When to Switch from Excel to Consolidation Software
July 12, 2022
Digital transformation is essential in the rapidly evolving business context.
Upgrading from Excel to financial consolidation software offers many advantages, especially for mid-sized and growing companies. It helps save a lot of time. The hours spent on financial consolidation using Excel spreadsheets speak in favor of investing in a powerful consolidation software package that fits your needs.
Here is some useful information you might want to consider:
Consolidation with Excel
With a spreadsheet, the consolidation process is done manually.
Even if you can set up links and learn how to automate consolidation in Excel, it is currently difficult to tackle the complexities of today’s financial consolidation demands using spreadsheets. Excel can be useful when doing the first consolidation for a simple group. However, it can quickly reach its limits as a consolidation tool for larger companies.
Advantages of using financial consolidation software
- With consolidation software, updates are automated.
- Viewing the results is easy, thus avoiding the bias involved in using Excel.
- You therefore save time and reduce the risk of error associated with manual work.
Also, when there are changes in accounting standards or the company modifies its guidelines, financial consolidation applications allow such changes to be built into templates and instantly applied across the system.
Data accuracy
Small businesses can manage consolidation with Excel. However, the problem arises when the number of people working with spreadsheets grows. So, more and more errors appear.
If a single person or small group works with the data, charts, formulas, etc., it can be reasonably accurate, but when errors become a problem, it’s time to switch to financial consolidation software.
Auditing and security
While in Excel the data are visible to all users and spreadsheets can be emailed with the associated risks, a consolidation system ensures that data are kept within the company’s control.
Additionally, consolidation software lets you decide who has access to the data. It is also possible to customize reporting and allow complete tracking of data, simplifying auditors’ work and being a guarantee of quality in their eyes.
Some final considerations on switching from Excel to consolidation software
If you’re still trying to decide whether to upgrade your consolidation tools, these final remarks might help you decide what’s best for your corporate performance purposes:
- Excel spreadsheets don’t facilitate the task of consolidating a vast amount of data.
- Financial consolidation software enables companies with complex ownerships to define reporting units. Also, they can easily establish hierarchies.
- Financial software saves time and prevents human error.
- Switching from Excel to a financial management solution will allow you to digitalize documents. Besides, you will optimize and accelerate the associated processes.
Ultimately, consolidation software will definitely improve your company’s productivity and help you to better manage your financial activities.
When you need powerful and reliable tools to support your finance system, you’ll know it’s time to change your company’s software. Check out our Financial Suite and learn the advantages of choosing consolidation software from Talentia, one of the leading European specialist providers of financial management solutions.
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