ABOUT LODESTAR SOLUTIONS
When Finance leaders Need Numbers They Can Trust, They Come to Lodestar Solutions
Lodestar Solutions helps executives and FP&A leaders strengthen planning, forecasting, reporting, and decision-making with IBM Planning Analytics, IBM Cognos, and a leadership-first approach to finance transformation. Partnering with IBM since 2004.
SINCE 2004
Finance and analytics guidance
IBM PLANNING
ANALYTICS + COGNOS
Deep platform expertise
IBM LIFETIME
CHAMPION LEADERSHIP
Founder-led credibility
FP&A ADVISORY
Planning, reporting, forecasting,
licensing, Saas, and training
MID-MARKET FOCUS
Executive-level guidance
without enterprise complexity
When Finance is Expected to Lead, But the Process Cannot Keep Up
Finance leaders are under more pressure than ever to deliver faster answers, better forecasts, cleaner reporting, and stronger alignment across the business.
But when planning is fragmented, reports are questioned, and teams operate from different assumptions, finance gets pulled into defending the numbers instead of guiding the business.
That is usually when clients come to Lodestar Solutions.
Not because they want more dashboards.
Because they want a better way to plan, report, forecast and lead.
Finance does not need more noise. It needs trusted numbers, aligned leaders, and a planning process that helps the business move.
THE LODESTAR DIFFERENCE
Most firms start with the tool. Lodestar starts with alignment.
We believe better technology creates more value when leaders are clear on the priorities, drivers, decisions, and outcomes the technology is meant to support.
Our framework help clients create stronger alignment first, then modernize the planning process, forecasting rhythm, reporting structure, and IBM technology around what the business actually needs to achieve.
ALIGN
Clarify priorities, drivers, decision rights, and leadership expectations.
MODERNIZE
Improve IBM planning Analytics, Cognos reporting, forecasting and finance processes.
ENABLE
Train your team so knowledge, ownership and confidence stay inside the business.
ACCELERATE
Help finance guide decisions faster with trusted numbers and stronger alignment.
Better Planning Is Only the Beginning
The goal is not just a better planning process.
The goal is a business that makes better decisions.
ALIGNMENT
Leaders are clear on priorities, drivers, goals, KPIs and decisions.
TRUSTED PLANNING
Planning, budgeting, forecasting and reporting become easier to trust and use.
IBM MODERNIZATION
IBM Planning Analytics and Cognos better support how the business operates today.
TEAM ENABLEMENT
Internal teams gain confidence, ownership and practical alignment.
Where Lodestar Helps Finance Leaders Move From Friction to Confidence
Lodestar helps CFOs and FP&A leaders modernize planning, reporting, forecasting and leadership alignment when the current process is slowing the business down.
You are a strong fit if:
Mid-market companies often need real transformation, but they are underserved by firms that either oversimplify the challenge or overcomplicate the solution. Lodestar meets them in the middle, with practical strategy, technical depth and leadership-first execution.
Strategic Alignment
Team enablement, leadership alignment, executive coaching, adoption support and workshops that drive better decisions.
IBM Planning Analytics
Modernization, planning models, forecasting, performance, process design, training and optimization.
IBM Cognos
Reporting modernization, upgrades, governance, trusted reporting, analytics adoption and SaaS readiness.
Licensing, SaaS and Modernization Training
License reviews, renewals, entitlement clarity, SaaS evaluation, upgrade planning and modernization paths, end user and admin training.
Real people.
Specialized expertise.
Matched to your situation.
The Right Expertise for Your Situation
Lodestar does not believe clients should be limited to whoever happens to be available.
We combine Lodestar's strategic oversight, direct team expertise and a trusted network of select partners and specialists to match the right resource to your specific situation.
You get the expertise your project actually needs.
Not just the people sitting on a bench..
beyond spreadsheets. better outcomes.
Make confident decisions with a single source of truth.
Lodestar Solutions gives finance leaders the clarity and control to plan, model and adapt - without complexity of spreadsheets.
What Clients Experience
A simple thought process that we couldn’t do on our own, your steps were
incredibly helpful.
Your discussion about how to engage your business users greatly improved the analytics at our organization. It changed our discussions with end users away from design and towards analytical needs. It took the development process back to IT,
and let the end user focus on the key measures needed to improve their business needs.
Michael Brown
Manager of Business Intelligence
Just wanted to thank you for the workshop! The information was very helpful and thought-provoking. I say thought-provoking because that is probably my main take-away from the workshop.
However, the big “win” is seeing all of these things again (refreshes my memory and reaffirms my belief in these techniques) and the thoughts that it provokes. I am now well-armed and enthused to apply this (or very similar – adapted to our environment) framework here, thus assuring more success in the implementation and buy-in of our reporting and analytics improvement efforts. I had a flood of ideas and
follow-on actions that I took away from the workshop…so that we can truly apply these best practices and realize the value of these sorts of project/efforts.
Chris Otterson
Director Business Ops & Continuous Improvement
Lodestar provided training tailored specifically to the needs of our company. They assisted us in making problematic processes work efficiently and gave us the
knowledge to apply those techniques to future situations. They guided us in selecting the best methodology for data transformations and trained us in the use of those tools. We accomplished a lot in a very short time.
Sharon Grubenhoff
Senior Vice President of Financial Reporting, Primerica, Inc
Founder-led Guidance with Executive-Level Perspective
Lodestar Solutions was founded by Heather L. Cole, an IBM Lifetime Champion, strategic advisor, executive coach, attorney, bestselling author and host of Financial Executives International's Podcast.
She brings a rare perspective to finance transformation because her work sits at the intersection of IBM technology, FP&A strategy, executive leadership and trusted advisory counsel.
That matters because transformation is never just about upgrading the tool, it is about aligning the people, priorities, processes and leadership conversations the tool is meant to support.
IBM Lifetime Champion
Strategic Advisor & Executive Coach
See it. Believe It.
Ready to build an Analytics Environment Your Business Can Trust?
You don't have to figure out the next move alone. Whether you need to modernize IBM Planning Analytics, improve Cognos reporting, review your licenses, explore SaaS, train your team or strengthen alignment, Lodestar can help you clarify the smartest path forward.