Transforming the reporting process for success

Organisations’ financial reports need to be able to withstand critical observation from stakeholders. The data within these reports must be consistent and trustworthy. This is crucial in both financial and ESG reporting – increasingly intertwined given the European Commission’s proposals for a Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). Here, the integrity of both financial and non-financial data included in reports is critical given it impacts the value, perception of, and trust in a business.

Yet achieving consistent, trustworthy reporting can be a challenge. Changing reporting requirements require data from multiple departments within an organisation. Involving a wider group of disparate teams – from HR and operations through to legal, risk and compliance – inevitably brings strain and increases the risk of errors.

Despite these challenges, there are practical steps companies can take to achieve more efficient, transparent reporting.

Build out one dynamic, central report listing

Reports are worked on by various teams who save them to different locations around the business, depending on what is most convenient to them. This process doesn’t lend itself to consistent reporting, and makes life difficult for financial teams who need to know where to locate reports. One way to maintain consistency is to create a single dynamic, central report listing which offers easy access to the various reports underway at any time. This central report listing becomes a collaborative spreadsheet that includes metadata like data sources, timing, contributors’ deliverables and file locations.

Long standing team members with years of experience at the company will likely know the ins and outs of every financial reporting process conducted each month, quarter, year and so on. When building out this report listing spreadsheet, they should input direct links to examples of these processes, i.e., the reports created with each type of reporting process undertaken.

Having a single core listing within a centralised cloud platform linking to all reports is a great way to have up-to-date transparency into the location of these reports. This is particularly helpful for obtaining business insights quickly in response to customer queries.

It is one simple step to streamline the process of turning around an overview of all a business’ ongoing reports quickly for ad-hoc requests while providing clear project oversight.

Move to the cloud and automate processes

Version control can be a challenge when collecting data from various departments and updating many different reports. This increases the likelihood of errors, the need for report corrections and creates trust issues with the data being put forward. Transparent streamlined reporting allows teams to work with one single version of the truth.

To meet both current and future reporting mandates, financial teams should be aiming to establish a single source of truth for all financial and non-financial information. Automation plays a key role here. Moving to the cloud and integrating automation means teams can ensure that when a data point is updated once, it is updated in every relevant report for consistency. For example, after locating a file that needs to be copied into multiple reports, the file should be linked so that when updated in one, the update is replicated across all reports.

Combining process integration in the cloud with automation is vital, but does require teams to pinpoint where data crosses over reports in the first place.

Work together to identify the best approach

Setting up integration processes and enabling real-time collaboration may require financial teams to collaborate with their colleagues in IT, as they will have more experience here.

Every business will have its own unique reporting requirements. By working closely together, financial teams can gain insights into the best ways to approach bringing data into a centralised system, automating processes, and ensuring everything is correctly tracked and linked. Once all the work can take place across integrated processes and within one central location, the various teams involved in reporting can start to collaborate in the same workspace in real-time and ensure better data consistency.

Ultimately, by collaborating with IT, financial teams can develop a more effective data integration approach that provides the best security posture and works best for the business.

Meet the reporting requirements of today and tomorrow

Any reporting roadmap needs look to the future. In particular, it should consider the new regulations and mandates which will continue to come into force. Planning ahead requires a roadmap to be adaptable and offer more than just one route to success.

Financial teams can begin with a small roadmap exercise. Once the trust and buyin from other teams involved in reporting is secured, this can be expanded into a longer-term, more flexible roadmap to guide them on transforming future processes to continue achieving consistent, trustworthy reporting. ‘now’, but also future-proofing reporting processes in anticipation of future expectations.

Short-term pain, long-term gain

Solving the common challenges within financial reporting is not an immediate task. However, taking gradual steps to address them will result in long-lasting solutions. Over time, businesses can create streamlined processes which not only make reporting more efficient but set them up for success as the regulatory landscape around reporting continues to evolve.

The time spent preparing both people and process will deliver strong returns, ensure efficiency and make the best use of technology investments. It will lead to fewer errors, greater employee satisfaction, improved transparency, and will drastically shorten the reporting cycle.

Now is the time to ensure that you have the tools and structures you need to report data that can be trusted. This will be critical to a business’ success, as investors, consumers, and stakeholders continue to demand greater transparency and trust in reporting.

Andromeda Wood, Vice President of Regulatory Strategy, Workiva