Beyond Plans, partner of Financium 2025

On November 19, Beyond Plans was once again present at Financium, the DFCG’s national conference. A must-attend event for finance leaders, Financium brings together several hundred professionals each year through a format combining strategic keynotes, thematic workshops, expert panels, and networking opportunities.

Financium: a unique gathering for the finance community

Organised by the DFCG—the association representing more than 3,000 finance and management control leaders in France—Financium has established itself as a major forum for reflection and knowledge sharing. Its ambition is to provide CFOs, management controllers, FP&A professionals, and performance leaders with an up-to-date view of the economic, technological, and organisational challenges reshaping their roles.

The 2025 edition proved particularly rich, combining inspiring talks with practical, real-world feedback. Highlights included:

• an opening session focused on geopolitical tensions and their impact on competitiveness,
• the presentation of the PwC/DFCG study on CFO priorities for 2026,
• several workshops on AI-augmented planning, non-financial performance, e-invoicing, and risk management,
• networking moments designed to encourage peer-to-peer exchanges.

This diversity makes Financium a truly unique event: a place where strategic thinking, hands-on experience, and the sharing of best practices come together.

A lunch roundtable on budget transformation hosted by Beyond Plans

As part of its partnership, Beyond Plans hosted a lunch roundtable on a highly operational topic for finance departments:

“From fragmented Excel files to an integrated and collaborative budgeting vision.”

The session brought together around ten finance leaders from a range of organisations. Around the table were:

• Waad Melliti, Senior Consultant at Beyond Plans,

• Hélène Gonnet, Head of Management Control at our client 1001 Vies Habitat.

Designed to be deliberately interactive, the format enabled open and transparent discussions on the challenges of budget transformation in environments where business activities are becoming more diverse and reference frameworks increasingly complex.

A gradual evolution to support growing complexity

Hélène Gonnet explained how, over the years, the diversity of businesses and activities at 1001 Vies Habitat had naturally enriched—and complicated—budgeting practices. While the organisation relied on solid foundations, consolidation gradually became more demanding, particularly due to the variety of models in use and the different planning cycles specific to each business area.

The goal of the initiative was therefore not to start from scratch, but to harmonise, streamline, and modernise a budgeting framework that now needed to operate in a constantly evolving financial and regulatory environment.

Hélène shared her experience of moving from Excel-based budgeting to financial modelling in Anaplan—a transition carried out step by step and supported by Beyond Plans throughout all phases of the project. Participants then had the opportunity to openly discuss the challenges encountered, methodological choices made, and the benefits observed.

The role of Beyond Plans: a pragmatic and collaborative approach

During the discussion, Waad Melliti outlined the methodology used to structure the transformation:

• starting with an MVP focused on the essentials of performance management,
• clarifying scope and business rules,
• co-building the model with the teams,
• securing user adoption before extending functionality,
• progressing iteratively to maintain model clarity.

This approach aims to avoid unnecessary complexity while establishing clear governance aligned with business realities.

Waad summarised it as follows: “The value of a model lies in its ability to be understood, shared, and adapted over time.”

A client case study available for further insight

The case presented during the lunch roundtable is explored in greater detail in a dedicated piece of content on our website, covering in particular:

• the initial challenges faced by 1001 Vies Habitat,
• the reasons behind choosing Anaplan,
• the implementation phases carried out with Beyond Plans,
• the tangible benefits observed after several budgeting cycles.

➡️ Read the full client case study:1001 Vies Habitat testimonial

➡️ Discover our expertise supporting finance teams and management controllers:Beyond Plans for Finance