Founded in 1938 with the belief that forest owners are stronger together, Södra is now Sweden’s largest forest-owner association and an international forest industry group with several sawmills and pulp mills. With $3B+ in turnover, over 3,000 employees, and over 50,000 family-owned forestry businesses, Södra is a global leader in the forest industry, transforming wood into renewable and sustainable products for the future.
Background
During the winter of 2023, Södra transitioned to Microsoft Dynamics 365 F&SCM as its new accounting and ERP system. Simultaneously, the company invested in becoming more data-driven by leveraging Microsoft Fabric, integrating data from D365 and other sources using Power BI for data analysis and reporting. The switch to a new ERP system made Södra’s previous financial planning system obsolete. In spring 2024, with a tight timeline, the company evaluated various budgeting solutions and ultimately decided to integrate Aimplan into its Power BI and data warehouse platform. The goal was to launch the new budgeting solution by August.
Budgeting and reporting go hand in hand. Our new budgeting solution in Aimplan is an integrated part of our BI solution. It provides a stable information hub while allowing us to develop a flexible, seamless, and modern budgeting solution.
Fredrik Kinder
Head of Application Management Finance at Södra
Challenges
Requirement for Customizable Planning Forms
Södra’s various business areas operate in different industries, requiring highly customizable planning forms tailored to each business unit and user need.
Advanced Calculation Logic
Beyond user-friendly planning forms, Södra needed to implement complex business logic and calculations to finally compile an aggregated group income statement
Tight Implementation Timeline
The implementation of Aimplan within Södra’s Power BI/Fabric environment began in April, with a budget process involving 300 users scheduled to go live in August.
Needs and Solution
Budgeting and financial planning can be challenging and stressful. Södra sought a tool that would simplify the process for both controllers and managers, providing a unified framework for financial planning across the company.
Given Södra’s adoption of Microsoft Fabric and Power BI, they prioritized a planning and budgeting solution that would integrate seamlessly into their BI environment. Microsoft recommended that Södra should take a look at Aimplan as a solution to address their challenges.
With Aimplan, cost center managers can plan and budget directly within Power BI using their web browsers. Controllers can efficiently aggregate costs, revenues, headcount, and other planning data while easily comparing trends over time. This results in faster processes, better decision-making, and reduced workload.
Security and access control are managed through Power BI’s Row-Level Security (RLS). Once the budgeting process is completed, data can be transferred to Dynamics 365 F&SCM and the consolidation system.
Implementation
Aimplan was implemented by Aimplan’s partner XLENT in collaboration with Södra’s controllers and BI team. The project followed an agile methodology with regular meetings involving both users and controllers. Since Aimplan is based on Power BI, the learning curve was minimal, allowing the 2025 budget to be delivered on time despite the tight schedule.
Impact
The budgeting process has been significantly streamlined, reducing manual work and reliance on Excel-based processes. Managers and users can now quickly plan and set goals for their business directly within the system, supported by up-to-date and accurate data from the data warehouse in their Power BI planning forms. A key success factor for Södra was that Aimplan was not only robust and well-integrated but also user-friendly.
Summary
The implementation of Aimplan at Södra has been a success, enabling more efficient processes and reducing manual work. The budget was completed on time and seamlessly transferred to ERP and consolidation systems. Aimplan ensured that data could be easily collected, analyzed, and aggregated across the organization while maintaining security and access control.
With Power BI and Aimplan, Södra has achieved a future-proof and flexible budgeting platform that supports both corporate and business unit needs.
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