Zobrio Budgeting Software

Marcia Marino

Does anyone use this?

Suzanne Moore

@Marcia Marino
Yes, I do. What would you like to know?

Marcia Marino

@Suzanne Moore Do you like it? What is the integration with FE NXT like?

Karen Edwards

@Suzanne Moore I also have some questions on this if you don't mind sharing. We currently use Adaptive Planning. It is expensive, but we have a number of custom worksheets that make budget calculations so easy. Does Zobrio have any ability to build custom worksheets? Thank you!

Suzanne Moore

@Marcia Marino
Hi Marcia - There are a lot of things I don't like about it, but in the end, it does work with some workarounds on our part, and the integration with FENXT is pretty seamless. I expect that there will be some big changes in the future as I know they are working on a web based version, which the current version is not. (Current is remote desktop).

FE syncs its data overnight every night to Zobrio. This is really helpful as we don't allow many people to access FE directly, and so it allows more of a real time view.

In budgeting, here are the shortfalls:

If an account number doesn't exist in FE, it isn't in Zobrio. That means doing journal entries in FE for every new account you want for budgeting purposes in Zobrio. That might not be a big deal for you, but since Covid, we have had a number of changes to organizational structure, which creates an ever-changing array of new account needs.

The budgeting itself is broken into 3 stages. Initial budget, recommended budget and approved budget. Last budget year (our first), we discovered that after the initial budget process, there is no option to phase the revised budget numbers, and so it dumps all of the changes in the last month when it is imported to FE.

Dashboards and reporting are pretty straightforward once you get the hang of it, but the process for actually downloading reports, not so much so. Again, something that I think will see big improvement with a switch to web based.

One of things I really like about the budgeting is the ability to add a backup worksheet for any cell. Zobrio will set up all of the compensation and benefit worksheets for you with calculations as needed, but you can also add a supplemental worksheet, to keep track of all of the different components (items) that make up a particular line item. For example, I have a number of different activities that flow to one GL account. I can add a worksheet that will let me list out the various activities (including phasing) and it will flow into the main budget worksheet. Answers a lot of questions after the fact, all in one place.

One other issue that rather annoys me (but may not bother anyone else), is that we have no control over security. Any changes in who can see what, and who can edit what, needs to go back to your contact at Zobrio. I just find it a waste of time.

This year was easier than last, and for the most part, user acceptance has been pretty good. We will stay the course, hoping for future improvements. It is so much less expensive than some of the other available options, and the seamless, timely integration with FE makes it worth some of the pitfalls

Marcia Marino

@Suzanne Moore thanks so much! We have been using PowerPlan/ABM for the past few years but it has been bought out by Euna and the cost has skyrocketed so it is time to look into other options..

Suzanne Moore

@Marcia Marino
We used PowerPlan years ago, before switching to Adaptive and finally landing on Zobrio. Cost has been the driver behind all of the changes.

Megan Hennessy

@Marcia Marino - We too have been with ABM/Powerplan for over 10+ years - very happy with that service. Not so happy about the EUNA soloutions doubled price - as a non-profit this is just not fiscally possible.

This will be our last season with that software before they sunset ABM/Powerplan - thanks for letting us know about this platform - just put out feelers to them.

Marcia Marino

@Megan Hennessy it was funny, I actually got an email from Blackbaud about it while in the middle of doing my own research..they are hosting a webinar tomorrow on the product. I am crossing my fingers that it will be a good replacement.

Megan Hennessy

@Marcia Marino I would love to see that!! Can you post that here?? Or how I can be a part of that webinar? I reached out to them on my own today - also looked at another product that I have a meeting with next week - “VENA”

Marcia Marino

@Megan Hennessy hopefully this works!

Megan Hennessy

@Marcia Marino Thank you so much!! It worked and am registered! Perfect timing! ?

Suzanne Moore

@Karen Edwards
Hi Karen -

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. We moved to Zobrio from Adaptive, so I am familiar with the custom worksheets from them. The only one we carried over from Adaptive was the personnel/compensation. The peeps at Zobrio actually have to do the work to set it up, we just give them the numbers each year. It is not as sophisticated as the Adaptive models, but it works well enough for us. If you decide you are interested in Zobrio, I would insist on a proof of concept demo before signing a contract for any custom worksheets (including compensation) that you may want, and make sure that the work they need to do for them is actually specified in the contract, with deployment dates. I would also insist that they give you the demo with data you provide. We took them at their word, but after our initial setup, it has been hard to get them to actually follow through on some of the specifics. They are all very nice and mean well, but I don't think they have full control of the underlying software, which may be the reason it can be difficult to get customizations. Hope this helps……

Karen Edwards

@Suzanne Moore Yes, thank you, this is very helpful. Some of our custom sheets with Adaptive are pretty complex, so I am hesitant to change. It is getting more and more expensive though, so I at least wanted to see if there were other options.

Anabel Perez

@Megan Hennessy I'm just hopping in this thread as we are on the hunt for a budgeting software ourselves. How did your meeting with Vena go? Does it integrate with Financial Edge NXT? If so, what does that look like, and upload?