Introduction:
Are you drowning in data?
The vast amount of data available to finance leaders within wealth and asset management firms is a double-edged sword. While it can offer a competitive advantage, collecting and synthesizing data across multiple files and sources to draw actionable insights can be an absolute time sink. And complexity continues as fees are expected to decline by 20%, while assets under management are expected to increase, causing firms to turn to productivity boosting technologies to survive.
However, improved efficiency in the middle and back office can lead to 10-30% lower cost.
The challenge is that many existing accounting systems used today were built decades ago and cannot keep up with today’s always on business landscape. As finance leaders navigate their organizations through today’s challenges, they commonly struggle with a sprawling and fragmented data infrastructure overly reliant on manual processes.
Drive efficiency & optimize your investment process
Many financial firms spend:
- 20+ days per month to perform consolidations/closes
- 20-45 hours per month performing manual accounts receivable and accounts payable processes
- Days to prepare ad hoc reports
What if you could make data-driven decisions in minutes, not days or weeks?
Sage Intacct saves Wealth and Asset Management finance leaders hundreds of hours and tens of thousands of dollars per year, by solving their challenges in:
Complex multi-entity management and reporting
Complexity abounds. The financial consolidations process can take weeks of assembling financial information of multi-entities, reconciling it from several spreadsheets or instances of QuickBooks, and finally creating the reports. This is compounded by the challenges associated with managing diversified investment types to multiple currencies/locations to international business activities.
Inadequate business intelligence tools
Traditional accounting systems are not able to offer a streamlined financial view or “one source of the truth” of a firm’s financial health. These systems are not designed to slice and dice data easily and automatically uncover insights.
Disjointed data sources and incomplete visibility
When financial data from other systems and apps sit apart from your accounting system, this often requires manual entries and monitoring by the finance team—activities that are all time-consuming, error-prone, and tactical.
Increased compliance risk
Financial firms are expected to proactively find and mitigate issues and are engaged by regulators on a more frequent basis4. It falls on finance leaders to ensure the completeness and accuracy of the data, which often comes from disparate sources.
Four key ways to work smarter - without working nights and weekends
1. Streamline multi-entity management and reporting
Consolidate continuously across multiple entities
- Automate inter-entity transactions, allocations, eliminations, financial consolidations, reporting, and analysis.
- Gain real-time insights through instant roll-up reporting for single currency, or push-button consolidations for multiple currencies.
- Continuously consolidate multiple currencies into a single base currency for consistent analysis.
Empower users with self-service reporting
- Create ad hoc financial and management reports within a centralized system in real time— no need to comb through multiple systems, tools, or ask a colleague to run a report for you.
- Simplify the chart of accounts and free up reporting time to spend on analysis.
Access a unified chart of accounts
A lean, consistent chart of accounts across entities enables effortless reporting, so financial leaders can instantly pull up the current snapshots of entities across the organization.
2. Use business intelligence tools to uncover actionable insights
Business success depends on the ability to fully see what’s happening in all areas of the business. Finance leaders need to be able to filter, organize, and report information in a format that is easy to use. What if you could cut your financial data to review metrics that matter most to you, while greatly simplifying your chart of accounts?
Think of dimensions, within your chart of accounts, like hashtags on Twitter. Dimensions make it easy to search, sort, and organize your data for reporting with context that is meaningful. This makes it easy to track the drivers of your financial and operational results over time, fundamentally improving your reporting and getting you answers to your business questions faster.
Intuitive drop-down lists to filter, group, and organize data by dimensions during report generation is a major time saver. For example, create an ad hoc report that drills into profitability by investment type or geography from a standard income statement—within seconds.
3. Synthesize real-time data through the cloud
Open API architecture allows integration and the freedom to choose best-in-class solutions
Effortlessly share information across your systems. Instead of waiting for accounting to post entries, bring current data directly from your business apps directly into Sage Intacct, eliminating redundant data entry and the errors that come with it.
Anywhere, anytime access to information
Access data from any location, 24/7, as long as you have internet access and the proper access privileges. Work from anywhere you are.
Improve your data security and continuity
Use leading-edge cybersecurity software in data centers with built-in data backup, so your critical data remains available – and safe.
Make strategic decisions based on a holistic view. Integrate your business systems beyond financials, such as Salesforce, ADP, Bill.com, to access all your current data in your core cloud financial management system.
4. Embed compliance in financial
Ease of auditing
Allow your auditors to easily drill down to the general and subledgers, reports, reconciliations, and original transactions so they can review accounting processes. Automatically create an audit trail on the what, when, and who behind every transaction, including adding documentation as attachments – directly into Sage Intacct – for the auditor to review in context. Meanwhile, an internal collaboration tool stores comments and conversations, providing the context behind every investment.
Revenue recognition
Manage complex revenue management requirements and handle the deferral and future amortization of sales and related costs. Set up multiple revenue recognition schedules with automation for future recognition.
Foreign currency
Manage foreign currency transactions and calculate conversions with ASC 830/FAS-52 compliant multi-currency consolidation.
Conclusion:
Be empowered to be more strategic, forward thinking.
You’ve got plans for your firm’s portfolio to continue to grow. Make sure your financial management system is equipping you with what you need to get there.
- Accuracy & speed with automation. Automate the ongoing finance tasks like financial consolidations so they take minutes (versus weeks).
- Flexible & custom reporting that fit your needs. Use custom financial and operational dashboards so you can make data-driven investment decisions, easily.
- Real-time visibility across systems. Integrate your business systems beyond financials so you can effortlessly maintain a current, holistic financial view all in one place.
- Compliance, embedded. Minimize your compliance risk exposure with collaborative auditing capabilities, that leave an easy-to-follow trail for your finance team and your auditors.
Sage Intacct arms finance leaders with the means to rapidly boil complexity down to meaningful insights. With increased productivity and insights, their firms can not only survive, but thrive.
Source: sage.com
