Financial Consolidation Software (What is the Best Choice in 2022?)

September 29, 2022

Financial Consolidation Software (What is the Best Choice in 2022?)

Financial consolidation is an important process, but it can also be confusing, time-consuming, and stressful. Fortunately, there are many software solutions that can help simplify the process. But how do you choose the right financial consolidation software for your business?

This article will explain what financial consolidation software is, why you need it, and how to choose the best financial consolidation software solution for your company.

What is Financial Consolidation?

Financial consolidation is the process of compiling financial data from various sources (e.g. payable, receivable, fixed assets, bank accounts, etc.) into one central system. The goal is to create a single source of truth by combining various accounting data points into a single report or spreadsheet.

Financial consolidation can be manual or automated. Manual financial consolidation can be time-consuming, error-prone, and inefficient. It can also be a challenge to track changes and manage multiple versions of the same report. Automated financial consolidation, on the other hand, enables you to consolidate financial data from multiple systems into one platform.

Why Do Companies Need to Consolidate Financial Statements?

Companies need to consolidate their financial statements because they want to make sure that their books are accurate and that they can be audited. The reason for this is simple: if a company has multiple subsidiaries or departments, it's hard to keep track of how much money each one makes and spends, especially when they might have different accounting standards. This could lead to discrepancies between the figures reported in the books and what actually happened in the real world.

But if you consolidate your financial statements, then all of these different entities become just one big number—and this is much easier for an auditor or investor to understand. It also helps you make better decisions about where your business should focus its resources (e.g., should we invest more in marketing? Should we open another location?).

The Benefits of Financial Consolidation

Financial consolidation can be a great tool for helping you make better decisions about your business. By consolidating your financial statements, you can get a clearer picture of the health of your company, its performance in the past year, and what it may look like in the future.

This is especially important if you are starting or running a business that has multiple locations or is involved in a merger or acquisition. Consolidating financial statements will give you a clear picture of how all those parts fit together and whether they're working together to achieve their goals.

Here are some other benefits of consolidating financial statements:

·  You'll have an accurate view of your financial situation at any given time

·  You'll be able to see trends over time

·  You'll be able to compare performance against benchmarks

·  You'll know when something needs fixing or adjusting

What is Financial Consolidation Software?

Financial consolidation software is a solution that integrates with your existing systems to enable on-demand financial consolidation and data management. Financial consolidation software can help you automate and standardize your financial-close process, minimize errors, and save time.

The software typically includes prebuilt and configurable templates, a dashboard that enables you to track and manage your data, and advanced analytics for more accurate reporting. It is typically used to consolidate data from ERP systems, accounting systems, and other data sources into a central database.

Why Do You Need Financial Consolidation Software?

A financial consolidation software solution can help you automate and standardize your financial-close process to reduce errors, save time and improve accuracy in your financial reporting. Depending on your business type and the size of your organization, the financial close process can take up to two months (and sometimes even longer).

It is important to understand that the data being reported in the financial close process is crucial for financial analysis, investment decisions, and regulatory compliance. Errors in your data, or the lack of timely and accurate financial reporting, can have serious consequences, such as rejected financing, reduced earnings, and reputational damage. Financial consolidation software can expedite this process and remove most of the stress from this challenging process.

What Features Should You Look for When Choosing a Financial Consolidation Software?

When choosing a financial consolidation software solution, it is important to understand the key features and functionality that will meet your needs. It is also important to ensure that the financial consolidation software is compatible with your existing systems.

You should look for software that can help you automate your financial close process, standardize your data and improve your reporting accuracy. The software should also provide centralized control and management over the financial close process and enable you to meet regulatory compliance standards. Additionally, the software should provide a user-friendly interface and offer robust reporting capabilities.

With thousands of financial consolidation software solutions available on the market, it can be challenging to choose the right one for your organization. To select the best financial consolidation software for your business, you will need to take into account several key factors, such as technical compatibility, scalability, security, functionality, and price.

How to Choose the Right Financial Consolidation Software?

As mentioned, there are literally thousands of different financial consolidation tools and software products on the market. As such, it can be overwhelming and difficult to select the right one for your needs. Therefore, to help you choose the best financial consolidation software for your business, we have created a list of key criteria to consider when shopping around.

1. Technical Compatibility: You should make sure that the financial consolidation software solution is compatible with your existing systems.

2. Scalability: The financial consolidation software’s scalability is another important factor to consider, you should make sure that the solution is able to grow with your business.

3. Security: The financial consolidation software solution should be equipped with robust security features to protect your data against cyber threats.

4. Functionality: The software should meet your organization’s needs, including the ability to manage multiple versions of the same report.

5. Price: The financial consolidation software solution’s price is also an important factor to consider.

By considering the above-mentioned factors, you'll be able to select a viable financial consolidation product that enables you to meet the needs of your business and investors while ensuring that your financial data is up-to-date, easily accessible, and secure.

Recommended Financial Consolidation Software

To make an informed decision, you should read various financial consolidation software reviews and comparisons. However, as there are so many options on the market, this can be a very time-consuming task. Therefore, we have done most of the homework for you.

As such, we can recommend that you check out the following list of financial consolidation tools, so that you can choose the right financial statement consolidation software for your needs.

The Top Finance Consolidation Tools in 2022

Workday Adaptive Planning

Workday Adaptive Planning is a great overall financial tool that allows you to perform financial consolidation quickly and easily. The platform features a number of great tools that enable accounting teams to reconcile different financial reports, and it also boasts some fantastic additional features designed to make financial planning quick and convenient.

Some of the best features of Workday Adaptive Planning include:

·  Budgeting and Forecasting

·  Analytics and Reporting

·  Workforce Capacity Planning

·  Quota Planning

·  Sales Capacity and Headcount

·  Marketing Planning Tools

Workday allows new users to try a demo of the product before committing to a plan, and also offers several other financial tools, making it a great choice for companies looking to dive deep into financial metrics, generate insightful data and statistics, and of course, consolidate their financial statements.

Planful

Planful is another good option for companies that need to consolidate their financial reports online.

Planful is known as being one of the best accounting tools for businesses that need to automate their financial reporting and features a number of good tools that any accountant will find helpful, such as financial data visualization tools, budgeting templates, financial-close management assistance, and more.

Some of the best features of Planful include:

·  Scenario Analysis

·  Budgeting and Forecasting Tools

·  In-Depth Financial Reporting


·  Data Visualization

·  Rolling Forecasts

·  Financial Close Management

Planful doesn’t offer a free demo on their website, but they have countless videos and resources demonstrating each of the software’s features so that you can see how each function works and how you can use the system to make your financial consolidation, reporting, analysis, and forecasting processes easier and more efficient.

Board

Board is one of the best financial consolidation software platforms on the market in 2022 and is used by more than 2000 leading companies for their financial planning and financial consolidation needs. It is an all-in-one suite of tools that enables companies to take charge of their FP&A, financial consolidation, Power-Bi data analytics, and more.

Some of the best features of Board include:

·  Budgeting, Planning, and Forecasting Tools

·  Profitability Analysis

·  Performance Management and Analytics

·  Statutory Reporting

·  Disclosure Management Automation

·  Financial Closing Tools

·  Management Reporting

Board has many features to unpack and requires a bit of a learning curve, but once new users learn the interface it has most of the financial reporting and financial consolidation tools needed to generate and forecast accurate reports and consolidate your finances quickly and easily. Prospective users can request a demo on the website.

Quick Consols

QuickConsols is primarily a financial reporting platform which means that it doesn’t have some of the bells and whistles that you’ll find with the other solutions on this list.

But that also means that it does financial reporting, financial consolidation, and financial forecasting better than some of the other platforms as well. Best of all, the platform automates almost everything, so that you can generate and consolidate financial statements quickly and accurately.

Some of the best features of QuickConsols include:


·  Complex Structures Reporting

·  Automated Financial Consolidation

·  Visual Data Analysis Tools

·  Monthly Management Reports

·  Single and Multiple Entity Management

If already have a financial reporting and accounting solution and you are simply looking for a platform that can tackle financial consolidation, then your best bet will almost certainly be QuickConsuls.

The platform was made specifically for consolidating financial statements and it automates most of the process for you. Prospective users can sign up for a free demo by visiting the QuickConsols website.

Conclusion

Financial consolidation software solutions can help you automate and standardize your financial-close process, improve accuracy in your financial reporting and meet regulatory compliance standards. When choosing a financial consolidation software solution, it is important to consider the software’s scalability, security, and functionality.

You should also make sure that the software is compatible with your existing systems. Choosing the right financial consolidation software solution will help you improve your company’s financial reporting.

Recommendation

Regardless of which financial consolidation software you choose, you will still need a solution that can help you simplify and automate your day-to-day financial accounting processes. In this regard, there is only one solution we can recommend. LiveFlow is the premier small business accounting platform for managing daily accounting tasks with ease.

LiveFlow features helpful templates and numerous tools to help you increase your efficiency and productivity, such as the new Live Budget vs Actuals tool. Best of all, you can explore all of LiveFlow’s fantastic features for free with a 30-minute demo. So, if you are ready to simplify your financial accounting workflow, then be sure to check out LiveFlow today.

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