resultlane

[resultlane]

Why SOC 1 and SOC 2 Compliance Matter for CFOs: Ensuring Secure and Accurate Financial Consolidation with SaaS Solutions

With the evolving digital landscape the importance of robust security measures cannot be undermined, especially for areas related to finance and investments. For CFOs and other finance leaders, some of the biggest challenges lie in decision-making in low-exposure areas, like security and compliance related to services.

Being a board member of a company that has earned SOC 2 certification indicates that the company’s fiduciary duty to investors and other stakeholders is properly aligned with the industry standard that meets the fundamental pillars of IT information security and privacy. Because the certification eliminates a layer of complexity in assessing the IT operating effectiveness, system, and organization controls. CFOs who oversee assets thus understand the importance of SOC 2 compliance in their governance and management roles. This blog discusses SOC1 and SOC2, its significance, and its ramifications for CFOs and other finance leaders.

What is the SOC 1 report? SOC 1 report focuses on the effectiveness of your internal controls related to financial reporting. It assures clients that their financial data is managed securely and accurately. This report is crucial when your company’s bookkeeping and financial operations directly impact your clients’ financial reporting. For example, SaaS companies that handle financial tasks like billing or claims processing should consider a SOC 1 report.

The SOC 1 audit is based on the Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements (SSAE) 18, specifically AT-C Section 320. It requires your organization to identify key control objectives related to business processes and information technology processes. These controls might include things like managing customer data or ensuring data security.

SOC 1 reports are primarily intended for your customers and their external auditors, helping them to evaluate how your internal controls impact their financial reporting. This report provides a detailed overview of how your organization handles controls over customer financial information.

What is the SOC 2 report? SOC 2 report evaluates whether your company can provide a secure, reliable, confidential, and private service to its customers. The audit is conducted by an independent certified auditor, who assesses your internal controls based on the Trust Services Criteria (TSC). These criteria cover Security (mandatory), Availability, Confidentiality, Processing Integrity, and Privacy.

The SOC 2 report includes the auditor’s opinion on whether your controls are designed and operating effectively. Essentially, it demonstrates the strength of your information security practices, giving your customers (and their stakeholders) confidence in your ability to manage risk and protect sensitive data.

SOC 2 compliance is essential for companies like data centers, SaaS providers, IT-managed services, and other cloud-based businesses. If your company hosts data or deals with sensitive information, particularly for large customers, SOC 2 compliance is often a must.

What is the difference between SOC 1 and SOC 2 Report? SOC 1 and SOC 2 Reports

A service organization can choose the scope of its SOC 2 report based on the criteria that meet its needs at best. The report can focus solely on the Security criteria (also called the common criteria), cover all five Trust Services Criteria (TSC), or combine some of them. The readers of the SOC 2 report may not include just compliance officers, financial executives, and auditors, but also IT executives, regulators, and business partners.

Key Differences Between SOC 1 and SOC 2 Reports

The SOC 1 report focuses on the internal controls that are relevant to a service organization’s client financial statements. It ensures that the organization’s processes are properly safeguarding the client’s financial data. The SOC 2 report evaluates a service organization’s controls that are relevant to its own operations and compliance, based on the AICPA’s Trust Services Criteria (TSC), which include security, availability, confidentiality, processing integrity, and privacy.

Why SOC 2 is Essential for CFOs? As the financial steward of an organization, a CFO plays a critical role in ensuring that the company’s financial data is secure, compliant with regulations, and optimized for operational efficiency. Achieving SOC 2 compliance offers several significant advantages that can directly impact a CFO’s ability to manage financial integrity, investor confidence, and overall business performance.

Financial data is a highly valuable and sensitive asset for any company. The SOC 2 compliance guarantees that your organization has the right controls to protect this data from breaches and unauthorized access. The security compliance factors demand that the organizations are better equipped and prepared to meet the compliance and assess the risks associated with data security. When you approach the investors for funding, these compliance factors can play a crucial role in helping you obtain the funds, as security is the top priority. By obtaining SOC 2 certification, CFOs can show that their company is at par with compliance, managing risks, protecting data, and investing in robust security, thus helping to attract and retain investors. Regulatory requirements like GDPR, CCPA, and other data protection laws, demand that your company is aligned with the security compliance requirements. SOC 2 compliance ensures these requirements are catered to. For CFOs, this is crucial not only for avoiding potential penalties and legal complications but also for ensuring that the company is compliant with the listed security measures and regulatory standards. The SOC 2 compliance ensures that the company’s internal processes are streamlined and this leads to improved operational and financial efficiency. These are some of the critical areas in which the CFOs are aiming to optimize resource allocation and reduce operational risk. In today’s competitive market, clients, partners, and stakeholders increasingly look for organizations that demonstrate strong security measures in relation to data protection and privacy. With SOC 2 certification in place, it can strengthen market trust and credibility, client relationships and help to secure business deals. Type I VS Type II Reports The Type 1 report verifies the adequacy of the design and audits control at a specific moment in time. The Type 2 report, on the other hand, examines controls that have been in place throughout time and assesses their operational efficacy and applicability.

In essence, a Type 1 report is a snapshot, whereas a Type 2 report is an assessment conducted over three to six months. If you want to provide a report quickly Type I may be a good starting point, but a more thorough deep assessment of controls is shown better with Type II.

Stay a step ahead with compliance measures… As the guardians of financial integrity and security, finance leaders must prioritize platforms that meet the rigorous standards outlined by SOC 2. This ensures that sensitive financial data is protected against breaches and mismanagement, maintaining trust with clients and partners. SOC 2 helps organizations mitigate risks, enhance security, and streamline operations, all while demonstrating a commitment to regulatory compliance.

At ResultLane, our dedicated security team works hard to ensure that your data stays protected, and we actively collaborate with our clients to address emerging threats and challenges.

visit : ResultLane.ai

[resultlane]

Drowning in Numbers with Excel? Discover When It’s Time to Switch to Financial Consolidation Software

Are you struggling with your month-end close process due to outdated reporting processes? If you’re finding that consolidation and reporting take longer than expected and no access to real-time data leading to missed opportunities, then you’re not alone. Due to the delayed financial reports and lack of trust from the management, business decisions are taken based on old data affecting the overall efficiency. While Excel has been a go-to tool for finance teams, its limitations in handling large volumes of data and ensuring accuracy can hinder efficiency.

With the recent automation technologies, CFOs are turning to business intelligence to speed up their reporting and data analysis processes by choosing to automate financial reporting. Let’s get started by understanding how financial consolidation software eases the financial reporting woes and when you can jumpstart the migration i.e. from Excel to automation.

Crushing data burden of manual financial reporting: A CFO’s view According to a survey by a leading firm, it was noticed that CFOs work for 12 to 15 hours a day, and amongst many other factors contributing to this number, there is one called the large influx of financial data and manual reporting processes. Any update in the data at any point in time, 63% of CFOs manually update the reports; this highlights the time-consuming processes of manual updating of the records.

Three reasons why you should switch from manual reporting 1.It is consuming 80% of your productive time! Yes, manual financial reporting requires you to collate data from various sources and compile them in order to derive insights and analyse data. All these activities require a lot of time ranging from days to weeks if the organization has global operations. During this time, you miss out on: opportunities that could have been grabbed, had you been aware of the latest numbers and non-productive time spent on gathering data that could have been spent on analyzing it.

2.Costly errors with heavy financial impact and misrepresentation of financial health. In a study by the Wall Street Journal, it was found that 88% of spreadsheets contain mistakes. And with increasing volumes of data along with expanding operations, this number will grow exponentially. To jiggle your memory a bit, JP Morgan’s Synthetic Credit VaR Model caused a huge financial debacle. Reason being, it depended on manual processes of updating the data using a series of Excel spreadsheets. Don’t let your project face this failure, know-how here

3.Large, hard-to-manage volumes of data!The big data that doesn’t make it to the spreadsheets or is difficult to locate; because it’s lost in the tsunami of numbers from all the departments. This is both an exciting and intimidating challenge; on one hand, you have to go deeper than the face value of the numbers you come across and on the other, you get to work towards a 360-degree view of metrics and a cohesive set of analytics to make data-based decisions.

Why Automate Financial Consolidations? If you’re still relying on manual consolidation, you’re not only wasting valuable time but also increasing the risk of errors. Manually merging trial balances, managing eliminations, and balancing intercompany loans—in Excel, can easily lead to mistakes.

Financial automation tools eliminate these challenges by handling the heavy lifting for you. They pull in data automatically, streamline repetitive tasks, and ensure accuracy. This leads to faster, more reliable consolidations, and the flexibility to scale effortlessly as your business spreads its wings.

Read also: How automation helps in value-added analysis?

Adopt the four-step automation strategy for smooth financial consolidations Simplify Start by reviewing your reports and processes. Ask yourself: “Do we really need this report? Are there unnecessary steps complicating the process?” Simplifying reporting will make consolidation quicker and easier.

Automate Automation is the key. Instead of manually entering data into Excel, use financial automation software to automate tasks like balancing intercompany loans or consolidating profit and loss statements.

Delegate Once processes are simplified and automated, it’s time to delegate. As a CFO, your focus should be on strategic decisions, not on preparing reports each month. Automation allows your team to handle the details while you choose to dive into the value-added analysis and grab opportunities.

Eradicate Finally, eliminate any steps that aren’t necessary. Streamlining your workflows ensures your team can focus on the important tasks that really matter.

A step from Excel to Automation: How ResultLane can help? According to PwC, finance teams report on the past 80–90% of the time. The growing complexity of the financial processes, increasing risks while dealing with different financial structures, dealing with multiple reporting standards, and complexities of mergers and acquisitions are the key driving factors in favor of the growth of the financial consolidation software market.

With its sophisticated GenAI, ResultLane is your smart finance platform, designed for finance teams to automate the financial reporting processes. It combines the simplicity of spreadsheets with the powerful capabilities of an ERP system.

ResultLane reduces report preparation time by 90% by automating critical tasks including statutory and management reporting, consolidation, and shared services. This frees up your team’s time to concentrate on insightful analysis and strategic decision-making to improve results.

Are you ready to upscale your financial reporting for better collaboration and visibility? visit : ResultLane.ai

[resultlane]

 Numbers tells the truth, but do they give you the clearer and bigger picture?

Imagine you’re in a boardroom, pouring over the latest financial statements. The data is telling you about revenue, profit margins, and costs. But what if you need to understand the strategic direction, the risks on the horizon, or the impact of your company’s initiatives? This is where narrative reporting steps in.

Narrative reporting goes beyond the raw numbers to provide context, insights, and a more comprehensive view of a company’s performance and prospects. It combines financial data with qualitative information, helping stakeholders see the complete picture. It’s a form of communication that goes beyond traditional financial statements.

Let’s dive in.

What is Narrative Reporting?

Narrative reporting involves the use of storytelling techniques to convey complex financial information in a clear and engaging manner. It typically includes:

Management Commentary: Discussions from senior management about the company’s performance, strategy, and future outlook.

Operational and Financial Review: Analysis of financial statements and operational metrics, explaining the drivers behind the numbers.

Risk and Opportunity Assessment: Identification and discussion of key risks and opportunities facing the company.

Sustainability and CSR Initiatives: Information about the company’s sustainability practices and corporate social responsibility efforts.

Narrative Reporting’s Use Cases in Real World

Building Trust and Transparency

With narrative reporting, investors gain a clearer understanding of the company’s long-term strategy and its alignment with financial performance, leading to potentially higher stock valuations and reduced volatility.

By clearly communicating growth plans and sustainability initiatives, companies can attract investors interested in long-term value creation rather than short-term gains.

Consider Unilever – by enhancing their annual reports with narrative elements, they don’t just present numbers—they tell a story, leading to a significant increase in investor inquiries, by around 25%, as stakeholders are more engaged and trusting when they see the holistic picture of the company’s operations and strategy. They also discuss how their strategy and business model are creating value, using both quantitative data and qualitative explanations to give a fuller picture of their performance. The report details the risks Unilever faces and the strategies in place to mitigate these risks, offering transparency and reassurance to stakeholders.

Pg: 41 of the Annual Report, 2023

Strategic Planning and Alignment

Many organizations use narrative reporting to explain how daily operations and financial outcomes align with the company’s strategic goals.

By linking operational metrics with strategic objectives, managers at all levels make more informed decisions that support overall business goals.

Employees and stakeholders understand the rationale behind strategic initiatives, fostering better internal alignment and engagement.

Tesla offers another compelling example – it doesn’t just list earnings; they connect those numbers to their broader mission of promoting sustainable energy. This clarity helps investors understand how everyday operations drive long-term goals. Such transparency has contributed to a loyal investor base that supports Tesla’s ambitious growth plans​.

Proactive Risk Management

By highlighting risks in a narrative context, companies can better prepare and implement mitigation strategies, reducing the likelihood of adverse impacts.

Transparent discussion of risks reassures stakeholders that the company is aware of potential challenges and is actively managing them.

SBI provides a detailed account of its risk management practices, highlighting the bank’s commitment to mitigating financial and operational risks. They emphasize the role of robust governance structures and detailed risk policies in maintaining financial stability. The report also discusses their initiatives to manage emerging risks, such as digital and fraud risks, by leveraging technology and enhancing operational efficiencies. The bank’s proactive risk management is further evidenced by their ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) initiatives, which integrate sustainability into their core operations, thereby addressing climate-related risks and opportunities.

Governance and Compliance

Comprehensive narrative disclosures can help avoid fines and legal issues by ensuring compliance with financial and non-financial reporting regulations.

Demonstrating commitment to transparency and ethical governance can enhance the company’s reputation among regulators, investors, and the public.

For companies like Indian Oil, narrative reporting in governance is crucial. The report details their environmental and social stewardship initiatives, such as biodiversity conservation and community empowerment projects. Through this narrative approach, IndianOil effectively communicates their strategic priorities, achievements, and future aspirations, providing stakeholders with a deeper understanding of their role in driving sustainable growth and energy security.

Performance Review and Benchmarking

Narrative reports provide context for financial performance, explaining why certain targets were met or missed.

Stakeholders can better understand the underlying factors affecting performance, allowing for more accurate benchmarking and future planning.

Detailed narratives can highlight areas for improvement and drive initiatives to enhance operational efficiency and effectiveness.

Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A)

Clear communication about the strategic fit and expected synergies can facilitate smoother integration of acquired entities.

Detailed explanations can help gain the support of investors, employees, and other stakeholders, making the M&A process more transparent and acceptable.

Implementing Narrative Reporting: Step-By-Step Guide

Start with Management Commentary: Provide insights from senior executives about the company’s current position, the direction in which it plans to go, and industry conditions. This personal touch can enhance understanding and engagement by instilling confidence that the data is being connected to the goals and current conditions in which the business is operating.

Detail Operational and Financial Performance: Go beyond the figures. Explain what drove the numbers, the challenges faced, and the strategies employed to overcome them.

Highlight Risks and Opportunities: Offer a candid discussion of potential risks and how they are being managed. This not only prepares stakeholders but also demonstrates proactive management.

Use Visual Aids: Incorporate charts, graphs, and infographics to make complex information more accessible and engaging.

Remember the next time you prepare your financial reports: Numbers tell part of the story, but narratives bring it to life. Consider embracing narrative reporting and see how it can provide the bigger picture your stakeholders are looking for. Read more: ResultLane.in

[resultlane]

The Critical Role of Financial Consolidation Software in Simplifying Group Reporting and Ensuring Accuracy

Disparate systems and manual report preparation will hold you back from your core responsibility as a financial leader. Group reporting comes with several challenges like creation and computation of different reports, elimination of inter-company transactions to do variance analysis, consolidating all at one place, and preparing a stack of all the consolidated financial statements. Well, the advancement of technology offers you the opportunity to transform your finance operations by adopting financial consolidation software and automating repetitive financial reporting processes

Financial Acceleration in Changing Times

According to a recent study by Gartner, 79% of CFOs rank leading finance transformation efforts as a top priority. Undoubtedly, manual report-making takes up a huge chunk of productive hours for the finance department resulting in less time for the CFOs to do the actual work such as forecasting and analysis based on the real numbers in the reports. These numbers bring out the true picture of the current and past financial occurrences, as everything that is accounted for matters.

Group Reporting and its challenges: A panoramic view Last-minute adjustments, multiple reports, a high volume of information, overstretched reporting teams across boundaries, and whatnot will be any accountant’s nightmare for getting a breakthrough for the consolidated financial statements.

Group consolidation allows businesses to gain effective insights into the key performance areas and derive valuations to make strategic decisions. The finance leaders of the future are heavily converging to the sophisticated tools to make them future-ready. But before we dig into that, let’s explore the common hurdles that are faced during group reporting processes.

Complexity in matching intercompany transactions and lack of centralized visibility

Intercompany transactions and eliminations are often challenged due to a lack of synchronization between consolidation units. Discrepancies arise due to timings, variable reporting schedules, and lack of uniform accounting systems. The pre-requisite for the smooth elimination of these transactions is by using two-sided elimination and the source data has to be converted into group currency. If the data is not perfectly aligned and converted it can result in the elimination of important data resulting in inaccurate financial reports and misguided decisions. In the absence of centralized visibility organizations struggle to track balances resulting in missed transactions, errors, and inefficiencies in intercompany reconciliation.

“According to Gartner, at least 25 per cent of new core financial application deployments in large enterprises will be cloud software-as-a-service.”

Static data and lack of dynamic reporting methods

Poor data quality, multiple spreadsheets from EPMs, ERPs, and other systems, lagged delivery of accurate and timely reports, and lopsided focus on historical data hamper CFOs from assessing the business performance. Organizations struggle to achieve a single source of truth due to multiple reports and duplicate outdated versions. Static reports are more suitable from a historical analysis point of view but to withstand the changing face of business, dynamic financial reporting provides an opportunity to stay updated with real-time insights.

Multiple group currencies and roll-ups

Let’s assume your operations are based out of the US and you have a subsidiary in Germany. While consolidation of financial statements the German subsidiary’s statements have to be translated into US dollars to get a full picture of the statements. This becomes more challenging when entities trade in multiple currencies, hold various bank accounts in different currencies, or when subsidiaries use a different base currency than the parent company. With old legacy systems in place, the consolidation reporting head has to wait for every company data to be consolidated leading to higher running costs. Better financial reporting software is the need of the hour to enable the roll-up of all financials into one combined view in one currency.

Capitalizing on the Power of Consolidated Financial Reporting Structures with ResultLane

The rapid transformation of the financial ecosystem and the rising interest in cloud systems have brought finance leaders to the new vertical of the finance function. Consolidated financial statements help bridge the gap between external and internal reporting enabling us to dive deeper than just the tip of the iceberg of financial reporting automation. Let’s dig in more to understand how ResultLane can help.

– Streamlined intercompany eliminations and time savings

Financial consolidation when done with automated systems achieves streamlined intercompany eliminations resulting in time efficiency. ResultLane’s Financial reporting software unifies disparate data across multiple business units, streamlines workflows and enhances the accuracy of the statements. By using software for intercompany eliminations, companies ensure compliance with regulatory standards, which adds a layer of credibility to their consolidated financial statements. This not only strengthens your control over financial data but also enables data-driven decision-making, empowering leadership to act quickly and confidently.

– A single source of truth

Though traditional ERP systems offer robust and integrated capabilities, consolidated financial reporting systems provide a one-stop mechanism for dealing with the challenges of group reporting. ResultLane with its smart financing platform, allows you to automate various views including group, company, and segment, along with variance analysis at the group level. This enables you to view it as a “single source of truth”. Additionally, you can also reduce your waiting time by getting instant consolidation with just one click and access insights from both business and finance angles for a well-rounded view.

“About 45 per cent of CFOs say they have already made investments in finance and accounting analytics”

– Fast-track your reporting

ResultLane allows users to create consolidated reports and streamlines the process of consolidating data from entities operating in multiple currencies. It can automatically handle currency conversions and multi-entity roll-ups, making it easier to consolidate financials quickly and accurately without manual intervention. This rectifies any inconsistencies or errors arising out of reconciliation processes.

Let’s drive the results you want: A road ahead

Financial reporting plays a crucial role and paired with consolidation software, it helps your organization establish a unified view of data, drives your business strategically, and provides valuable insights with sub-optimal report design.

With ResultLane, your smart finance platform, you can instil intelligence at every step of the financial reporting process. Book a demo to see how our AI solutions can streamline your compliance with consolidated financial statements

Visit : ResultLane.ai

[resultlane]

Role of ERP vs BI vs EPM in Financial Consolidation: Know the Differences and Choose the Right Tool

Introduction

The growing business scale in the era of big data and digital transformation demands something more than classic techniques of making decisions. Imagine this: Your team is working overtime to close the quarter, but despite your best efforts, numbers aren’t adding up. The financial reporting system you rely on is slow, clunky, and doesn’t give you the insight you need to make critical decisions.

What solutions will fix this recurring monthly problem? How will I get actionable insights to make better forecasts? What will help me to consolidate the processes and operations? You might be wondering about these questions after the gruelling report-making days are over.

This blog is about helping you understand better what is EPM, what is BI, how they differ from ERP and what works best for my organization.

The right tool could make all the difference, but choosing wisely requires a deeper understanding of how each works. Let’s break it down and help you make the right choice for your business.

What is EPM?

Enterprise performance management i.e. EPM software is a suite designed to assist management processes like planning, modeling, and consolidation of data from single or multiple instances of ERP systems that an enterprise can utilize to improve its profits and performance. EPM software specializes in budgeting, forecasting and financial management. Generally, it is driven under the leadership of the CFO or finance department.

EPM aids the CFO and finance department in creating initial budgets and coordinating the planning across the organization. Business strategy and execution can be aligned.

Key EPM Functionalities

1.Budgeting & Target Setting: Helps CFOs and finance teams set initial budgets and targets.

2.Cross-Department Planning: Coordinates financial and operational planning across the organization.

3.Financial Consolidation: Aids in gathering financial and operational results quickly for timely decision-making.

4.Advanced Analytics: Supports modeling and analytics for data-driven insights and scenario planning to assess potential outcomes.

5.Simplified Auditing: Streamlines and accelerates the financial auditing process.

What is BI?

Business Intelligence (BI) refers to the systems and processes used by organizations to analyze data, extract insights, and drive strategic decision-making. An effective BI practice empowers everyone in the organization — from executives to front-line staff — to make informed decisions based on a shared, reliable source of data.

It overlaps with several data-driven disciplines, and understanding these differences is crucial for maximizing their combined value. At its core, BI fuels Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) by providing the data and analytics needed for effective financial and operational planning.

BI tools analyze, manipulate, and report on data, and support a wide range of business needs, including EPM. Most EPM systems rely on BI-generated insights and data, either built upon or fed by BI software.

Key BI Functionalities

1.Performance measurement: Multiple KPIs and metrics which are useful for the overall business functions like accounts payable or inventory are tracked and reported with ease.

2.Business process optimization: BI tools aid in identifying inefficiencies and bottlenecks in the operational and transactional data. This helps managers to understand and analyze data in a refined manner.

3.Predictive and trend analysis: BI tools are able to use historical data to identify patterns and trends that aid organizations in making proactive and data-driven decisions.

4.Reporting and Dashboards: BI generates reports, dashboards, and interactive visualizations to present data in a precise and user-friendly format.

What is ERP?

ERP i.e. Enterprise Resource Planning is a system that focuses on transactional processing and keeps track of the organization’s resources. The ERP system gathers and organizes data on materials wherever the organization interacts with them, from ordering to procurement, and from supply chains to delivery. It is designed to document transactions and monitor resources inside an organization.

The data from an ERP system helps business leaders identify efficiencies and improve processes and resource management. An ERP can overlap with Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), especially in areas like financial planning and decision-making. However, implementing an ERP system can be a lengthy process, often taking months or even years in larger organizations to fully roll out.

Key ERP Functionalities

1.Integration: ERP systems help you with giving a central view of the financial and operational data. ERP is the base for developing BI. The reports and insights provided by ERP can be utilized to optimize resource allocation and use.

2.Automation: One important functionality here is the ability to automate repeated business tasks. For instance, a line of business with a financial module could automatically trigger a month-end report on cash flows and other metrics.

3.Report making: ERP reporting modules can compile operations data into reports aiding the stakeholders to make informed decisions in the light of real-time data.

4.Financial Management: With ERP in place finance leaders can assist management in tracking and analyzing critical business data. Capital projects, funding, cash management, and other departments can make a collaborative decision.

Continue reading : ResultLane.ai

[resultlane]

The Hidden Cost of Manual Financial Reporting: How Automation Frees Up Resources for Value-Added Analysis

Well isn’t this that time of the month? With gruelling spreadsheets, scattered data, multiple to and fro emails, manual entries of transactions, and to top it up missed deadlines to share reports. Sounds terrifying indeed.

Due to the increasing demands of external factors, many CFOs are thinking about ways to make their organizations more efficient, responsive, and capable of implementing change more quickly. For many finance executives, this means employing intelligent technologies to move their companies from conventional functionality to dynamic capacity.

“According to a survey, in 2025 the role and value of the finance organization will be less about manually handling transactions and more about automating and streamlining processes.”

To evolve and evaluate the finance function, it is crucial to outline the improved workflow for efficient financial close process, and forecast cycles, and to actively evaluate how time is allotted and spent for forecast submissions. Let’s look into how to reduce the cost of manual financial reporting and leverage automation to interrogate complex figures and data.

The Problem: Spreadsheets, Data Volumes, and Hidden Costs

Excel spreadsheets are a big resource-consuming web. Manual reporting not only freezes the resources needed for value-added analysis but also consumes the precious time of CFOs who otherwise can focus on a lot more strategic decision-making. Manual workarounds and reconciliations consume valuable finance resources on tasks that add no strategic value, while also hindering opportunities for deeper insights.

Why Manual Financial Reporting is Costing You More?

Manual financial reporting is a drain on resources. Employees spend hours gathering and verifying data from multiple systems, constructing formulas, creating charts, and distributing final reports which is costly, error-prone, and time-consuming.

Many organizations still rely on legacy systems—outdated technology, software, and processes that continue to be used, often because they haven’t been updated or because they’re tightly integrated into other business functions. Unfortunately, these legacy systems often aren’t compatible with the latest automation tools.

In the absence of standardized definitions or centralized data access, inconsistencies between reports arise, such as different departments defining key metrics like loan approval rates in their ways or manual currency conversions. This lack of clarity leads to errors and confusion.

Duplication of effort is another issue. Different teams end up creating similar reports, each with its formulas and assumptions, leading to unnecessary work and conflicting data. Undertaking intercompany eliminations manually is difficult leading to increased risk of errors. Data entry mistakes, miscalculations, or oversights can compromise the accuracy of consolidated financial statements. Manual reporting also delays decision-making. To put together data in the spreadsheets, it has to be pulled from various systems which is time-consuming and leaves the decision-makers with outdated information. In a fast-paced environment, delayed reports can result in lost opportunities and costly mistakes. Managers may make decisions based on guesswork or hastily collected data, which increases the risk of errors and poor outcomes.

Ultimately, the time spent on fine-tuning spreadsheets takes away from valuable analysis and decision-making. Instead of focusing on what matters, employees waste time ensuring data accuracy, leading to missed opportunities to improve business performance.

How Automation Frees Up Resources for 360-degree Analysis?

As a growing concern, there are facets of the financial landscape that need to be addressed to free up valuable resources for deriving true value for the finance function. Financial reporting is comprised of a multitude of functions, each serving a specific business need. For instance, budgeting and forecasting focus on optimizing resource allocation, while management reporting and analysis provide deeper insights into operational performance. Vertical analysis allows accountants to assess relative changes over a period, helping identify trends. Flux analysis and budget variance analysis are crucial for understanding how actual performance compares to planned outcomes, highlighting discrepancies and enabling timely corrective actions. Additionally, value-added analysis is invaluable for stakeholders who seek to understand how resources are transformed into valuable outputs and the list goes on.

Now if you are stuck in Excel hell and unable to lay your hands on the rich data lying out there waiting to be discovered, you’re missing out on key opportunities and ignoring areas that need attention. These ignored costs add up like a fire raging in a barn, leading to nothing but costly rescue operations.

Few questions to be answered before you start automating your finance functions:

What are the data sources required for analysis?

Where is the data procured from?

Who are the users?

What are the business needs and the benefits to be delivered to users if automation is undertaken?

What workflow and modelling can be used that is easy to use and interpret?

Is the solution cost-effective and will it deliver the value it promises?

Key benefits of bringing in automation in your financial reporting and analysis processes

1. Improved productivity

Automated financial reporting processes the data faster than traditional methods and saves you up to 90% of the time that is usually spent scanning the spreadsheets to bring together the scattered data. It enables productivity and allows the CFO to focus on strategic analysis to drive the company’s financial health in the right direction.

With automation, you have access to real-time insights that gives you data for value-added analysis and create executive summaries for swift decision-making. These technologies also help organisations adhere to audit standards and internal controls by keeping thorough audit trails that record financial transactions, operations, and system modifications.

2. Enhanced collaboration and visibility

By combining financial data from several sources into a single repository, finance automation solutions enable all members of the organisation to have access to the appropriate data according to their access allowances, thus giving them a collaborative advantage. Finance teams can track KPIs, keep an eye on trends, and analyse financial performance with the help of their real-time reports, dashboards, and analytics. Additionally, by keeping thorough audit trails that record financial transactions, system activity, and modifications, these technologies assist organisations in proving compliance with internal controls and audit requirements. Stakeholders can make more educated decisions if they have real-time access to precise financial data, insights, and analytics from throughout the company.

“According to Gartner, every year, poor data quality costs organizations an average $12.9 million. Apart from the immediate impact on revenue, over the long-term, poor-quality data increases the complexity of data ecosystems and leads to poor decision making.”

3. Improved data security and governance

The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners estimates that fraud costs companies throughout the world roughly 5% of their yearly sales. This amounts to more than $3.6 billion lost annually worldwide. The implementation of cloud-based systems doubles the benefits by giving real-time access to financial data and improving collaboration among the users of that data.

Additionally, you also get user access controls giving you the security of who can access and view the data stored giving you enhanced governance levels on your systems. Automation enables the usage of AI to analyze vast amounts of data, detect patterns, and identify suspicious transactions or behaviors much more quickly than humans, making them ideal tools to help organizations proactively detect and prevent fraud.

The Solution- Smart Finance Platform by ResultLane

ResultLane is the perfect digital companion for finance teams, blending the ease of spreadsheets with the robust power of an ERP system, all powered by advanced GenAI. By automating key tasks like statutory and management reporting, consolidation, and shared services, ResultLane cuts report preparation time by 90%, giving your team more time to focus on valuable analysis and strategic decision-making to drive better outcomes.

With improved visibility, better governance, and smoother collaboration, ResultLane makes reporting for finance teams faster and more efficient, helping your organization drive growth, stay compliant, and make smarter, data-driven decisions in real-time.

Ready to take your financial reporting and analysis to the next level? visit resultlane.ai

[resultlane]

From the CFO stack: A rewind in 2024 with a step in 2025

From the CFO stack, the gone year (2024) witnessed a seismic shift in the roles played; right from an analyst going beyond numbers, chasing value, being an innovator, checking the expansion of the organization, putting up with the high debt cost, and whatnot.

A look back at 2024, shows the evolution of the CFO’s role better defined by bringing in a multitude of factors to drive optimization and efficiency.

The year saw breakthroughs in technologies with AI redefining the corporate landscape and triggering many of the finance functions. The aim is to integrate the processes for a seamless experience and analysis of the data beyond the traditional methods of looking at numbers in spreadsheets. CFOs assumed the role of technologists helping C-suite leaders make informed strategic decisions and address the different product mixes as demanded by the rising customer base.

Well, let’s look back at what grabbed the timelines and the shifts in the power dynamics for the finance leaders and how promising 2025 looks like.

Value creation CFOs navigated and integrated successfully through advanced technologies like AI and ML. Ranging from cloud computing to artificial intelligence, they evaluated the capital requirements for these innovative technologies and weighed the potential payoffs against the trade-offs. This helped in shaping the way organizations have adapted and thrived in the ever-changing landscape.

Looking back, the role of the CFO has undergone a transformation, shaped by the demands of a volatile, uncertain, and complex environment. Due to this, the CFOs have had the chance to develop the ability to reframe situations, seeing opportunities from new perspectives. They built value for stakeholders, focused on expanding the wings of the businesses, and invested in the technologies to stay ahead of the competitive curve and be the first to get the firsts of long-term success.

AI and Digital Transformation Gen AI and ML are the new face of digital transformation that can put the company at a competitive edge. AI integration in the financial reporting tools was the talk of the town; harnessing Gen AI’s capacity to analyze huge amounts of data, streamlining financial close processes by automating repetitive tasks, and unlocking new capabilities for reporting automation to free up the finance team’s time for higher value tasks.

In the latest survey, based on the CFO’s responses, Gen AI was used for, planning, forecasting, and analysis of automated routine/transactional processes, increased efficiency and cost reduction improved decision-making and insights accounting, reporting, and reconciliations. Also, a noticeable gap was seen between CFOs’ transformation goals and the disruption they are encountering. A significant majority (74%) focused on immediate priorities, aiming for “best-in-class” performance as their benchmark and only 11% of CFOs demonstrate a high level of ambition for transformation.

Security and risk management framework The emerging technologies involving AI and ML require more vigilance and cognizance of the risks associated with decision-making based on the information available. The increasing cybersecurity responsibilities kept CFOs on their toes. This growing concern necessitated the need to engage directly with Chief Information Security Officers to understand and monitor the associated risks.

Many CFOs shifted focus from just managing numbers to cybersecurity strategies. This whole management framework has to be integrated seamlessly with risk management efforts for the overall business operations.

Staffing and talent challenges 83% of CFOs cited hiring challenges as the major concern for 2024. A decade ago, bringing skilled financial professionals on board was easy, all that was needed a competitive salary, job security, and clear career advancement to fill positions. The evolving job market has changed the expectations of finance professionals, who are now looking for more than just incentives to boost morale and spirit. With automation and technology reshaping the finance function, employees are increasingly seeking opportunities that will allow them to move beyond repetitive tasks and contribute strategically to the business.

The autonomy approach is becoming more popular for the employees giving them the autonomy to approach their work. This change in management style requires new and innovative approaches to measure productivity, especially in a hybrid work environment. Data analysis and collection is to be undertaken to assess performance and processes in a streamlined manner.

Accelerating mergers acquisitions Throughout 2024, CFOs have seen growth from M&A activity, especially during economic uncertainty. The companies that have strong cash reserve or access to capital are well positioned to acquire undervalued businesses, thus expanding their new share. Despite the growing opportunities, the pace of M&A has been slower than expected, as the valuation mismatches the delayed deals. Buyers like equity firms and corporate strategists have adjusted to the changing demands of the market and sellers, on the other hand, are slowly recalibrating their expectations to slow the M&A activity.

By leveraging predictive models, CFOs have been able to assess potential growth opportunities, identify cost synergies, justify acquisitions, and minimize risk. This shift towards the analytical approach has been essential in making sure that M&A decisions are not only financially sound but strategically aligned with long-term business goals.

What does 2025 hold for the finance leaders?

There have been swift changes over the last five years, including historically low interest rates, a higher rate environment, and a resurgence of recession concerns. Chief financial officers (CFOs) need to be able to cope with discomfort, particularly as their responsibility grows. Even while sudden changes in legislation and geopolitics might cause instability, having a comprehensive understanding of your company’s financial situation can help you meet any obstacle head-on. How? with an emphasis on using teamwork and business model innovation to drive commercial results.

Finance leaders must possess various abilities to handle complicated issues, financial rules, and political unpredictability, including financial knowledge, strategic decision-making, and risk and stakeholder management. Risk, interest rate implications, and capital requirements are still at the top of the list of CFO challenges.

With continuous innovation and financial transformation, CFOs are currently overburdened. To safeguard financial health and improve financial resilience, modern technology can identify hazards, model situations, and assist in developing mitigation solutions. Working together with other members of the C-suite is similarly important. Your business can succeed if teams are aligned and data-driven decisions are enabled. For more Insights : ResultaLane.ai

[resultlane]

Leveraging Financial Reporting Automation to Reduce Month-End Close Time: Tips for Finance Controllers

Month-end close feels like being a stuntman racing through a fiery circus ring, with reports and numbers swirling around you like a looming threat. This challenging and time-consuming process is a monthly struggle for finance controllers.

Month-end close is the process of finalizing all financial transactions and reports at the end of each month. This includes reconciling accounts, reviewing financial statements, and preparing reports to assess your business’s financial health. Financial controls are an important activity that contributes to a business’s overall health and success.

Don’t worry, though—this guide will walk you through how to leverage financial reporting automation to simplify your month-end close process and streamline your financial operations.

Challenges Faced During Month-End Close Time by Finance Controllers

The monthly close time is a source of stressors for finance controllers due to:

Complexity of bringing data from legacy systems and ERPs

Gather commentaries and feedback from various sources

Maintain multiple spreadsheets, reconciling and matching transactions

Eliminating intercompany transactions

Dealing with multiple and duplicate data

Manual data entry prone to errors

Lack of visibility and control

Managing multicurrency transactions

Rollups while consolidating financial data from multiple entities

Inconsistent reporting due to frequent changes in shareholder stakes

The month-end close process is often plagued by several key challenges, starting with the use of complex and disparate systems. Over the past few decades, finance controllers have been conditioned to work with best-of-breed solutions for consolidation, account reconciliations, tax, and forecasting. However, these solutions are typically spread across multiple ERP systems, each with varying levels of detail, complex integrations, and data duplication, which do not seamlessly integrate.

Legacy systems were not designed to handle such complexity, forcing companies to rely on manual processes and spreadsheets to bridge the gaps in their consolidation and close systems. This fragmentation creates inefficiencies, adding time, complexity, and challenges for finance controllers during the close process.

The Transition Phase from Tradition to Automation

The transition to financial reporting automation from traditional methods of preparing reports is more than adapting it across the organization. It aims to address the challenges that today’s businesses face like rising resource costs, the need for skilled professionals, and accurate and less time-consuming financial reporting.

Numbers say you can do much more with financial reporting automation software:

      65% increased ability to predict trends and impacts

      60% improved real-time insights into risks

      57% improved data-enabled decision-making

      57% increased data accuracy

However, modern financial reporting automation solutions now do much more than simply automate tasks; they boost productivity and control throughout the close-consolidate-report cycle.

A standout feature of today’s consolidation software is its ability to streamline the entire closing process. While traditionally, financial closes took weeks, new tools have enabled companies to achieve much quicker closes—often within a single business week. This has become efficient because of automated workflows and the integration of AI, which not only accelerate tasks but also enhance accuracy and ensure compliance with ever-changing accounting standards and tax regulations.

For More Insights: ResultLane.ai