firms you've invested in, EPM and CPM unlock:
Operational discipline through structured planning cycles and transparent accountability.
Better forecasting to anticipate cash needs, margin pressure, or working capital swings.
Empowered decision-making with self-service analytics, not static reports.
It’s not just about doing things faster. It’s about doing the right things, with confidence.
Strategic Benefits for the PE Firm
For the PE house itself, the value is exponential:
Live visibility across the portfolio with customizable views by sector, region, or investment thesis.
Standardised board reporting that rolls up without rework or reformatting.
Stronger oversight with audit trails, approval flows, and scenario stress-testing.
Accelerated time to exit with clean, credible, and easily demonstrable financial performance.
The Future of Value Creation Is Digital
The most forward-thinking PE firms don’t stop at advising digital transformation—they enable and mandate it. By embedding EPM/CPM tools into the post-deal value creation playbook, firms build better businesses, faster.
And in a world where LPs increasingly demand transparency, tech-savviness, and operational maturity, that’s not just an edge, it’s a requirement.
Final Thought
EPM/CPM platforms aren’t just replacements for Excel. They’re operating systems for growth, control, and insight. If your portfolio still runs on spreadsheets, you’re not just behind, you’re exposed.
It’s time to make the upgrade. Your returns—and your reputation—depend on it.
Book a call with one of our consultants and get the upgrade your business needs. Book here
