Performance management is a process that successful organizations use to monitor, assess, manage and grow their business. It is the most fundamental process in any successful company. It is a continuous 4 stage process:
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Plan
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Set targets
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Evaluate performance
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Reward and improve
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Stage 1: Planning
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Create a financial plan to identify key goals, and the resources, initiatives and KPIs needed to achieve those goals.
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Key objectives:
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Create financial plan aligned with shareholder goals for revenue, profitability, returns & key milestones.
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Identify the resources, initiatives and KPIs needed to achieve the plan.
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Enable target setting across the organization
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How to do it?
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Create driver-based financial plan based on the operating KPIs (aka drivers) that (1) have the highest impact on business results; (2) employees can control, measure & improve.
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A driver-based plan establishes relationships between the financial results & the resources needed to achieve those results (like people, marketing budgets, equipment, etc.).
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Stage 2: Set targets and KPIs
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Communicate targets and KPIs across the organization and ensure buy-in, clarity, transparency and accountability.
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Key objectives:
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Set clear and measurable targets (KPIs) across the organization. On total company, business units, departments, regions, stores, projects, etc. However your company is structured.
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Ensure buy-in for targets from management and key employees.
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Drive organizational alignment and accountability.
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How to do it?
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Create a driver-based financial plan based on the operating KPIs by department, business unit, geography, store, project, etc.
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Set targets together with management and key employees (as mush as possible!) to ensure transparency, buy-in and accountability.
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Stage 3: Evaluate performance
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Track actual progress and performance against the plan, previous periods and targets.
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Key objectives:
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Gain clarity where improvement is needed and where reward is due.
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Enable informed and timely decision making.
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Mitigate risk and drive action across the organization.
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Enable timely rewards and improvement initiatives.
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How to do it?
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KPI reporting and variance analysis. Track progress against targets and KPIs across the organization (i.e. departments, business units, geographies, stores, projects, etc.).
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Efficient and automated reporting in minutes, not days, so that reporting is actually seen as useful instead of just paperwork that takes a lot of effort to do.
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Insightful. Understand the root causes for differences in performance, not just naked numbers.
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Stage 4: Reward and improve
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Reward good performance and define performance improvement initiatives, where needed.
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Key objectives:
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Define improvement initiatives where needed, and evaluate their impact on future results.
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Reward good performance.
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How to do it?
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Reforecast expected future performance taking into account recent actual performance.
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Identify improvement initiatives and add them to the financial plan to understand their impact on future results.
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An effective performance management process is fundamental to a successful business. It is the only way to ensure clarity, accountability, buy in, urgency, motivation, consistency and trust across the organisation. Many successful companies don’t have a structured performance management process, but they have a process. However, there is no successful company without a performance management process. So, make it easy for everyone, manage your company effectively by planning, clearly communicating expectations, evaluating performance and rewarding where reward is due and improving where improvement is needed.
In the last 20 years, he helped everything from startups to multi-billion-dollar conglomerates plan, manage, fundraise, and grow.
\n","slug":"4-stages-of-performance-management-process","date":"2025-02-14T09:21:16","categories":{"nodes":[{"id":"dGVybToxNA==","name":"Financial Forecast"},{"id":"dGVybToxMw==","name":"Reports & Dashboards"}]},"mainCategory":{"mainCategory":["financial-forecast"],"videoHeader":null},"tags":{"nodes":[{"name":"business planning"},{"name":"financial forecasting"},{"name":"financial modeling"},{"name":"financial reporting"},{"name":"performance management"}]},"featuredImage":{"node":{"id":"cG9zdDoxMDExOA==","sourceUrl":"/images/cms/getty-images-SMlTYDjbg1I-unsplash.jpg","altText":"performance management process"}},"seo":{"metaDesc":"Learn more about one of the fundamental processes of any successful company - the performance management process, used to monitor, assess, manage and grow a business."},"modified":"2025-02-14T09:21:18","related":[{"id":"cG9zdDoxMTU0MQ==","title":"How Accountants Can Offer High-Margin Advisory Services","content":"\n
Why Advisory Services Matter for Accounting Firms
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The accounting profession is shifting. Compliance and bookkeeping remain essential, but today’s clients expect more. They want guidance on how to run their business smarter, manage cash flow, and plan for the future.
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According to a CPA.com survey:
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Clients pay ~50% more for advisory services compared to traditional compliance.
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65% of clients need advisory support.
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45% expect their accounting firm to provide it.
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This means the demand is already there. The opportunity for accounting firms is clear: move beyond bookkeeping into high-margin advisory services.
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The Challenge: Scaling Advisory Without Burning Out
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For most small and mid-sized firms, the hesitation is simple: ❌ Limited staff time ❌ No standardized tools for forecasting & reporting ❌ Concern about overcomplicating workflows
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The good news? Advisory can be delivered at scale, without adding headcount or creating inefficiencies — if you have the right system.
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The Solution: Modeliks for Advisory Services
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Modeliks helps accountants transform their existing relationships into advisory partnerships by automating the heavy lifting.
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Here’s how it works in practice:
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1️⃣ Connect QuickBooks in Minutes Sync client actuals directly — no messy spreadsheets or manual imports.
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2️⃣ Build Budgets & Automated Financials Instantly generate a forward-looking P&L, Balance Sheet, and Cash Flow statement, tailored to each client.
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3️⃣ Deliver Dashboards & Variance Analysis Clients see Actual vs. Plan vs. Previous Periods. You provide insight into why numbers moved — without building reports from scratch each month.
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The Impact for Accounting Firms
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Firms using Modeliks see: ✅ New revenue streams by offering planning & reporting as premium packages ✅ Higher client retention thanks to consistent value beyond compliance ✅ No extra headcount required, since processes are automated ✅ Improved positioning as trusted advisors, not just bookkeepers
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As one accountant put it:
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“Our clients can now make confident decisions. For us it’s a game-changer — we finally sell insight, not just compliance.”
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Why Now Is the Time
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Client expectations are rising. Competitors are moving into advisory. Technology makes it easier than ever to scale.
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If you’re an accountant or firm owner, now is the time to position your practice for the next decade. Advisory services are not just an add-on — they’re the future of accounting.
\n","slug":"high-margin-advisory-services-accountants","date":"2025-09-02T08:30:06","categories":{"nodes":[{"id":"dGVybToxMQ==","name":"Business Plans"},{"id":"dGVybToxNA==","name":"Financial Forecast"},{"id":"dGVybTozNQ==","name":"News"},{"id":"dGVybTozNA==","name":"Partners"},{"id":"dGVybToxMg==","name":"Pitch Decks"},{"id":"dGVybToxMw==","name":"Reports & Dashboards"}]},"mainCategory":{"mainCategory":["financial-forecast"],"videoHeader":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlQEwnWOdKQ"},"tags":{"nodes":[{"name":"accounting advisory services growth"},{"name":"budgeting and forecasting"},{"name":"business planning"},{"name":"consulting firm profitability strategies"},{"name":"Financial analysis"},{"name":"financial forecasting"},{"name":"financial modeling"},{"name":"financial planning"},{"name":"financial planning for professional services firms"},{"name":"financial reporting"}]},"featuredImage":{"node":{"id":"cG9zdDoxMTU0Mg==","sourceUrl":"/images/cms/Screenshot-2025-09-02-at-10.27.59.png","altText":"How to offer Advisory Services at High Margin?"}},"seo":{"metaDesc":"Learn how accounting firms can add high-margin advisory services without extra headcount. Discover how Modeliks helps accountants deliver financial planning, reporting, and dashboards that clients will pay more for."},"modified":"2025-09-02T08:30:10","related":null},{"id":"cG9zdDoxMTQ4Mw==","title":"How to Manage & Grow Your Professional Services Business: A Strategic Playbook","content":"\n
Running a professional services business is demanding. Whether you’re a founder, consultant, accountant, or finance leader, the challenges are similar:
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Managing multiple clients
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Tracking projects and timesheets
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Ensuring profitability while scaling
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Moving beyond basic bookkeeping into strategic financial insights
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The truth? Many services firms outgrow spreadsheets faster than they realize. A project-based business requires a planning and reporting framework that adapts as you grow – not one that breaks every time a new client, project, or team member comes onboard.
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That’s where having a structured financial planning and reporting system becomes a game-changer.
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Who is This Playbook For?
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This strategic framework is designed for:
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Founders & Owners of Service Firms — who need clarity on profitability and growth drivers.
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Consultants — who want to optimize billable hours and scale without burning out.
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Accountants & Accounting Firm Owners — who want to expand beyond bookkeeping and offer high-value advisory services like forecasting, management reporting, and fractional CFO solutions.
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Finance Leaders (CFOs, Finance Managers, Controllers) — who require accurate reporting, scenario planning, and board-ready insights without wasting hours in spreadsheets.
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If you run a project-based business, use timesheets, or manage multiple clients, this playbook is for you.
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How to Grow Profitability in Professional Services
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Professional services firms often face profitability challenges because margins are tied to capacity, efficiency, and client mix. Here’s where the right planning approach makes a difference:
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1. Plan by Project (Not Just Company-Level)
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Each project has its own revenue, costs, and resources. Without project-level visibility, it’s impossible to know which work is actually profitable.
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2. Track Actuals vs. Plan
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It’s not enough to create a yearly budget. Monthly actuals vs. plan reporting helps you quickly see where projects are off track and adjust before problems snowball.
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3. Build Scenarios
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What happens if a big client leaves? Or if you add two more consultants next quarter? Scenario planning gives you the confidence to make tough decisions with numbers to back them up.
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4. Monitor Utilization & Capacity
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Employee utilization is the heartbeat of a services firm. By linking financial forecasts to billable hours, staffing, and client demand, you can identify bottlenecks and prevent costly underutilization.
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How Modeliks Helps
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At Modeliks, we’ve built a platform that turns these best practices into a structured, repeatable process.
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With Modeliks, you can:
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Plan by Project, Department, or Client Build forecasts by any dimension of your business — project, geography, store, or team.
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Automate Actual vs. Plan Reporting Sync with QuickBooks or upload trial balances from Excel. No more rebuilding reports every month.
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Get Dashboards & KPIs That Matter Variance analysis, profitability by client/project, utilization, and other insights are ready in minutes.
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Run What-If Scenarios Test different client acquisition strategies, pricing models, or staffing plans.
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Scale Without Adding Headcount Accountants and consultants can serve more clients in less time, while founders and finance leaders gain clarity without extra hires.
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Why This Matters Now
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Most firms wait until they have 100+ employees to rethink planning. But the truth is, dimensional planning and reporting matters at 20 employees, as much as at 200.
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The earlier you set up a scalable framework, the faster you can:
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Increase profitability per client
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Retain clients longer by delivering insight, not just compliance
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Attract investors, lenders, or partners with investor-ready plans
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Free up time to focus on strategic growth instead of fixing spreadsheets
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Key Takeaway
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Growing a professional services business isn’t just about winning more clients — it’s about building a system that lets you manage projects, measure performance, and grow profitably.
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That’s what this playbook is about — and why we built Modeliks.
\n","slug":"financial-planning-for-professional-services","date":"2025-09-01T11:47:08","categories":{"nodes":[{"id":"dGVybToxMQ==","name":"Business Plans"},{"id":"dGVybToxNA==","name":"Financial Forecast"},{"id":"dGVybTozNQ==","name":"News"},{"id":"dGVybTozNA==","name":"Partners"},{"id":"dGVybToxMg==","name":"Pitch Decks"},{"id":"dGVybToxMw==","name":"Reports & Dashboards"}]},"mainCategory":{"mainCategory":["financial-forecast"],"videoHeader":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E87pBDPZzPc"},"tags":{"nodes":[{"name":"accounting advisory services growth"},{"name":"budgeting and forecasting"},{"name":"business planning"},{"name":"consulting firm profitability strategies"},{"name":"Financial analysis"},{"name":"financial forecasting"},{"name":"financial modeling"},{"name":"financial planning"},{"name":"financial planning for professional services firms"},{"name":"financial reporting"}]},"featuredImage":{"node":{"id":"cG9zdDoxMTQ4NA==","sourceUrl":"/images/cms/Screenshot-2025-09-01-at-13.39.02.png","altText":"Financial planning for professional services"}},"seo":{"metaDesc":"Discover how to manage and grow your professional services firm with project-based financial planning, reporting, and forecasting strategies."},"modified":"2025-09-01T11:47:11","related":null},{"id":"cG9zdDoxMDQyMA==","title":"Modeliks 2.0 is Live!","content":"\n
Today we released a massive new update of Modeliks. A multidimensional Modeliks 2.0. I am both happy and sad to see Modeliks grow up. I liked baby Modeliks. He was cute and a little clumsy. Now, we created a beast.
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We listened to your feedback and made Modeliks by far the best financial planning and reporting tool for SMEs. Alright, I might be a bit subjective, but here is what’s new:
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Multi dimensional planning and reporting. This means that you can plan and track performance by organizational unit, whether that is business units, departments, geography, stores, projects. However your company is structured, you can have clear targets and track performance across your whole organization.
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Consolidation: if you plan on a business unit level, Modeliks will consolidate your financial plans upwords.
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Allocations: allocate costs from the head office down to the operating units. Why? Some costs are incurred in the head office, or regional offices, but should be allocated down to the operating units, in order to get a correct picture of profitability across the organization.
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Quickbooks integration. Connect Modeliks to your Quickbooks and have your planning and monthly reporting automated, error free and done in minutes.
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Account grouping. Group several accounts into one group account. For example, you can create a Utilities group account and make your Energy, heating, phone, internet, water accounts part of the utilities group. Why? Because when you plan, you don’t want to plan on every single small account that you have in your accounting system. It is too tedious and messy. So, group them logically, plan on groups, and make planning and reporting easy and useful.
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Initiative planning and evaluation. You have a new initiative in mind for your business? Create a business case and see how it will impact your business. If the numbers say it’s good, keep it. If not, drop it.
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Monthly forecasting. Now you can forecast up to 3 years on monthly basis.
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Lastly. Speed. Modeliks is now 10 times faster than before.
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And there is a lot more to come in the next few months. Stay tuned for new features, and in the mean-time, plan, manage and grow your business with Modeliks 2.0.
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Let’s recap. Now you can:
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Build driver based financial models for any business
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Do it by department, business unit, geography, stores, projects
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Run scenarios and evaluate new initiatives
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Track actual performance vs budget, on every level in your organization. Especially easy with the Quickbooks integration
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Automate monthly investor and management reporting
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And write professional and detailed business plans with the help of our AI assistant.
\n","slug":"modeliks-2-0-a-live","date":"2025-04-01T08:59:31","categories":{"nodes":[{"id":"dGVybToxMQ==","name":"Business Plans"},{"id":"dGVybToxNA==","name":"Financial Forecast"},{"id":"dGVybTozNQ==","name":"News"},{"id":"dGVybTozNA==","name":"Partners"},{"id":"dGVybToxMg==","name":"Pitch Decks"},{"id":"dGVybToxMw==","name":"Reports & Dashboards"}]},"mainCategory":{"mainCategory":["financial-forecast"],"videoHeader":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-61deO4BkFg"},"tags":{"nodes":[{"name":"budgeting and forecasting"},{"name":"business planning"},{"name":"Financial analysis"},{"name":"financial forecasting"},{"name":"financial modeling"},{"name":"financial planning"},{"name":"financial reporting"},{"name":"market analysis"},{"name":"modeliks"},{"name":"quickbooks"}]},"featuredImage":{"node":{"id":"cG9zdDoxMDQyMg==","sourceUrl":"/images/cms/Modeliks-2.0-Post-image.png","altText":"Modeliks 2.0."}},"seo":{"metaDesc":"A massive new update of Modeliks is here. A multidimensional, Quickbooks integrated, faster than ever Modeliks 2.0. GROW your business, NOW!"},"modified":"2025-04-01T09:20:31","related":null}]}2:["$","$L8",null,{"post":"$9"}]
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