Something to Consider August 2018 – Companies Push for Greater Visibility Over Financial Reporting Controls

Automation and ICFR

A recent survey of senior-level financial executives at large companies, conducted by the Financial Executives Research Foundation (FERF), found that more than 80 percent of respondents plan to increase investment in automating financial reporting controls in the coming year.

Companies are also shifting their attitude from focussing solely on potential risks to detecting actual process exceptions in real time with actionable information to have a greater business impact. Increasing demands for evidence and visibility of assurance is driving attention on smarter analytics over both control effectiveness and process execution.

Of course its not just about ensuring companies are equipped with competent reporting, but having confidence that the process that underlies the reporting is also working as it was meant to. Internal Control over Financial Reporting (ICFR) is a prime area for reaping the benefits of automation – taking human error out of the equation, improving transparency and assurance, cutting costs, and freeing up employees to do more high-value work.

You can find more details from this article, here​​

Our ‘Something To Consider’ snippets are framed as small, digestible, ‘dashes of insight’ around the pillars of what we define as “World Class Finance” – Process Optimization, Financial Control and Compliance, and Risk Assurance, all underpinned by technology enablement and integration.