There is a point in every business timeline when decision-makers consider whether or not navigating their current course is the right thing to do.
During growth and expansion, it’s only natural that processes and systems change and adapt to fit the new needs of the company. However, a critical mistake many business leaders make is to cling to the familiar by hanging onto ill-fitting and outdated systems.
Not only does this hamper current growth, but it impacts decision-making and future growth as well.
Though uncomfortable at first, when forward-thinking companies face their weaknesses head-on and enlist solutions that trim workflow, they are better able to navigate the unchartered waters of success.
If you find your financial backbone is built upon manually compiled spreadsheets and modified workarounds, it’s only a matter of time until those systems prevent your company from developing at a healthy rate to adequately handle growth.
Automation Tightens Data Integrity
Spreadsheets work for supplemental analyses, but using them to build the core of your financials can negatively impact data. Reporting in this way relies solely on the user’s efficiency and accuracy, which can easily lead to errors in reporting, with faint paper trails to locate the point where the error occurred.
This can create a financial reporting and auditing nightmare.
Companies that transition from spreadsheets to a more robust financial management system discover a range of benefits that support complex metrics and data integrity:
- Reduced manual entry means less human error and greater data accuracy as a result.
- One-click global consolidations and more flexible and extensible general ledgers increases auditing efficiency and improves time spent on period closings.
- Automated options speeds reconciling and offers more precise financial reporting.
Transparency Fosters Strategic Decision-Making
When companies rely on spreadsheets to navigate change, business managers and decision-makers are left to feel like they are operating without a map. For decisions that require comprehensive analysis, limited data just doesn’t work. Teams need a dashboard of broad business-wide metrics beyond the spreadsheet, that includes nonfinancial data from other areas of the company.
Companies that operate with comprehensive financial solutions discover more in-depth data allows them to make better-informed decisions.
- Rich reporting and analytics tailored to decision-makers’ needs offer increased clarity and confidence.
- Deeper visibility, in real-time, provides more accurate analyses of data and metrics.
- Faster financials provide quicker answers, giving decision-makers what they need, when they need it.
The Cloud Expedites Progress
On-premise software and static spreadsheets keep your data local, dated, and limited. Using these types of restricted systems rarely works well for communicating effectively with sales teams and clients. This is even more true for businesses with employees in the field, in different locations, different states, or different parts of the world.
Businesses that step outside the constraints of spreadsheets into the wide-open cloud environment, find that time speeds up, projects move with persistence, and a living framework begins to develop around projects. They notice that their data and metrics expand, and move with every change the company experiences.
These businesses see amazing results in the quality of their interactions, and their day-to-day workflow in the cloud.
- Clients and teams connect through seamless communication and integration of other critical solutions.
- Ironclad system protection and data security means businesses rest easy that their data and their clients’ information is safe and secure.
- Updates automatically to ensure the software solutions work smoothly and efficiently.
Set Sail for Success
If your company still uses spreadsheets amidst rapid growth, it’s time to abandon that ship.
When you graduate to a best-in-class secure cloud-based ERP system like Intacct, a whole new world of streamlined communication, improved accuracy, and robust reporting opens up to your company to help you do more.
Put the wind in your sails to enliven your financials and invite solutions on board that work with your changing metrics. Contact our team of experts our team of experts to point your toward the ideal solutions to help you chart your direct course to success.
