Supply Chain Solution: Lawson Budgeting & Planning 9 Provides A Simpler Approach To Forecasting And Budgeting

New version is easier to deploy and use with Lawson ERP applications and offers more powerful budget and planning functionality

Lawson Software (Nasdaq: LWSN) today announced the general availability of Lawson Budgeting & Planning 9 to help executives and managers make more accurate financial forecasts and faster budgeting decisions using up-to-date information. Lawson Budgeting & Planning 9 is designed to be easier to deploy and use than best-of-breed offerings, features low total cost of ownership and can deliver strategic business benefits for users.

Bassett Healthcare, a rural teaching hospital in upstate New York, provides one example of how Lawson Budgeting & Planning 9 can deliver strategic benefits. Bassett and its affiliates consist of four hospitals and 23 health centers covering 5,000 square miles in eight counties. Accurate forecasts are critical to the success of this rural healthcare network, but in the past the budgeting process was inefficient.

"Before Lawson Budgeting & Planning 9, the budgeting process was tedious, and consumed valuable staff time and dollars," said Christopher W. Graham, director of finance, Budget and Administrative Services, Bassett Healthcare. "Now we have eliminated much of the time spent extracting and organizing data and have developed a more accurate budgeting process, resulting in more effective cost controls across our organization."

Lawson Budgeting & Planning 9 is designed to work with core Lawson systems, such as Lawson General Ledger and Lawson Human Capital Management, and it can co-exist with non-Lawson data sources. The application is designed for ease of use and gives users better context in the planning environment, which can lead to more accurate forecasts and better budgeting decisions.

"It's important for an organization to have real-time visibility of their financial picture, so everyone, from the CEO to line manager, can quickly take corrective action and mitigate risk," said Dean Hager, senior vice president of product management for Lawson. "Our customers can spend less time extracting and organizing data and focus on making the critical decisions needed to achieve their profitability and business objectives."

By automating an organization's budgeting process, Lawson Budgeting & Planning 9 helps achieve and maintain accurate visibility over forward-looking financial pictures, critical to achieving an organization's profitability objectives. Since Lawson Budgeting & Planning 9 was designed to be embraced across the organization and not just in the finance department, the user interface can be tailored to individual areas of responsibility through a role-based security model. The design helps give everyone involved in the budgeting process the opportunity to participate in collaborative planning and forecasting.

About Lawson Software
Lawson Software provides software and service solutions to 4,000 customers in manufacturing, distribution, maintenance and service sector industries across 40 countries. Lawson's solutions include Enterprise Performance Management, Supply Chain Management, Enterprise Resource Planning, Customer Relationship Management, Manufacturing Resource Planning, Enterprise Asset Management and industry-tailored applications. Lawson solutions assist customers in simplifying their businesses or organizations by helping them streamline processes, reduce costs and enhance business or operational performance. Lawson is headquartered in St. Paul, Minn., and has offices around the world. Visit Lawson online at www.lawson.com.