With 2020 firmly in the rearview window, most business owners agree that it wasn’t the best year ever (hello, pandemic!). Despite its many challenges and unexpected hurdles, 2020 did offer valuable opportunities for growth and adaptation. Millions of new users are now adept in technology tools for everything from virtual meetings and online shopping to home-based learning and cloud-enabled accounting.
Cloud-based tools for a changing business environment
The crash course in performing routine tasks virtually might not have been a welcome lesson, but it’s one that will prove useful for years to come. The unanticipated events of the pandemic era serve as a strong reminder of the importance of planning, encouraging business owners around the world to adopt a proactive stance that puts budgeting front and center.
Luckily, with the right technology in place it is easier than ever to plan and budget collaboratively in a virtual environment. Sage Intacct lets CFOs and other leaders create, manage and monitor financial data no matter how many pivots a dynamic business environment may demand.
Budget functionality in Sage Intacct
This cloud-enabled accounting platform allows companies of all sizes to create customized financial projections, forecasts, budgets, analysis and reporting to meet the full spectrum of financial intelligence demands, even as revenue and expenses evolve.
- Design your budget: With so many options available, the first step in creating a budget in Sage Intacct is defining the need. Because budget information can reach across so many different areas within the console, it is important to plan what types of financial data you envision creating.
- Set parameters and dimensions: Do you want to focus on specific locations, departments, products or projects? Would you rather see company-wide data to monitor business progress over the course of the year, comparing those results against financial projections and previously established goals? The possibilities are virtually unlimited.
- Import your budget: You can import an existing budget – or several of them, so you can toggle between different versions and reference previous budgets as predictions change. After all, real-time data is only helpful if you can use it in the real world. It is simple to upload a budget from Excel, enter your data manually or adjust information from another version.
- Create budget reporting and customized dashboards: Intacct makes budget reporting a snap, no matter how simple or complex your financial data. Create custom reports, visualizations and even dashboards that reflect your unique operating environment and reporting needs. Set benchmarks and develop report cards. Compare, contrast, model and display information however you like, then share it with everyone who needs to see it – and no one who doesn’t.
Signs it is time for a better budget solution
Running a successful business means making plenty of judgement calls, but it is easy to recognize the right time for a better budget solution. Your budget should be a living tool that makes business planning easier, not harder, and your time is better spent growing your business, not wrestling with unwieldy spreadsheets and one-dimensional point solutions. If you spend too much time manually entering data, changing it to reflect evolving conditions or struggling to update forecasts and plans, it may be time to upgrade.
Investing in appropriate accounting solutions lets business owners leverage technology to enable growth rather than limiting it. Use the form below to schedule a discovery session with our Financial Management Solutions team, and find out how a new approach to budgeting can transform your business.
