Part of the grind for financial managers when it comes to audits involves how long the process takes. It’s disruptive to workflow, the manual approach takes people out of their productivity phase for questioning, and the detail needed is oftentimes mundane and random sampling. However, auditing is essential to ensure that financial practices and procedures are being followed and activities are staying within expected compliance. So, the function becomes a necessary evil, triggering lost man hours and delays as a cost.
With Acumatica ERP the auditing process can move much smoother, sampling can be done with a less intrusive footprint, and staff can be engaged for far less time reducing delays and productivity loss. This can be done via:
- Utilizing a modern cloud ERP approach so that financial information is integrated and shared versus being hidden in silos and having to be manually retrieved. The more that data can be shared across functional lines, the faster it can be pulled without taking production staff offline.
- ERP Automation causes multiple manual transactions to occur automatically, thus using one entry to manufacture five or more automatic entries. This cuts down on manual worktime and reduces human error with multiple entry points. That in turn increases compliance with built-in rule sets that have to be followed at the initial input.
- CFOs need to work in an integrated manner with other functions. By making finance a part of the operational picture versus a separate silo the sharing of information becomes much easier.
- ERP increases a CFO’s confidence in data reported because there is less ambiguity and more firm data integrity across systems.
- By integrating financial data with operations, cross-over risk becomes easier to spot and address proactively, reducing audit findings.
- Audit data pulls can be automatic and easy to exercise without frequent engagement. This reduces downtime and disruption to production.
Yes, audit will always be necessary in organizational finance, but they don’t have to be a nightmare. With an ERP approach like Acumatica’s design, a CFO can actually increase audit frequency while reducing the delays and disruption at the same time, thereby actually increasing compliance and risk management.