Global Financial Reporting Issues and How to Fix Them
This might be you and it’s not your fault Global financial reporting in today’s digital economy, demand for immediate access to accurate financial data that increases constantly. Internal management, parent companies, regulatory authorities, and other external stakeholders now expect almost real-time availability of accounting statements. Additionally, the same is expected of management information. To keep up with these changing expectations, financial reporting and accounting departments must constantly explore new technologies to improve data quality. They also have to refine best practices to streamline operations and improve efficiency. The party never stops However, the ability of many finance professionals to deliver effectively is often hindered at the outset by reporting limitations. These include existing accounting systems, inconsistent system set up across companies, multi-ERP system consolidation challenges, and currency reporting complications. Coupled with divergent global accounting and reporting standards, even local user language support becomes a challenge. Many ERP-vendors, wishing to excel at supporting line-of-business operations, are often challenged by these constantly evolving reporting requirements. They look to specialist partner solutions to provide both global and local controllers with tools needed to respond appropriately. What’s the Real Issue with global financial reporting? In distributed corporations, global controllers must regularly consolidate data from multiple ERP-systems, navigate different chart of accounts structures, and deal with multiple currencies. They need to support the decision-making needs of internal management, while also creating GAAP-and IFRS-compliant consolidated financial statements. All to be submitted to external audiences such as auditors, banks, investors, and analysts. Individual company accountants also need to balance internal management reporting formats, with frequently conflicting disclosure requirements of local authorities. National governments in a growing number of countries look to protect revenue sources and expose fraudulent activity. Additional burdens are created by requiring electronic tracking of individual transactions and almost real-time electronic report submission. The reality is that the need to publish financial statements in different countries with different laws and regulations makes global accounting a challenge. Finance professionals must have expertise of the regulations in all markets. As an imperative, their company should be able to navigate regulatory grey areas when needed. These little things and your business When systems are not seamlessly aligned or integrated, processes vital to a company’s success become overcomplicated. For example, companies using the same ERP system do not use identical charts of accounts, collating information becomes less straightforward. When companies use different ERP systems or have different calendar period structures aggregation becomes even more time-consuming. When local regulatory standards differ across a distributed enterprise, adjustments often need to be made to standardize the reporting at the group level. Many-to-all of these functions are managed manually, are prone to errors. They reduce the efficiency of the reporting cycle, and can even delay management’s ability to make timely operating decisions. Relying on data entered across multiple systems or platforms, and then relying on manual effort to tie it all together is a sub-optimal approach as pressures mount to report more quickly, and in more detail than ever before. This is the bane of global financial reporting. How to Fix? Global Financial Reporting: Consider these best practices and reliable workflows as a fix to challenges Fresh approaches, typically offered as web-based subscription services are helping customers bridge the gap. Traditional reporting is being replaced to today’s need for immediacy and accuracy at all levels. Any modern system should begin by consolidating transaction-level data. General Ledger, Accounts Payable, and Accounts Receivable from each ERP-system, located anywhere globally, into a multi-ledger accounting repository. This makes data from every group operation available immediately on a consistent and easy-to-understand basis. Modern processing power and the availability of standard API’s (Application Programming Interfaces) means that the traditional third-party reporting approach is now insufficient and obsolete. Starting with just periodically imported balance information is a thing of the past. By starting with a full transaction set, the repository can then be enhanced through the ability to post auditable, double-entry transaction-level adjustments. Also Currency revaluations, intercompany eliminations, and statutory reporting reallocations when these are difficult to accomplish in underlying systems. This provides a truly centralized system-of-record with complete drill down access to the transaction-level detail behind every reported balance. This reduces audit risk when compared with ERP systems that require additional spreadsheet adjustments. Even business intelligence products that produce financial reports based only on balance-level data will be no match for this. A top-quality reporting system can support not only adjustments, but also the ability to map disparate source charts of accounts to common group or regulatory standards. The reporting system can maintain its own chart structures and after an initial mapping exercise at set up time, the user is able to simply run each consolidation or statutory report to any required format, removing the traditional problem of monthly reallocation work in spreadsheets. Finally….. As the reporting solution uses a modern integration framework, the complete accounting dataset can also be utilized for broader decision support using industry-standard analytical and business intelligence tools. This is through standard outbound APIs with all reporting based on a “single source-of-truth”. As a result, there is consistency in the information used across the enterprise. Global financial reporting issues solved! Next Steps 💡Click here to reduce time spent on period-end reporting 🔋Click here if you wish to solve 25+ Spreadsheet reporting issues 🔆 Click here to improve the accuracy and usability of generated reports 💯 Click here to decrease risk by providing on-demand access to the transaction detail behind every reported balance ☎️ Book a free, no-obligation walkthrough with Mondial to see how we can help you in financial reporting and consolidations just like one of our successful clients.
France’s FEC Financial Reporting Requirement
The FEC and its Alignment with OECD Standards France, like others, enforces a standardized financial reporting framework to streamline data from companies under its jurisdiction. It’s called “Fichier des écritures comptables”, or FEC for short. France introduced the FEC in 2014, aligning with OECD standards for economic cooperation and development. The body established guidelines for SAF-T, a method for reliably exchanging standardized electronic accounting data. While the FEC deviates slightly from the OECD standard, – the underlying requirements are similar. FEC differs from SAF-T by mandating companies to align financials with the French-defined national chart of accounts. FEC compliance mandates reporting on payable accounts, receivables, inventory, and fixed assets, alongside general ledger balances and supporting journals. Challenges in Creating a Universal Chart for Tax Compliance Let’s focus on GL reporting: Companies prefer a meaningful chart of accounts for better business understanding from a management perspective. They create accounts for revenue, expenses, assets, and liabilities as needed for effective management reporting. Later, when it comes time to report to tax authorities, that chart of accounts doesn’t necessarily work well. Companies must map their journals to a specific French chart of accounts as required by FEC reporting regulations. That leaves companies with the task of mapping and translating their account structure into a tax-specific statutory chart. Management’s chart of accounts may not align with tax authorities’ statutory chart due to various reasons. Operating in multiple countries with unique tax reporting requirements makes creating a universal chart challenging. For instance, the UK plans to emulate France’s “Making Tax Digital” initiative, extending it to corporate income tax. Statutory reporting may necessitate mapping and formatting financial results differently for various tax authorities, possibly involving reclassifying expenses or omitting disallowed items. Adjustments to conform to US-GAAP, IFRS, or country-specific standards are good examples of this. Mapping and adjusting can be burdensome when done only once, and it puts the company at risk of non-compliance. Doing it multiple times, though, is extraordinarily time-consuming. It also involves much higher levels of compliance risk because the likelihood of errors increases exponentially. Mondial helps multinational enterprises solve this problem. Our platform unifies record-keeping across group companies, extracting detailed transaction data from various companies, despite different ERP systems. It furnishes a sole truth, enabling finance teams to align with statutory charts, execute multi-GAAP adjustments, and conduct currency revaluations. That leads to fast, accurate reports for any country, any accounting standard, any currency, and any time period. From any ERP system. If you’re struggling with statutory reporting compliance, schedule a conversation with one of our financial reporting experts. In 30 minutes, we can help you determine whether Mondial may be the right fit for your organization. [/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]
In Today’s Economy, Cost-Saving Sells
Cost-Saving in Today’s Economy Even in the midst of a recession, there is opportunity. Prove that your product can save time and money, and you’ll have a winning proposition. During the dot-com boom, concepts like monetization and ROI seemed irrelevant to many of us, evoking nostalgia. In the last two years, the buzz around digital transformation has drawn parallels with big data, AI, and IoT. Fortunately, hyperbole didn’t peak this time. However, with rising economic uncertainty, vendors must prove their products save costs effectively. Elusive promises and nebulous claims no longer cut it. Customers want measurable, real-world results. With that in mind, automation is looking pretty attractive right about now. Combine that with meaningful risk-reduction, and you have an even better value proposition. Consider what this looks like for a growing business with subsidiaries spread across several continents. You have multiple corporate entities, each with its own chart of accounts, and each with its local statutory reporting requirements. You’ll likely need to render your financials in multiple GAAP/IFRS formats to satisfy local regulators. You must consolidate the information into a comprehensive view and produce reports adhering to your country’s legal standards. Many organizations tackle this issue in two ways: they invest in costly financial reporting systems or painstakingly create reports by combining data in spreadsheets. The former option is generally very expensive and time-consuming. The latter is also time-consuming and therefore expensive in terms of staff time and opportunity cost. Unfortunately, it’s also highly prone to error. Here’s how Mondial can save money: Mondial reduces the time and effort needed to produce accurate, timely financial statements. Mondial increases accuracy and reduces audit risk, delivering consistent results formatted to statutory reporting specifications. If you undergo an audit, Mondial cuts audit costs by offering a comprehensive, auditable repository for GL and subledger transactions, including line-item details. Operating across borders with various currencies and reporting to multiple governments? Choose Mondial for cost-effective solutions. Schedule a 1:1 demo to learn more. If you’re an ERP partner selling SAP Business One or SME software, Mondial can boost revenue and enhance customer satisfaction. Schedule a meeting with our channel management team to learn more about the opportunity for your business. [/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]
Customer Story: IBP Powers Forward with Mondial and SAP
Elevating Financial Operations at IBP with Mondial Software’s Real-Time Platform IBP sought seamless financial reporting with SAP Business One, turning to Mondial Software for timely and dependable solutions. They now have a modern, real-time platform that saves time, improves accuracy, and automates key elements of the closing process. The implementation of Mondial Software’s platform has brought about a paradigm shift in how IBP manages its financial data. IBP gains real-time financial insights for agile decision-making, responding swiftly to market dynamics with the platform’s immediacy. This dynamic responsiveness is particularly crucial in the fast-paced business environment where real-time insights can be a strategic advantage. One of the standout features of the Mondial Software solution is its time-saving capabilities. The platform streamlines various financial processes, reducing the time and effort traditionally associated with manual tasks. Efficiency gains cut costs and free IBP’s financial team for strategic activities, enhancing overall productivity and organizational effectiveness. Moreover, the platform’s automation of key elements in the closing process is a noteworthy advancement. Mondial Software automates tasks, speeding up the closing process and markedly reducing errors compared to manual execution. Enhancing accuracy bolsters stakeholder confidence and ensures regulatory compliance in IBP’s financial reporting. The strategic collaboration between IBP and Mondial Software has yielded a transformative financial reporting solution. IBP’s modern platform meets reporting needs, introducing efficiencies, time savings, and automation for a resilient, adaptive financial infrastructure. The partnership showcases their proactive use of technology for strategic business enhancement. To read the complete case study, click the link below. READ THE CASE STUDY
Financial Statements: Focusing on the Value-Add
Unlocking Efficiency Through Consolidation A full-time assistant managing month-end complexities frees time for strategic pursuits, enhancing efficiency in financial reporting for businesses. A streamlined approach to consolidated financial reporting is now a viable prospect, increasingly essential for businesses in today’s landscape. Challenges in Traditional Financial Statement Production Creating financial statements involves a burdensome process: collecting adjustments, reconciling, and ensuring accuracy through review and adjustments. Complexity amplifies within group companies, requiring coordination among multiple entities and rigorous oversight to prevent oversights. The Potential of Integration and Automation Integration and automation represent a significant opportunity for improvement. Despite the technical ring of terms like “robotic process automation” (RPA), their essence lies in reducing human intervention. Automation, once limited to larger corporations, is now accessible to smaller firms, serving as a starting point for refining processes. Comparing Traditional versus Automated Approaches The current process involves manual data transfer, followed by laborious formatting and verification procedures for financial statements creation. An automated system allows real-time data transmission to a centralized ledger, facilitating instantaneous and accurate adjustments according to diverse standards. Benefits of Automation: Reducing Errors and Enhancing Focus Automation streamlines tasks, minimizing errors and unnecessary communication. It empowers financial teams, shifting focus to strategic thinking from repetitive activities. This transition fosters a more efficient reporting environment. In addition to efficiency gains, automation reduces errors by following predefined rules. This enhances financial reporting accuracy and contributes to reliable decision-making based on trustworthy data. Moreover, financial teams shift from routine tasks to strategic analysis. With automation handling repetitive activities, professionals dedicate more time to analyzing trends and making informed decisions. This transition adds significant value to the financial reporting function.
Mondial announces partnership with Pilot Solutions
BEDFORD, New Hampshire, APRIL 20, 2022. Mondial Software’s Partnership with Pilot Solutions: Elevating SAP Business One Reporting Capabilities Mondial Software partners with Pilot Solutions for SAP Business One channel enablement programs. It expanded its product with real-time integration for enhanced SAP Business One reporting. Also, enhancing ERP Reporting tools worldwide as a backbone to optimization and digital transformation. Partnership Accelerating Mondial’s SAP Business in Channel Enablement Mondial accelerates SAP’s presence, leveraging Pilot Solutions’ 30 years in the channel. Pilot Solutions enhances channel support, offering improved financial reporting services for SAP Business One customers.” Mondial is especially well-suited for companies who need to produce consolidated financial statements, and who require multi-GAAP, multi-ledger reporting. SAP’s global presence in the SME space, makes Mondial a perfect fit for the SAP Business One channel. Mondial extracts data from diverse companies under one umbrella, despite varying ERP systems and accounting. It merges varied subledger data, ensuring compliance with GAAP, IFRS, and other regulations.” Mondial links group companies in real-time for centralized consolidations in a cloud-based hub. The result is a single, centralized, automated and fully auditable ledger that serves as a single source of truth for financial reports. Mondial’s Product and Partnership with Pilot Solutions “Mondial’s product is a great value for any SAP Business One customer,” said Greg Robinson of Pilot Solutions. “That’s especially true for businesses that operate multiple entities and need a way to produce consolidated financial statements more efficiently. The product yields swift ROI by reducing manual efforts in typical processes. Mondial is invaluable for reporting in IFRS, US-GAAP, or any other standards.” “We’re delighted to be partnering with Pilot Solutions to develop and support a global partner channel for the SAP Business One market,” said Mondial’s CEO Mark Richardson. “As veterans of the SAP Business One channel, they understand the dynamics of the SME market and the SAP partner organizations in particular. Pilot also has deep domain expertise in ERP software, with experience in training, implementation, and project management services for SAP Business One partners and customers. We see that as a winning combination.” About Mondial Solutions Mondial Software is a global provider of cloud-based tools for multi-ERP financial reporting and consolidations. Founded by experienced accounting professionals from Epicor, Sage, SAP, Avalara, and Plex Systems; Mondial serves global customers.” For more information, visit https://mondialsoftware.com. About Pilot Solutions Pilot Solutions aids SAP Business One partners with go-to-market enablement, consulting, integration, support, analytics, and compliance.For more information, visit https://www.pilotsolutions.net.
Closing the Year With Limited Staff?
The finance team needs to earnestly start thinking about closing the year’s books. Many CFOs will find the task particularly challenging due to a shortage of qualified CPAs and finance professionals. If you haven’t yet considered ways to reduce the workload for your staff in early 2022, it’s time to start exploring creative solutions. Here are some suggested strategies. Do as Much as Possible in Advance You don’t necessarily have to prepare all your year-end worksheets after December 31st. You can often reconcile lease accounting and loan amortization tables before year-end on a preliminary basis. Identify accounts that usually need periodic reconciliation and have predictable activity in the final weeks of the year. Lease and loan accounts, fixed assets that were bought or sold, and certain cash accounts with minimal activity might qualify for a preliminary reconciliation. Maintain a list of such accounts and related backup materials to verify balances after closing year-end transactions. Line up Temporary Help It’s a busy time for everyone, but it’s valuable to line up temporary resources early. Part-time staff from temp agencies, internships, and recent retirees open to short-term engagements can help. It’s essential to find and schedule them in advance, delegating appropriate tasks. Retirees who left on good terms can provide valuable temporary assistance due to their familiarity with your organization. Offering competitive pay and remote work opportunities can attract them for a month or two in the new year. It’s Not Too Late to Automate Many of the most time-consuming tasks in year-end closing involve extensive manual data manipulation in spreadsheets. Excellent software solutions in the market automate these tasks, saving time and reducing errors by eliminating copy/paste and manual entry. Don’t assume automation requires an expensive, time-consuming software project. With modern cloud-based solutions, a small investment in time and resources can quickly implement automation. Signing up for a limited-scope commitment can enhance the cost/benefit ratio. For Consolidated Financials, Automate the “Last Mile” Companies with multiple locations often face the challenge of consolidating data from various entities to create unified financial statements. Finance teams gather and harmonize information from different entities, deal with various currencies, and manage different ERP systems, resulting in a cumbersome process. The presence of multiple accounting standards like GAAP, IFRS, and country-specific variants complicates this task further. For organizations utilizing distinct ERP systems across separate companies, merging data into a cohesive view becomes challenging. The central finance team must handle adjustments, eliminations, and currency revaluations, and create financial statements adhering to diverse standards. Mondial offers an accounting system, that integrates with all group-company ERPs, preserving detailed audit trails and supporting multiple currencies. This facilitates producing compliant financial statements for all jurisdictions. Implementation takes only a few days, significantly reducing year-end closing efforts. Until December 17th, a limited-commitment trial of CRx is available without obligation. Schedule a free, no-obligation demo to learn more.
Five Problems With SAP Business One’s Financial Reporting
Overview of SAP Business One Reporting SAP Business One generally receives positive reviews for its general-purpose reporting capabilities. Crystal Reports, acquired with BusinessObjects, has significantly enhanced its reporting features, being the industry standard for SMEs. Challenges in Generating Financial Reports However, when it comes to basic financial reports like income statements, balance sheets, and statements of cash flows, SAP B1 falls short. The system’s reports require numerous ad hoc adjustments for items like consolidating multiple GL accounts, presenting columnar data that differs from Crystal’s strengths in tabular-style reports. Issues with SAP B1 Financial Reports The financial reports in SAP B1 might look fine in demos but prove lacking in real-world applications. These reports are inflexible, particularly in generating reports in transaction currencies, hindering reconciliations for multi-currency businesses. #1: B1’s Financial Report Formats are Too Rigid Initially, creating a chart of accounts aligns the structure with the desired income statement and balance sheet output, grouping similar accounts for easy summarization. However, changes or new account additions can disrupt this alignment, requiring adjustments to income statement rows. Tabular reporting tools, like SAP Business One, offer limited flexibility in handling these modifications. Purpose-built financial reporting tools, supported by a strong accounting hub capable of storing subledger detail and unlimited multicurrency data, provide complete flexibility without extra effort or specialized technical skills. #2: Multicurrency Reporting Options are Limited SAP Business One effectively handles multicurrency transactions, allowing setups with various currencies. However, its limitations become apparent in financial reporting. Native reports don’t facilitate reporting in transaction currencies, causing reconciliation difficulties and slowing down period-end closings. A more flexible approach, allowing unlimited currencies per transaction and reports in any currency, is crucial for global companies complying with multiple jurisdictional requirements. #3: B1 Doesn’t Allow Reporting in both GAAP and IFRS (or other standards) Global organizations often require financial statements complying with various standards like US-GAAP, IFRS, and others. The challenge arises in ERP systems like SAP Business One, which assume a single financial reporting standard for each managed company. This poses issues when reporting to a local agency in IFRS while consolidating reports for a parent company under US-GAAP. Making adjustments during consolidation or manually changing numbers, both error-prone and slow, doesn’t provide an efficient method for automated, accurate financial reporting based on current system data. #4: B1 Doesn’t Handle Statutory Reporting Formats Well Meeting statutory reporting requirements across various regulatory jurisdictions is a common challenge for global companies. Beyond differentiating US-GAAP from country-specific GAAP or IFRS, handling complex mappings from the ERP system’s chart of accounts to statutory reports for multiple countries presents another layer of complexity. While SAP Business One allows the assignment of an “External Code” for each General Ledger account, it doesn’t adequately cater to companies dealing with multiple country-specific reports. There’s a lack of direct mapping for GL accounts to multiple alternate charts, no functionality to run essential financial statements using these alternate charts, and an inability to access transaction details linked to these statutory balances. This inadequacy complicates and prolongs the process of meeting the reporting needs of various local authorities, leading to potential errors. #5: B1 Doesn’t Do Consolidations Consolidated financial reporting has been persistently challenging for users managing multiple companies in SAP Business One, a difficulty increasingly impacting a growing number of B1 customers in today’s globalized economy. A common yet complex method involves exporting financial reports from individual companies and consolidating them in Excel. However, during crucial periods such as month-end closings, this process becomes laborious and prone to manual errors. SAP Business One’s inability to effectively manage consolidated reporting poses a significant obstacle. Adjusting entries during month-end closings often result in repeated reruns of financial reports, showcasing the inefficiencies of manual workarounds. Mondial Software’s CRx Solution Mondial Software’s CRx presents an alternative. CRx serves as a centralized accounting hub compatible with any ERP, offering real-time integration and automated processing. It streamlines financial reporting and compliance, allowing adjustments and generating reports adhering to various standards from a single dataset. CRx also manages companies with different accounting periods or fiscal year-ends within the same group. Efficiency with Mondial CRx Mondial CRx effectively addresses the outlined issues in SAP Business One financial reporting. It provides a robust, streamlined, and advanced financial compliance reporting solution for any ERP system. Contact us today to learn more!
IFRS vs. GAAP: Key Differences
Two decades ago, international accounting standards for financial reporting were generally established on a country-by-country basis. In the US, they were and continue to be known as GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles), while other regions often refer to their standards as “local-GAAP,” representing country-specific regulations. What is IFRS? In the late 1980s, a new global standard emerged from the UK, leading to the publication of the initial set of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). These aimed to establish a unified set of principles for global financial reporting. IFRS began in the UK, expanded to the EU, and gained traction due to China, Japan, Canada, Korea, and India’s intent to adopt it. Now, 120 countries prefer IFRS for financial reporting and compliance. GAAP vs. IFRS Differences exist in the philosophical approaches of GAAP and IFRS. GAAP tends toward conservatism, promoting careful interpretations, whereas IFRS emphasizes adaptability for precision. While this adaptability might raise worries about inflating earnings, supporters of IFRS contend that prioritizing “principles” over “rules” establishes more robust frameworks within international accounting standards. Face off: GAAP and IFRS GAAP provides specific rules for accounting transactions, whereas IFRS offers broadly defined guidelines to ensure consistency in recording transactions. The governing bodies administering these standards often publish examples illustrating their application. Specific Differences Inventory valuation: GAAP permits LIFO (last in, first out) inventory valuation to represent replacing costs, while IFRS prohibits LIFO. IFRS prioritizes depleting older inventory, potentially inflating reported income but providing a more accurate inventory value, notably in inflationary periods. Fixed assets: In line with its conservative approach, GAAP requires that fixed assets be carried on the balance sheet at their original cost, less depreciation, or at a reduced market value. This practice can result in an undervaluation of asset values. In contrast, IFRS allows for periodic revaluation of assets to account for significant changes in market value. Development costs: According to GAAP, development costs are immediately expensed upon their occurrence. Conversely, under IFRS, specific development costs can be capitalized, followed by subsequent amortization, to better match these expenses with the periods generating revenues. Other Differences Distinct treatment of transaction types is demanded due to notable differences among GAAP, IFRS, and country-specific variations. These differences underscore the philosophical variances between the approaches. The rise of competing standards, particularly IFRS, has added complexity for finance teams in global companies. It remains crucial to maintain consistent application, despite the interpretive flexibility allowed by these standards. Companies that report to diverse audiences using multiple standards may find it necessary to separate transaction postings to adhere to individual standards. Moving forwards with IFRS and GAAP Mondial Software, an advanced cloud-based accounting platform, enables distributed enterprises to create accurate, auditable financial statements complying with various GAAP and IFRS standards from a single dataset. If your company struggles to produce compliant financial reports swiftly, Mondial offers essential support. Your Next Steps 💡Click here to reduce time spent on period-end reporting 🔋Click here if you wish to solve 25+ Spreadsheet reporting issues 🔆 Click here to improve the accuracy and usability of generated reports 💯 Click here to decrease risk by providing on-demand access to the transaction detail behind every reported balance ☎️ Book a free, no-obligation walkthrough with Mondial to see how we can help you in financial reporting and consolidations just like one of our successful clients.
Why BI Tools Can’t Produce Good Financial Statements
Challenges in Financial Reporting for ERP Customers This is a prevalent complaint among ERP customers seeking a solution. They encounter difficulties with consolidations, eliminations, revaluations, and other statutory adjustments necessary to adhere to local-GAAP, IFRS, and other global financial reporting standards. If they manage multiple companies with distinct ERP systems and charts of accounts, the challenge becomes even more complex. Introduce multiple currencies into the equation, and financial reporting becomes exceedingly complicated. Reasons General BI Tools Fall Short for Financial Reporting Several reasons exist as to why general-purpose BI tools are not the ideal choice for swiftly and efficiently producing accurate, adaptable financial statements. Here are the top four: #1: Financial Reports are Fundamentally Different General-purpose report writing tools, like BI products, struggle to manage irregularities in financial reports, such as irregular account sequencing. A robust financial report writer allows users to define custom row definitions that align precisely with their specific requirements, providing flexibility and ease in the process. #2: Multi-ERP Reporting Requires a Lot of Heavy Lifting ERP vendors typically lack tools for reporting across different systems. In a scenario where a company uses multiple ERPs like SAP S4/HANA, SAP Business One, Plex, and a locally developed ERP, data normalization is necessary due to varying charts of accounts and accounting periods. To create unified financial reports, a robust financial consolidation tool is essential, automating the harmonization of data by mapping accounts to a standard and accommodating different calendars without additional user input. #3: Multiple Reporting Standards Require Manual Effort Global companies often face challenges when needing to produce varied financial reports for subsidiaries adhering to different reporting standards. Existing ERP systems usually lack the capability to distinguish between accounts and transactions under multiple standards. BI tools also fall short without expanding the data model and creating custom interfaces, turning financial reporting into a significant software project. A robust financial report writer, however, enables flexible chart of accounts mapping for diverse regulatory layouts or standards. #4: Proper Currency Revaluation Can be Tricky Currency revaluation can pose particularly challenging issues that many companies prefer to postpone until absolutely necessary. Although the existing ERP systems might manage multicurrency locally, aligning subsequent revaluations with previously exported data to a data warehouse can be tricky. To learn more, read our free White Paper or contact us to schedule a free consultation and demo.