Chris Warmoll

Aside from government restrictions indicating when businesses can resume normal practice, data and forecasting can help determine an organisation’s best recovery options, according to restructuring and insolvency professionals. “It is simply not going to be a case of throwing open the doors and saying ‘open for business,’” Matt Dunham, partner at Dunham Dean Advisory, said via email. “The business environment is going to be significantly different from before lockdown.

Each approach offers its own strengths and weaknesses, so businesses have to choose the forecasting method that best suits their needs and their goals in projecting future finances. It’s important to keep in mind that no financial forecast is foolproof. Because your organisation is attempting to make future predictions based on information and insights rooted in the past, there is always a margin for error, no matter how robust of a forecasting method you choose.

International Data Corporation (IDC) – the premier global market intelligence firm, predicts that between 2018 and 2021, companies worldwide will have collectively spent nearly $6trn on digital transformation initiatives.