Outdated accounting technology is hindering the profession, but many accounting teams resist upgrading their software because of risk aversion, budget concerns and misconceptions about the complexity of modernization. Hear why one former CFO advocates for using automation and AI-powered solutions to free up accountants for more strategic work.
Tax season stress is exacerbated by antiquated software and manual processes. Given the current shortage of skilled professionals, the high cost of rework and errors and the limitations of manual processes in scaling to meet demand, automating accounting is becoming non-negotiable for forward-thinking organizations.
Learn more about record to report process steps and how to streamline financial reporting to help make and informed decision.
Learn more about how the automation of accounting processes can elevate your business efficiency. This article explores the key benefits and essential features of accounting process automation, highlighting the transformative impact on financial operations.
Learn more about the evolving role of CFOs and the top priorities driving their success in today's dynamic business landscape. Discover how strategic planning, digital transformation, and risk management shape the modern finance function.
Learn more about how advanced journal entry templates can transform your financial record-keeping. Discover the role and benefits of these essential tools in modern accounting.
Learn more about how finance digital transformation is revolutionizing the industry by integrating AI, blockchain, and automation to enhance financial accuracy and efficiency. Discover the strategic benefits of new technologies in finance.
Learn how Digital Transformation in Finance revolutionizes R2R automation for enhanced efficiency and accuracy. Discover the impact on CFOs and finance teams as they transition from manual processes to advanced automated solutions, ensuring precise financial reporting and operational excellence.
Learn more about how automating financial processes revolutionizes finance by boosting efficiency and enabling strategic decision-making. Discover the transformative power of automation in financial operations, enhancing compliance, and strategic insights.
Learn more about how automated account reconciliation software revolutionizes the financial close process. Discover streamlined workflows, enhanced accuracy, and strategic financial management capabilities without the risk of errors.
Accruals, provisions and reclassifications represent some of the most intricate and labor-intensive components of the financial close process. In a global business environment where speed and accuracy are paramount, accruals, provisions and reclassifications are a substantial burden for finance teams, resulting in highly skilled staff being entrusted to manage these critical tasks when their time could be better applied elsewhere. Accounting automation, specifically Record to Report Automation by Redwood, can transform these challenges into opportunities for efficiency and accuracy.
The month-end close is often marked by the hectic pace of completing journal entries. In the current landscape, where efficiency and accuracy are key, manual journal entries still stand out as a cumbersome challenge. Challenges of manual journal entries The traditional approach to journal entries in the financial close process is dominated by manual processes: spreadsheets such as Excel and point solutions, which often involve different teams in preparing, approving, posting and validating entries.
The end of each month traditionally brings a flurry of activities to finance functions, with finance teams immersed in closing the books. This period is often characterized by long hours, meticulous data reconciliation and a frenzied rush to meet deadlines. However, with advancements in automation technology, this scenario is rapidly evolving. The concept of finance automation and the “touchless close,” a term coined by analyst firm Gartner during the pandemic, is emerging as a transformative force amongst innovative record-to-report (R2R) initiatives,
To this day, the traditional finance function struggles with inefficiencies and a heavy reliance on manual processes, particularly during the critical period-end close. Areas that are manually heavy include areas such as accruals, provisions and reclassifications, account reconciliation and certification, journal entries and intercompany accounting. This not only hampers efficiency but also clouds the transparency that’s so vital in month-end financial reporting. The whitepaper “Master the Touchless Close” offers a ground-breaking solution to this enduring problem.
In finance, where time is of the essence, every minute counts. The month-end close is a critical process that demands precision, accuracy and efficiency. Finance teams often struggle with tight deadlines, late nights and the constant pressure to deliver results quickly with fewer resources. But what if there was a solution that could step in as your trusted ally, working tirelessly to expedite your month-end close and help you achieve more in less time? Imagine hiring a “virtual employee”
For the last fifteen years, the enterprise software industry has revolutionized our ability to weave an interconnected and intelligent architecture that enables organizations to seamlessly connect, manage and govern their data. As the former CEO of one of the enterprise software leaders in analytics, I had a front-row seat to this “data fabric” revolution. While it was easy to get caught up in the marketing hype around new terms like “big data” and “predictive analytics,” the reality was that the most competitive companies in the world were increasingly differentiating their ability to serve their customers based on how well they collected,
Multinational corporations face compliance challenges in 2021 as intercompany agreements and transfer pricing come under increased scrutiny by hawkish tax authorities. The OECD estimates intra-group transfers make up more than 60% of world trade, underlining why tax authorities globally are taking greater enforcement to prevent intercompany transfer pricing being used to reduce the tax burden of the parent company. The underlying arms-length principle of transfer pricing is that the price should be at a fair market price,
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting is rapidly rising on the corporate agenda as investors look beyond traditional financial performance to evaluate the longer-term growth opportunities and risks for companies. According to a PwC report, institutional investors view ESG as critical to understanding the full risk profile of a company and evaluating how prepared it is for the future. And they want standardized, rigorous data to support their investment decisions. In a CFA Institute survey,
Finance needs to perform many controls and checks as part of its accounting and reporting responsibilities, ensuring the numbers accurately reflect the reality of the business. Crucially, finance needs confidence that the figures recorded in SAP (or any other ERP system) represent what is actually happening in the business. Some examples of accounting controls performed by finance include: End-of-day checks: Have all production orders been closed? Has a manufactured item been moved into stock,
Improper revenue recognition poses significant risks to organizations. Whether it’s due to unintentional error or deliberate accounting fraud, incorrect revenue recognition can lead to financial penalties, regulatory scrutiny and lasting reputational damage. As regulatory frameworks tighten and stakeholder expectations rise, companies must proactively address vulnerabilities in their revenue recognition processes. This is where finance automation can play a pivotal role. The importance of revenue recognition Revenue recognition is one of the most critical aspects of financial reporting,
Global dairy company Arla Foods has automated the reconciliation and settlement of its energy taxes, eliminating administrative work and human error and allowing the organization to complete the process — with greater accuracy — monthly instead of annually. As part of its energy taxes reconciliation process, Arla Foods collects meter readings in Impero from its Danish dairies, along with the utility company invoice data in SAP. These numbers are then compared against the energy taxes that Arla pays upfront to identify instances where the company is entitled to a refund.
Digital investments top the CFO agenda for 2021, according to analyst Gartner’s survey of finance leaders. However, the analyst warns that without plugging the digital skills gap in finance, CFOs will struggle to fully benefit from these digital investments in technologies such as advanced analytics, automation and AI. According to Gartner, there are five key digital competencies applicable to finance work. These competencies are technological literacy, digital translation, digital learning and development,
Global manufacturing services company Jabil achieved four major benefits by automating and digitizing manual tasks across its month-end close and record-to-report (R2R) process. Using Finance Automation by Redwood, Jabil achieved: Time savings Standardization Data quality Reduction in potential audit fees Speaking in a recent webinar with sharedserviceslink, Scott Barone, director of the finance digital PMO at Jabil, explained that the automation project started by surveying finance teams across both the corporate and individual site functions globally,
In this episode from our series of SAP-focused finance podcasts, we look at the challenges around cost and revenue allocation in SAP and how to tackle them. This area of finance impacts product pricing and profit margin. It includes the collection of all the multi-level direct and indirect costs that need to be allocated to a cost center and then calculating what portion of that total cost should be attributed to each product or service to be sold.
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