Many senior finance managers that I speak to, want to get rid of the Spreadsheet from within the Financial Reporting process. Typically, from within the "Final Mile" of financial reporting.
As I detailed in my June 2011 post HTML based management reports this is entirely possible with modern systems. In fact such systems offer distinct advantages over old manual processes. Namely;
a) non-finance managers can become involved in the drafting process, writing supporting narrative, removing the reliance on finance personnel;
b) the report drafting and changing process, becomes part of the IT system;
c) none finance based numbers and quantities can be incorporated into the HTML reports based upon underlying system metrics - No. of sales orders, etc.;
d) all data and measures are drawn from a single consistent source;
e) reporting and production efficiencies can be obtained, with quicker turn-around times;
f) an audit trail of changes to numbers and narrative is automatically maintained by the system, allowing for trace back should it be required;
g) as mentioned in my post Microsoft Office Web Component graphics can be easily incorporated into the HTML reports, bringing such reports "alive";
h) being HTML based, distribution and reading of the resulting reports is readily achieved.
Overall, senior management can produce and consume more meaningful reports in a shorter time span, thereby improving overall operating results. Even the dreaded XBRL tags can be incorporated into such reports for external consumption!
Automating this process from one source seems to be more cost-efficient than multiple people contributing to a single spreadsheet. Interesting way to cut down on costs. Thanks for sharing.
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