How to Make the Financial Controller’s Job Easier with NetSuite

The Financial Controller

The role of the Financial Controller requires someone with a strong and experienced skillset as they balance the hands-on financial management of the company with decision-making at the highest level. They need to have the right numbers, improve financial and management reporting, streamline costs, and ensure that compliance is strictly maintained. Formulating valid financial statements for the year using the financial data and statements available to them is one of the most important aspects of the role – keeping the business within their budget which is vital for helping the company grow. However, no matter the skillset and experience that the Financial Controller has, without the correct tools they’re unlikely to always provide the correct answers.

What’s making the job difficult?

To formulate the financial statements, Financial Controllers depend on AR/AP, expense reports and others, which often can’t be fully trusted as they come from separate documents from different departments with no integration. This can have a negative impact on the integrity of the data as it is subject to human error while being manually duplicated, and thus dilutes the validity of the financial statement. Therefore, it’s in the interest of the Financial Controller – and many others, as this series of blog posts should illustrate – to have a single ERP system used company-wide as it guarantees data integrity to provide a sound financial statement. Also, in addition to the resource-heavy and error-prone process of manual data entry duplication, using multiple systems throughout departments can accumulate higher ongoing costs than a unified cloud-based ERP system such as Oracle NetSuite.

NetSuite for the Financial Controller.

NetSuite’s financial management solution accelerates your financial consolidation and close process tangibly, turning a job which potentially takes 3-4 weeks into one taking only 5–7 days, achieved by using a streamlined and integrated system with reliable data at your fingertips. This allows you to consolidate all of your financials from every location and cost centre, and also lets you perform budgeting and forecasting ‘what if’ analysis – which is crucial in today’s market environment.

In addition, NetSuite’s complete auto-trail capabilities provide unparalleled efficiency and accuracy for completing audits, reporting and meeting compliance. This is all possible as NetSuite is the leading cloud-based ERP system which gives you an organisation-wide version of the truth and gives you access to real-time data from anywhere as long as you have an internet connection.

NetSuite benefits the Financial Controller’s day-to-day managerial tasks too. The easily customisable role-based dashboards show whatever you wish, such as KPIs, and any items requiring immediate action are highlighted for quick access. For example, you can approve all open sales orders with one click. Also, you can look into global financials at headquarters and subsidiary level and even access details at the invoice level with the ability to view the currency interchangeably.

The last system you’ll ever need.

While this blog has discussed why NetSuite is a necessity for Financial Controllers, it’s vital to understand why this is the last ERP system the business should ever need. Here are just a few of the benefits:

• As a cloud-based system, NetSuite is suitable for businesses of any size and won’t be outgrown no matter how fast you grow or how complex your business becomes.
• The system updates automatically bi-annually to provide the latest functions without causing any downtime.
• All data is shown in real-time throughout the business, so those in decision making positions can make well informed decisions and each department can work in sync.
• NetSuite issues users with role-based functions so that they’re only able to access the data they need.
• Working with a NetSuite partner such as Eureka Solutions who have unrivalled integration expertise along with their Cloud Data Exchange tool, means your NetSuite system can be integrated with other key systems the business uses – for example Shopify for ecommerce, or EPOS Now for point of sale. This ensure real0time data accuracy across the business.

Ultimately, NetSuite empowers the Financial Controller by streamlining financial processes and pushing the team’s productivity further than before. By removing the various disparate systems scattered throughout the company and managing all functions from within one ERP system, the Financial Controller can trust the credibility of the data that they base their decisions on and excel in their role.

Eureka Solutions is a 5-star NetSuite Partner and was named NetSuite Partner with Outstanding Performance of the Year for the UK and Ireland earlier this year. They are also a leading Sage 200 Partner with one of the most technically proficient business solutions teams in the country, so are ideally placed to talk through your challenges with referenceable examples – contact Richard Christie, Business Systems Specialist, on 01355 581960 or richard.christie@eurekasolutions.co.uk.