Driving Financial Consolidations with SAP Analytics Cloud

Financial consolidations are essential functions for all organizations to remain compliant and understand their overall financial health. Yet many companies still rely on outdated manual options like Microsoft Excel. Using Microsoft Excel for financial consolidations presents several challenges. It can be error-prone as manual data entry and complex formulas increase the risk of errors and inconsistencies.

Excel also has scalability issues, as it struggles to handle large datasets and complex consolidations across multiple entities. Its lack of automation also causes issues, as consolidations require manual adjustments for intercompany eliminations, currency translations, and data validation.

Leveraging older outdated processes can also cause problems when multiple users access and update the same file. This can lead to data conflicts and loss of accuracy. Organizations also lack the ability to access real-time insights, making it difficult to track and analyze financial performance effectively. Automation and integrated platforms like SAP Analytics Cloud offer more accuracy and efficiency.

Understanding Success

To help companies understand the benefits of moving to SAC and leaving behind outdated processes, SimpleFi Solutions shared the story of the A. Stucki Company and its move to SAC. A. Stucki Company is a supplier of railroad equipment. The company had previously used Excel for its financial consolidation workflows, leaving them unsure of their data integrity and causing some key team members to be unable to access the data that they needed. Further, A. Stucki was unable to leverage key analytics that other competitors had access to.

To overcome these issues, the A. Stucki Company reached out to SimpleFi Solutions. They were able to install SAP Analytics Cloud, giving them a single source of truth for all of their financial data. This transition has led to a remarkable increase in data integrity and accessibility, ensuring that their financial data is more reliable and easier to access than ever before.

Moreover, the implementation of SAP Analytics Cloud will streamline their reporting processes and enhance data consumption, allowing for more efficient and insightful decision-making. The improved data management capabilities are empowering A. Stucki to achieve greater operational efficiency and drive business growth.

What This Means for SAPinsiders

Move on from outdated procedures. Using Microsoft Excel for financial consolidations presents several challenges. It can be error-prone, limits reporting capabilities, and cause issues with version control and data accuracy. Further, companies that want to grow cannot scale out these functions effectively. Businesses need to find better solutions like SAP Analytics Cloud to overcome these issues.

Analytics drive success. Companies must have a bird’s eye view of their financial realities. Tools like SAP Analytics Cloud can help them better understand where they stand and how they can improve over the years. SAP organizations have the data that they need to access these analytics at their fingertips, they just need the right solutions to access them.

Lay out a path to success. Companies that have operated for decades can often remain committed to outdated workflows long after they have stopped being industry standard. Bringing in a trusted partner like SimpleFi Solutions can help these businesses to understand how they can improve their workflows and drive innovation.