{"id":9516,"date":"2026-07-12T15:39:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T13:39:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.trusteddecisions.com\/?p=9516"},"modified":"2026-07-13T19:33:24","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T17:33:24","slug":"analyze-plan-actual-deviations-correctly-23-07-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trusteddecisions.com\/en\/analyze-plan-actual-deviations-correctly-23-07-26\/","title":{"rendered":"The Right Numbers for the Right Decisions"},"content":{"rendered":"&#13;\n<p><strong>Understanding key performance indicator systems, identifying structural trends, and effectively managing a company<\/strong><\/p>&#13;\n&#13;\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\">The year is shaping up well. Revenue is growing, and EBIT is up from last year. The obvious conclusion: Business is booming; everything is on track.<br\/>But is the company really growing in a healthy way, or is its structure deteriorating even as the absolute numbers rise?<br\/>In practice, both scenarios are possible at the same time. A company can increase revenue and profit and still earn less for every euro it makes than it did before. Absolute figures show whether a company is growing. Only the key metrics reveal whether that growth is worthwhile.     <\/p>&#13;\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\">In this free live webinar, we\u2019ll use a concrete real-world example to demonstrate how you can use key metrics to gain insight into your company\u2019s true state, identify structural trends early on, and build a solid foundation for your management practices.<\/p>&#13;\n\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\" style=\"height: 40px;\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u00a0<\/div>\r\n&#13;\n<p><strong>What the webinar is about<\/strong><\/p>&#13;\n<p>The focus is on a hypothetical company that is not tied to any specific industry. A look at the absolute figures reveals what many reports also show: revenue is rising, profits are rising, and everything appears stable. But what lies behind this picture?  <\/p>&#13;\n<p>Using this example, we\u2019ll show why absolute numbers obscure a company\u2019s structural condition and which key metrics reveal its actual performance. We\u2019ll demonstrate live in Corporate Planner how key performance indicators\u2014such as the cost of goods sold ratio, gross profit margin, and EBIT margin\u2014evolve over time, how to distinguish between healthy growth and a gradual deterioration, and which metrics actually drive a company\u2019s performance. <\/p>&#13;\n<p>The key is a clear management logic: Which metric sheds light on what\u2019s happening within the company? Where is a structural trend emerging that requires early attention? And how do you manage a company based on ratios rather than being lulled into a false sense of security by absolute values? In addition, we provide an outlook on how artificial intelligence can help in the future to analyze key metrics more quickly and interpret correlations more efficiently.   <\/p>&#13;\n<p> <\/p>&#13;\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\" style=\"height: 40px;\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u00a0<\/div>&#13;\n&#13;\n<p><strong>Typical questions from practice<\/strong><\/p>&#13;\n&#13;\n<p>Many companies have a wide range of key performance indicators, but far fewer have a clear picture of which ones actually drive performance and what they reveal about the state of the business. In this webinar, we\u2019ll therefore address questions that are regularly critical in practice: <\/p>&#13;\n\r\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">&#13;\n<li>Is my business growing healthily, or just in absolute terms?<\/li>&#13;\n\r\n\r\n&#13;\n<li>Which key metrics reflect actual profitability?<\/li>&#13;\n\r\n\r\n&#13;\n<li>Why can revenue and profits increase while the company&#8217;s financial structure deteriorates?<\/li>&#13;\n\r\n\r\n&#13;\n<li>How can I identify a structural trend before it is reflected in the results?<\/li>&#13;\n\r\n\r\n&#13;\n<li>Do I manage my business based on absolute values or key performance indicators?<\/li>&#13;\n\r\n\r\n&#13;\n<li>How can artificial intelligence help interpret key performance indicators in the future?<\/li>&#13;\n<\/ul>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\" style=\"height: 40px;\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u00a0<\/div>\r\n&#13;\n<p><strong>Your advantages in everyday working life<\/strong><\/p>&#13;\n<p>After the webinar, you\u2019ll be able to more clearly distinguish between your company\u2019s absolute and relative performance. You\u2019ll be able to recognize more quickly whether growth is sustainable and where structural changes are beginning to take shape. You\u2019ll gain concrete analytical approaches for your daily work with Corporate Planner and see how key metrics can be evaluated over time in a clear and understandable way in just a few steps. This includes which metrics most effectively reflect profitability, how to identify structural trends early on, and how to shift your management focus from absolute values to effective ratios.   <\/p>&#13;\n<p>The practical benefit lies primarily in evaluating a company not only based on its growth but also on its actual condition, before absolute figures create a false sense of security.<\/p>&#13;\n<p> <\/p>&#13;\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\" style=\"height: 40px;\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u00a0<\/div>&#13;\n&#13;\n<p><strong>Who is the webinar suitable for?<\/strong><\/p>&#13;\n&#13;\n<p>This webinar is intended for CFOs, controllers, and managing directors of medium-sized companies who want to align their controlling functions more closely with effective management. It is particularly relevant for companies that want to use their key performance indicators more strategically, identify structural trends earlier, and align their management processes more clearly. <\/p>&#13;\n&#13;\n<p>Previous knowledge from the previous modules is not required.<\/p>&#13;\n\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\" style=\"height: 40px;\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u00a0<\/div>\r\n&#13;\n<p><strong>Your benefits at a glance<\/strong><\/p>&#13;\n&#13;\n<p>You will learn,<\/p>&#13;\n\r\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">&#13;\n<li>Why Absolute Numbers Can Mask a Company&#8217;s True Condition<\/li>&#13;\n\r\n\r\n&#13;\n<li>Which key metrics reveal a company&#8217;s true profitability?<\/li>&#13;\n\r\n\r\n&#13;\n<li>How to Identify Structural Trends Early On<\/li>&#13;\n\r\n\r\n&#13;\n<li>which analytical approaches have proven effective in day-to-day work<\/li>&#13;\n\r\n\r\n&#13;\n<li>how to analyze key metrics directly in Corporate Planner using analytical tools<\/li>&#13;\n\r\n\r\n&#13;\n<li>What role artificial intelligence might play in the future when it comes to interpreting key performance indicators<\/li>&#13;\n<\/ul>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\" style=\"height: 40px;\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u00a0<\/div>\r\n&#13;\n<p><strong>Part of our webinar series on integrated corporate planning<\/strong><\/p>&#13;\n&#13;\n<p>This webinar is Module 4 in a modular series. The modules build on one another in terms of content, but each can be understood on its own. <\/p>&#13;\n\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\" style=\"height: 40px;\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u00a0<\/div>\r\n&#13;\n<p><strong>Why TD Trusted Decisions?<\/strong><\/p>&#13;\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\">TD Trusted Decisions supports medium-sized companies in making their planning, reporting and corporate management clearer, more integrated and more decision-oriented.<\/p>&#13;\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\">Our experience shows that the biggest challenge rarely lies in the volume of available data. What matters most is whether the right metrics are being considered\u2014and whether they are interpreted in the right context. Only then can a set of numbers become a reliable basis for management decision-making.  <\/p>&#13;\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\">In this webinar, we combine our professional consulting experience with a hands-on, live demonstration in Corporate Planning. This illustrates how integrated planning works in practice and how companies can identify their actual financial position and manage it effectively. <\/p>&#13;\n<p> <\/p>&#13;\n<p> <\/p>&#13;\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Why TD Trusted Decisions?<\/strong><br \/>Find out in our webinar how you can systematically analyze deviations from plan\/actual figures, separate causes from symptoms and make well-founded decisions instead of reacting to the first figure that comes along.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9544,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-webinars"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trusteddecisions.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trusteddecisions.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trusteddecisions.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trusteddecisions.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trusteddecisions.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9516"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.trusteddecisions.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9608,"href":"https:\/\/www.trusteddecisions.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9516\/revisions\/9608"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trusteddecisions.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trusteddecisions.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trusteddecisions.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trusteddecisions.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}