Reporting has been a vital part of business and trade ever since people were bartering animal pelts. The idea has always been simple: up-to-date reporting should help leaders steer the business more effectively.
Yet collecting information and producing reports often consumes a staggering amount of an organisation's resources. Over the years, working with different companies of all sizes, I’ve often found myself asking: why is it done this way - and how could it be made smarter?
Different forms of financial reporting
Traditionally, companies have relied on reporting tools built on top of their accounting and finance systems. This kind of reporting provides a historical snapshot of how the company’s business has performed from a financial perspective.
An income statement shows profitability, sources of income, and how resources have been spent. Reporting can be enhanced with dimensions, allocations, or separate project reporting. A balance sheet offers insights into how capital is being used and where it's been sourced from.
By combining historical financial data with forecasts, reporting not only looks backward but also forward.
And today, the most advanced reporting goes even further.
Non-financial data - business metrics that act as key drivers of financial outcomes - is becoming increasingly important. By monitoring these indicators, businesses can better predict their future performance.
As we start gathering data beyond traditional financial systems, the focus shifts to architecture, system design, and how data is collected.
Common challenges in business reporting
When it comes to reporting business revenues and expenses, companies often run into familiar challenges:
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Data collection:
How much time does it take?
How much delay does it create in accessing reports?
Is the data reliable and accurate?
How much effort is needed to verify its accuracy?
How quickly is the data available?
Is data from different sources consistent and comparable?
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Data structure:
Managing information across multiple systems can be complicated.
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Producing the reports:
What tools are being used?
How is the compiled information shared with those who need it?
And to top it all off, many companies struggle with identifying which data is actually relevant for business leadership.
In today’s increasingly digital world, we have access to an overwhelming amount of data.
The key is being able to filter out what truly drives business performance, and then use it wisely.
At the same time, the need to analyze the profitability and significance of individual transactions is growing. Companies want to track different business functions not only through financial outcomes but through broader success metrics.
The ability to "cube" data - to slice and dice it from different perspectives - is critical for deep reporting and analysis.
What's the solution? Let's head toward effortless reporting
If you want to tackle reporting challenges, the starting point is strengthening how data is collected and ensuring its consistency.
When the foundations are solid, data becomes faster and more reliable — and reporting takes a major step forward.
Some practical tips:
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Unify financial management and operations within the same system.
Collecting and maintaining consistent data becomes easier, leading to more reliable reporting. In the long run, this reduces administrative costs and improves data quality. -
Drive financial figures from operational transactions within the same system.
This ensures data integrity and automates the collection process. -
Choose integrated systems.
Make sure support systems like marketing or HR tools are already integrated with the main platform by the vendor. Maintaining your own integrations is expensive and risky - for example, if cost center structures change in one system but not in others. -
Consolidate your partnerships.
Working with a smaller number of trusted partners saves costs and strengthens data consistency.
Tools for untangling reporting challenges
NetSuite Cloud ERP combines financial management and other core business processes into one platform.
As an experienced NetSuite provider, we can confidently say: it's a game changer for automating data collection and ensuring data integrity, freeing up valuable human time for actually using insights, not just gathering them.
The wider NetSuite ecosystem brings even more possibilities: you can manage processes like service business operations, tracking product life cycles, associated costs, operations, and revenues — all through transparent, real-time reporting.
BI Book completes the solution.
Our analytics team helps clients build customized analytics and reporting environments tailored to their specific needs. Plus, we add automated controls to ensure data accuracy and build operational control processes directly into the reporting - no more manual data handling or endless Excel sheets.
The result?
We can focus on what matters most: leading the business, making strategic decisions, and analyzing results in real-time.
Curious how we’ve solved reporting and operational challenges for companies like Frosmo?
Read the full story - or feel free to get in touch with me directly anytime!
Published 24.10.2022