People in leadership positions in finance management and finance IT departments have recently woken up to the realization that the old, spreadsheet-based, manual reconciliation process is not working anymore, won’t work anymore, and that the time has come for them to start doing it in ‘a better way’. A renewed push into looking at process improvements, the move to shared services, impacts on operational budgets: there are many catalysts behind this. People who started on the path finding mission ended up with different options. They are now offered many solutions. In evaluating a solution, the most important factors are where do their ‘balance sheet accounts’ reside and what are the system/systems of financial records they currently use.
Here we are discussing the implications of such a technology solution for balance sheet reconciliation, specifically for organizations that have SAP as their primary ERP system. Our focus is on the advantages of reconciling balance sheet accounts within the ERP system itself.
SAP-embedded Solution
An ‘Inside-SAP’ solution implies the least IT footprint that is required and the minimum investments needed. It implies that there are no additional hardware, database or operating system requirements. Nor is there a need for an interface or any additional ‘exotic’ technology alien to your IT infrastructure. An SAP-embedded solution saves you the burden of having to download or duplicate your data to another system and having to maintain an interface between your solution and SAP ERP to facilitate transfer of data. It relieves you of the worry about the ownership and security of your data.
Such a solution provides you with a consistent source of live SAP data. It has advantages with regard to how audit trails and documentation are handled. Since it runs within your SAP system, you get a thorough and complete set of documentation which is accessible at the click of a button. And this makes audits easier and much less expensive.
Another area where you enjoy benefits from a native SAP solution is maintenance of the solution. Since you are familiar with the SAP system, no external help is needed to manage your solution. To you, it will be like an additional SAP module!
Reconciliation and TRUE Reconciliation
The advantages mentioned above distinguish Runbook TRUE reconciliation from all other financial governance solutions. Runbook’s proposition has been based on these features, and supported by empirical data obtained from successful – and fast – implementations at some of the largest enterprises in the world. I would phrase it like this: The best method to achieve balance sheet integrity for SAP customers is to reconcile your Balance Sheet accounts within SAP. Sounds like a no brainer, right?
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