Actually, it is what is says, the financial close, but fast(er). While the process of fast close consolidation isn’t new, achieving it often remains a pain point for many organizations. Organizations seeking to improve their financial consolidation are usually either handling this process using outdated legacy systems, separate applications that are loosely integrated, and/or many Excel spreadsheets. In nearly all cases, they are not taking advantage of newer technology.
On the other hand, just automating some of the steps isn’t the ideal solution either. In our opinion, it is a combination of people, processes and technology. In most cases, the processes can be improved and multiple steps can be automated. Both improvements will help the People in your organization to adept the changes and work smarter towards a fast(er) financial close.
So, how to achieve a fast(er) close? We like to use the following 5 steps to achieve a fast(er) close:
- Set the goals
- Identify issues
- Solve & Automate
- Train
- Repeat
With these five steps, every organization should be able to improve the financial close processes (with a little help). In addition, there are some common themes to keep in mind as many organizations are struggling with them or not able to benefit from them:
Create a single version of the truth
As highlighted above, many organizations still rely on an outdated approach where data is stored in separate silos. This causes data to be unreliable and time consuming. All too often, the ‘go to’ solution to this is utilizing platforms such as Excel – a time-consuming and largely unimpactful task for financial teams – and even then, data is still not 100% reliable.
The risk of human error, an inability to edit data collaboratively (at the same time), and a lack of intelligent insights are reasons that the use of spreadsheets for consolidation leaves a lot to be desired. Instead, organizations should be looking for a unified solution that provides a single version of the truth. Data is no longer siloed across multiple locations, meaning it can be appropriately utilized to offer valuable strategic insight in financial planning and forecasting.
Support processes with insights and workflow
Another relevant benefit for the users is to support the workflow in all steps to create insights in the status of the (closing) processes. In addition, smart checks and balances can be added to the (traditional) reporting packs. With the checks and the workflow, the financial close can be done smarter and faster! And with less frustration along the way.
Expanded capabilities to wider teams and users
Looking behind the financial close, there is another opportunity as the right solution is not limited by its users. Each member of an organization has a part to play; finance is not the only area that can (and will) benefit from a unified platform that returns transparent data and analysis. And as a financial, you want to be a real Business Partner.
This asks for a solution that can:
- extend FP&A and consolidation processes across the business, not just finance
- handle large amounts of simultaneous users and data
- deliver the ability to manage multiple scenario’s
- deliver detail in granular detail no matter how large the data sets are
- scale to match evolving business requirements.
To cut it short, with Board International, you can create this single version of the truth with expanded capabilities across the business whilst maintaining performance and scalability!
