Synario’s
Virtual Solutions Summit
Our annual educational event where Synario clients connect with their peers and share their insights on financial modeling best practices. Detailing everything from creating future-proof strategic plans to ensuring financial sustainability.
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“The long-range planning model is a living document that is a key to keeping our institution on the path we’ve established in our new strategic plan. It is robust and powerful that ties together years of audited financial statements, lending credibility to the planning process. Great sensitivity and stress testing capabilities, with infinite flexibility to model different dimensions of our financial picture. We worked with a highly qualified team who guided a very successful implementation. Responsive, knowledgeable and strong trainers."
– Mary Ellen B. G2 Review
Synario has truly made strides over the years by helping countless institutions build better budgets, create more reliable forecasts, and facilitate adaptable financial strategies during uncertain times.
2022
At Synario’s 2022 Virtual Solutions Summit, our clients shared their experiences with using the Synario platform, and demonstrated multiple ways that Synario improved their financial trajectory. The event was kicked-off by Motivational Speaker and Comedian Avish Parashar, with presentations by Sacramento Department of Utilities, Sabra Healthcare REIT and Lehigh University.
Planning is important, but improvising is essential! See how the art of improv comedy can improve how you handle changes in your business with our guest speaker, Motivational Improviser Avish Parashar! Through his deft improvisational techniques and stories, Avish shares the importance of open-mindedness in communication through the simple phrase, “yes, and."
In our recent summit, the City of Sacramento Utilities, a Synario client, detailed the considerable reporting and modeling issues facing their company, resulting in lost time, money, and manpower. After implementing Synario, however, they were able to completely transform these and other processes, and gained greater visibility into their expenses, revenue, and other important data.
Whereas report writing and executive meetings once took days to weeks to plan and execute via their outdated Excel system, after Synario, Sacramento Utilities was able to adjust models in real-time, removing the draining manual management from the equation, and leading to greater efficiency for both the company and its consumers.Through using Synario, they were able to best meet their needs and improve control and transparency over their long-range planning and financial management.
In 2021, Lehigh University underwent a reevaluation of their identity to become more selective in their admissions process and elevate their prestige to pre-pandemic levels. To do this, leadership contemplated freezing enrollment for five years. Learn how Lehigh’s Director of Financial Planning and Budget Director prepared a portfolio of options in line with the University’s goal and empowered leadership to choose the most sustainable path forward.
2021
At Synario’s 2021 Virtual Solutions Summit, several happy customers shared exactly how they have used Synario to improve their organization’s financial health and resilience and get their financial planning under control.
Before implementing Synario, the Illinois Institute of Technology struggled with executing their new 5-year financial plan. The university’s reputation for lifting students from families in the bottom 20% income bracket to the top 20%, and successfully supporting upwards mobility, came with a hefty price tag.
IIT needed a financial planning and budgeting solution capable of supporting and implementing their new and ambitious 5-year plan that would help them carry out and meet their goals, while also earning the support of a hesitant board.
Together with Mary Ellen Borchers, IIT’s Associate VP for Finance, and Mike Hoan, IIT’s former VP of Finance, CFO, and Treasurer, IIT assembled a team dedicated to the institution’s financial health. They used Synario to test their assumptions, creating a comprehensive financial model that could demonstrate their plan’s potential while accounting for unexpected changes.
Synario also enabled IIT’s finance team to present their findings in a reliable and transparent way to board members, making it easier for Mike, Mary Ellen, and their team to keep moving forward with their vision.
For over a century, Austin Water has offered safe, affordable drinking water to millions in Austin, TX. Three water treatment plants process up to 335 million gallons of water daily from the Colorado River, while two more manage 150 million gallons of wastewater daily. Such a complex operation requires flexible budgeting and strategic financial planning to match.
But Austin Water financial division manager Christina Romero found that her team didn’t have the tools they needed to properly manage the utility’s finances. Budgeting took 2–3 months every year and they needed at least 1–2 weeks to build PowerPoint presentations. Board questions that couldn’t be easily answered forced them to start over again from scratch.
When Romero discovered Synario, everything changed. After 8 months and 100 hours of onboarding, training, and configuring new systems, their budgeting and financial planning process were simplified and streamlined. This empowered team members to focus on higher-value work and collaborate on different parts of the budget without miscommunication.
Synario dramatically reduced the time it took to build budgets, run alternative scenarios, and prepare presentations. Today, Austin Water’s finance team wraps up their annual budget in a couple of weeks, while presentations are ready in a couple of hours.
2020
At Synario’s 2020 Virtual Solutions Summit, our modelers showcased how they utilized our scenario analysis software to transform their strategies and create opportunities in the face of the uncertainties of the COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID-19 has changed the business world forever. From working from home to school campus closures, the coronavirus has altered every organization no matter the industry or sector.
During the Synario Client Summit, three finance professionals discussed how they projected and reacted to both internal and external changes to their unique business.
In this highlights video from our 2020 Virtual Solutions Summit, Wofford College’s CFO Chris Gardner and Provost Mike Sosulski go over how they utilized Synario to craft a budget workshop designed for non-finance colleagues to develop a greater appreciation for the trade-offs needed to maintain a strong and sustainable financial future.
Used by Public and Private Organizations Worldwide
Synario is an agile, intelligent financial modeling platform that offers transformative insights into the financial future of any organization.
Synario is used by higher education institutions, utilities, local governments, healthcare organizations, transportation agencies, and other public and private entities.
