Since the celebration of Groundhog Day is based in Pennsylvania, I thought it was appropriate that, as a PA native, I focus an article on the subject. In the movie Groundhog Day, Bill Murray’s character finds himself having to repeat the same day over, and over, relentlessly. If the thought of relentless repetition calls to mind period-end journal entries into your GL, read on for relief.
Manually enter data. Reconcile. Manually enter data. Reconcile.
The accounting team version of Groundhog Day.
How much time do the accountants on your team spend on basic data entry? There is no question that data entry is important. It is the basis for all of the other work done by your office. Recognizing its importance, though, doesn’t spare you from the slog.
Compounding this basic problem is the need for the work to be done very quickly, in a compressed time window. Realistically, when you consider your deadlines and how best to meet them, it’s always a “vs.” issue. Speed vs. accuracy. Speed vs. detail. It boils down to the hard question: “What is your team willing, and able, to sacrifice?”
The shorter your close period, the more intense the pressure to sacrifice something in order to meet your deadline. You can’t sacrifice accuracy. So maybe you sacrifice detail in your accounting system, and rely on more summarized data. Unfortunately, the more summarized your reports are, the less informative they are. Data contained in the general ledger can be used to provide trend analysis and a variety of useful business insights. But you can’t report on what you don’t have. Without detailed data to support analysis and projections, you – and your clients – are unnecessarily flying blind.
Another sacrifice you don’t want to make is in your review process. We wrote a separate article on this topic and you can find it here.
How can you spare your team from making some of these sacrifices? Do you need accountants performing all data entry? No. Can that process be effectively and efficiently automated? Yes.
Automation can eliminate the need for accountants to enter data. It affords them the time to review entries and focus on analysis and building reports – higher-value tasks that maximize their experience, knowledge, and skill, rather than minimizing their expertise.
KnowLedger leverages smart technology to help you automate data entry posting into your general ledger. We work with you to establish mappings and data flow, and then oversee the recurring movement of data from your source to your GL. Our service uses a rules-based approach that ensures accuracy, completeness, and data confidence – allowing you to meet the needs of your clients, and your team!
We may not be able to predict an early spring, but we can break the repetitive nature of updating your GL.