Approach 2 – Aggregate data from disparate sources to improve analysis
Today, leading financial systems address many of the shortcomings of the traditional approach to ad hoc reporting. These systems enable operational data from outside of the financial system to be integrated with the other disparate systems where the data resides. This live connection is continuously updated and maintained in real-time. When cloud solutions are deployed, these connections can span different entities and geographic locations seamlessly.
Leading financial systems have the tools ready-built to aggregate and analyze data for user-defined periods and parameters. Using an analysis tool that is built into the system, instead of using an external spreadsheet, enables the development of real-time reports to meet the specific needs of the users without breaking that all-important connection to the underlying sources of data. These real-time templates can be saved and the analysis repeated with the passage of time without any need for redoing the set up or the need to reconcile information between different sources.
The way organizations are gaining deep financial insight is changing. As an executive, you have a decision to make about how you choose to deploy your human resources and the extent to which technology enables your finance department to add more value across the enterprise.
Real-time reporting is greatly enhanced when the middleman, a spreadsheet, is eliminated from the equation. Disparate sources of data are seamlessly aggregated within a strong analytical tool. A tool that can sort, slice, and dice data to answer the sorts of everyday business questions that often arise.
