No one likes homework. Being stuck with a cumbersome legacy ERP or old accounting system at the close of the month can make a grownup feel like an 8th grader who waited to start a big report until the night before it was due. Every month, your departments have the same problems and objections. Everyone is exhausted before they even begin to reconcile the month. Let’s take a look at why bringing in the right Acumatica Financial Management tools will lower your blood pressure and help you get your real work done.
Manual work and duplicate data entry leading to incorrect data
Closing out the month may involve getting data from disparate systems like payroll and Point of Sale. Information from these areas needs to be entered into your company’s accounting system. Because so much of the data is entered by hand, there can easily be errors and trouble with reconciliations. Spreadsheets can further complicate reconciliation tracking.
The Acumatica Solution: Acumatica automates your company’s workflows and processes. Operations become streamlined, with your team having tools work in the background. Employees can stop manual entry and focus on work that needs their full attention. The system automatically tracks and time stamps coding and approvals. The month will close more quickly, with approvals become easier going forward.
Delayed financial reporting
Does this happen to you? When the month closes, departments can’t understand why their figures don’t match those from accounting. Frustration among departments leads to more attempts at reconciliation. Employees already stressed by the 2020/2021 Covid-19 pandemic are burdened with having to work longer hours as “detectives” in their departments to fix what is broken. Financial statements are delayed past the end of the month. If documents or critical data gets lost, everything is thrown off.
The Acumatica Solution: Acumatica brings real-time data solutions to finally stop the chaos of disparate spreadsheets, email chains and post-it notes. It is not necessary to waste so much effort when your team can have a single version of the most updated “truth,” custom delivered to each department. As your company goes about its business, your ERP software is working in the background to deliver the information you need to close out the month in an efficient, low stress manner.
Accounts, compliance and Murphy’s Law
Mandatory reporting requirements must be correct, or the company will suffer the consequences. However, incorrect manual adjustments, allocations and accruals can throw off compliance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). Departmental results that don’t align at the end of the month make life unnecessarily complicated for the finance department. Month-end deadlines delay reporting and throw off proper accounting cutoffs.
The Acumatica Solution: Acumatica’s general ledger provides your business with a centralized, fully integrated repository with analysis and real-time reporting power. Accounts will always be balanced and backed by transactions which are easily tracked from sales and marketing proposals to contracts, invoices and money in the bank. Built in spreadsheets and automation take away the previously siloed system where information and processes have fallen through the cracks. In addition, Acumatica software plans tax payments and rates, sets aside funds and runs reports. The software also provides deferred revenue accounting functions that identify revenue recognition, accounts for and plans of future revenue and complies with ASC 606 IFRS 15 standards.
Manual reconciliations of banking and credit management
If reconciliation of bank and credit card balance data is managed manually using monthly bank statements, there may be a lag that manifests in inconsistent bank balances. Electronic transfers must be accounted for and transactions have to be reviewed and adjusted, again manually. What if underlying source documents don’t match bank deposits and underlying receipts? This creates unnecessary work.
The Acumatica Solution: Cash management is built into Acumatica. You will be able to monitor real-time daily transactions, liquidity, bank account reconciliation and funds transfer. For businesses with overseas partners, purchasing or sourcing Acumatica Currency Management oversees global B2B transactions and helps manage international business.
Modernize Your Month-End Close With Acumatica
Acumatica ERP Cloud Software makes it easier to perform month-end closes. Users see the difference in efficiency and month-end becomes a natural, relaxed process. Even the accountants are a bit calmer. Users all have the same data at the same time. Specific departments see what they need to see, and management has access to everything. It is easier to make daily decisions and plan for the future.
To learn more about Acumatica for financial management, contact us for a demo.
Additional Financial Management Resources
How You Know It’s Time to Switch from Accounting Software to ERP
4 Benefits of Better Accounts Receivable Management