From the Field: FP&A Tools Driving Operational Efficiency and Strategic Agility (Part 2)
Source:controllerscouncil

From the Field: FP&A Tools Driving Operational Efficiency and Strategic Agility (Part 2)

In the first part of our series, we explored how companies like Montreal Mini-Storage and Pandora Media upgraded their financial planning effectively with tools like Anaplan. These stories showcase the need for automation, real-time data access, and connected planning across departments.

We continue to explore modern FP&A platforms and their real-world impact. From multi-location retail operations to global energy enterprises, finance teams are using tools like Cube Software and Prophix to drive faster reporting, reduce manual effort, and scale with confidence. These case studies provide an insight into how the right technology can empower finance teams to deliver high-impact insights, eliminate bottlenecks, and support enterprise-wide decision-making..

Let’s see how Edge Fitness Clubs and Fluxys leveraged FP&A technology to modernize their financial operations and unlock measurable business value.

Cube Software: Improving Reporting Efficiency in Multi-Location Businesses

Cube is an FP&A platform designed for finance teams who want to stay in the tools they use often—Excel and Google Sheets—while automating data consolidation, scenario planning, and reporting. It enables faster, more agile decision-making without requiring a complete shift away from spreadsheets.

Key features of Cube include:

  • Integration with ERPs, CRMs, and data warehouses
  • Real-time syncing of actuals into planning models
  • Excel and Google Sheets native interface
  • Scenario planning and forecasting with custom drivers
  • Version control and audit trails
  • Departmental collaboration and controlled data access
  • Lightweight implementation (live in under 2 weeks)

Cube is ideal for mid-sized, multi-location businesses that need visibility across departments and faster, more reliable FP&A processes—especially when resources are lean.

Pricing for Cube generally starts at $30,000 per year, scaling based on company size, user count, and integrations.

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Source: Cube

Key competitors include:

  • Datarails: Excel-native FP&A platform with AI-driven planning
  • Vena Solutions: Enterprise-grade Excel interface with collaboration tools
  • Jirav: Startup-focused FP&A tool with out-of-the-box templates
  • Planful: Comprehensive cloud-native FP&A suite
  • Fathom: Reporting and KPI dashboards for SMBs

A Smarter Way to Scale Finance: Edge Fitness Clubs

Edge Fitness Clubs, a fast-growing high-value fitness chain, used Cube to streamline financial operations, significantly improve reporting, and empower a lean FP&A team to deliver strategic insights.


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The Challenge: Excel Overload and Manual Bottlenecks

Edge Fitness Clubs relied heavily on Excel to manage planning, forecasting, and performance reporting across dozens of locations. With just a 2.5-person FP&A team, they struggled to maintain data accuracy and efficiency, especially during busy periods like annual budgeting.

Challenges included:

  • Disconnected Excel files that were large, complex, and hard to manage
  • Burdensome budget processes requiring up to 15 linked spreadsheets for a single update
  • Slow, error-prone monthly analysis and scenario planning
  • Limited ability to quickly respond to executive and board requests
  • IT dependence and lack of automation

This legacy system prevented the team from focusing on high-impact analysis, forcing them to spend too much time on data management and reconciliation.

The Solution: Cube for Streamlined FP&A

Edge Fitness Clubs found a good fit in Cube—a platform that retained the strengths of Excel while adding automation, control, and visibility.

With a new CFO ready to modernize finance, they adopted Cube to:

  • Maintain their Excel models while gaining new flexibility and automation
  • Integrate directly with Microsoft Dynamics GP, ensuring seamless, accurate data flow
  • Eliminate redundant file linking by centralizing data in a single source of truth
  • Deploy rapidly—live in just 2 weeks with minimal disruption
  • Establish a collaborative partnership with a responsive vendor focused on growth

Key functionality leveraged:

  • Excel-native interface for fast adoption
  • Real-time data refreshes across models
  • ERP integration (Microsoft Dynamics GP)
  • Forecasting and modeling for 30+ locations
  • Version control and auditability
  • Executive dashboards for fast insights

Quantifiable Business Impact:


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Source: Cube


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Source: Strativ

Strategic ROI:

  • Empowered the FP&A team to shift from data wrangling to strategic analysis
  • Enabled faster board-level decision-making with accurate, on-demand data
  • Supported multi-location expansion without growing finance headcount
  • Retained the flexibility and familiarity of Excel while eliminating its limitations

Financial Agility Without Ditching Excel

Edge Fitness Clubs’ adoption of Cube shows how small FP&A teams can punch above their weight with the right tools. By keeping Excel at the core while layering in automation, integration, and control, Cube helped Edge unlock new efficiencies, sharpen strategic insights, and support ongoing growth—without adding operational complexity.

Key Outcomes:

  • $300K in annual labor savings
  • 50% time reduction in reporting
  • Real-time board-ready dashboards
  • Planning agility for 30+ fitness locations

Cube enabled Edge Fitness to modernize its finance function and scale without sacrificing accuracy, flexibility, or speed.


Prophix: Automating Budgeting and Financial Close Processes

Prophix is a Corporate Performance Management (CPM) platform that specializes in budgeting, forecasting, reporting, and financial consolidation. It helps finance teams to automate routine processes, gain full transparency over financial data, and support strategic decision-making across global entities.

Key features of Prophix include:

  • Structured and driver-based budgeting
  • Automated financial close and reporting workflows
  • Audit-ready version tracking and data governance
  • Multi-currency support and intercompany eliminations
  • Customizable reporting and template design
  • Workflow approvals for budget submissions
  • User-configurable setup with minimal IT dependence

Prophix is ideal for mid-to-large enterprises with complex consolidations, multi-entity structures, or regulatory compliance needs, especially in industries like energy, utilities, and manufacturing.

Pricing for Prophix typically starts around $50,000 annually, with larger implementations scaling based on the number of entities, users, and feature depth.

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Source:Prophix

Key competitors include:

  • Planful: Scalable cloud FP&A suite with close management
  • Oracle Hyperion: Enterprise-grade consolidation for global firms
  • Jedox: Planning platform with predictive analytics and CPM workflows
  • Board: Unified BI and CPM with advanced visualizations
  • Workiva: Compliance-focused financial reporting and governance

A Steady Supply of Data: How Fluxys Powers Complex Consolidation with Prophix

Fluxys, a Belgium-based energy infrastructure company operating in natural gas transmission, storage, and LNG terminals, leveraged Prophix to transform its complex financial consolidations and gain greater autonomy in reporting.


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The Challenge: Complex Consolidations Across a Global Energy Group

With over 1,300 employees and operations spanning 12,000 kilometers of pipeline and global LNG terminals, Fluxys needed a consolidation platform that could:

  • Handle multi-entity group structures and sub-consolidations in multiple currencies
  • Support different interests and holding percentages per entity.
  • Track shareholder equity variations and other balance sheet items
  • Produce multiple consolidations (actuals, forecasts, and budgets) throughout the year
  • Eliminate reliance on consultants to configure reports and client setups.

Their ERP system, SAP, did not meet their specific, dynamic, autonomous needs for group-wide financial consolidation and reporting.

The Solution: Prophix for Scalable, Self-Managed Group Reporting

After evaluating several software vendors, Fluxys chose Prophix in 2013 for its:

  • Flexibility to meet unique consolidation logic and entity rules
  • Full audit traceability across all data types (actuals, budgets, forecasts)
  • User-friendly interface that allowed in-house teams to build and configure reports
  • Low implementation and support costs

Using Prophix, the Fluxys consolidation team was able to run high-quality consolidations independently, with faster execution and greater transparency.

Key functionality leveraged:

  • Multi-currency sub-consolidations
  • Configurable ownership percentages
  • Budgeting and forecasting modules
  • Transparent audit trails
  • Automated consolidation workflows
  • User-driven client configuration without consultants

Quantifiable Business Impact:


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Source:Prophix


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Source: Strativ

Strategic ROI:

  • Finance team gained autonomy to manage complex consolidations without IT or external support
  • Increased speed and accuracy of group reporting enabled faster executive decisions
  • Substantial time savings during biannual and annual forecast/budget consolidations
  • Laid the foundation for future automation in group consolidation

Product Demo Video:

Automation and Transparency at Scale

Fluxys’ implementation of Prophix demonstrates how organizations with global operations and complex ownership structures can simplify consolidation processes and empower their finance teams with the right tools.

Key Outcomes:

  • Faster, higher-quality group consolidations
  • Greater data transparency and audit readiness
  • Reduced reliance on consultants and IT for changes
  • Future-proof reporting architecture adaptable to growth

Prophix enabled Fluxys to operate with confidence, precision, and agility—powering the energy infrastructure company’s evolving needs with a scalable and autonomous financial consolidation platform.


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