Today’s financial reporting goes far beyond what it did in the past. Forget those QuickBooks reports of yesteryear. Technology has changed how and when we receive business information. In turn, along with how it affects the decisions we make to boost revenue.

Here in the 21st century, we receive information faster than ever before! It’s incredible and slightly terrifying all at the same time. Financial reporting creates and delivers the critical data that drives business and financial decisions. Reports tell the story of a company and work to bridge the gap between the accountant and the business owner. The information is right at your fingertips, right there waiting for you. Once you have found it, the possibilities are endless of what you and your clients can do with it. Are you using the information to its potential? Is the info helping to boost the success of your business?

Better Management of Finances

A primary need for financial reporting fills the ability to simplify the complicated. To take complex data and translate it into useful knowledge, this is how better management of finances can boost profitability. When something is understood, it is exponentially easier to manage and manage well.

For reporting to send your profits northward, it needs to meet the following criteria;

• Define the KPI’s that specifically drive your business.
• Have the ability to track those KPI’s monthly, quarterly, and annually.
• Display, in a simple way, how different decisions/situations affect those KPI’s. How did that promotion affect profits? Seasonal effects?
• Simplify the complicated with visual information and live text.
• Forecast possibilities for different situations, to make decision making less of a guessing game.

When both questions and their answers about business finances can be easily found and understood, attention and focus shift to other areas of a business. The ultimate definition of “management of finances” is the day there is trust in the numbers; they are accurate and up to date.

Each industry and each business within that industry will have specific needs. Through trial and error, find which reports, which KPI’s, which forecasts have the most potential to boost your revenues.

Financial Analysis

Imagine you have a decision to make a big decision. Personal or business decision, it doesn’t matter which. The best information, most current, and trusted data, and an idea of the consequences of your decision are vital pieces in making the best choice. Analyze the situation, take everything into account, and then go with your gut. Wrong information can have disastrous consequences, so make an effort to have the best info. Where do you go for this information? In the business world, you go to Reach Reporting.

Reach’s first and most important purpose is to transform data into knowledge. Transform it into the intelligence to help business owners make the best decisions.

Your thinking about entering a new market. What financial data necessary to decide?  You would need and want to know how much cash is on hand to spend. What about knowing how long can I last before turning a profit in the new market. The answers are in financial reports.

Your thinking about expanding your product line. What numbers do you need? COGS for a current product vs. new product. What about how much capital on hand for a new product? You know where to find the answers, in a financial report.

You are possibly running a big discount sale. How much of a discount can I offer? Knowing your COGS vs. Income ratio would be essential information to decide. Quickly find that in financial reporting software.

All these situations will have a tremendous impact on your business, and you need to have the ability to see all the scenarios, the cause/effect it could have on your business.

Your financial reporting needs to be able to do more than transform vast amounts of information; it must provide the data visually and quickly so you can analyze it and make the most profitable decisions. When your reporting begins to create this type of data, when it formulates answers that transform your business, the magic starts to happen. That is the moment financial reporting begins to boost revenue.

People and Software Together

The business of business is relationships; the business of life is a human connection. -Robin S. Sharma

In today’s 21st-century business world, automation is king. Automation is all around us, in all aspects of what we do each day — ordering food, pumping gas, online shopping. The accounting world has automated as well; the streamlining of the reporting process leads to lower costs and then to increased revenue. Time spent generating and compiling reports has been cut in half (or more!) All good things!

As the story usually goes, there is a flip side. Automation can and does drive disconnection, especially when the primary customer relationship is via tech. If the only connection with clients is digitally, suddenly, you become just another commodity, easily replaced. Just sending a report is not enough, regardless of how amazing it looks, how much data and knowledge included in it, the human touch is irreplaceable. So send those amazing reports, but don’t forget to give them a call, remember their birthday, and celebrate their personal and business success. Engaging your customers with the human touch will help build a competitive advantage that will boost revenue and profits sky high!