5 Things Your Employees Need (and Want) in a Cloud-Based Financial Solution

If your organization’s finance and accounting team members are clamoring for an up-to-date financial management solution, they’re eager for more than a new set of shiny tools to keep them busy. Thanks to the websites and apps they’re using outside of the office, they know that upgrading to best-in-class ERP software means transforming their entire approach to getting the job done.

Today’s cloud-based financial management solutions deliver exactly what employees need, want and have come to expect in business software. Let’s break this down into the five key areas that are most important to them.

On a high level, your employees need a better way to perform their tasks. Their existing workflows, which are likely tied to a legacy system and a number of workarounds to accommodate system limitations, are holding them back. They’re elbows-deep in spreadsheets and manual processes, moving between systems, spending valuable time waiting for data to sync and reports to run.

Employees can log into their modern ERP software and easily navigate to wherever they need to go—everything they need is at their fingertips in one centralized location. They can even customize their user dashboards to display key metrics and links to tools that are most relevant to their workflows. What’s more, with greater efficiency and accuracy, they’re able to focus on more strategic endeavors and take their productivity to the next level.

Part of what makes cloud-based finance software user-friendly is the fact that it’s built for anytime, anywhere access. It’s ideal for a mobile workforce—or anyone who needs to access data and tools from outside of the traditional office. Isn’t that every employee, at one point or another? Users can log in to their secure systems from any connected device and accomplish what they need to get done.

Another aspect of on-demand convenience is that modern ERP software can accommodate multiple companies, multiple currencies and multiple languages. This means that employees whose organizations operate in international markets can access data and tools for every part of their business, even localized functionality including automated reporting, consolidation, payments and cash management. In other words, employees are not logging into multiple systems or spending time translating or calculating data in order to stay on top of “what’s happening” around the globe.

Employees are most productive when everything they need is in one place—when there is a “single version of the truth.” Cloud-based ERP systems come standard with general ledger (e.g. AP, AR, cash management, tax management, fixed assets) functionality that can be easily integrated with other system modules, including distribution and inventory management, project accounting, and even CRM as the business grows and needs expand.

The advantage to employees is that they only need to enter transactions once—in only one application—and the information is automatically synced across the entire suite of applications and made available immediately, wherever it is needed. Not only does this save time, but it also ensures accuracy and enhances visibility into business activities and performance. Data is available for analyzing by any users, particularly decision-makers, who need real-time or historical insights across personalized dashboards or deep-dive financial reports.

Modern, cloud-based financial management systems provide a wide range of accounting functions to track daily financial operations and generate periodic financial statements. With tools for reporting, analysis, budgeting and planning, plus real-time alerts to remind users of critical tasks, employees can keep track of their workflows and stay on schedule—closing the books faster.

Cloud-based financial ERP systems are able to streamline operations so effectively because of automation: Data is collected, stored and made available for instant or scheduled processing, without the manual intervention your employees are probably used to.

In this day and age, employees know that there’s an easier, better way to manage data and processes, as they tap into streamlined consumer-grade interfaces every time they browse the internet, shop online or visit a social media channel. Modern ERP software is designed with this type of intuitive, user-centric experience in its DNA—and it’s what employees can’t wait to get their hands on when you move your financial management into the cloud.

This guest blog is part of a Channel Futures sponsorship.