Financial reporting stands for external or internal consumption. It has posed a considerable challenge and incurred substantial expenses for finance teams. However, it remains a vital process. Is your enterprise dreading creating and distributing your corporate annual expense report? Financial reports, like paying corporate taxes, remain a necessary evil in today's enterprise world. However, the proper tools and a streamlined financial reporting process are needed. Thus, your corporate annual report can be valuable for gaining public favour. It also secures funding, economic forecasting, etc. This article deals with the financial reporting process. It explores how to streamline it with cloud-based solutions. It also covers the relieving of traditional reporting methods.
Financial Reporting Process with Cloud-Based Solutions
Your corporate annual report should not be just a mound of paperwork but a strategic road map for your company's future. By leveraging technology and streamlining reporting processes, you can make this process less daunting. This article outlines the five steps to achieve this, highlighting the role of technology in each step.
1. Integrate and Link Software Applications When Possible
When it comes to the financial reporting process, one small typo or transposed digit can wreak havoc on the accuracy of your reports. Consider what workflow automation, workflow management, process automation, and software applications you can integrate into any existing process to quickly transfer data, reducing the risk of human error and streamlining processes.
2. Encourage Collaboration Between Departments
Successful and accurate financial reporting hinges on departments working together to ensure the timeliness and accuracy of financial services data. Give department heads and workers the technology tools they need to communicate in real-time, from any location, to aid in streamlining enterprise processes. Chat functions make it easy to answer quick questions, while the ability to leave comments in documents and spreadsheets makes it easy to keep everyone on the same virtual page.
As more employees continue to work remotely, Unified Communications capabilities are more important in operational processes than ever. That includes collaborating on spreadsheets and documents in real time from anywhere in the world.
3. Plan Ahead
A little planning goes a long way regarding streamlined reporting processes. First, determine who needs to be involved. Do you need to:
- Bring in outside consultants?
- Enlist the help of your IT team for software upgrades.
- Establish points of contact for all departments.
Then, take a close look at your past reports. Can you combine, consolidate, or remove any elements or sections?
Some information may be placed on your company website instead of in the corporate annual report. Some can be eliminated. Be sure that every page, data point and bit of descriptive information in the expense report serves the readers' needs and/or is required by accounting best practices and standards. With an enterprise process improvement plan in place about what to include on your corporate annual report — and who to include in its creation — you’ve already streamlined the financial reporting process substantially.
4. Streamline Distribution
Once your corporate annual report is complete and approved by the appropriate personnel, you must distribute it efficiently and securely. While many elements of your corporate annual report may be posted publicly, you may want to reserve other aspects of the report for shareholders and stakeholders only. Plus, you want to make it easy for relevant people to view or download the files with just one click. Storing files in a Fino Partners virtual data room enables you to employ the protection of files. It allows you to share files and deny access to them at any time. It is even after they’ve been downloaded.
5. Move Your Files to the Cloud
Moving files to the Cloud in a virtual data room makes it easier to:
- Keep files secure
- Manage permissions to the proper personnel
- Ensure employees are always using the latest version of a file
- Collaborate across departments
It can also help integrate data across platforms to streamline your financial services reporting process.
Reduce Your Reliance on Consultants and Lighten Your IT Staff’s Load With an Intuitive Platform
Adding more technology to your financial reporting and operational processes may cost more time and money, straining the workload of your IT staff or requiring outside consultants. An intuitive cloud-based platform for data storage and secure file management can reduce the burden on your existing process and in-house team without adding consultants or contractors to pick up the load. Fino Partners provides all the support you need and a user-friendly, intuitive interface that enables your team to work seamlessly in the Cloud.
End Note
Powerful financial reporting meets clarity in numbers thanks to the essential economic management system with functionality built for the future. It enables organisations to manage multiple enterprise units and view data from across the company with legislative capabilities.
At Fino Partners, we understand that finance teams must translate complex financial data into consumable information. It helps to navigate changing economies and markets. It also minimises risk. Our financial management software gives finance leaders an accessible view of their enterprise performance. It can be done anywhere, anytime, on a single accounting solution.
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