Centralized financial planning with automated SAP integration

As part of a company-wide transformation, RheinEnergie migrated from a legacy SAP system to SAP S/4HANA. This presented an opportunity to fundamentally rethink financial planning.

Previously, planning was carried out using decentralized Excel files, resulting in inconsistent data quality, limited transparency, and time-consuming manual processes. Planning cycles were slow, and validation required significant effort. There was no centralized platform to harmonize cost center, cost type, and profit center planning across the organization.

At the same time, the SAP migration introduced structural changes and system adjustments. Core systems—including SAP S/4HANA, SAP BW, and Tableau—were being redefined and integrated in parallel. RheinEnergie needed a planning solution that could adapt to this dynamic environment while improving governance and data quality.

The company set clear objectives: standardize processes, improve transparency and traceability of planning data, automate SAP interfaces, shorten planning cycles, and prepare for future modules such as balance sheet, cash flow, investment, and personnel planning. To achieve this, RheinEnergie required a centralized, integrated enterprise performance management (EPM) platform built for long-term scalability.

RheinEnergie selected Jedox as its central platform for financial planning. To ensure the best setup, the company collaborated with consulting firm better decisions group (bdg) and strategy consultancy Horváth to implement a unified planning environment covering cost center, cost type, and profit center planning.

The project began with an in-depth analysis of existing planning workflows and system architecture. Given the complexity of the SAP migration, Jedox played a key role in consolidating data sources and enabling efficient interface design. Workflows and automated validations were embedded directly into the planning process to ensure structured review and approval cycles.

By integrating planning logic, workflows, and SAP connectivity into one platform, Jedox established a flexible yet robust foundation. Initial modules—particularly classical financial planning—went live within the first year.

Importantly, Jedox was chosen as a future-proof solution. The platform is ready to support additional planning modules, including balance sheet, cash flow, investment, and personnel planning, enabling RheinEnergie to extend planning capabilities over time without adding system complexity.

With Jedox in place, RheinEnergie achieved measurable improvements in both efficiency and planning quality.

Data quality and planning depth significantly improved. Instead of relying on simple extrapolations of prior-year values, planners now work with detailed inputs supported by structured workflows and automated validation mechanisms. Centralized reporting increases transparency and enables consistent review and approval processes.

Automation has delivered clear efficiency gains. SAP uploads that were previously manual are now executed with a single click, saving time and reducing the risk of errors. Planning and forecasting cycles have become shorter and more structured.

Jedox is now firmly established as RheinEnergie’s standard tool for financial planning. The centralized platform functions as a single source of truth and provides the flexibility to integrate further planning topics in subsequent phases, ensuring scalability as business requirements evolve. The result is a modern, centralized, and future-proof planning environment that supports better decisions across the entire organization.