Every minute you spend as a controller manually compiling reports is a minute you can't use for analysis and advice. At the same time, research by AFP[1] shows that financial analysts spend 49% of their time collecting and validating data, while only 10% is spent on actual analysis. This time-consuming, error-prone way of working contradicts the expectation that controllers should become strategic business partners. The month-end closing thus turns into a stressful period where you know that the demand for insight often comes faster than you can deliver. In this blog, Thomas Werkhoven, director of Exsion365, explains how fast, automated reporting transforms your month-end closing and elevates your role as a controller to a higher level.

The hidden costs of manual reporting 

The familiar scenario: it's the fifth working day of the month. The figures need to go to management, and you're still busy copying, pasting, and formatting data from different systems. Every time again. At Exsion365, we see daily how controllers struggle with this process. They lose valuable time, inevitably make errors through manual work, and miss the opportunity to add value where it really counts: in analysis and advice. The real costs lie not only in the time you lose but also in the missed opportunities. While you're busy cutting and pasting, you could have been providing strategic insights that directly impact business decisions.

Why business intelligence is more than pretty dashboards 

Business intelligence is often seen as the domain of IT or the executive board – something with impressive dashboards full of colored graphs. But the reality goes much further. BI isn't about pretty pictures, but about timely and reliable insights that help you make better decisions. It's about automating routine tasks so you can focus on what really matters: interpreting figures and advising your organization. Take a construction company that still creates reports manually and spends three days per month per project doing so. If they switch to automated reporting, they refresh their data with one click and immediately see where costs deviate from the budget. The result? They can intervene before projects get out of hand, instead of analyzing the damage afterward.

From reactive to proactive financial management 

The greatest benefit of fast reporting lies in the shift from reactive to proactive working.

With automated reporting:

• You detect deviations as soon as they occur
• You answer ad-hoc questions from management within minutes instead of days
• You build forecast models that look beyond just historical data

This is the core of modern business intelligence for finance: not just looking back, but primarily looking forward. Instead of bringing bad news about what went wrong last month, you help prevent things from going wrong.

How to make the transition to automated reporting 

The switch to automated reporting doesn't have to be complex or expensive. Start small and focus on the reports that cost you the most time or that you need to create most frequently.

Choose solutions that align with your current way of working. For example, if you already work with Excel and Business Central, look for tools that seamlessly connect these two. This reduces the learning curve and increases the chance of successful implementation.

Start with one report that takes a lot of time, such as a weekly revenue analysis. The time savings will motivate your team to automate more processes, allowing you to see more and more benefits.

Where do you start tomorrow? 

As a controller, you're at a crossroads. You can stick to manual processes and continue to struggle with the increasing demand for quick insights. Or you can take the step towards automated reporting that frees you from repetitive work.

Start by mapping your current reporting processes. Which reports cost you the most time? Which data do you use repeatedly? Where are the bottlenecks and risk of errors?

With this insight, you can specifically look for solutions that fit your specific situation. You'll be amazed at how much time you can free up for valuable analyses and strategic advice.

Want to know more? 

Would you like to know more about how you can make the transition from manual to automated reporting? Contact us for a no-obligation conversation about your specific reporting challenges.

[1] https://dynamic.afponline.org/rsch-20-fp-and-a-technologydataplatforms/p/1