In most companies, sales plans capacity in one tool, HR plans headcount in another and finance consolidates the results in spreadsheets. xP&A replaces those handoffs with one model: when sales changes its hiring plan, the workforce plan, the expense budget and the revenue forecast all update from the same numbers.
The term is a vendor and analyst label more than a distinct discipline. In practice it describes the same goal as connected planning or integrated business planning: fewer disconnected plans and one version of the assumptions. Buyers should test the substance in a demo, such as whether a change in an operational plan actually flows to the P&L without a manual export.
In software: Anaplan built its positioning on connected planning across finance, sales and supply chain. Pigment sells the same cross-functional scope for finance, workforce and sales teams, and Workday Adaptive Planning links financial and workforce planning to its HR suite.
The CFO Shortlist app matches your requirements to the vendors we cover, free, in less time than one vendor demo.
Start your shortlist