Addressing the challenges of consolidation using a single, cloud-accounting solution can propel healthcare organisations forward.
Now more than ever, finance is data-rich, but time-poor. A truly integrated Cloud Financial Solution can automate the consolidation process, reintroducing quality and trust. Healthcare executives can view timely information with confidence, which enhances finance’s credibility and opens the door to new opportunities to add incremental value.
Consolidations are a staple of accounting of course, but their intensity and complexity have changed as the healthcare industry continues to undergo significant changes.
Today, Finance Executives must contend with factors such as:
- Expansion of facilities and service lines across regions and/or countries
- The varying and changing nature of accounting rules as compliance changes and evolves
- Emphasis on growing the business through both organic, or by acquiring others.
- Increasing inter-relationships and inter-company activities between entities within the parent company
The timelines for consolidation are also shortening and are driven by factors such as:
- Tighter reporting deadlines and the desire to improve the timeliness and transparency of reporting to stakeholders.
- Transparency of information for industry and government regulators.
- The need for a well-documented and well controlled consolidation process that preserves and enhances financial reporting integrity.
In virtually any healthcare organisation, the accounting function is the custodian of financial data to monitor and manage the organisation and drive it forward to new levels of success. But financial consolidations remain one of the key hurdles and the time-intensive nature of information assembly, validation, and reporting for many accounting groups can sometimes be measured in weeks, rarely just days - ION can help with this.
The benefits of automating the consolidation process include:
- Accelerating the integration of new entities and solutions within your organisation
- Improved control and opportunities to leverage one financial system across the organisation to centralise core accounting functions
- Drill-down insight from the consolidated perspective into each operating entity
- Greater coordination throughout the closing process between business units and accounting teams
- Real-time consolidated results from across the organisation at any time without waiting for period end.
Consolidation is an essential requirement to create a single “operational” view of the entire organisation and IONs Financial Transformation Framework enable detailed, and automated consolidation through solutions that can drive a healthcare organisations growth engine through a singular view of the organisation, in real-time.
Cloud-based financials eliminate the gaps between the consolidation and the data; which has a profound outcome. Real-time consolidated financial information becomes available to decision-makers at the push of a button. This eliminates the “black box” of accounting that often arises when the executives must wait weeks to see consolidated financial results, which can disrupt and delay important decisions.
ION solutions include accounting, cash management, purchasing, supplier management, financial consolidation, revenue recognition, billing, contract management, project accounting, fund accounting, inventory management, and intelligent financial reporting applications, all delivered through the cloud.