Why Excel Budgets & Reports Don’t Cut It Anymore

Stale Data Is Out, Real-Time Financial Data Is In

With more and more sources of data at your fingertips, stale Excel reports really don’t cut it anymore. If you are using these as the only way you communicate information to the business managers you work with, it’s time to re-evaluate.

Years ago, real-time data was just for the big kids like Walmart and Google. Thankfully, technology has (finally!) caught up with the financial world. With easy integrations for tools like bill.com and Expensify, as soon as an expense is submitted by a contractor or employee, the data is categorized in your system and can be digested. This means three things:

  1. More information to help managers make decisions
  2. There is a lot more information out there to wrangle, so it’s easy to get overwhelmed
  3. Month-end reports, even if they come just days after the month closes, aren’t fast enough

This is a plea to accountants everywhere. Perfect data is OUT. I know you want your report to be flawless and 100% complete when it is submitted, but businesses need real-time data. They need to know where revenue stands during the month, or maybe even every morning and every night (like some of the managers who use AutoCFO), to track their growth plans and make sure they’re on target.

They know the data isn’t perfect, but they need what we have so far. There will be changes, there will be accruals and edits. The data will be good and right eventually, but the end of the month is often too late for managers to make key decisions.

Skip Spreadsheets for Real-Time, Live Data

So let’s get the managers and decision-makers what we have! There are tools (AutoCFO is obviously our favorite) where you can provide real-time, live data that pulls directly from the financial system. These tools give your business managers real-time data they can act on, without a minute more of work for the accounting and finance team. More data, happier managers, no extra time spent. Everyone wins! Stop living in the dark ages of the pre-real-time data world and go get yourself a piece of real-time reporting software! You’ll want to make sure that…
  1. You can use it to build a budget
  2. Dashboards/reports are easy to modify
  3. It is linked directly to your accounting software–no manual uploads/entry
  4. You can reorganize and consolidate your data to meet your needs

Why AutoCFO Is the Best Forecasting Tool Out There

  1. Our software is really simple and easy to use
  2. A financial manager built this software for financial managers to save you time, not create busy work
  3. Integration takes just minutes
  4. You can not only report historic information, but build a driver-based budget (in hours – not days!)

We recommend only using tools that make your data life better AND easier. Because, let’s be honest, Excel budget and reports just don’t cut it anymore.