Month-end reporting: Mike Ashwell offers his guide to making the process more efficient.
| Author | Ashwell, Mike |
| Position | Technical matters |
How often are you asked by local or group management teams to streamline your month-end reporting to give them faster and more accurate results? A further idea of the importance of this topic can be gained by a glance through the latest job adverts for finance staff, where phrases such as "reduce month-end reporting timetable" and "simplify reporting processes" abound.
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Let's consider how to tackle such a task using teamwork and proprietary software. As with any project, this activity needs to be approached carefully and the requirements must be defined clearly. The key questions to consider are as follows:
* What is the goal of the reporting process? Is it auditable accounts or "quick and dirty" management information? Or is it something in between?
* What are the cut-off rules--midnight on the last day? How much preparatory data can be captured before the close?
* If the requirement has arisen by comparison with other divisions in the group, is the comparison fair? What cut-offs and levels of accuracy do the other groups apply?
* Who is the project sponsor? Can he or she influence managers of non-finance groups who have a key role in the process?
It is vital that all the key people are involved in the review process. It's too easy to restrict the scope to finance staff, but representatives of many more groups will be required, including sales, purchasing, production and shipping. A crucial initial question, to be included in the meeting request sent to all attendees at the first event, is: "Do you think the invitation includes all the key people?" Any reported omissions should be investigated and quickly resolved.
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It's also vital that those participating in the project are made fully aware of its goals, and that the exercise is not seen as a ploy to cut staff. A non-threatening environment should be created where the participants are encouraged to share their concerns. This openness should extend to the details of workloads and timings during the reporting process. The results of the exercise will be distorted if people feel they cannot admit to any "waiting time" during the closure or to the fact that they have to take work home on particularly busy days.
It may also be useful to appoint a facilitator to aid the discussions and also to record the results. A member of staff with a project management background would be particularly helpful here. They could provide an independent view and pose...
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