New Delhi, Jan. 30 -- Finance no longer operates on spreadsheet rows and monthly closing systems. It has also infiltrated the industry where technology is undertaking most of the petty tasks, and the financial practitioners are now left to think bigger. And, in a manner, the financial services have been strongly driven to the digital era, and currently, it is in the limelight how cloud computing and business intelligence software can be applied to transform the future of audits and reporting. Gone are the days when someone used to spend days going through a report in an inbox. It is now possible to visualize things in the true sense and wiser thinking and ability to react fast.
The Cloud as the Foundation
Cloud computing is by no means a separate holding device. This is what has developed to constitute the financial infrastructure at present. Cloud systems would also assist the financial institutions to access enormous processing powers and secure data storage even though they might not have needed to install physical systems. This is not just saving the cost of operation but also it is scalable, which can maintain the rate and volume of digital finance. Cloud systems will enable the creation of centralized access to the data when audits should be conducted in terms of international operations, and therefore, the audit process per se will be faster and more precise. The availability of real-time financial information is no longer a luxury but has become a given requirement. Teamwork can also be established with the assistance of the cloud, even with the teams located at the other end of the table or even at the other end of the continents.
Business Intelligence: Turning Data into Decisions
The fact that we have data is not an issue, and the quality that is demanded is to extract meanings out of this data. The big data is putting business intelligence tools at the center of focus. There is no need that finance departments waste time in figures anymore since they can access such tools like sophisticated dashboards and data visualization software. They are strolling around them thoughtlessly. These tools help to recognize trends and indicate the pattern and even the unusual details that are not evident in such a huge mass of complicated information. BI tools may assist during audit procedures to obtain anomalies during the most minimal time, compare periods and accounts, and even study where a mistake or a risk may be made or occurred in the future. With this kind of enlightenment of the auditors, they will be in a position to be proactive and not a reaction to the events that have already occurred and determine the events.
A New Era of Reporting
The conventional reporting was too cumbersome and highly backward. The modern report is less textual and penetrative and more fast. The financial statements reports do not necessarily need to be in hard copy and have a real-time dashboard. The stakeholders are able to access the regions and make comparisons between the segments and the performance on a real-time basis. It is the velocity of this revolution of reporting which is a position of narration. Today, reports may demonstrate the rationale that underlies the figures and create an environment and relations with which decision-makers will respond positively. It is also more so in the audit environment where accountability and transparency are the determinants.
Security and Trust in the Digital Age
It presupposes that power has a price, as the financial sector that adopts the cloud and BI tools comes along with the fear of data protection. The pace and magnitude of electronic tools must give way to cybersecurity. Money is also covert, and the best way to prevent any threat is to make sure that information is not leaked out. Encryption, real-time monitoring, and secure access controls are not alternatives. They are essential. As one of the most sought-after victims of cyber-attacks, the financial sector will be left to find a way of balancing between innovation and prudence. One of the areas that may assist the financial units to utilize the power of technology without affecting use of trust includes adoption of strict data management policies and use of wireless cloud computing.
Looking Ahead
Technology is not only changing finance, it is transforming finance. A smarter and faster and open finance world is being introduced by the use of cloud computing and BI tools. Audits are becoming more difficult, reports are growing, and decisions underway are becoming informed. It is not a completed trend, but the ride is evident. Not crunching numbers in the financial sector anymore, but shuffling numbers with wisdom which is gained through technology and wisdom of human minds. The future of finance is a case like this, as it is this connection between numbers and narrations.
No Techcircle journalist was involved in the creation/production of this content.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from TechCircle.