Messy accounting records are no good for anybody. The very foundation of accounting and finance functions lends itself to organization. You have to record transactions, summarize activities, and report results in ways that utilize so much different information your company compiles throughout different periods. If you don’t have great organization tools, this compilation of data can quickly become a big-time terror. Bear in mind—you don’t just need to have your data organized in any old way; it needs to be organized correctly so it can easily be leaned on when leadership needs to perform further analysis.

Consistency in data management and control is the key to preventing messy books, especially for year-end close. However, if you aren’t using the right processes and tools, a few one-off examples of less-than-ideal organization can quickly snowball into a total disaster that’s wrought with duplicate data, information that’s incorrectly sorted, and transactions that can’t be matched up or reconciled.

This is where the mess begins to build.

As mismatched and duplicated data started to pile up, you soon found yourself in a sea of erroneous reporting, relying on income and expenses that may or may not be even remotely accurate. As time went on, you had no choice but to trust (and act on) misstated account balances. Now, here you are, trying to figure out why you’re using meaningless financial data that’s probably costing your business a ton of money—but you don’t know how much because your financials are all tangled up.

The Financial Data Mess

Okay, sure—you didn’t mean to make your financials into a twisted bunch of misrepresented numbers. On paper, that’s obvious. In the real world, however, the mess creeps in slowly. It all starts with a couple transactions that post to the incorrect accounts and you promise yourself you’ll come back tomorrow and fix them. Leadership then decides to include location-specific expense accounts, which expanded the chart of accounts. Then, you had a summer intern who managed to duplicate all of last quarter’s transactions but was too afraid to tell you about the mistake. And now, all of your financials are wrong, wrong, wrong and you’re pulling your hair out trying to figure out where to even start with the cleanup process. Of course, you have a deadline looming, which only adds to the pressure.

This is exactly why periodic cleanups have become standard operating procedure for most accounting departments. Time gets earmarked at regular intervals so staff can endure the cleanup process without having to deal with an eternity of data that’s strayed from the truth. This allows for an easier process of determining how material the discovered differences are and what adjustments need to be made to put the books back into working order.

Naturally, adjustments are short-term fix that’s just a band-aid on the actual problem. If you want to eliminate month-after-month messes, you have to get to the root of the issue. Otherwise, poor data management will continue to haunt you, producing chaos derived from your ineffective tools, rules, and processes.

The Solution

If you want to have a truly effective accounting system, you have to break the cycle of errors that’s causing everything to get tangled up time and time again. This means you need to have better tools that are designed to give you efficient information structures. The goal is to support greater control over your data overall.

NetSuite’s cloud accounting software solution is here to clean up the mess and make sure it stays on the straight and narrow going forward. This platform utilizes an intelligent, rules-based engine that knows how to classify transactions, apply accounting treatments consistently, and assign accounts based on criteria that’s been designated by your organization.

When incoming transactions are placed into the correct accounts each and every time, your team will have less of a need to locate errors and continually make adjustments. It offers additional accounting tools that are intentionally built to simplify complex processes such as accounts receivables and fixed assets, giving you a greater level of control and enhanced management while simultaneously reducing manual effort and human error.

Supercharge Your Financial Processing with NetSuite and MIBAR

Find out how NetSuite’s platform can enhance your operations today. Structured from a single source of data, NetSuite ensures the information from its platform supports the accuracy and reliability of core financial documents. When you pair NetSuite’s multidimensional data capabilities with your team’s needs, the end result will be a clean set of financials, fewer errors, and improved oversight and control. What’s not to love? Hear from our customer Frank Riggio, CEO, Joseph Grace Brands:

“By the time I met MIBAR.net, I was trying to run my business with 3 disconnected systems and lots of spreadsheets which meant; redundant processes, too many errors and even more hard work. It was draining me and my profitability. In less than 120 days, MIBAR was able to consolidate my order management, CRM, inventory and financial systems, into a unified NetSuite platform, which now includes embedded B2B/B2C e-com and marketing. Just amazing! Thank you MIBAR, your team was great and got the job done.”

With NetSuite’s powerful financial reporting, the JGB team no longer spends days aggregating financial data across their system in Excel and creating financial reports – all of this data is available to them within seconds and the click of a mouse. View the full case study here.

Ready to learn more? Our team at MIBAR would be happy to show you a demo and answer any questions you might have. Reach out to us today!

Additional Accounting/Finance Resources

Improving Intercompany Accounting: Examples, Challenges, and Steps

Modernizing the Accounting Function

Three Ways CFOs Can Use Technology to Stay Ahead