Produce financial documents and disclosures more efficiently – with less risk

1. Produce financial documents
and disclosures more efficiently
– with less risk
Slogging through the last mile
External reporting is a critical and demanding activity
that if done incorrectly can have severe consequences.
These include large fines, loss of investor confidence,
and reduced share price. Yet many organizations still
create and update their financial reports manually. This
puts tremendous strain on the finance function and greatly
increases the chances for embarrassing and costly errors.
Creating and updating financial reports is part of the
‘last mile’ of finance. It involves gathering financial data,
non-financial data and narrative analysis from a wide
variety of sources, such as ERP systems, spreadsheets,
data warehouses and various business functions. Then
the results are assembled into useful reports to satisfy
both external and internal requirements.
For most organizations, producing financial reports
is a highly stressful and labour-intensive process.
Organizations are under increasing pressure to deliver
results faster than ever. The reports themselves are
getting longer, growing by as much as 600% over the
past 15 years, due to increased demands for disclosure
and transparency. Other key challenges include new
regulations, CEO/CFO certification requirements,
electronic filing requirements (XBRL), increased M&A
activity and a push for voluntary disclosure that goes
above and beyond the minimum legal requirements.
Throughout the reporting process, finance staff are
often responsible for manually extracting, compiling and
maintaining financial data. This archaic, labour-intensive
approach can be inefficient. Financial data is constantly
adjusted as a normal part of the reporting process; yet
even the slightest change can have a massive ripple effect.
This requires updated data references, calculations, and
charts, as well as an exhaustive review to ensure all
information remains accurate and consistent. In addition,
managing the process and getting status updates are
tracked manually.
Common challenges include:
• Risk. Countless opportunities for human errors, data
inconsistencies, insider leaks, and non-compliance can
lead to costly fines, loss of investor confidence, reduced
share price, and public embarrassment.
• Inefficiency. Time-consuming, manual processes
increase operating costs and make it hard to get
the job done on time.
• Stress. Time pressure, complexity and inefficiency lead
to staff burnout/turnover and make it difficult to attract
and retain top finance talent.
• Lack of control. Manual processes and convoluted
spreadsheets lead to version control problems, minimal
collaboration, weak audit trails, and inadequate process
monitoring and management.
• Limited value. The burden of manually producing and
updating reports diverts resources from value-added
analysis and other strategic finance activities.
As reporting demands increase, a common response
is to add headcount. However, this approach is not
sustainable and over time will deliver diminishing returns.
Organizations have also considered cutting corners,
which can undermine quality and increase risk.
The last mile of finance

2. Taming the beast
With the latest tools for financial reporting and disclosure
management, organizations can combine a wide range
of financial content (including financial data, analysis,
commentary, charts and pictures) into a single document.
With real-time data links, information can be quickly and
easily populated and updated. This automated approach
dramatically reduces the time and effort required to create
and modify reports, and sharply curtails the risk of errors.
IBM Cognos FSR is a market-leading financial
reporting and disclosure management tool. It leverages
Microsoft Word and Excel to reduce the learning curve.
It also provides powerful automation and workflow
management features that make it easy for organizations
to create and maintain financial reports for external and
internal reporting. The application gives an organization
total control over the content and format of its reports,
yet provides repeatability and consistency to avoid
redundancies.
Additional features and capabilities include:
• Centralized data storage in a secured environment
• Extended jump-start to new cycles
• Workflow & process monitoring
• Numbered updates that automatically flow
through the entire document
• Audit trails
• Automated reconciliation checks
• Rounding control
• Compliance checklists
• Repository for finance documents which
share elements across reports
New report templates can easily be created from existing
reports. Output can be delivered in a variety of popular
formats including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF , as
well as more specialized formats such as Adobe In-Design,
This consistent data set represents a ‘single version of the
truth’. Another key feature is integrated XBRL tagging that
enables organizations to easily comply with the growing
regulatory requirements for electronic filing.
Benefits include:
• Less time, money and effort to produce reports
• Reduced risk of errors and inconsistencies
• Improved controls and compliance
• Less stress, burnout and staff turnover
• Greater ability to focus on strategic finance
activities and value-added analysis
How we can help
Implementing a new financial reporting system is not
just a technology challenge. It’s a business challenge that
touches multiple dimensions in an organization. The people
dimension requires deep expertise in technical accounting
and disclosure, as well as new, clearly defined roles and
responsibilities. The process dimension requires logical
workflows, clearly defined hand-offs, and effective controls.
The information dimension requires consistent data,
analytical flexibility, and a ‘single version of the truth’. The
technology dimension requires flexibility, scalability, and
end-to-end integration and synchronization. Implementing
a new financial reporting system requires effective change
management to help the organization overcome resistance
to change and attain business adoption.
Deloitte is uniquely qualified to address the full range
of business issues. We also have deep industry and
accounting knowledge to deliver compliant financial
reporting solutions that make sense for an organization’s
unique business needs.
Our service offerings include:
• Business case development
• Planning and roadmap development
• Controls design and documentation for
internal/external auditors
• Financial reporting framework design
• Conversion, implementation and knowledge transfer
• ERP and CPM system integration
• XBRL tagging
• Staff augmentation
• Project management
• Finance transformation
Learn more
Deloitte can help your organization produce financial reports more efficiently with less risk. To find out more, contact
Nat D’Ercole, CA.IT, CPA
Information Management & Analytics Technology
416-643-8063
ndercole@deloitte.ca
Anthony J. D’Ugo, CGA
Information Management & Analytics Technology
416-867-8108
andugo@deloitte.ca
Deloitte, one of Canada’s leading professional services firms, provides audit, tax, consulting, and financial advisory services through more than 7,600 people in 57 offices. Deloitte operates in
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Scott Rosenfelder, Director
AERS Risk Information Services
312-486-2763
srosenfelder@deloitte.com
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AERS Risk Information Services
213-593-4282
dcutbill@deloitte.com