Use case · Finance & Operations

Every forecast, every revision — captured and comparable.

Regional or functional leaders contribute forecasts. FP&A consolidates. Symphony keeps every contributor's updates private until they Submit — and preserves the full history so you can see how the forecast evolved.

The situation today

Forecasts drift, and nobody remembers why.

You email a template out on Monday. Regional leaders return it on different days. Someone in FP&A copies numbers into a master. Late submitters throw off the timeline. Every version is a new file with a slightly different name.

When a number moves between versions, nobody remembers why. The board sees the final forecast, but the story of how it got there is lost.

How Symphony fits

Two ways to structure your forecast rollup.

Symphony gives FP&A teams two proven approaches to consolidation.

Option 1

A worksheet per contributor

Each contributor gets their own worksheet inside the shared forecast workbook. They update privately during the cycle. When the deadline arrives, they Submit — and only then does FP&A see their numbers. FP&A Refreshes to see the full picture.

Best for:Teams with many contributors, each responsible for a distinct region, product line, or business unit.

Contributors work on their own timeline
FP&A sees consolidated view on Refresh
Every Submit becomes an auditable revision

Option 2

One forecast, row by owner

All contributors work in a single forecast worksheet. Each row (a line item, an account, a product) belongs to a specific owner. Owners update their rows privately, Submit when ready. FP&A sees the whole forecast at once.

Best for:Smaller teams where the forecast is a single flat list rather than a set of separately built rollups.

Every contributor sees the full forecast as context
Row ownership keeps updates clean
Simpler workbook — one worksheet, one workbook

Both approaches give you a full transaction history, diff-any-two-periods comparison, and reasons attached to every update.

A typical workflow

From cycle open to board packet.

FP&A opens the cycle.

Template is set. Contributors are invited to their worksheets. Deadline is communicated.

Contributors update privately.

Regional leaders build their forecasts over days or weeks. No teammate sees their drafts.

Before the deadline, they Submit.

Each contributor Submits with a short reason for material moves. Reasons attach to the transaction.

FP&A Refreshes.

The consolidated forecast is visible the moment contributors Submit. No emails, no copy-paste, no version reconciliation.

Iterate with reasons.

If FP&A pushes back on a number, the contributor updates and Submits again — with a new reason for the revision.

Diff for the board packet.

Compare this cycle's forecast against last cycle. See exactly which numbers moved and why. Every revision is documented.

Benefits at play here

Why this works.

Four Symphony benefits do the heaviest lifting for forecast consolidation.

Benefit 03

Understand what, when, why, and who changed the information.

Benefit 04

Store information in a Database, not a file — and without IT help.

Benefit 02

Work privately and Sync-By-Choice.

Benefit 06

Assemble purposeful workbooks, conduct multiple private conversations per worksheet.

See all benefits →