Cloud financials: The building blocks of competitive strategy

Wealth management in today’s volatile market has led many firms to accelerate cloud adoption out of necessity—and with it gain the ability to streamline costs and boost productivity.

As many firms continue to work remotely due to the challenges of COVID-19, many of those not yet in the cloud have taken another hard look at cloud financial solutions. The conveniences, cost efficiency, productivity boosts, and added security that cloud solutions offer—particularly in a challenged market—have ushered in a new era of financial management for many.

• 82% of firms report they ramped up their use of cloud in direct response to the pandemic.*
• 66% of firms say they will continue to increase their overall use of cloud in the future.*

(*Source: Snow Software, “Study: How the ‘New Normal’ is Changing Cloud Usage and Strategy,” 2020.)

Why wealth management firms are moving to the cloud

Like many firms today, you’ve likely had to re-configure your work environment. Maybe you and your team are 100% remote, or maybe you have a skeleton crew going into the office. Whatever your new normal is, the importance of having access to your key financial data remains a priority.

Being in the cloud means being agile—enabling you to take advantage of opportunities as they arise and adapt to challenges quickly. Increasingly more wealth management firms are finding the cloud to be transformational—saving up to 60% of time when consolidating the books or doubling revenue due to massive efficiencies in finance processes.

In fact, of those that embraced cloud projects for cost reduction purposes, 76% said they were performing better than expected, with the rest saying that they performed in line with expectations—none thought that the projects performed worse than expected. (Source: Refinitiv, 2019 Public Cloud Report)

• 64% of financial firms feel that cloud will be significant or transformational for their sector over the next 5 to 10 years. (Source: Refinitiv, 2019 Public Cloud Report)

The top 5 reasons wealth & asset management firms embrace the cloud

1. You save on significant costs: Gain the technology efficiencies you need without having to manage a complex and costly IT infrastructure.
2. Your data is safe in the cloud: Skilled cybersecurity engineers use sophisticated software to keep cloud data centers secure. In fact, top tier SaaS security measures usually outweigh what most firms could individually afford to take. With your data stored in the cloud, it remains safe and can be easily accessed—even if something happens to your computer.
3. Your team is fully supported when working remotely: Teams stay in sync with each other and the business. They have access to the information they need to work anytime, anywhere, on any device.
4. You’re always using the latest enhancements: No more outdated software and painful upgrades. You and your finance team are always using the most current version with automatic updates.
5. You gain seamless, integrated solutions, on your terms: Open APIs let you use best-in-class applications, like CRM, payroll, and more.

“With Sage Intacct, our finance and business leaders have a more real-time, rich view of the company’s financials. Our finance teams have been able to shift from data processors to value-add analysis and
process improvements.”

Lauren Zeilinski, Senior Director, Finance & Accounting, Sasser Family Companies

 

Empower your entire organisation

Sage Intacct helps teams work more effectively and efficiently from day one.

As the cloud offers uber flexibility—no matter where you work—Sage Intacct cloud financial management allows you to have a real-time pulse on your firm’s financial performance with the power of custom financial dashboards and reports. Easy-to-read graphics and drill-down capabilities enable you to dig as deep into your KPIs and metrics as you like. So, when your CEO asks, “Are we in a good position to make this investment?” you can provide the needed information in minutes versus days later.

In addition, easily share custom financial views with your key stakeholders, including the executive team and investors who require real-time insight for decision-making.

And empower non-finance personnel to initiate finance department interactions such as expense requests, check requests, purchase requisitions, budget to actual analyses, and more with flexible electronic workflows and anywhere access.

Gain real-time operational and financial visibility

Make smarter and faster decisions with the information you need at your fingertips.

With Sage Intacct, gain a best-in-class, multi-dimensional general ledger system that enables you to easily capture granular financial and operational data in a manner that fits your exact needs.

Gain real-time visibility, as possible only through the cloud, into every aspect of your organisation’s finances, whether you’re interested in which funds were used for each project, investment performance by location or team, the expense tied to each line of business or employee, or any other aspect unique to your firm.

Automatically keep your sub-ledgers and your general ledger synchronised in real time, so you always have instant access to summaries and balances, as well as transaction details.

Streamline multi entity management and eliminate month-end headaches

Even if your organisation is complex, your system doesn’t have to be.

If you’re managing three or more multi-entities, it can take days or even weeks to close the books and get a reliable view of your consolidated financials. It can also end up costing your team way too much time to create reports, leaving not enough time for deeper analysis or more strategic initiatives.

Break free from the late nights and weekends working in the home office! Automate multi-entity, multi-currency, and multi-country operations. Streamline inter-entity transactions, allocations, eliminations, and financial consolidation, reporting, and analysis so you can focus on more strategic work…

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The way forward

As an accredited and awarded Sage Intacct reseller, we view our clients’ success as our own and are dedicated to helping them find their way forward. Offering ongoing support, training, and resources ensures that our clients maximise the benefits of Sage Intacct and stay abreast of the ever-evolving business landscape.

Having implemented Sage Intacct for many businesses in ANZ across diverse industries, our experience spans areas such as Software and SaaS, Family Offices, Non-profit Organisations, Financial Services, NDIS and Human Services and many other industries.

Email us at Akuna Solutions for a free consultation and explore with a Sage Intacct implementation specialist how to leverage modern technology available today to future-proof your business operations.