By: Sage Intacct
Closing the books for many organizations is an exercise in stamina and endurance. For nearly 60%, the close process takes over a week, delaying access to reliable information vital to business direction. To better understand the close process and help you find ways to accelerate your time to actionable insights, we at Sage Intacct run an annual Close the Books Survey among finance and accounting professionals.
Having run these surveys for several years, we found interesting year-over-year trends of technology adoption. Relative to last year, 27% more respondents were inclined to move to the cloud, most likely driven by the pandemic. And indeed, the COVID-19 pandemic was a stress test for businesses and their processes, with those already in the cloud adapting more effortlessly to a remote close than those using on-premises systems.
Other notable trends emerged from the data indicating how your peers handle their closes as they grow. Cloud-enabled automation becomes a must for growing organizations. We see high rates of cloud financial management adoption and automation among large, complex businesses— and this brings them some of the shortest close timelines despite the complexities of their business. But these efficiencies aren’t specific only to large organizations.
Businesses of all sizes can save 36% of their time during the close when they move away from spreadsheets toward cloud financial management.
The past year has highlighted cloud financial management as an enabler of business continuity and strategy. We’re glad to share the findings of this survey along with actionable tips to accelerate the close, so you can become even better equipped to provide strategic guidance to your business.
For more information please contact:
Client Advisory Services Supervisor
Sage Intacct Certified Specialist
