Unmasking Signs That You’ve Outgrown Your Financial Close Process

Executive Summary

In an era where real-time data and insights are in high demand, the financial close process of many organisations stand as a bottleneck. This whitepaper examines signs that indicate when a company has outgrown its current financial close process, and the need for digitisation to stay competitive. We’ll explore the benefits of digitisation, critical financial reporting errors, and the key role of digitisation in strategic objectives.

Technical Background

According to a survey conducted by ‘SAGE: The Digital CFO’, more than 50% of finance departments report that they struggle to provide real-time data and quality insight. This has been compounded by the mass relocation of workers to remote environments. Many organisations responded by adopting cloud-based collaboration tools as a stop-gap measure. However, those that had already completed their digital transformation were better equipped to handle the shift.

System Architecture

Digitisation in finance involves automating manual processes and incorporating advanced analytics tools. With digital technologies, organisations can generate outputs faster, perform better analysis and provide greater insights, merge non-financial data with financial data for easier analysis, make audits less time-consuming, reduce errors, and free up skilled staff to focus on high-value tasks.

Implementation Details

It’s crucial that financial reports, which drive internal decision-making and act as a KPI for external stakeholders, are 100% accurate. However, approximately 20% of large businesses have suffered financial losses due to spreadsheet errors. With the volume and complexity of data generated by modern businesses, the risk of errors is high.

Code Examples

As we delve into the technical aspect, the choice of code will depend on the specific financial software solution being implemented. Examples of such include automation scripts to replace manual spreadsheet data entries, or data analysis algorithms to provide deeper insights into financial data.

Performance Analysis

Performance of a digital financial close process can be measured by factors like how fast outputs are generated, the quality of insights provided, and the reduction in errors. A successful implementation will lead to faster, more accurate financial close processes.

Security Considerations

Given the sensitivity of financial data, security is paramount. Any digital transformation should include robust security measures, including secure data storage, encrypted communication, and strong access controls.

Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting a digital financial close process involves identifying and resolving issues that may arise, such as data import errors, incorrect calculations, or system performance problems.

Conclusion

The journey towards digitising your financial close process may seem daunting, but the benefits to efficiency, accuracy, and agility make it an essential step. Recognising when your organisation has outgrown its current process is the first move on the path to transformation.