A fresh approach to accelerating the Financial Close

A fresh approach to accelerating the Financial Close

What does the Cloud CFO solution provide? For group finance facing the chore of a slow manual consolidation process using spreadsheets, Cloud CFO offers a novel and powerful solution that will: Accelerate the financial close Significantly reduce cost Eliminate reliance on software vendors Allow control to remain within the Finance team Cloud CFO automates the integration of financial data from multiple entities to create a unified, consolidated set of management or statutory accounts for group finance. Cloud CFO provides a dynamic comparison of current, historical, forecast and budget financials, giving management an overall view of the financial performance and positioning of the group. Why is it different? Cloud CFO is based on ground-breaking R&D work funded by the UK Government s investment in SMART technologies. Cloud CFO technology is currently in use by leading banks and retailers. At first glance, the solution looks and feels exactly like working with a set of normal spreadsheets; however each of these spreadsheets is enhanced by a connection to the secure Cloud CFO Server. As each member of the finance team changes data in their local spreadsheet, updates are synchronised in the Cloud so that every other member in the team sees the same up to date single version of the truth. Cloud CFO customers tell us that the most important benefit they find is that they can now combine their years of expertise with the flexibility of their own spreadsheets to build a perfectly customised model for their unique needs. Other immediate tangible benefits: Cloud CFO automates a previously manual process so that finance can focus on more valuable tasks Consolidation is complete in minutes rather than days Comprehensive auditing is inbuilt so that the financial information is reliable and accurate Technical requirements Microsoft Excel 2007 or later, no special software is required. What does it cost? Cloud CFO is available as a monthly OPEX fee per user. The fee covers comprehensive expert support and service. 2

Cloud CFO in action In group accounting processes, an entity (a division or subsidiary) may exist in any worldwide location, but will need to submit financial data to the group finance at regular intervals. Cloud CFO provides a cloud server that each entity connects to via a simple spreadsheet interface. The cloud server is fed all of the data from the entities. It then translates the various local formats to a group chart of accounts whilst simultaneously managing consolidation entries such as elimination entities and other custom adjustments. All of the data is available for group finance to view immediately upon submission to the server i.e. they are able to see a real-time consolidated position of the group, thus enabling management to make reliable, effective and informed decisions. The cloud server consolidates data in real time Entities send raw data to the cloud server; receive back management accounts Group finance has an overall view of all entity data with a full audit trail of all transactions leading to the consolidated accounts 3

User Functionality The benefit of the Cloud CFO approach is that the finance team can take immediate control of modifying the fine details of the financial consolidation process and associated adjustments, e.g. defining currency conversion logic. All of these functions can be constructed using familiar spreadsheet logic, but now Cloud CFO has the added functionality of ensuring these formulae and rules are executed correctly as well as supported by a full audit history securely stored in the cloud server. Cloud CFO has three broad functions for the different roles in the finance team; administration, entity and group finance. Administration The administration role will typically be assigned to head office personnel i.e. the assigned individual(s) in control of the financial consolidation process. This function allows the user to set up the group structural hierarchy, map trial balances to group format, define report layout, set up users etc. It also allows companies to be added or removed as the group structure changes. Entity The entity function is typically assigned to the financial controller or equivalent at each entity and enables the user to submit their data to group in local format for consolidation. This includes but is not limited to trial balance, budget, cash flow and forecast inputs. The entity can then retrieve this information via a report(s) functionality. The reports are available in submitted local format and translated group format. Group Finance The head office/group finance function allows the user(s) to review and amend all submitted data. Consolidation entries are processed at this level where applicable e.g. currency conversions and intercompany eliminations. Audit Trail Every change submitted to the Cloud CFO server is logged, whether this involves accounts or administrative data. Available audit reports include: Exception reports - e.g. which entity has/has not submitted data User postings - to allow a review of who has done what and when Bespoke reports - Every change in the database is recorded in the Cloud so reports can be written and generated to meet any group needs 4

The User Experience The user view is a simple looking spreadsheet template connected to the cloud server and enhanced by an additional Cloud CFO Toolbar (Diagram A). Login/Logout Allows the user to securely connect to and disconnect from the cloud server. Each user has their own ID and password. Access rights are allocated by the group finance team at the set up phase and at any time subsequently. Sync Sends all current changes in the data to the Cloud CFO Server and simultaneously retrieves the latest group finance updates. Undo Discards all of the changes made by the user since the last Sync was carried out. Validate Examine every item of data prior to sending it to the server ensuring that it is correct and conforms to the business rules set by the group team. More Opens a toolbox with more advanced features e.g. uploading trial balance data and refreshing reports. Diagram A: Cloud CFO Toolbar The user experience is further enhanced by a right click menu and user ribbon which allows the individual to easily navigate the actions that have been assigned to them. Diagram B is an example of the entity submitting their trial balance data to group for consolidation. Diagram B: Right click menu and User Ribbon 5

Administration The administration user has the ability to: Enter the group organisation structure and reporting hierarchy Diagram C Define users, their roles and what aspects of the system they can see and interact with Define the mappings from the entity chart of accounts to group format Diagram D Define the format of reports, e.g. profit and loss account Diagram E Define the business rules used to ensure data quality Diagram E Manage the audit trail system Diagram C: Group organisation structure Mapping entity to group Cloud CFO is able to use the international standard ixbrl to map entity accounts to the group format chart of accounts. Tagged accounts are produced as a by-product of the process thereby providing companies with compliant statutory accounts that meet Companies House and HMRC requirements. Mapping is entirely user-defined and simplified by the spreadsheet interface. The complexity of ixbrl is hidden whilst its benefits are leveraged. Here, a list of Group Accounts in column I is mapped to Local Entity Accounts in column J with Column L enabling the addition of XBRL. Diagram D: 6

Administration (continued) Defining report format Diagram E displays the necessary inputs for the formatting and business rules of the profit and loss account. Editing this sheet will change the layout and content of the report to meet group requirements. The business rules The business rules refer to spreadsheet columns by name rather than column letter. The column name is contained between # symbols. This means the rules are tolerant to columns changing position, Cloud CFO understands when you change column names and repairs the links. Diagram E: Report formatting and business rules Changes made are stored in the server and shared with each user the next time they press Sync. Column I - Report sheet name Column J - Hierarchical structure of the accounts Column K - Heading name for the P&L sheet Column L - The category (type) for the heading Column M - The business rule(s) 7

Entity The entity user has the ability to: Submit trial balance data Diagram F Submit forecast/budgetary data If access rights are given: Input/amend consolidation adjustments Run financial reports Run audit reports The user will be able to see only the functions and data that group designate to them. Once mapping is complete, the template is set up to understand the local accounting data formats and extract the information that is relevant for group reporting. Submission of data For management accounts reporting the data submitted will typically be in trial balance format. This will be exported from the local finance software, e.g. Sage into a CSV file. Other data may include budget, forecast and cash flow information and will be dependent on group reporting requirements. Diagram F: Trial balance submission 8

Group The group finance function supports cash-flow, budgeting and forecasting at entity and group level. A group user has the ability to: View the trial balances from all of the entities in both their original format (e.g. in USD) as they were exported from the local accounting system and in group format (post currency conversions) Produce/run financial statements and other reports at entity and consolidated level Perform administration tasks Input and amend consolidation adjustments Once all entities have uploaded their data and the consolidation adjustments have been posted, group users are able to see an accurate, real time group position. Reports Standard available reports include a profit and loss account Diagram G, balance sheet and cash-flow statement. The reports can be run on historical, current, budget or forecast data and are built to your design at the set-up phase. Bespoke reports can be built when required. Any data entered at entity level can be compiled at group level. For example, this could include KPIs such as number of units sold. Group may wish to apply sophisticated spreadsheet logic that is unique to their own organisation, Cloud CFO provides rich support for this. Diagram G: Profit and loss account report 9

Summary Driven by the expressed wishes of our customers, Synapse has built Cloud CFO to be an entirely different approach to solving some of the well understood problems associated with the financial close; explicitly, Cloud CFO solves the problem of automating the consolidation of entity financial data to produce group management reporting and statutory financial statements. The difference in our approach stems from the fact that countless customers have expressed their dissatisfaction with the traditional solutions that are made available to them, i.e. buying inflexible software and then having to change their business processes to fit the software. These customers then explain that they have reverted to using spreadsheets to regain the fine control they need to manage the close, even though they are fully aware of the immense inefficiencies involved in that approach. Through novel research and development, Synapse has taken the basic spreadsheet and connected it to a special cloud server such that it becomes capable of matching or exceeding the capability of any rigid traditional software package. The finance team are able to concentrate on using the very familiar spreadsheet interface to customise whatever adjustments or business rules they require, confident now in the knowledge that the server will deliver all of the much needed security, audit and data quality that had been missing previously. Next steps Synapse makes Cloud CFO available as a completely supported rental service, i.e. once your spreadsheet templates are configured to your requirements, our expert software engineers and finance team will ensure the system works as planned going forwards. We would be pleased to demonstrate the Cloud CFO system to you and explain how it can be easily configured to your very precise needs. We provide proven expert consultancy, project management and business analysis expertise. We work closely with your teams to ensure all requirements are met, all improvement opportunities are identified and a great working relationship is forged. If you would like to know more about Synapse and how we can improve your spreadsheet experience, get in touch: 0121 250 5675 www.synapseinformation.com info@synapseinformation.com About Synapse Synapse was founded in 2012 by a British team of highly experienced Silicon Valley veterans with extensive experience in sophisticated data management solutions. Our solution has been built in collaboration with a Government R&D investment in SMART technologies. Located at the Innovation Birmingham Campus, Synapse is at the heart of the technological innovation hub of the Midlands. Synapse customers include a global Swedish retailer and a leading UK Bank.