business finance software

business finance software

The Evolution and Impact of Business Finance Software

1. Introduction to Business Finance Software

Simultaneously, as computer technology became more readily available and accessible, there was a backlash against automation. This was partly due to the inflexibility of early computer systems, which required precise data input, and partly because some users had unrealistic expectations. However, the main reason for this reaction was a preference for the familiar and easily understood manual routines, despite their primitiveness and interpretive nature. This growing resistance has been characterized by terms like “microcomputer” or “personal computer,” an emphasis on user involvement in system definition, and a reluctance to impose strict standards for computerizing business data and processes. The subsequent changes, from specialized computer systems to user-built programs and the use of “canned software,” and eventually to general word-processing and spreadsheet capabilities, have made financial decision-making and record-keeping tasks much simpler and less daunting than before. The computer is now seen as a mere tool.

Computer technology in business finance has a relatively short history, spanning no more than 30-40 years. Prior to this, most finance and accounting tasks were performed manually. The personal touch played a significant role, as companies relied on managers’ instincts to compute inventory, profits, and re-order points. External reports mainly focused on historical data, reflecting past actions. From today’s perspective, business operations during that time were more labor-intensive compared to other activities. However, the advent of computers changed this by providing improved access to real-time information, the ability to generate specialized and unique reports, and the capability to forecast and analyze using built-in mathematical and logical functions.

2. Key Features and Benefits of Business Finance Software

The primary features in business accounting software programs used by small and medium enterprises include accounts payable and receivables, which are essential business accounts that track money going into and out of the company. Also useful is the ability to process billing and payroll on the spot, generate informative monthly reconciliations in real time, and prepare and compile accurate financial reports for budgeting purposes and year-end audits with ease. Finally, enterprise business accounting software programs usually feature advanced BI (business intelligence) tools specifically designed for crunching numbers, performing analytics, pattern tracking, and providing clear and comparable financial reporting, all areas in which QuickBooks and other affordability and easily implemented finance software options generally make headway.

Most advanced business finance software conveniently includes features for recording activity across all core accounting procedures, such as accounts payable, accounts receivable, reporting services, payroll, billing, and budgeting. The advancement of technologies, such as BI tools, that provide key financial data at a glance, automate and accelerate turning that data into the reports needed for ad-hoc and scheduled audits, and creating intricate accounting models on a budget that frees finance personnel of endless manual data input, allow technology businesses large and small to operate swiftly and efficiently.

3. Implementation and Integration Strategies

Postmodern business application software strategies can still be divided into either having one company implement and integrate a complete business application software suite or allowing companies to use whatever mix of software systems they want to support their business administration, back office, core administration, operation, and relationship management activities.

Most business application software can be implemented and integrated in a variety of ways. The choice of implementation and integration strategy can have important long-term consequences for a company’s data standardization and access control efforts. In this section, we contribute a number of recommendations about when to use file-oriented/autonomous implementation and when to use more tightly-coupled integrated implementation approaches. We also contribute insights on when it is beneficial to use an all-in-one, pre-integrated implementation and when it is beneficial to deploy different parts of a company’s business application software portfolio independently.

4. Case Studies and Success Stories

Case Study 4B: Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) awards NetLedger system with the prestigious 1999 Benchmark Award Goal: True visibility into worldwide finance operations Solution: A hosted e-commerce application for the extremely demanding international professional finance community based on internationally recognized Oracle General Ledger, Oracle Payables and Oracle Human Resources applications. This used, deployed and operated Companies NetLedger Global Finance in four languages, showcasing and exploiting the Internet. Benefits: The CSC was applied to obtain a high level of control over procurement within national operations using pre-configured Oracle ERP Suite 11i templates for the internet. Customers and suppliers go to true transactions worldwide, with country-specific direct associations to purchase-to-pay, faster payments or order processing, 24 hours a day.

Case Study 4A: D&B improves service levels and increases productivity by implementing an enterprise finance portal backed by an Oracle e-business environment. Goal: American D&B replaced its aging stand-alone treasury system with Entergrade’s web-based enterprise finance portal, eFinance Professional, which connects with Oracle Financials. Solution: The result was a single, automated interface to all group-wide finance systems awarding total visibility and control for treasury operations. The system was implemented in a phased manner to ensure that the business continuity was not disrupted and a critical downtime window did not have to be utilized. Benefits: The benefits were immediate and tangible. They now enjoy the enhanced confidence of achieving corporate finance group objectives, total service levels to customers as well as improved productivity in reconciliations of daily bank account statements and in intra-company loan scoring validations that had become such a performance risk for the team.

5. Future Trends and Innovations in Business Finance Software

In certain situations, business managers could delegate their rights and duties to a computer without the intermediary steps of selling in the market or the need for involving an intermediary specializing in either management or accounting tasks. The attractiveness of such a possibility is in the existence of specialized managers belonging, in this case, to the field of business finance software. As more decision aids are developed, there will be an increased emphasis on flexible decision procedures. Finance software will be concerned to find the most promising patterns of interaction between decision aids and decision cooperation tools. Finally, an expanded need for decision aids generation will be anticipated. There is nothing absolute about financial software, and it will always reflect values, thus providing a continually changing basis for making decisions. As financial software continues to evolve, it will become an essential part of our quest for balance between economics and nature, wealth and social justice, and short-term economic growth versus long-term maintenance of available technology to meet the problem of future constraint adaptation.

In the business finance software development area, many innovations may be expected in the future as currently there is a considerable gap between what is sought by business finance managers and what is currently available. In the future, it is expected that more programs will be developed which will satisfy more of the requirements of business finance managers in an integrated manner, rather than as is the case of the present where large suites of software are required to satisfy both the main financial control tasks (acquiring and utilizing finance for investment and long-term operational projects) and the auxiliary financial support tasks (accountancy, taxation, forecasting, etc.) performed. Multi-user control systems should be developed further in the future and adapted to business demands as this type of software is still in the early stages of development and is in the main restricted by single-user platforms. While multi-user systems may be expected to appear on the market in the future, companies should insist that such systems may be extended to incorporate multiple-user computer-aided financial automation tools.