Real-time planning, analytics, forecasting, and reporting directly in Power BI / Fabric
Many organisations today use Power BI as a powerful analytics and reporting tool. Dashboards are visually appealing, reports are interactive, and data is available quickly.
However, when it comes to planning, forecasting or simulation, the journey often ends outside the familiar Power BI environment – in Excel, slow add-on tools, or complex planning systems.
smartpm.solutions takes a different approach:
By combining flexible, high-performance OLAP technology with the intuitive and modern Power BI user interface, it enables fully integrated, real-time planning – exactly where controllers and business users already work.
Why traditional planning reaches its limits
From the perspective of CFOs and controllers, many organisations face similar challenges:
- Planning is separated from analysis and reporting
- Excel-based processes are error-prone and difficult to scale
- Business units require deep controlling expertise
- Simulations and forecasts take too long
- Modern BI tools are often “read-only”
The result: planning is complex, slow and inflexible – especially in an environment that demands fast and well-informed decisions.
OLAP technology as the technological backbone for planning in Power BI
For decades, OLAP technology has been the stable foundation of professional planning systems. Its strengths include:
- Multidimensional planning models
- High performance even with large data volumes
- Consistency and auditability
- Real-time calculation of aggregations and dependencies
What has long been missing is a modern, intuitive user interface that makes this power accessible to all user groups.
PLAPP – the smartpm Planning App – brings together the best of BI and performance management software
PLAPP combines the best of both worlds—business intelligence and corporate performance management (CPM)—and turns Power BI into a fully integrated planning hub:
- Power BI / Fabric as an intuitive, unified interface for analytics and planning with writeback
- A powerful OLAP engine for reliable, high-performance planning, simulation, and AI-driven forecasting
This means: CFOs, controllers, and business users plan directly and in real time in Power BI—without Excel exports or additional tools. Built-in AI further enhances efficiency and reduces manual effort. Dashboards evolve from purely informative to interactive, decision-driving tools.
Watch a hands-on webinar to experience planning in Power BI live within the software:
Integrated real-time planning in Power BI – even for non-controllers
A key objective of smartpm.solutions is to make planning usable for all user groups, including:
- Junior controllers
- Business users without a controlling background
- New employees
- Experienced controllers and CFOs
Thanks to clear planning logic, guided input processes and – where required – an intelligent AI assistant, planning becomes transparent, secure and efficient.
In times of staff shortages and a lack of controlling talent, this is a smart and future-proof decision.
Users can adjust plan values, simulate scenarios or update forecasts – using natural language or structured interfaces.
Production-ready, reliable AI for controllers
Many AI and planning initiatives remain limited to isolated use cases or prototypes.
The approach of smartpm.solutions is deliberately different:
Controllers need production-ready AI – not prototypes.
That means AI that is:
- Fully integrated
- Standardised
- Reliable
- Scalable
- Relevant for day-to-day business
Maturity is not demonstrated in isolated demos, but in productive use across clearly defined planning processes.
With the AI assistant Smartofant, cost planning can be carried out via voice or natural language by all user groups – independent of controlling or technical expertise.
Smartofant also supports successful project planning and execution, identifies the most promising project setups and detects deviations early.
In free analysis, Smartofant’s agent-based functionality provides recommendations, forecasts, reports and plausible suggested values.
What CFOs gain from integrated planning in Power BI
For CFOs and finance leaders, this approach delivers:
- Faster planning and forecasting cycles
- Higher data consistency and transparency
- Less manual reconciliation
- Empowered business units
- Higher employee satisfaction
- A single platform for analysis, planning and performance management
In short: better decisions with less effort.
Conclusion: Planning where decisions are made
The combination of OLAP technology and Power BI does not just make planning more modern – it makes it more effective, faster and more transparent.
smartpm.solutions demonstrates how proven planning technology, modern analytics and AI can be combined into a production-ready business solution – for controllers, business users and CFOs alike.
