Financial Flows The ‘Big Picture’ ID#114 Presented by: Strategic Systems Group, Inc

Financial Flows The ‘Big Picture’

ID#114

Presented by:

Strategic Systems Group, Inc.

7-May-2008 Strategic Systems Group, Inc.

“The Black Hole”

Baan is great at collecting data Okay at getting data out So-so on useable financial information


“The Data Map”

Where did the data come from? How did it flow to the financials? Who needs the information? How do you get this information


Types of DataOperations General Ledger • Accounts Payable • Accounts Receivable• Commissions• Cycle Counts and Adjustments• Item Valuation and Re-valuation• Purchase Variances• Sales Margins . . . Sales and COGS• Warranty, RMA • WIP


The Power of Your Data

FINANCE OPERATIONS

DATA

FINANCE SALES LOGISTICS MANUFACTURING

CRMQUALITY

Product Quality

Customer

Responsiv

eness Rece

ivables

Collecti

ons

Cycle Tim

e

Reduction

Warranty


Strategic Goals. . . go beyond Finance

• Cut Costs

• Reduce Cycle Time

• Improve Customer Relations

• Reduce Accounts Receivable DSO

• Consolidate Purchasing Power


"You cannot control what you cannot measure"

Tom DeMarcoAuthor, Consultant, Expert Witness


Metrics

What data are you measuring?

• Financial data

• Operational data

• Third-party data


Minimize the Black Hole syndrome Start at the END !

• What information do you need?– Monthly– Quarterly– On-demand

• Where does the data come from?

• What’s missing from current reporting?

• How do you get the information?


Financial Flows . . . The Big Picture

Financial Data

MetricsS

trat

egic

Goa

ls

Reporting

D A T A


Getting More out of your Data

• Do you receive usable Information or just Data? • Is your data warehouse geared toward the

business user?

• How does Logistical reporting support Finance?• Do you run Baan reports and manually create

new reports from this data?• Do you download data directly into Excel and

then make changes?


Dimension Reporting

• How well are dimensions used?• What data do you capture?• Who uses this information?• Does Logistics reporting support Financial data?


“Financial Flow”

Month-end Audits Reconciliations Transaction Validation Data / Transaction Analysis Beyond Financials Strategic & Operational Goals


What Audits Tell You

• Validate transaction flows

• Issues

• Trends

• Opportunities


Issues and Trends

• Can you identify opportunities?

• How do you find problems or unfavorable trends?

• When you find problems, how do you dig into the details?


Transaction Analysis

• Identify source of transaction

• Identify related data

• Do you have access to all data you need?

• Do you understand the flow of data from Logistics to Finance?


Troubleshooting Financial Transactions

• Review the error log

• Identify the transaction and its source

• Look at the integration mapping elements

• Update mapping

• Post transaction(s)


What Caused Problems?

• Mistakes

• Failure to follow established procedure

• Business process changes

• Training issues

• Improper interpretation of the data


End of Period Audits• Standard Audits

– Received Not Invoiced– Shipped Not Invoiced– Posting Inventory Transactions– Timing is Everything

• Other Audits– Bookings / Billings / Backlogs– Warranty– Margins


Transactions

Regular metrics reporting

– On-time Deliveries

– Production Material Variances

– Margin Analysis


Black Hole Solutions1. Leverage Logistics and Financial data

2. Look for opportunities in the data

3. Recruit your SMEs (Subject Matter Experts - internal resources that know the business processes, the data, the company, the goals)

4. Re-assess how well your organization is utilizing Baan ERP

5. Define/re-assess key metrics to improve reporting

6. Look for opportunities – utilize a SME with data analyst skills

7. Identify where energies and resources should be focused – what will bring the greatest return to the organization.

Let Baan ERP work for you!


Presented By

Strategic Systems Group, Inc. (SSG)

For details on the material presented today,

please contact us at

[email protected] (805) 493-0986

[email protected] (949) 678-9672

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Financial Flows The ‘Big Picture’ ID#114 Presented by: Strategic Systems Group, Inc