Real-time financial visibility and accurate data are no longer optional for today’s chief financial officers (CFOs), as they have become foundational to strategic leadership, operational agility and long-term resilience. Yet, according to a 2023 survey, 89% of CFOs admit to making decisions based on inaccurate or incomplete data on a monthly basis.
Other results from the survey revealed that:
- 55% of CFOs lack visibility into basic business strategy, limiting their ability to provide strategic guidance
- 98% say they are bogged down by low-value tasks like manual data collection and reporting, delaying strategic work
- 25% are putting off revenue-generating initiatives due to these inefficiencies
This data underscores how delayed decision-making can erode the strategic influence of CFOs and hinder organizational agility. However, Sage solutions can help eliminate these delays, enabling CFOs to act on emerging trends without waiting for month-end closes or manual reconciliations.
Be Ready When Opportunity Knocks
When market conditions shift, whether due to economic volatility, regulatory changes or competitive disruption, CFOs and finance leaders are presented with a narrow window of opportunity. These moments can define the trajectory of a business, but only if leaders are equipped to act swiftly and decisively.
Sage solutions provide a clear, real-time view of an organization’s financial landscape, enabling CFOs to pivot with confidence and seize growth opportunities.
For example, imagine a CFO at a middle-market company preparing for a quarterly board meeting. In the past, the CFO had to scramble to compile spreadsheets and reconcile data across departments, while hoping the numbers were still accurate by presentation time. Sage solutions, including the enterprise resource planning (ERP) tool Sage Intacct, streamline that process and provide finance leaders with trusted data.
By logging into Sage Intacct’s cloud-based ERP dashboard, the CFO instantly sees a real-time snapshot of the organization’s financial health — from cash flow and budget variances to program-specific spend and funding source performance. The system’s dimension-driven reporting allows the CFO to slice data by location and department and drill down to the transactional level for full transparency.
Smarter Inventory Management With Sage ERP Solutions
Depending on your industry, real-time inventory visibility is likely a top priority. For instance, inventory management is critical in the construction industry due to the complexity, cost and coordination required across multiple job sites, materials and timelines.
By using an ERP accounting software platform like Sage Intacct Construction, your organization can effectively manage inventory and project costs. Unlike traditional systems, Sage Intacct Construction will allow your organization to manage inventory based on last month’s sales data.
Manage Complex Regulatory Compliance With Sage
Real-time financial visibility plays a critical role in ensuring compliance across industries, particularly in sectors with complex regulatory requirements, like the nonprofit, healthcare and construction industries.
Sage Intacct can provide:
- Automated Audit Trails
- Role-based Access Controls
- Instant Drill-down Capabilities
These features help with the traceability of transactions. Additionally, real-time financial visibility allows organizations to detect early issues of anomalies and fraud, which is crucial for identifying unauthorized transactions and preventing fraud.
Compliance often requires coordination between finance, human resources, legal and operations. Sage solutions provide synchronized data from all departments, reducing the risk of discrepancies and enabling unified reporting.
Benefits to Sales Teams and Operations Leaders
Real-time financial visibility and financial reporting automation creates positive ripple effects throughout your organization. When everyone has access to current financial information relevant to their role, decision-making quality improves across the board.
For instance, sales teams with visibility into customer profitability can focus their efforts on high-value accounts and identify cross-selling opportunities that improve margins.
Operations leaders can immediately see how process changes impact financial outcomes rather than waiting for month-end reports. This creates a faster learning cycle and encourages innovation since the results of experimental improvements become visible immediately.
Executive teams gain the confidence that comes from making decisions with complete information. They can evaluate opportunities with full awareness of their current financial position, adjust initiatives based on immediate performance feedback and identify underperforming areas before they significantly impact results.
The Value of Threshold-driven Alerts
While most businesses focus on the reporting capabilities of financial systems, there's an instrumental feature in Sage that often goes underutilized: threshold-driven alerts. These proactive notifications can transform how you manage finances by alerting you to significant developments before you even think to look for them.
You can set the system to notify the appropriate manager when:
- A key customer's payments start slowing down
- Project costs exceed a certain percentage of budget
- Inventory of critical items falls below a specified level
These alerts shift your team from reactive to proactive mode, allowing you to address issues before they become problems.
Your Next Move: Implementation
Implementing real-time financial visibility doesn't require a disruptive approach. The most successful organizations follow a phased implementation that delivers immediate value while building toward comprehensive transformation.
Cherry Bekaert’s professionals will work with you to identify your most critical visibility gaps and determine where better financial information would have the biggest impact on your business. For many organizations, this involves cash flow management, project profitability or product line performance.
Our team brings decades of experience implementing Sage solutions for organizations like yours. We understand the challenges you face and have developed proven approaches to overcome them. Contact us today to get started on your transformational journey.
