Posts Tagged accountants
Reconciliations: It Doesn’t Have to be This Way!
Posted by ryan.alford in Uncategorized on July 15, 2010
Check out InsightSoftware.com’s cartoon about JD Edwards reconciliations:
http://www.youtube.com/insightsoftware#p/a/u/0/RspO90mFy8w
Stay tuned for more in the series. Let us know what you think!
Reconciling the Accounts in JD Edwards Doesn’t Have to Suck!
Posted by ryan.alford in Uncategorized on July 12, 2010
A company’s financial prowess and compliance go hand-in-hand. Without proper insight and strategic oversight of the business, many of today’s top global companies are missing a large piece of the financial puzzle.
CFOs should maintain the perfect balance between strategy, planning, forecasting, budgeting, reporting, and analysis. This is more simplified (and cost-effective) by having an automated process for account reconciliation. Without a monitoring system in place, performance improvements will be limited.
In a research report called “How to improve reconciliation activities,” published by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, many “account reconciliation problems are preventable. Timing, is also frequently an issue: account reconciliations that are in arrears more than one month risk misstatement of the financial results. Depending on the level of risk, perform reconciliations daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly.”
Curious to know what to do about reconciliation problems in JD Edwards? Implement automation that recognizes reconciling items and streamlines the review process.
Read more: http://www.insightsoftware.com/docs/E-Book_-_Insight_Reconciler.pdf.
Do all signs point to an unorganized implementation of Order-to-Ship?
Posted by ryan.alford in Uncategorized on July 1, 2010
It’s not an easy job. An optimized Order-to-Ship business process offers continual progress towards improved cost control and delivery performance.
However, there might be a few challenges in the systems, including:
- Rework to correct data accuracy issues
- Late shipments and setbacks in delivery performance
- Increased customer complaints
- Time spent on complaint resolution
- Poor management of backorders
- Inefficient order processing and fulfillment
- Untimely invoicing
- Diminished cash flow and sales margins
In an Aberdeen Research study called “Working Capital Optimization: Increase Cash Flow in the New Economy,” author Nari Viswanathan said that “Best-in-Class companies are 30% as likely as all others to use cash conversion metrics as part of their supply chain organization metrics. Companies that embed cash conversion metrics into the set of supply chain metrics are twice as likely to have reduced their cash conversion cycle over the past year (45% versus 21%). Some of the key metrics that have been adopted as part of the process are: Sales forecast accuracy, on-time shipping, on-time delivery, inventory turns, logistics costs as a percentage of sales, and gross profit margin.”
Achieving an on-time shipping and delivery system is an industry standard met by few. Using JD Edwards can get you on your way, but will only take you so far.
To read more, click here.
Sox the Owl Appears on eBay!
Posted by ryan.alford in Uncategorized on June 17, 2010
When InsightSoftware.com was known as The GL Company, “Sox the Owl” was it
s mascot. Nowadays, Sox’s memory lingers in the form of fond trade show photographs and tchotchke giveaways.
Recently, one of those giveaways surprisingly appeared on eBay: http://bit.ly/9SK8hm. The auction describes the plush bean bag character as a “rare collectible” and “retired and no longer being manufactured.”
Sox is going for an opening bid of $7.99. Here’s our auction (or contest):
Do you have a “Sox the Owl” memory you’d like to share? Send your thoughts to marketing@insightsoftware.com.
All entrants will have a chance to win a Sox the Owl plush bean bag character – very rare and in great condition. “This cool looking owl would make a great addition to a collection!”
We’ll share your memories on this blog. Good luck!
JD Edwards Executive Luncheon in Greensboro, NC
Posted by ryan.alford in Uncategorized on June 9, 2010
Bring your appetite and join InsightSoftware.com and brij for a sumptuous meal and great networking on June 23, 11:30-1:30. You will see why InsightSoftware.com is quickly becoming the reporting tool of choice within the JD Edwards community.
With Insight you truly revolutionize operational reporting throughout your organization. Insight supplies solutions for functional areas such as: Finance, Human Capital, Supply Chain, Manufacturing and Project and Asset Management. Insight goes beyond mere reporting to drive productivity and profitability gains throughout your organization.
Leave with knowledge of the solutions that can help you optimize your business processes, all over lunch. We will treat you to lunch at the UNDERCURRENT restaurant . Click here to RSVP.
User Group meetings on the horizon:
Rocky Mountain User Group on June 10: http://bit.ly/diOd8T
JD Edwards Southeast Regional User Group in Atlanta, GA on June 17: http://bit.ly/9ewZJR
Eastern Canada Regional User Group on June 21 in Mississauga: http://bit.ly/9zCbOF
Forecast-to-Make: A Structurally Sound Process?
Posted by ryan.alford in Uncategorized on June 1, 2010
Do you experience materials shortages and capacity constraints? It’s vital to increase productivity and information accuracy by proactively ensuring that key managers and users can access accurate and timely information to make sound, in-the-moment decisions.
Running a world-class operation starts with the necessity for at least 99 percent accuracy of Item Master data. For many, this is easier said than done. However, with the correct tools the accuracy of Item Master records, Bills of Material, and Routings can be assured.
Once this initial foundation is secured, then focus turns to proactively optimizing scheduling to maximize available capacity and ensure availability of raw materials. Again, although JD Edwards stores meaningful information in these areas, many struggle to access real-time actionable information that enables optimized processing. Finally, having a full grasp of manufacturing cost variances and their drivers can make the difference in driving increasingly lower costs and fewer surprises.
With the correct tools you can unlock the rich data stored in JD Edwards to ensure the following: manufacturing tactics are aligned with the corporate strategy; forecasted demand matches market requirements; manufacturing processes are tuned to meet forecasted demand; and that ongoing reduction of cost and variances is possible.
To read more, click here.
Integrity check, rinse, repeat
Posted by ryan.alford in Rant on December 21, 2009
It’s the same scenario every month: Company accountants and finance advisors rush to organize and close their financial statements. What’s even more frustrating – within the mass scramble – is stopping to carefully examine the data after using the financial statement generator (FSG) via Oracle’s E-Business Suite. This scenario invites a myriad of problems; without properly authenticating the statements, it can inevitably introduce GL account balances to errors and inaccuracies. In turn, this wreaks havoc on reporting features and further degrades their credibility.
So, a question to ask: If the validity of the FSG data is questioned, how will this affect the future integrity of the reporting? Like mothers conveniently say, “Always wear clean underwear!”
Oracle’s FSG solution isn’t new and many use it on a daily basis. What many users don’t understand is the likelihood of significant data decay within the statements – specifically with row sets, column sets, content sets, etc. No doubt, this all proves to be an apt time for an FSG integrity check.
A few points to keep in mind when working with unverified financial reports:
- There’s the possibility that several rows sets contain errors and are affecting the reports
- Checksums for financial reports may go unused
- Bad calculations (and a devious FSG editor) can easily ruin the outcome
- Data security becomes an afterthought when introducing Excel into the mix. Nobody likes a spreadsheet that’s irrevocably wrong.
All too often, companies invest millions of dollars into a combined ERP and BI system that emits unreliable data. In the end, what becomes the more important segment of ERP is the need for reliable reporting that has the correct functionality – not a solution that causes data integrity, security and compliance issues.
With International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) looming, data quality and security becomes a necessity rather than a luxury. Nowadays, companies trying to resolve auditing and Sarbanes-Oxley issues agree with that statement. It’s losing confidence in a multi-million dollar system that creates a gap between success and the muddy waters of noncompliance.
Again, listen to mother: “Always wear clean underwear!”
To purify that flawed report that will soon bear a signature of approval from a C-level executive, give it a good washing: http://www.insightsoftware.com/fsgchecker. Nobody likes a dirty spreadsheet. Better yet, nobody likes to see money wasted on reporting about…money. Make sense?