Audit Readiness Checklist: 10 Things to Do Before the Auditor Arrives
Audit Readiness Checklist: 10 Things To Do Before The Auditor Arrives Audit season often feels like a bundle of stress, unrealistic deadlines, and undesirable financial impacts. As you navigate the rush of gathering documents and reconciling accounts, it’s easy to miss the strategic potential available in this annual examination. By addressing audit preparation proactively, organizations can glean valuable insights, fortify their financial systems, and catalyze future growth, all while navigating the audit process smoothly. Here’s what you need to know. What To Expect During The Audit The purpose of an audit is to give stakeholders confidence in the health and financial viability of your organization. Goals may include ensuring transparency for investors and shareholders, determining investment readiness, fulfilling an insurance or compliance requirement, preparing for a merger or acquisition, or evaluating internal processes and financial performance. In addition to accomplishing these goals, the audit also helps you identify process gaps…
Change Management for Financial Transformation
Change Management for Financial Transformation No matter what your business vision, values, and objectives are, a healthy finance function lies at the heart of your success. Financial visibility, reporting, projections, and strategy are the foundation of your business decisions and position you for profitability and growth. If processes and systems are outdated or dysfunctional, however, you’ll struggle to remain competitive. When you notice warning signs like process inefficiencies, data errors, data silos, or outdated technology systems, it’s time to update. The goal of financial transformation is to align finance functions, technology, and data with the strategic priorities of the business. For example, change initiatives may include breaking down data silos to improve visibility and access across the organization, creating better systems for capturing and managing data, redesigning the reporting process, implementing new technology to increase efficiency and reduce errors, or merging systems and processes after a merger or acquisition. All…
Build a Better Budget: How to Plan for Growth in the New Year
Build a Better Budget: How to Plan for Growth in the New Year It’s budget season! We’re heading into the home stretch of 2023, and it’s time to put together a plan for financial success in the new year. Effective budgets are strategic tools that put your money to work for you, helping you achieve your goals, manage your assets, and position your company for growth. If corporate budgeting sounds intimidating to you, don’t worry. We have the resources you need to assess where you are now, determine your goals, and create a budget that puts you in a strong financial position. Here’s how to do it. Assess Your Financial Data Successful companies take data seriously. They know how to capture the right data, and they use it to inform budget decisions and projections. As you begin planning your budget, have a heart-to-heart with your financial data, including year-over-year numbers,…
Stay Ahead of the Technology Curve with AI and Process Automation
5 Keys to Staying Ahead of the Technology Curve with AI and Process Automation In today’s increasingly data-heavy finance arena, process automation is no longer a luxury. It’s a necessity. Data management, reporting, financial statements, forecasting, and analytics all depend on real-time, relevant data. But trying to juggle all of those processes manually is both time-consuming and constitutes a recipe for errors you can’t afford. Automation technology tools help you streamline labor-intensive financial processes, freeing your finance pros to make strategic decisions without drowning in data. Letting technology take the reins on routine reporting tasks empowers your organization to save time, improve accuracy, and reduce risk. These benefits segue into ROI-boosting outcomes like better accuracy, reduced operational costs, compliance peace of mind, and real-time insights that support better decision-making. Technology Trends: Shaping the Business Landscape The purpose of technology innovation and automation is to enhance speed, efficiency, and accuracy, support…