The selection of a financial platform can be a pain point in the organization, but a proper analysis of the options available and a careful assessment of the company’s needs are essential arguments for the right choice. Check out the seven main questions you should ask with MetaCase to ensure a platform that assertively responds to your organization’s most demanding financial needs.
1. Does it have smart features?
The financial platform must have intelligent features that automate processes and use analytics to create predictive analyses that save time and resources. Immediate processing of constant changes to the content of bank statements allows, for example, the automatic standardization of information to a corporate code and language and optimizes financial reconciliation, automatic accounting of flows and bank reconciliation processes.
2. Does it offer process separation?
The objectives, timings, information and responsibilities of financial processes have nothing to do with those of accounting processes. Make sure that the chosen platform allows for separation, eliminating, for example, the need for mixed reconciliation and/or the consequent opening of transit accounts or sub-accounts.
3. Do you have financial management of payments and collections?
The system must have financial management tools for payments and collections, which allow the simulation and real-time viewing of the impact on the treasury position, managing variables such as bank changes, dates, account meetings and negotiation of financial discounts with suppliers. However, the invoice control and verification workflow must remain unchanged in the ERP.
4. Do you keep a history of developments and forecasts?
The treasury forecast is dynamic, so it is essential to be able to consult the different versions of a forecast. Only in this way will you be able to justify decision-making to management or shareholders. This analytics also allows you to create predictive dynamics to create forecasting models.
5. Does it allow me to obtain the Debt Maturity Map on a specific date?
Debt management is a dynamic reality in organizations. The chosen platform must be able to provide a detailed map that considers only the operations associated with financial contracts existing on a given date (reconstruct the position on a given date).
6. Is security guaranteed?
Consider the need to protect information in secure databases and not in files stored on the network. Documents such as bank statements, payment files, collections, reports for the Bank of Portugal, are among the list of files with critical data that – according to SOX regulations – should not be materialized on the network.
7. Does it allow incorporating new specific functionalities into the system core?
On the chosen platform, there should be no developments that require the creation of islands that lead to difficulties in terms of version upgrades and possible high maintenance costs.
Financial Management must be based on financial and not accounting workflows. It is true that accounting is essential, but consider that it is the end of the financial process and not its beginning. Talk to MetaCase to find out more about the financial platform that the company offers on the market.