Those who have been around long enough might remember that back in the end of the 80s, beginning 90s, the usual way of keeping track of your accounting was to keep the different processes like A/R, A/P, G/L, inventories, and billing in different solutions which are often poorly integrated. It took a long time to reconcile the numbers between the G/L and the sub-ledgers. Pulling out a number makes reporting cumbersome, often resulting in punching the numbers into Lotus Symphony or other manual tools. Another alternative was to print a report on Pajamas paper. 

 

The truth is, not much has happened since then.

 

We are still stuck in disconnected solutions that often are based on spreadsheets. If investments were made in modern tools, they are still fragmented, disparate and, non-integrated processes. Driven from a departmental and functional level, and to get a common view of the corporation, you have to move data/metadata to and between, e.g., consolidation, planning, account reconciliations, and predictive forecasting, to get the numbers right. 

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But since the processes are disconnected, the mere activity to move data is risky, error-prone, and takes valuable time from what matters. 

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Many vendors offer tools that can take care of departmental process requirements but few can cater to the one-version-of-the-truth approach, i.e., the support of a complete management cycle from legal consolidation of actual to budget and forecasting, a comprehensive data presentation and consumptions approach (Business Intelligence), and not to forget the statistical analytics capabilities useful for predictive planning.

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It is time to take the leap and start to see the enterprise's entire processes as one. Share the same number, take decisions on the same information across wherever you are in the enterprise, use the same data, and be sure they all talk the same financial language. 

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The technology, calculations, and storage capabilities are in place but what is missing is to take the time to change. It is not an easy task, but the payback is high. Think global but do not forget to support local operational needs.

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The future of finance is to act and talk like one, to limit integration and free up time for things that matter. 

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This is where CPM 2.0 systems come into play. Unlike their older (CPM 1.0) counterparts that are fragmented in nature, CPM 2.0 provides a technical approach that addresses the need for a truly unified solution. 

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