Every worker loves new technology, right? Not quite. The truth is, even in today’s business world, where certain segments seem dominated by news of an ‘always on’ culture, adopting and training on new technology can be daunting for plenty of employees. Training Employees on New Time & Attendance Software Perhaps you’ve recently added one or […]
Read More >Where Spreadsheets Fall Short
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Every company’s finance team is responsible for creating an accurate forecast. It can be comical watching your finance team race around the office discussing the latest spreadsheet and how it affects the companies forecast agenda.
And therein lies the risk.
Though valuable, spreadsheets often lack the functionality to automate accounting processes and streamline your budgeting and planning processes.
What specific functionalities are missing?
Spreadsheets often fall short in two areas: version control and privacy.
Version Control Specifics
Every time an employee touches a spreadsheet there is a chance an error is made. It’s often the case that 10+ employees access the same spreadsheet, creating opportunity for a huge number of potential errors. This risk is exacerbated by the fact that each one of those errors may go unnoticed. Without a system of checks and balances (otherwise known as quality control), your forecasting budget may be skewed.
Privacy Specifics
Regardless how “thick” your firewalls are, spreadsheets still present privacy concerns. Among your payroll, ledger details, and cost of benefits, you don’t want any proprietary details of the business out there. For example, you may come across members of your finance team viewing information that don’t necessarily “need to know” it, and each time they access that file it presents a security risk.
Having a reliable solution enables your team to collaborate and provide cohesive visibility in real time. Efficient solutions should include:
- Data that is consolidated across all departments
- Reports that create income statements categorized by department
- Dashboard to review balance sheets and cash flow statements
- Reports that can be used for presentations
- The ability to view detailed reports for line-level managers
- Reports that automatically consolidate and save all transactions
