Monthly financials are so last decade. Level up with real-time reporting
John Ikosipentarhos
February 23, 2023
For the longest time, the gold standard of financial review was just that – the annual financial review. Then, the quarterly review. Then, it became the monthly review. But what if you could be even more in touch with your financial performance, seeing the past few days’ sales figures at the push of a button?
While this sounds revolutionary, technologies like Tableau, Power BI, and other dashboard reporting companies have made it possible. And the impact is significant.
The rise of computerized accounting systems and software from companies like Microsoft and Intuit helped transform the accounting profession from a pen-and-paper exercise to an automated powerhouse. Automation capabilities expanded to include customer invoices, vendor transactions, bank account integration, and payroll processing. Monthly financial reporting became the standard for any company that had management capable enough to review and analyze the financial data. Yet, in today’s transaction-intensive environment, waiting a full month for results can seem like an eternity.
Real-time results mean real-time improvement
These days, the most common response from executives across industries when asked about where they plan to prioritize investment is “digital transformation, including automation and business intelligence.” This has been the case for 2022 and shows no signs of slowing down. This trend extends well beyond the financial world, but data analytics and financial reporting dashboards are among the most impactful emerging trends.
Data analytics and dashboard reporting systems aggregate data from a variety of sources, including CRMs, manufacturing systems, HR platforms, and financial records. The result is a customizable dashboard that gives you a real-time view of your company’s performance, accessible from your smartphone. Management needs to have their finger on the pulse of the business to be successful, and these tools make that more achievable than ever before.
Have you seen any AI or Business Intelligence applications that are great with financial dashboards? If so, which ones?
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