What’s the Difference Between EPM and CPM?

The concept of managing performance in organizations has had a variety of labels applied to it. The most popular variations are enterprise performance management (EPM) and corporate performance management (CPM).

Many practitioners and experts in the industry have positioned these terms as basically meaning the same thing. However, subtle differences exist between these terms and what they are intended to convey.

The common thread is that both terms refer to a process and software system designed to help organizations achieve their financial goals and objectives, by linking their strategies to their plans and execution. (as opposed to HR or IT performance management.)

Corporate Performance Management (CPM) – is the term used by some industry analyst firms and many software vendors and consulting firms in the market. This term is typically used to highlight the “corporate” application of performance management processes and corporate performance management software both mainly driven by the Finance organization.

Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) – is a term that more broadly applies the concepts of performance management across the enterprise and enterprise performance management software. This includes Finance, which is typically the key driver of EPM. But it also includes Sales, Marketing, Services, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, and other line-of-business operations. The term EPM is also more easily applied outside the corporate world to educational institutions, government agencies and non-profits.

EPM and CPM include the following business processes:

Planning
– Budgeting, Planning, Financial Forecasting and Modeling
Consolidation
– Financial Consolidation and Financial Close Management
Reporting & Analytics
– Management, Financial, Regulatory, Ad Hoc

The top industry analyst firms who track this market use different terms. For instance, Gartner uses CPM, Forrester originally used FPM (Financial Performance Management) and then evolved to EPM.

In summary, the terms EPM and CPM refer to the same set of business processes, designed to help organizations achieve their financial goals and objectives. However, the term EPM is used more broadly to promote the use of these processes across the enterprise, and in non-corporate environments such as higher education, government agencies and non-profits.

Before you go, remember these 3 things…

EPM is broader than CPM, extending beyond finance to other enterprise line-of-business operations and usage in the public sector.
CPM is typically finance-driven, focusing on corporate financial planning, consolidation, and reporting.
Both EPM and CPM share core processes like budgeting, forecasting, consolidation, and analytics.