Customer Stories: How Four Organizations Found a Single Source of Truth for their Reporting with insightsoftware

Featuring stories from Ladbrokes, American Asset Corporation, Quint, and DAA

Having a single source of truth is important when running and analyzing reports, otherwise it’s difficult to know exactly what the numbers should be. Being burdened with multiple sources of truth often stems from data dumping, when you need to move data from your ERP into a workable platform, such as Excel, to create reports. This typically happens when finance teams don’t have the right tools to support their reporting needs and when they are overly reliant on IT.

However, dumping static data into spreadsheets breaks the link to your ERP, which increases your risk of working with outdated data and of introducing formula errors. When everyone is instigating their own separate data exports into spreadsheets, that multiplies the chances for error and means there is no consistency in how reports are calculated or presented.

With no single source of truth, the chances of those awkward moments in meetings increase, in which different people have pulled data at different times and calculated key performance indicators their own way, opening up arguments over whose numbers are correct.

If this sounds all too familiar, read on, because this article explores how other finance teams have already taken back control of their reporting by gaining real-time access to their ERP data with drill-down from balances to journals and subledger transactions. Learn how this has enabled them to work with a single source of truth and accelerate time-critical processes both throughout the month and during close.

Ladbrokes

Background – Ladbrokes had been using the stock reporting tools that came with their Oracle ERP (Financial Statement Generator and Discoverer), but found that they were manually dumping multiple data extracts from Oracle and combining them into spreadsheets that then needed to be reformatted. Not only did this delay their analysis, but also made it difficult to get a clear view of the information contained within their ERP system to ensure consistent decisions..

Solution – Ladbrokes implemented Hubble from insightsoftware as the best solution to help them move away from data dumps and manual data consolidation in disparate spreadsheets, allowing them to have a single version of the truth, using live data from their ERP.

We now have a single version of the truth, and as a result, the finance team spends more time answering questions than manipulating data in static spreadsheets. – Daniel Weiss, International Financial Controller

Read more about Ladbrokes’ journey with Hubble here.

American Asset Corporation

Background – American Asset Corporation (AAC) was previously using the native reports that came with their Yardi Voyager ERP system. However, this made reporting a time-consuming, manual process and meant they could only view some critical information, like their cash position, at the end of the month. This made it hard to plan for the future, because their reporting was more reactive than proactive.

As Nick Stuart, Corporate Controller at AAC, explained, “when your process is disjointed, with multiple data sets and no real ‘source of truth,’ it is difficult to create a holistic plan for the business and have an overall cash view.”

Solution – Stuart and his team found that Spreadsheet Server, a real-time, Excel-based reporting tool with deep integration to Yardi Voyager, gave them the ability to view their cash position “almost up to the day.” With this level of visibility, it has helped AAC to start work on developments sooner, as they know exactly where their business stands.

We know exactly where their cash is on any given day, within each account as well as the total cash number. – Nick Stuart, Corporate Controller

Read more about AAC’s journey with Spreadsheet Server here.

Quint

Background – After moving to a new ERP (Odoo), Quint needed a solution to unite their data that were spread across their legacy systems (Microsoft Dynamics NAV and QIS) to create a single source of truth and to simplify reporting against a background of rapidly increasing data volumes, brought on by the growth of the organization.

Solution – A combination of Jet Analytics and Jet Reports from insightsoftware allowed Quint to automate data preparation and make their data report-ready in an instant. They can now easily publish consolidated data to their users with the built-in Jet Reports scheduler, which ensures everyone is working from the same information for consistent decision making.

Jet Reports provides the finance team with a clear view of consolidated data within Excel. – Yin-Ting Chua, Software Development Engineer

Read more about Quint’s journey with Jet here.

DAA

Background – DAA (formerly known as Dublin Airport Authority) was using a number of different Oracle reporting tools across the group against its Oracle E-Business Suite ERP system. These reporting tools included Hyperion, Discoverer, Oracle Reports, and ADI (Web Application Desktop Integrator). Not only were a number of these no longer supported by Oracle, but this had led to the team relying heavily on IT to consolidate their reports. Not only did this take the reporting process out of the hands of the finance team, but also turned it into a lengthy process

Solution – DAA decided to implement Wands for Oracle from insightsoftware as a single solution to consolidate their reporting data. Fawad Akhtar, Group Treasury Analyst, found that implementing this solution “changed all of this quite dramatically, as the entire process of preparing, generating, and analyzing a report is now much faster.” There was no longer a protracted process to bring together their multiple reports, as they were now working from a single source of truth.

Part of my role is to be able to understand and demonstrate to management where the different figures shown in the reports actually come from. The ability to generate customized reports outlining specific content and the ability to drill down to granular level with regard to figures has been a godsend. – Fawad Akhtar, Group Treasury Analyst

Read more about DAA’s journey with GL Wand here.

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