Sage Intacct pushing spreadsheets into the archives

Netesh Maharajh, Director at ALNET Technologies.

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ALNET Technologies, a Sage Platinum Business Partner, notes that although spreadsheets have long been integral to the financial arena, their limitations are increasingly apparent. Financial management requirements change as businesses expand.

Netesh Maharajh, Director at ALNET Technologies, says the once groundbreaking spreadsheet now struggles to effectively manage the intricacies of contemporary finance. "Moreover, they are error-prone, jeopardising financial compliance and strategic decision-making. Additionally, in collaborative settings, tracking changes becomes challenging, increasing the risk of data loss and confusion.

"The demands of modern finance exceed the capabilities of the now outdated tool. Spreadsheets lack strong access controls, putting data integrity at risk. Modern finance systems, such as Sage Intacct, negate the need for spreadsheets. Accounting and finance systems have robust reporting and analytics capabilities, which allows users to generate customised financial reports, giving them a holistic view of their business. It also supports quick decision-making by finance leaders based on real-time results," notes Maharajh.

He confirms that while spreadsheets may be suitable for smaller organisations, managing fixed assets on a spreadsheet as your organisation grows will lead to errors, lack of control and inaccuracy. Transitioning to a financial system, Sage Intacct, facilitates complete control over the asset life cycle from acquisition to disposal, as well as providing decision-making insights. "Our implementation of Sage Intacct's fixed assets solution at a global food company saw significantly less time spent on their year-end processes due to the automation of the asset process.

He adds financial reporting and analysis of data has never been easier. "Forget the days of importing data into a spreadsheet only to have to go to spend hours analysing it, and providing delayed reporting on information that could be riddled with errors. Sage Intacct's built-in tools facilitates effortless analysis and provides the ability to drill down to real-time source data. The dashboard and reporting features provide data insights essential to any business to keep it on the right path and also delivers transparency on exceptions and red flags."

Data-driven decisions that transform organisations require a broad and deep visibility into their financials and operational data. Where other systems rely on spreadsheets and external reporting tools for visibility, Sage Intacct provides built-in tools to display real-time and drill-down to source data.

Sage Intacct has its own Interactive Custom Report Writer, which replaces manual spreadsheets where users can create their ad hoc reports to look up, sort and filter information across related records, such as finding phone numbers for all customers who purchased a particular item.

"These reports often work in conjunction with activity reports to provide data specific to an organisation's unique business processes. A report wizard makes building these reports fast and easy – no coding required. It also provides in-depth analysis of transactional data for making comparisons and finding trends.

"True cash management should give you a complete picture of your cash footprint and working capital. But many organisations don't have full visibility into where their cash is coming from or where it's going to, so they resort to manual spreadsheets to capture and try to extend visibility, ultimately resulting in manual errors and incorrect formulas that don't actually provide accurate information. This is where Sage Intacct comes to the fore as it allows you to gain insight into your cash position and adjust processes with the cash management functionality. You can also generate reports and dashboards for accurate visibility and error-free maintenance to spot exceptions, manage bank errors, monitor fraud and maintain accurate cash balances."

Sage Intacct is all about improving cashflow through improved visibility and timing of payments.

It facilitates businesses to conduct day-to-day cash activities in real-time rather than tracking on spreadsheets.

"Whether you have multiple entities or a single entity with plans to add more for legal protection, you likely know the headaches involved with multi-entity management – and may experience them firsthand each month if you're relying on spreadsheets or multi-instance systems for consolidations.

If you look at the time and effort allocated to the creation of consolidated financials across the business, it's quite a timeous process.

"From what we have seen, it equivalent to 200-300 hours spent on manual data entry using two to three financial head counts in the business to compile these manual consolidations reports every quarter," he says.

The Sage Intacct Financial Management platform replaces the manual consolidation spreadsheets as it allows for multiple entity automation of financial consolidation activities, including currency conversions, inter-entity transactions, local tax reporting and more. That eliminates manual effort so you can close the books 25%-70% faster and concentrate on growth.