How Your Business Can Save Time And Close Faster With NetSuite’s Robust Financial Consolidation Solution
Critical to success of your business is the transparency and ease with which you can access your company’s financial report and ensure your books are always up to date, whether you are a success in the domestic, or international market. A report by McKinsey suggests that leveraging data to create more accurate marketing reports, which helps in taking well calculated risks, can boost marketing productivity by 15% to 20%. Despite the urgency needed to consolidate financial statements, most companies feel deeply challenged when the time comes to generate accurate financial reports, especially, if the entire consolidation needs to be done manually. The same orientation towards keeping and managing your books becomes harder when you need to consolidate results from various business units in a single report. With data very rarely being in one place, when businesses expand through acquisitions or subsidiary entities, the need for well run accounting or ERP system becomes quintessential. It not only makes smooth transfer of books easy, but allows you to save time and close faster when you have all your financials in one robust system.
For the corporate finance team, it can seem like a mammoth task, first exporting data extracted from each system into a standardized format, and later mapping it to correct structures, field names and account codes
Therefore, it is important to identity and eliminate any room for error by coordinating inter-company transactions, consolidating financial data at a subsidiary level, mapping it to geo codes in a standardized chart of accounts, and finally, being able to generate reports faster by doing away with spreadsheets and manual processes. Companies are often stumped for time by:
1. Different Systems
When you are looking at closing books, it takes a lot longer when you have subsidiaries. According to research by Deloitte, at the time of consolidation the data extraction may be the last thing on the IT departments mind since it usually entails getting data from different systems, exported, and field mapped. Enough time has already been wasted to get all the information to start the process of consolidation, especially for multi entity companies.
2. Multiple Accounts
It is widely acknowledged that subsidiaries don’t always use the same chart of accounts. This is especially true for companies set up for acquisitions. While the extraction of data is not such a huge challenge, it is the task of going through each account individually and mapping it correctly that is time consuming and susceptible to errors.
3. Intercompany Transactions
In order to achieve accurate reporting, it is important to identify remove any inter-company transactions. However, while doing so, the lack of visibility across business units, inconsistent inter-company policy and procedures, and heavy dependence on spreadsheets can be extremely time consuming.
4. Currency Conversion
In a survey by Deloitte, it was found that 10% of Multi-National Corporations said exchange rate accounted for delay during consolidation. It is a given that businesses engaged in various countries will have different standards to meet, which can significantly slow down the process.
When systems and processes are not fully automated in an increasingly global and digital world, consolidation of finances is a long and tiring process. With so much of the work done on spread sheets, the risk of error is huge which can be detrimental for your business.
With NetSuite, as controller of your company’s finances, you get transparent and visible breakdown of all your finances in one place from day one. It reminds you of proactively finishing all the tasks assigned. You have quick and easy access to what needs to be done through the day, all your data is accessible from one place, along with all key indicators of the business.
Here are other ways in which NetSuite helps you gain a clear understanding of your financial health on a day-to-day basis, week-to-week-basis, month-to-month basis, or year-over-year
1. Take Control With Subsidiary Navigator
With the click of a button, you can manage multiple subsidiaries quite easily in one solution. Subsidiary navigator is unique to NetSuite. It provides a visual breakdown of what work structure looks like. It can manage data if not only your domestic market but international as well. Have presence in over 200 countries. The navigator allows me to see the data across business units. In case I want to look at data specific to a certain country I can get the visibility simply from my dashboard. My key performance indicator and scorecard is translated in that specific country’s currency.
2. Manage Your Business With Integrated Tools In One Platform
Boost your company’s growth by using tools to add subsidiaries as and when your business needs it. As an end user you can add the subsidiary to start reporting. The compact solution is designed to manage and navigate not only what your business looks like today, but how it will look like in the future as well. You can check fluctuations between accounts and balance, income statements, and everything else, from subsidiary to bi-subsidiary levels.
3. Easily Break Down Data And Reports In One Unified Platform
Easily navigate across various income statements with the solution. You can break it down by different department or locations. Imperative to audits that require quick and easy access, this becomes all the more pronounced when your business is undergoing financial consolidation.
4. Stay Accountable And Informed
In case of errors, you can export the error or report it to Excel. You can also easily download the formula with a single click without effecting the formulas. What’s more, your financial data is compatible to save in various formats, can be emailed conveniently, or can even be scheduled to the CEO based on the recurrence.
5. Review History Of Transactions
There are no sub-ledgers but everything is done in real time. You can review history of transactions, revenues, or any additional details that you may need. The dashboard can cull information on statements, transactions, and give it a deep review.
6. Intercompany Journal Entries Made Easier
Within NetSuite you can have two entries keyed in at the same dashboard instead of having to log out of the window. With both sides of transactions at one place, you eliminate any room for ever, which also in turn aids the re-conciliation process. Build your entry out in one unified platform where Intercompany receivable and payable accounts uses auto balance functionality. This is where NetSuite goes and finds out transaction accounts, populating all of them at once. The solution doesn’t process in batches, but in real time, helping you navigate transaction or eliminations. You can also automate the elimination process, while ensuring that the system captures all previous entries, providing you with an insight into result record, viewing line-by-line all entries that were eliminated earlier. All source transactions are visible and traceable.
7. NetSuite Consolidates All Your Financials In One Unified Platform
As your business scales and grows, NetSuite builds your business with you. While it is recommended to close a balance one at a time, you can close multiple periods at once as well. While updating opening balances you can do it yourself or import it directly into the system to start reporting. You can have KPIs specific to your balance and check summarized balances.
With NetSuite you don’t only close your books faster with a robust system that makes financial consolidation quick and easy, but you save cost incurred via manual entries, which are not only time consuming but can be prone to errors.
For NetSuite customers in Canada looking to further boost their financials in the payroll department, stay compliant and error-free with PAYBUDDY
Maintain data integrity with higher visibility of your finances today!
Click here, to learn about NetSuite’s financial management capabilities.
