Stop Relying on Spreadsheets and Luck—There’s a Better Way

St. Patrick’s Day has come and gone, and if you’re still hoping for the “Luck of the Irish” when it comes to accuracy and efficiency in managing accounting processes at your growing business with entry level accounting software, we have some bad news for you. At some point, your luck will run out, and all of the negativity will manifest itself, leaving you mired in mediocrity.

Fortune Favors the Prepared

Whether the downfall begins with a corrupted or overloaded QuickBooks File, the discovery of a fatal error in your spreadsheet (88% of spreadsheets have some kind of error), or some other form of mistake that puts your business in peril, it’s time to stop relying on luck as a business model.

According to the Ventana Research Report, Eliminating the Risks of Spreadsheets in Finance, spreadsheets are cumbersome, risk- and error-prone, and separating you from the visibility you need and deserve.

The report, available for download from Intacct, goes on to note that while a vast majority of executives at midsized organizations (91%) are hoping that finance can play a bigger, more strategic role in the future, too many finance professionals can’t make that happen due to a lack of time and other resources.

Make Accounting Strategic Again

So what can you do to empower your finance teams to think more strategically—now and in the future? Ventana provides in-depth analysis of three goals on which you should focus:

• Automating Complex Tasks as Much As Possible: One such process that will become a major time drain is the revenue recognition process under the new ASC 606/IFRS 15 standards. Learn more about what those standards mean and how you can prepare here (Part 1, Part 2).
• Eliminating Spreadsheets in Core Financial Processes: Ventana reports that 75% of midsized companies use spreadsheets heavily in their closing process and 53% use spreadsheets for consolidation. These companies feel the pain through increased monthly/quarterly close time and inability to use this information to make more informed decisions.
• Improve the Accuracy and Efficiency of Collecting and Reporting Information: For many midsized organizations, the collection and reporting on of information in a spreadsheet is ineffective. For example, the time and expense management process should have workflows in place that can allocate expenses, but even the most adept spreadsheet users can’t track this information in an efficient or accurate manner.

Save Time, Improve Accuracy: Stop Hoping for the Luck of the Spreadsheet

Spreadsheets are great for personal productivity, but when they’re used for complex processes, their weaknesses begin to manifest, and your organization begins to feel the pain. In fact, organizations that have made the move to an enterprise application like ERP are not only able to save time and money, they are able to allow financial professionals to focus their attention where it matters—driving strategic growth. Learn more in the Ventana Report, Eliminating the Risks of Spreadsheets in Finance, available from Intacct.

Whitepaper: Outgrowing QuickBooks

rinehimerbaker has released a new whitepaper for companies outgrowing QuickBooks. Outgrowing QuickBooks—How to Know It’s Time to Change shares the challenges that businesses face when growing, and the opportunities they have to ease growth. Learn more by reading the first 3 pages of the whitepaper below: