Year-end financial close comes with a mountain of paperwork, strict deadlines, and pressure to deliver accurate financials on time. Accelerating this process is important for businesses to stay competitive in their respective industries.

An Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) strategy and software can streamline and speed up the year-end close. Implementing these strategies helps organisations manage financial data more efficiently, ensuring accuracy and compliance.

In this blog, we will discuss 9 effective EPM strategies that can greatly accelerate the completion of your year-end financial close, making the process smoother and more efficient.

How Can EPM Strategies Accelerate Year-End Financial Close Process?

Implementing a Structured Plan

Financial performance management software aids in implementing a structured plan by developing a detailed project plan, setting clear deadlines, and assigning responsibilities to team members. EPM tools streamline the planning process, ensuring all tasks are well-organized and tracked.

They provide a centralised platform for setting milestones and monitoring progress, ensuring timely completion. By assigning specific roles and responsibilities, EPM ensures accountability and clarity, enhancing team collaboration and efficiency in achieving project goals.

Leveraging Automation

Leading EPM Applications utilises EPM automation, which is a powerful feature that enables organisations to automate repetitive tasks and reduce the requirement for manual intervention. These tools can streamlines data integration, validation, and reporting, significantly cutting down the time required for financial close activities.

By automating these processes, there is greater accuracy and consistency, allowing finance teams to focus on more strategic tasks, thereby enhancing overall efficiency for the year-end close.

Streamlining Processes

Leading EPM applications streamlines the year-end close processes by providing a unified platform or a framework that provides technical and functional components shared among Cloud EPM processes for financial management. It enhances data accuracy through integrated data collection and validation, reducing errors and discrepancies.

The real-time reporting capabilities that these EPM systems offer, allow for immediate insights and adjustments, ensuring that financial information is always up to date. As discussed above, the automation feature enables efficient management of approvals and tasks. This minimises delays, supports compliance, and maintains consistent documentation that streamlines the process.

Enhancing Communication

The implementation of EPM systems improves communication by centralising data and ensures everyone has transparency and access to the same real-time information, aligning budget forecasts with strategic goals.

Enhanced communication facilitates quicker decision-making and reduces misunderstandings, crucial during the year-end close. By streamlining information flow and fostering collaboration, EPM systems accelerates the closing process, ensuring accuracy and efficiency while keeping all parties informed and aligned with organisational objectives.

Prioritising Data Quality

Leading EPM systems employs advanced data management features to detect and correct inconsistencies while maintaining high accuracy. By integrating data from various sources into a single platform, EPM systems eliminates differences and redundancies. This data integrity accelerates the year-end closing process, as reliable, error-free data reduces the need for time-consuming corrections and verifications, enabling faster and more efficient financial reporting.

Implementing Continuous Improvement

Implementing EPM systems ensures continuous improvement through its support framework. By fostering a culture of ongoing enhancement, EPM vendors can identify process inefficiencies and EPM partners can implements best practices. EPM vendors leverages analytics and feedback to refine financial procedures continually. Continuous improvement ensures that the financial close process evolves, becoming faster and more efficient with each cycle.

Adopting Real-Time Reporting

Enterprise performance management software provides real-time reporting by offering access to up-to-date data and visual dashboards. These tools allow leaders to monitor performance metrics continuously, ensuring they are always informed about the latest financial standings. The real-time visibility helps quickly identify any issues or differences, enabling prompt corrective actions. This proactive approach minimises delays and errors in the year-end closing process.

Advanced Analytics for Predictive Insights

Incorporating advanced analytics within EPM into the year-end closing process offers significant advantages. By utilising predictive insights, finance teams can anticipate potential issues and trends before they become problematic.

This feature analyses historical data and current financial trends to forecast future outcomes, allowing for more informed decision-making. This proactive approach helps identify discrepancies early, reduces the risk of errors, and ensures precise financial reports.

The predictive analytics feature also streamlines resource allocation by highlighting areas that may require additional attention or resources, optimising the workload distribution. This ensures that the finance team can focus on critical tasks, improving overall efficiency.

Advanced analytics provide real-time data visualisation, offering a clear and comprehensive view of financial health. This transparency aids in faster reconciliation and reporting, accelerating the year-end close process.

Training and Development

Comprehensive training ensures that all team members are proficient in using EPM systems and financial performance management software, maximising their efficiency. Encouraging professional development in financial close practices keeps the team updated on best practices and new methodologies. Building a competent and agile finance team through continuous training and development allows for quicker adaptation to changes and enhances overall performance.

Conclusion

Implementing EPM strategies is important in the current business landscape. It not only accelerates the year-end financial close but also ensures accuracy and facilitates decision-making.

Partnering with Futuresense offers tailored EPM solutions that make complex financial management efficient and reporting faster. Our professional consultants provide trusted solutions and accurate insights, helping you manage uncertainty and meet financial objectives.

Contact us today to know how we can support your financial goals.

FAQS

How does Oracle and OneStream EPM facilitate data integration for budgeting and planning?
Oracle Enterprise Performance Management and OneStream Enterprise Performance Management facilitate data integration by consolidating financial and operational data from various sources into a single platform or framework. This integration ensures consistent, accurate data for budgeting and planning, enhancing decision-making and streamlining the financial planning process.

How does EPM systems support advanced forecasting and scenario analysis?
EPM systems supports advanced forecasting and scenario analysis through strong analytical tools and predictive modelling capabilities. These features allow users to create multiple financial scenarios, analyse potential outcomes, and make data-driven decisions, enhancing strategic planning and risk management.

How does EPM Finance systems improve financial reporting and analysis?
EPM Finance systems improves financial reporting and analysis by providing real-time data access, automated reporting features, and comprehensive dashboards. These tools enhance data accuracy, streamline reporting processes, and offer deep insights into financial performance, enabling more informed decision-making and strategic planning.