September 2, 2024
In this article, we'll walk you through nine reasons why more accountants are turning to cloud technology for consolidations. Whether you're looking to improve accuracy, boost efficiency, or collaborate more easily, we'll break down how these advancements can make a real difference in your day-to-day work. We’ll focus particularly on managing consolidated financial reporting and preparing your annual consolidated financial statements.
Cloud accounting platforms come with advanced data visualisation tools that turn raw data into interactive dashboards. Instead of navigating through countless Excel tabs, you can easily see trends, performance metrics, and key financial indicators at a glance. These visualisations make it easier to spot anomalies, understand financial performance, and share insights effectively.
“You actually have to be very careful about how you design the output of the spreadsheet so that it can communicate with that clarity, that conviction, that confidence to the actual decision maker. It doesn't matter if it makes sense to me, it's got to make sense to them. And that's where Fathom is really cool because yes, you can consolidate it, and it makes your analysis hyper- efficient.”
- David Maher, Director of Right Brain Insights
If you've ever experienced the frustration of searching for an error buried in a mountain of spreadsheets, cloud technology is a game changer. By focusing on essential financial data—such as Chart of Accounts balances for Profit and Loss and Balance Sheet—cloud platforms streamline data syncing, ensuring that your consolidated financial statements reflect accurate and up-to-date information. This approach minimises discrepancies, cuts down on manual checks, and reduces the time spent on audits, ultimately leading to more reliable and efficient financial reporting.
"Myself and a partner at KPMG, I remember a weekend before a board presentation. We're sitting there trying to find errors in spreadsheets. You know, literally looking for one error in 60 or 70 tabs.”
- Tyler Caskey, TheBeanCounters
Imagine cutting down the time you spend on data entry, reconciliation, and consolidation. Cloud-based solutions automate many of these manual tasks, allowing you to close books faster. This efficiency frees up your time for what truly matters: financial analysis and strategic planning.
“We had these beautiful Excel workbooks that could do consolidations and provide good dashboards for management reporting, but we were never satisfied with the process. We were always looking for that new solution. And then all of a sudden Fathom dropped into our laps and it really gave us what we've been looking, for quite some time.”
- Patrick Arnold, Manager at Elliott Davis
Working late to try and sync up spreadsheets with colleagues in different locations? Cloud technology helps you collaborate in real-time, so you and your team can access the same datasets simultaneously. This makes decision-making and problem-solving quicker. Plus, it builds a culture of transparency and teamwork.
As your business grows, your consolidation needs change. Cloud technology scales with you, adapting to varying workloads without the need for substantial hardware investments. This flexibility is especially helpful during mergers, acquisitions, or other structural changes, saving hours of time across multi-functional teams.
"The breaking point was when the consolidation was taking quite a significant amount of everybody’s time... We needed to find something new to be able to successfully meet deadlines and not cause a massive amount of headaches for everybody involved."
- Megan Leet, Scrutton Bland
Cloud accounting solutions can be more cost-effective than maintaining on-premise systems. Subscription-based models reduce upfront costs and lower the need for extensive IT support and maintenance, freeing up resources for other strategic initiatives.
Analytics and reporting features in cloud platforms allow you to generate detailed reports and visualise data trends. These capabilities help you forecast future performance, conduct variance analysis, and identify opportunities for cost savings or revenue growth.
Cloud platforms integrate with other business systems, such as ERP and CRM software, creating a cohesive ecosystem for managing business operations. This ensures your financial data is in sync with other processes, providing a holistic view of your organisation.
Traditional consolidation methods often struggle with multi-currency transactions, leading to errors and confusion. Cloud technology simplifies multi-currency management by automatically converting and consolidating different currencies according to the latest exchange rates. This ensures that your consolidated financial accounts and other financial statements are accurate and up to date, reducing the complexity and time spent on currency conversion.
“The other interesting example was a really deep consolidation of an Australian entity that bought a Vietnamese technology business. They do data insight work. They were just in trouble trying to consolidate Vietnamese and Australian currencies and what we loved in Fathom was the ability to enter in a currency rate for the Vietnamese Australian conversion and then automate the total revenue as well as doing all the eliminations.”
- Tyler Caskey, TheBeanCounters
While tools like spreadsheets are still extremely valuable, cloud technology takes things to the next level by enhancing accuracy, speeding up processes, and making collaboration a breeze, all while being flexible and cost-effective.
If you want to take a step away from manual consolidations, find out more about Fathom's consolidation feature here.
Want to try consolidations in Fathom for free? Start a 14-day trial here.
For more insights from our community of accountants, updates, and handy content, be sure to follow Fathom on LinkedIn.
Ellie is a campaign marketing manager at Fathom, with a degree in branding and marketing. With a background in campaign strategy and creation, Ellie is passionate about showcasing how Fathom can make a real difference to finance professionals and businesses.
