Real-Time Accounting in The Financial Close
Enterprises often struggle with the challenges of working with outdated data from their ERPs, which can hinder financial close processes, forecasting accuracy and overall business performance.In this blog, we'll explore the top seven benefits of real-time data solutions and examine - how Aico’s industry-unique real-time accounting solutions empower finance teams to elevate their performance and drive organisational success.
Real-Time Accounting: The Necessity of Instant Financial Reporting
7. Global Visibility and Control
In large, global enterprises, real-time accounting provides centralised visibility and control over financial operations across geographies and business units. Accounting teams can access real-time data from multiple locations, currencies and ERP systems and instances. This enables the consistent reporting and standardisation of accounting practices – worldwide. Aico’s unique ability to provide live ERP integration to the giants of financial management like SAP, Oracle and Microsoft Dynamics 365 gives enterprises the edge, and accounting teams peace of mind during the month-end.
6. Agile Decision-Making
Real-time accounting provides the finance team with instantaneous access to up-to-date financial data from their ERP. In actuality, many accountants are not working with real-time ERP data but with data updated periodically from a batch file downloaded from their ERP. This data may be 15 minutes old or more. The genuine real-time ERP integration offered by Aico provides immediate access to accurate financial data, enabling accounting teams and top management to make timely and informed decisions. Whether it's assessing the financial impact of a business decision, evaluating investment opportunities or responding to regulatory changes, real-time access to financial insights empowers decision-makers to act swiftly and confidently.
5. Risk Management and Compliance
Working with live ERP data helps mitigate risks and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements. By monitoring financial transactions in real time, accounting teams can identify potential risks, such as fraud or financial irregularities, and take proactive measures to address them. Real-time compliance monitoring solutions allow finance teams to put in place processes that reduce the likelihood of non-compliance and associated penalties.
4. Enhanced Efficiency
Another benefit of using a powerful platform like Aico is the automation of manual, routine tasks, such as data entry and reconciliation. This allows accounting teams to focus on value-added activities, such as the analysis of atypical data, forecasting and risk management. Aico’s Account Monitor can be configured so unusual movements trigger alerts that can be tackled immediately.
These efficiency gains are particularly significant in large enterprises with complex financial operations and global footprints, where manual processes can be especially time-consuming and prone to errors.
3. Improved Financial Reporting
Real-time accounting facilitates faster and more accurate financial reporting, ensuring that stakeholders receive timely and reliable information. Accounting teams can generate real-time financial reports, dashboards and analytics to monitor performance, track key metrics, and communicate financial results effectively to top management, investors, and regulators. Wrong or incomplete General Ledger postings no longer go unnoticed until the end of the month with Aico’s Variance Monitor but can be flagged as per requirements and tackled immediately.
2. Strategic Planning and Forecasting
One critical function of real-time access to ERP data is to provide enterprises with a solid foundation for strategic planning and forecasting. With access to real-time financial data, top management can conduct scenario analysis, assess business performance, and forecast future trends with greater accuracy. This capability is invaluable for long-term strategic decision-making and resource allocation in a dynamic business environment. By having access to real-time financial insights, companies can respond promptly to market opportunities, address emerging challenges and adjust their strategies in real-time to stay ahead of the competition.
1. A Faster Financial Close
Finally, real-time accounting streamlines the financial close process by automating repetitive tasks and reducing manual interventions. By eliminating the delays associated with old data, companies can accelerate the financial close cycle and improve operational efficiency. With financial teams released from the limitations of inadequate data, they are free to focus on other key tasks.
Enterprises can now make decisions without relying on outdated data.
Overall, real-time accounting solutions empower accounting teams and top management in large, global enterprises to operate more efficiently, make better-informed decisions, and drive strategic growth and compliance initiatives with confidence.
As the most important responsibility of the financial close process is to ensure that all financial reports accurately represent the company's financial position, accountants need to be confident they are working with best-in-class data. As these benefits are passed on to the rest of the organisation, these large companies are discovering they can strengthen their competitiveness, agility and efficiency in an ever-changing financial landscape.
