Promote data analysis through agile reporting features
How can CFOs and finance leaders create a shift from transactional-focused accounting professionals to a team of consultative and analysis-focused experts? The answer is to promote analysis over manual tasks by leveraging agile technology.
The vehicle: true-cloud accounting software that creates real-time reporting dashboards at high and granular levels. These features enable finance experts to consult and advise key stakeholders during investment applications, forecasting, data analysis, and budget discussions.
Many finance teams will have experience creating complex financial reports for weeks, just for the figures to become outdated as soon as they are pulled into the report. Not only is this frustrating for the employee creating the report, but it is also an inefficient way of presenting and analysing data because, among other things, it does not offer real-time insight into what the financial information is showing.
However, accounting teams with access to accounting automation software will discover tools that help them drill down into one data set from multiple perspectives. They can then offer better commentary to CFOs regarding business health. For example, automated accounting systems can present a data set as a graph, pie, pivot chart, or heat map, in real-time, offering far more meaningful insight than a lengthy and complex manually created report.
With built-in BI tools, flex screens, and configurable dashboards, finance leaders can rest assured that their accounting teams are working efficiently. Complex reporting often demands in-depth commentary, and a leader who can correctly allocate time to finance experts for such demands will find that the translation of financial statements — from expert to stakeholder — becomes efficient and digestible.