Industries have their own unique ways of working, and the Hospitality and Arts & Culture sectors are no exception. For businesses in these fields, flexibility in financial reporting isn’t just a nice to have—it’s essential.
Take, for instance, the 4-4-5 accounting cycle, a common practice in these industries that divides the year into 13 weeks, with each quarter consisting of two 4-week periods followed by a 5-week period.
To thrive, businesses need a finance system that can easily adapt to these unconventional reporting periods, providing the tools to generate reports that align with their specific operational needs. With Xledger’s® inbuilt functionality, hospitality and arts organisations can seamlessly manage and customize their financial reporting, ensuring they capture the insights that matter most. Discover how Xledger can empower your business to report in way that best suits your needs.
Why do businesses use 4-4-5 accounting?
The positives of dividing the year into four quarters with 13 weeks in each means it is simpler to compare the performance between your quarter’s year-on-year. It also helps with the fluctuations of the sector; if Friday-Sunday are your busiest times, reporting in full weeks and having the same number of days in each month supports finance professionals that need to report on these periods accurately.
How does Xledger’s finance software support different reporting periods?
Unlike entry level finance software, Xledger is built specifically for more complex businesses in the mid-market space (typically businesses between £5m-£200m turnover). Our software allows the users to define their own periods, giving the finance team the flexibility to report on financials in the best possible way for their business’ needs.
A time-consuming task for many accountants is manual accruals and prepayments. This is especially time consuming for companies who use 4-4-5 accounting as often these need to be apportioned across the various periods rather than an even split. In Xledger, not only do we have an automated process for posting across multiple periods we can also automatically apportion these postings in line with the bespoke period lengths of the company. This greatly reduces previously time-consuming tasks and improves accuracy and consistency.
Choosing a system that can adapt to the unique nature of different industries should be a priority when changing finance system, otherwise you can be left with a system that can’t support a vital part of your financial processes.
Book Your Free Demo
Our accountancy-trained consultants understand how to work with different accounting periods and can maximise how your finance system can be adapted to best suit your business. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any further questions, or if you’d like to see Xledger in action, click here to book a demo.
