Need to manage a multi-national organization?

You can handle it, but can your financial management systems?

Taxes, regulations, multi-currency, reporting. You must be able to manage a high degree of complexity and react quickly to change.

Download this white paper to get a step-by-step checklist for evaluating your multi-national readiness. You’ll learn critical system requirements in areas such as transfer pricing, the transition to IFRS, reporting, regulatory management, and much more.

 CFOi Report:

http://go.infor.com/fms-cfoi-asia-report or 

 http://go.infor.com/global-essentials

Here is an extract from this CFO Innovation’s recently completed research into the trends regarding   market   focus   for Asian companies and changing strategies  for  business  growth  reflects some  of  the  major  challenges  and trends  that  Infor  is  seeing  amongst the more than 70,000 customers we support   globally.   Financial   executives  in  particular  are  coping  with  a high  degree  of  change,  with  their roles  becoming  more  complex  and diversified. It   not   surprising,   therefore,   that one  of  the  major  trends  amongst Infor’s  customers  is  the  increasingly strategic   role   of   CFOs   and  the finance   departments   they  run.

No    longer    viewed    as    a    simple transaction   processing   engine, finance  departments     are  being asked  to  manage  highly  analytical, complex   assessments   of   business strategies and the progression toward organizational goals. More and more CFOs are moving from the backroom to the boardroom, playing a role that goes   far   beyond   simply   reporting financial  information. They  are  now expected to play a prominent role in determining  business  strategy,  with critical  decisions  being  made  based on the input they are able to provide.

A second major trend is the challenge of      managing      highly      complex multinational   business   operations and   the   regulatory   requirements that  are  part  and  parcel  of  doing business  in  the  global  environment.

The  impact  of  the  global  economic downturn   and   the   ever-expanding reach  of  our  global  economy  have resulted  in  a  heightened  awareness of   the   opportunities,    risks,    and complexities of operating in markets outside a company’s own borders.

Because   the   operational   requirements  of  expanding  into  new  markets are a necessity for executing an international business strategy, they are typically planned to a high level of  detail.  However,  it  is  not  uncommon for preparations on the financial management  side  of  the  equation to  be  vastly  underestimated.  Often, non-financial executives assume that the systems and processes currently in place  will  simply  be  adapted  to meet the reporting, regulatory, compliance,  and  taxation  requirements of local markets. But as any CFO who manages   multinational   operations knows,  there  is  little  that  is  simple about it.

Playing    the    strategic    role    now required   of   a   CFO   tasked   with managing  a  multinational  business requires    systems    and    processes that can be easily adapted to meet a highly  diverse  set  of  requirements.

However,   a   large   percentage   of CFOs  are  working  with  antiquated financial management solutions that were either developed in-house and highly  customized,  or  that  rely  on  a one  size  fits  all  ERP  technology  that is not flexible, or responsive enough to  meet  the  dynamic  nature  of  their global operations. 

The result is not just inefficiency and excess  costs,  but  more  important-ly  –  risk.  CFOs  today  need  financial management   systems   that   enable them  to  meet  growing  expectations –  ones  that  can  effectively  manage the  modern-day  complexities  of  the global business world in which they operate.  Without them,  the  finance department’s ability to play a strategic role will be severely limited, and achieving desired results from international  business  strategies  will  be far from guaranteed.

The  following  criteria are  essentials  for  an  effective  global financial  management  solution  and can be used as a standard for CFOs to conduct  a  high-level  analysis  of  their existing systems’ global readiness:

•  The ability to communicate seamlessly   with   business   systems company-wide. Businesses today spend  too  much  valuable  time on trying to get their systems to work  together.  When key  business  systems  operate  in  silos,  a holistic   view   of   organizational performance is difficult or impossible  to  obtain.  CFOs  also  often receive information that is dated and even worse, inaccurate.

The    growth    of    multinational business   and   the   complexity of   managing   business   entities in  highly  diverse  locales  have moved company-wide system integration  from  a  nice  to  have  to a must-have. CFOs should make this  a  fundamental  criterion  for any  system  replacement  or  upgrade. 

•   The ability to augment transactions as   a   result   of   changes   in   the business or requirements for local reporting.  Often  known  as “smart transactions”,    these    transaction types     enable     companies     to capture  additional  data  whenever it  is  demanded  and  begin  doing analysis    on    that    information immediately.      As      a      result, businesses can accommodate local reporting   requirements   without making radical,  time-consuming, and  expensive  changes  to  their financial    management    systems and processes.

•   The   ability   to   support   multi-company,    independent    locale. Finance  departments  should  be able  to  independently configure business  units  so  that  each  can have its own base currency, chart of accounts and business rules as required to meet local standards.

The   ability   to   manage   entities using an independent setup or to support multiple companies within a   single   business   entity   gives CFOs  the  flexibility to efficiently and  effectively  manage  diverse and complex organizations.

•   The    ability    to    support    4-D multi-currency.   Most  financial management      systems      offer multi-currency  capabilities,  but the  degree  to  which  they  do  so plays  an  important  role  in  the system’s   overall   effectiveness.

A  global-ready  solution  should provide   the    ability    to   carry parallel  currency  dimensions  on all  source  transactions,  catering for   local   accounting   currency, alternate   base   currency,   and reporting   currencies   while allowing   every   transaction   to carry   all   four   values   and   the actual  rates  of  exchange  used.

The availability  of  an  additional “variable”   currency   code   also allows for management of more sophisticated requirements, such as branch accounting in different currencies.

•   The     ability    to   accommodate multiple financial calendars. Global-ready systems should allow finance departments   to   create   different accounting periods  for  reporting purposes  and  re-aggregate    to different periods as required.

•   The   ability   to   provide   global access.     Multinational     finance departments    are    often    faced with   operational   challenges   on the   ground   in   diverse   locales.

Internet  connectivity  and  access to  IT  support  can  vary  widely  by country.  As  a  result,  deployment options  are  a  critical  component of a global financial management system.   Companies   should   be able to install the solution centrally as  a  shared  service  or  access  it via  a  Web  interface. The  system should   also   be   straightforward to  implement  and  provide  a  low total cost of ownership to increase its  viability  as  a  solution  for  all geographies.

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Make your financial management systems work the way you want it to with the new Infor10 Financials Business (SunSystems).

Manage growth with ease, drive profits and meet change with confidence with Infor10 Financials Business.