Financial reporting is a process used to present, on a regular basis, all the accounting information that reveals how the company is performing in relation to the fulfillment of its economic forecasts and objectives.
Most companies handle a large number of reports, in which the financial evolution is reflected. These reports are usually reviewed periodically by the management, and in these reviews the most significant variations with respect to the established budget or in relation to previous years are commented on.
Generally in SMEs, the reporting work is focused on providing information to management or shareholders, but what information should the reporting contain? How often should it be carried out? Are there reviews to assess the possibility of incorporating or removing data and ratios from the reports? Do we remove data from the reports that are no longer necessary? Do we have leading indicators in these reports?
The first thing is to stop and think about what we want to analyze and with what periodicity. Depending on the importance of the data, the type of company and the sector in which we operate, we should establish and document the information we want to have on a daily, monthly, quarterly and annual basis.
Another aspect that we must take into account is the time we need to obtain the necessary information. In the case of data that is handled on a daily basis, it should be obtained instantaneously through the company’s information systems. Business Intelligence programs are a great help to provide data in real time.
At SCWUIMAC, we can help you analyze what information you need to manage and how often. Data is at the service of analysis and analysis is at the service of decision making. Can we help you?
