How a fast-growing Dutch online bank moved from complex Excel models to scalable financial planning
Brand New Day is a Dutch online bank and asset manager with a clear mission: making smart financial choices accessible to everyone. With transparent and cost-efficient savings and investment products, Brand New Day manages the assets of more than 200,000 customers in the Netherlands.
As the organisation continued to grow, the complexity of its financial planning and reporting processes increased as well. What had long worked in Excel gradually became a limiting factor rather than an enabler.
The challenge: when Excel reaches its limits
Like many finance teams, Brand New Day relied heavily on Excel for budgeting, forecasting and reporting. Over time, this resulted in several challenges:
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Fragmented and error-prone multi-year forecast models
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Strong dependency on individual knowledge
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Ad-hoc processes without clear structure
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Limited transparency and repeatability
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Slower decision-making
While Excel offered flexibility, it lacked the governance, structure and scalability required to support a growing organisation and a more mature Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) function.
The need was clear:
Brand New Day was looking for a modern, scalable CPM solution for budgeting and reporting, while retaining the familiarity of Excel for end users.
From business need to solution: advice first
Together with cpmview, Brand New Day took a step back to assess the broader picture. Instead of starting with technology, the focus was first on understanding the underlying needs:
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What information is required to support better financial decisions?
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How should budgeting and forecasting processes be structured to support growth?
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How much flexibility and control is needed within finance?
This advisory-first approach ensured that the eventual solution would align with both business objectives and day-to-day finance operations.
The solution: Vena Solutions implemented by cpmview
Based on this analysis, Vena Solutions was selected as the most suitable platform. Vena is an Excel-based CPM solution that combines the familiarity of spreadsheets with enterprise-level control, structure and scalability.
The implementation by cpmview delivered:
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Clear, structured and repeatable budgeting and forecasting processes
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A single source of truth for financial data
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Scalability to support organisational growth and onboarding
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Fast user adoption, thanks to the Excel interface
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Reduced errors and increased confidence in reporting
The solution was designed in close collaboration, ensuring it aligned seamlessly with Brand New Day’s way of working while providing a solid foundation for future optimisation.
Why the collaboration was successful
The success of the project was not only driven by technology, but by the way Brand New Day and cpmview worked together:
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A shared focus on outcomes rather than deliverables
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Co-creation: building the solution together, step by step
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On-site collaboration at cpmview, enabling fast alignment and decision-making
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Investment in knowledge transfer through online Vena training, empowering the internal team to work independently
As one stakeholder described it:
“It didn’t feel like a typical implementation project — it felt like building something meaningful together.”
The results: efficiency, clarity and confidence
The new budgeting and reporting setup delivered exactly what Brand New Day needed:
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A more efficient and structured financial planning process
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Delivery on time and within budget
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A short lead time due to focus and clear decision-making
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Increased confidence to further develop and optimise the solution internally
“A focused collaboration that delivered exactly what we needed – on time, within budget, and with confidence for the future.”
Why Brand New Day chose cpmview
Brand New Day selected cpmview as its partner because of:
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Deep expertise in Vena Solutions
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A long-term partnership mindset, rather than a one-off implementation
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A pragmatic and honest advisory approach
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Willingness to invest time upfront in clarifying goals and context — a foundation that proved essential
Want to learn more about Vena and CPM?
Would you like to understand how your organisation can move from complex Excel models to scalable budgeting and forecasting with Vena?
Get in touch with us.
