Celenia makes it possible to produce budgets in Microsoft Dynamics NAV

Celenia has collaborated with the Danish software developer NaviScan to develop a module which, for the first time, makes it possible to manage and optimise budget processes directly in Microsoft Dynamics NAV. The new budget module, Celenia EBC, will be sold globally through Microsoft partners.

Celenia Software a/s, headquartered in Aalborg, Denmark, with development facilities in Kiev, Ukraine, can today present, together with Danish company NaviScan, a new standard module which allows companies to draw up budgets directly in the ERP system through the use of realised and projected financial data. The module will be named Celenia EBC (Enhanced Budget Control).

Historically it has been difficult to produce budgets in ERP systems -including Microsoft Dynamics NAV. The ERP systems have primarily handled financial management and order processing, while budgeting has been resigned to Excel and other budget tools. Until now, that is: "We know from many finance and accounting managers that this is a problem. It has always been a puzzle why budget processes cannot be carried out in the system which is supposed to handle the data and which contains many of those figures that are used for budgeting.  We are now seriously addressing this issue with a system that provides even more functions than existing budget solutions," says Vice President Rex Archard Clausager, Celenia. 

A Fully Integrated Tool
The Celenia EBC budget module contains a number of budget models, each of which is linked to various definitions that decide how the budget will function and determine which operations are to be performed in the budget process, including the budget period's start and end dates, the budget type, etc. When producing the suggested budget figures, the budget module combines both realised and budgeted figures.

The budget procedure is based on the widely practiced method of projecting realised numbers for a given period. 

"We have taken some of the most common principles used in budgeting and have not only turned them into a solution directly in Microsoft Dynamics NAV but have also improved them. Many companies use different systems for operating budgets, liquidity budgets, sales budgets, etc. We have collected them here and made it as simple as possible to stay on budget. Obviously the possibilities for this product are great," says Administrative Director and Developer Lasse Frederiksen, NaviScan.

If a company prefers to carry out part of its budgeting outside of Microsoft Dynamics NAV, the module is fully integrated with Microsoft Excel, so you can export the numbers to Excel - modify the numbers - and import them into NAV again.

NaviScan has delivered more than 250 solutions so far to companies that use Microsoft Dynamics XAL and C5 and Celenia EBC is based on this experience. In the first release, the module will be available in the Danish and English language versions, but many more language versions are to follow. The module will be available from Microsoft partners starting in the beginning of 2007.