Ndh group+intacct cloud-financial-management-you-can-count-on

1 312-461-0505 http://www.ndhcpa.com

The Partnership You Can Count On

Seth Pomeroy, Partner NDH Group, Ltd May, 2015


Proposed Agenda

Prospective Review: • Gain a mutual understand of your options for accounting tech & reporting • Define “Cloud” and contrast to on-premise technology • Survey “What is a cloud financial management system today?”

Agreed Upon Outcome: • Identify your challenges and vision for financial management & reporting • Commence an assessment of the cloud delivery method • Understand your process for evaluation and options for a diagnostic review •

For Information on Cloud Financial Management Systems Contact:

Seth Pomeroy, CPA, MIS / [email protected] / 312.461.0505

The Value of Cloud Financial Management Systems & Reporting


Setbacks of On-Premise and “Fake Cloud” Systems

Current Constraints:

• Manage financial accounting w/premise-based ERP and reporting tools

• Tolerate risk of data loss by onsite hosting, or by unknown 3rd parties

• Updates to current ERP software require rewrite of customizations

• Workforce gains access to ERP system via remote connection

• Operate using multiple systems approach, with inefficient integrations

• Data mart is used to consolidate data required for financial analysis

• Decisions delayed by lack of real-time and detailed reports, dashboards

• Proposals for “new” on-premise and “fake cloud” solutions questionable


Evaluation / Model Cloud On-Premise Architecture

Multi-tenancy Single-tenancy

Define

Single instance of software for user group

Single instance of software for single user

Delivery Method Browser, tablet, PDA Remote connection Browser (possible)

Management

Software partner Self (or vendors providing update, hosting, backup)

Transformation for Organization Infrastructure eliminated, focus on core business

Some data sharing, but still inhibited by systems

Transformation for Finance

Custom financial process, and built by finance

Limited financial process, but dependent on IT

Visual

Multiple tenants single software

Single tenant single software

What is Cloud? Contrast to On-Premise Technology


Evaluation / Model Cloud On-Premise Economies-of-Scale: Application and Infrastructure

Yes No

Fortune 100-Class Data Center Uptime ~99.98% (supported SLA)

Yes No

Non-Disruptive Maintenance and Upgrades

Yes No

Rapid Innovation

Yes No

Natively Designed for Universal Web-Access

Yes No

Forward Compatible Customizations

Yes No

Modern-Day Web-Services API

Yes No

What is Cloud? Contrast to On-Premise Technology


What is a Cloud Financial Management System Today?

Given the delivery method, and the architecture supporting Cloud are unique, how does cloud financial management take advantage of these differences, and what do these systems offer anyway? Or, what is a cloud financial management system today?


Cloud Financial Management: Secure System of controls to mitigate both internal and external threats to data,

report, and application security.

• Infrastructure – World-class data centers with the highest-level of physical, network, application, and data protections

• System of Controls – Permissions, IP authentication, audit trail, complex passwords, and human interaction

• SLA Guarantees – Disaster recovery, data ownership

• Accreditations – SSAE 16 TII audit (controls at service org.), Digicert

Cloud financial management aggregates requirements of large buyers, and allows economic feasibility for highly secure system.


Cloud Financial Management: Transparent Real-time reporting of system status and service level agreements reflect

accountability of stated purpose. Third-parties provide endorsements.

• General System Status – Published history of uptime, daily average response time, daily incident reports

• Global Segmentation of Status – Global monitoring stations

• SLA Guarantees – 99.8% availability (TTM avg. closer to 99.99%)

• Endorsements – Proving high-level of controls, functionality, and technological acumen from organizations like AICPA, CODiE, Gartner

Cloud financial management leverages uniform monitoring of all participants, and significant cost distribution to adv. technology.


Cloud Financial Management: Scalable Infrastructure, and vendor foresight in architecture of applications,

allow a virtually unlimited scaling of transactions, data, and methods.

• Hardware – Vendors keep utilization low, allowing quick response

• Future – System designed for scale and growth

• Specifics – Records, users, transactions, dimensions (data attributes), book methods, and entities are practically unlimited in expansion.

• Concurrency – Simultaneous use has little functional bearing

Multi-tenancy allows for economics of scale; Cloud financial system developers used in build-out (especially multi-entity).

Evaluation Sample of Single Large Customer Total Transactions Booked > 100,000,000

Monthly Web Services Calls > 30,000,000

Customers > 600,000


Cloud Financial Management: Global Cloud architecture is ideally suited to global businesses who depend on

concurrent use, collaboration, multi-entities, and consolidation.

• System for Unlimited “Multi” – Entities, currencies, books

• Global Consolidation – Real-time consolidation into any reporting currency, book, or statutory method

• User Permissioning – Sets applicable filtered access for a single report

• Hardware/Infrastructure – World-wide performance monitoring

Cloud means world-wide browser access to common application and data. Cloud financial management adds specific functionality.


Cloud Financial Management: Custom “Conventional software packages can’t accommodate change without

involving IT specialists.” (7 Reasons to Move to Cloud Financials Now, Phil Wainewright)

• Driver – Finance is driver of change; data modeling, workflows, approvals, custom objects, and reporting are all non-programmatic.

• Data Modeling – Unlimited dimensions can be created for analysis

• Custom Apps – Custom apps can be deployed (SaaS partner hosts)

• Pushed Forward – Customizations guaranteed with new releases

Architecture of cloud financials allow finance to focus on making own improvements to data collection, reporting, and workflows.


Cloud Financial Management: Enabling Cloud gives rise to better and quicker decision-making, and provides a

more complete picture of the health of the business and marketplace.

• Data Rich – Means of data collection, type, and attribution are unique

o Dimensions allow you to match rev. and cost to underlying source

• Presentation Rich – Financial, metrics, multi-dimension, statutory

Cloud financial management allows you to streamline data capture, attribution, and reporting for quicker decision-making.

Means Type Attribution Web Services Other Applications

Currency, Statistical Reporting Books

Dimensions Other Data Tags


Cloud Financial Management: Integrated No system will provide 100% of the functionality you need or want

• SaaS Financial System Approaches:

• Web Services APIs – Allows accurate posting of trade activity, with highly detailed segmentation, from other systems.

• Other Applications – Both pre-integrated and marketplace apps

Architecture of cloud financials offer choices for extended use.

Best in Class Suite Options for integrating with other “best of” systems. Tends to specia-lize in one type of functionality, or focus on a constituent group.

“All-in-one” solution. Attempts to sponsor a broad application set that works better for extended pro-cesses, especially non-financial Co.’s


Cloud Financial Management: Manageable “Finance no longer held back on new initiatives for lack of proper

systems to support them.” (7 Reasons to Move to Cloud Financials Now, Phil Wainewright)

• Implementation – Avoids risks associated with conventional software; separates risk of managing infrastructure from finance initiatives.

• Data Modeling – Manage all dimensions as public objects or allow a mix of public and private objects depending on entity requirements.

• Testing – Constituents can view, and complete user acceptance testing on a live basis, for any object in the system.

Using cloud financials, implementation and changes to the system are more rapidly completed, tested, and deployed.


Cloud Financial Management: Automated Cloud financials are built to automate workflows and reduce staff time,

errors, and admin focus. They also allow reduction of risk.

• Automate Basic Functions – Invoicing, collections, bill payment, data input, and reporting (financial, metrics, dashboard)

• Automate Advanced Functions – Consolidation, scheduling, metrics calc., and forecasting

• Scriptless – Some cloud financial systems do not require scripting to complete custom workflow processing (done using standard UI)

SaaS financial management vendors continue to leverage costs of developing further workflow automation to network of users.


Cloud Financial Management: Evolving The model is working. Leading cloud financial systems are realizing

significant increases in market share over traditional systems.

• Public Co.’s – More public companies are seeing the value of Cloud, and trust infrastructure as they would their own.

• Development – Releases made quarterly or semi-annually (depending on partner). All releases are automatically applied, with customiza-tions preserved. Release features are robust and increasing.

• New Options – Some Cloud vendors have options for private data infrastructure, and hardware

Market share gains by cloud financial Co.’s allow economics of developing new products and relationships to be realized.


Cloud Financial Management: Profitable Decision-making enhancement, staff time reduction, and infrastructure

elimination drive ROI, but risk mitigation trumps ROI.

• Visibility of Costs – Costs are planned, as subscriptions; capital and operating costs related to ERP infrastructure are eliminated.

• Risk Mitigation – While not typically considered in ROI, risk reduction significant, with offsite and world-class data host.

• Integration & Automation – Time reduction for mgm’t and staff

• Visibility of Results – More lead time on results, and action thereof

ROI from cloud financials should be obvious and remarkable. Reduction of risk, and improved visibility, factors in assessment.


Understanding Your Process for Evaluation Prospective Considerations:

• Management assessment of the Cloud delivery model

• Board consideration of the Cloud approach, vendors, service providers

• Options for a proof-of-concept or pilot program

Options for a Diagnostic Review Potential for discovery process, including ROI study

Requirements review

Research on Cloud options and prospects

For Information on Cloud Financial Management Systems Contact:

Seth Pomeroy, CPA, MIS / [email protected] / 312.461.0505

Ndh group+intacct cloud-financial-management-you-can-count-on

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