5 Reporting and SaaS Metrics Must-Haves for SaaS Finance

5 Reporting and SaaS Metrics Must-Haves for SaaS Finance

Article credit: Sage 

When it comes to being an effective and efficient SaaS CFO, a fintech automation tool can be one of your best friends. Your company probably uses a communication tool like Slack or Microsoft Teams, right? It enables people to stay organized and accomplish more in smaller increments of time. 

Think of your accounting automation tool in the same light. It’s a technology-driven extension of you and your team that helps you keep your reporting organized and perform at your peak capacity.

Let’s take a deeper dive into five primary reporting essentials for SaaS CFOs and how an automation platform can help put them in your grasp.

1. Seamless KPI Tracking

We don’t have to tell you that accurate reporting is one of your top responsibilities. You already know that. 

But you might not know how essential staying organized is to create a profitable year for your company. Savvy finance leaders utilize automation to massively cut down on manual processes and the mental and physical clutter they create. 

They opt for software solutions that can give them access to all their essential SaaS metrics at a glance: 

  • CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)
  • CLTV (Customer Lifetime Value) 
  • ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue)
  • Customer Churn Rate
  • …And many more

Having all of these SaaS metrics immediately available in one location is critical (this is known as data centralization).

SaaS Metrics Dashboard 01

2. Reliable Forecasting Abilities 

It’s not enough to report accurately and efficiently, however. As a C-level finance professional for a subscription revenue company, you need to make accurate, actionable forecasts that enhance your company’s bottom line.

An accounting automation platform can help you make reliable forecasts by: 

  • Providing instant access to your monthly recurring revenue (MRR), subscription upgrades and contractions, churn, and other essential figures for reliable forecasts.
  • Using the analytical power of automation to forecast different scenarios and make various revenue projections based on each.
  • Examine your pipeline at a microscopic level to capitalize on trends and identify your most profitable product and buyer segments.

Now that we’ve discussed the importance of staying organized in your reporting and forecasting, let’s take a quick look at enhancing personal accountability for SaaS finance teams.

3. Accountability in Front of Your Board

When you’re giving a presentation in front of your company’s board, few things are more important than being able to trace accountability back to your team members for their exact contributions.

It may look good when you lay out your grand strategic vision for the coming quarter. But no matter how inspiring that vision is, you’re going to need to come back and prove a few things to your board: 

  • Which members of your team contributed to specific corporate milestones such as AR gains
  • How did your strategies and ideas reduce the company’s DSO (the number of days that sales remain unclosed) to optimize cash flow
  • What immediate and traceable impact did you and your team have on quarterly and annual profits? 

Sage Intacct’s streamlined role-based dashboard will enable you to answer these critical questions with clarity and confidence. And if things don’t go as planned for a given quarter, you’ll be able to formulate an effective plan to get back on course.

SaaS Metrics Dashboard 02

4. Instant Access to Your Bill-To-Order Ratio

Also called the book-to-bill ratio, your bill-to-order ratio measures how many orders you’re receiving versus how many orders are being billed and fulfilled.

So if you’re fulfilling every order in real-time or close to it, you’d have a ratio of 1. That’s par for the course. The bill-to-order ratio becomes more important when your ratio falls above or below 1. 

A number above 1 shows you’re receiving more orders than you’re completing and billing across a particular period. It shows that you might need to look for payment processing issues and other problems stemming from excessive user demand.

A number below 1, on the other hand, implies that user demand might be starting to wane a bit. Even though this may not seem like great news, it gives you a chance to analyze which customer and product segments might be losing steam.

Remember, knowledge is power, and if you can figure out how to fix bad news, you’re still well-positioned. An automation tool like Sage Intacct can help you and your team keep track of your bill-to-order ratio accurately and effectively, so you can develop strategies and solutions in real-time.

5. Strategic Bandwidth 

When it comes to reporting and forecasting, aim to maintain a firm grip on two things at once: the daily developments occurring in your business and a forward-looking sense of the coming months and years. 

As you can imagine, this can be a tall order for even the most experienced CFOs. Automation is one of the best and fastest ways to reduce data siloed, and increase your team’s strategic bandwidth.

Eliminating manual processes will enable you to orient your entire department around long-term strategic thinking and high-value activities. 

Empower Your Finance Team Today 

Automation is the only way to report and forecast with maximum reliability and effectiveness. Contact us today to learn more about how Sage Intacct can help your business.

About Us
Kiteview Technologies (Pty) Ltd was founded in May 2010 to provide the Sage Evolution Business Management solution to the SME market. The management team of Kiteview have combined +30 years of experience in the delivery of small to mid-market Financial & Business Management solutions. This experience, combined with a sound project implementation methodology has helped in Kiteview’s growth, becoming a Platinum status partner for SAGE Pastel within just 1 year.

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Sage Intacct Billing Solutions

Sage Intacct Billing Solutions

Sage Intacct Billing solutions

The intelligent, automated, and faster way to manage revenue complexities.

 
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Billing Software

Automate complex revenue and billing processes.

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Contract and subscription billing

Streamline workflows across the AP cycle with exceptional speed and efficiency.

 

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Project costing and billing

Project costing and billing helps you to bid smarter and bill faster with less revenue leakage.

 

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Revenue recognition

Automate complex revenue accounting, configure expense amortisation and more.

 

Untangle billing and revenue complexities

 

Cash Management Overview

Untangle billing and revenue complexities

When it comes to subscriptions, specialised contracts, and recurring billing services–and the added complexities of revenue recognition compliance–Sage Intacct is the cloud financials solution finance trusts. We provide the automated workflows, smart revenue recognition, and seamless data flows that streamline the revenue cycle across your organisation.

 

Our customers achieve on average

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Productivity improvement
About Us
Kiteview Technologies (Pty) Ltd was founded in May 2010 to provide the Sage Evolution Business Management solution to the SME market. The management team of Kiteview have combined +30 years of experience in the delivery of small to mid-market Financial & Business Management solutions. This experience, combined with a sound project implementation methodology has helped in Kiteview’s growth, becoming a Platinum status partner for SAGE Pastel within just 1 year.

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Digital Transformation Enabled by Cloud Financials

Digital Transformation Enabled by Cloud Financials

Article credit: Sage 

Digital transformation impacts all areas of a business from interactions with customers and partners to how employees function. Digital transformation vastly reduces friction across all parts of an organization. By digitizing its processes, a company can be in a better position to manage cash flow, inventory, budgets, accounts payable, accounts receivables, days sales outstanding and order metrics while lowering operating expenses. It makes processes and tasks cheaper and faster, giving the business more time to focus on innovation and growth. When a business simplifies how it operates and reduces friction, the organization also creates more value for its employees and customers.

Cloud-native financial management systems help enable digital transformation. These play a critical role in driving business growth and help a company take steps toward implementing more digital solutions. Digitizing core financials can drive digital transformation throughout the organization, reducing business friction and improving customer experiences, business relationships and financial results.  

Before implementing digital solutions, companies need to consider the impact of technology on their supply chain, partners, customers and employees.

A recent study, conducted by Deloitte, found that organizations with mature digital transformation initiatives have better financial performance than others. Deloitte reported “higher-maturity organizations surveyed were far more likely than lower-maturity ones to significantly outperform their industry average on key financial metrics… Digital maturity’s impact on financial performance comes from enabling improvements in efficiency, revenue growth, product/service quality, customer satisfaction, and employee engagement—as well as by prompting a greater focus on growth and innovation.” Forty-five per cent of organizations with higher digital maturity reported net revenue growth as compared with 15% of those with lower digital transformation maturation, and 43% reported higher net profit margins, again as compared with 15% of those with lower digital transformation maturation.

How to Build your Digital Transformation Plan

Companies need to focus on technology, data, process, and organizational structure, including:

  1. Technology: The key is understanding how to effectively solve challenges that may prevent a business from driving change. Cloud-native financial management systems improve information quality and efficiency at measurable rates.
  2. Data: This is the basic standard to evaluate large numbers and use them to communicate what improvements are needed. Integrating cloud-native financial management systems increases data visibility.
  3. Process: A well-planned strategy is crucial to creating a system that focuses on improving operational processes and engaging customer experiences.
  4. Organizational Structure: There needs to be a balance between welcoming technology advances and how leaders and employees are managing the pace of change.

To facilitate successful digital transformation, a business needs to support change and evaluate what solutions solve the company’s biggest needs and challenges. Deploying a cloud-native financial management system allows the finance team to adapt to digital change and set up the business for future success.

According to McKinsey and Company, CFOs are taking on a bigger role in executing digital transformations, beyond just traditional financial tasks, since they control most of the key business levers that determine a transformation’s success.   As McKinsey reports: “A transformation initiated by the CFO is just as likely to succeed as one started by the CEO, even though it is much more common for the CEO to initiate such an effort. What’s more, finance leaders view their own role and contribution to a transformation more expansively than do their fellow executives. CFOs say that their time on transformations would be best spent on role-modelling new mindsets and behaviours, setting high-level goals, and communicating the transformation’s results—when, in practice, they are most often charged with traditional finance-oriented responsibilities.”

As a business grows, it’s critical to invest in innovative technology that offers a seamless flow of business information with customers and trading partners. A cloud-native financial management system thrusts the business forward so it can stay ahead. It helps unlock the ability to adopt digital transformation across the organization. Modern data exchange also helps increase revenue and optimizes the business’s capabilities. Deploying a cloud-native financial management system prepares a business for the future by giving finance leaders more control and visibility into the operations and the ability to meet new demands.

If you are interested in finding out how Sage Intacct can boost your business, get in touch with us today.

About Us
Kiteview Technologies (Pty) Ltd was founded in May 2010 to provide the Sage Evolution Business Management solution to the SME market. The management team of Kiteview have combined +30 years of experience in the delivery of small to mid-market Financial & Business Management solutions. This experience, combined with a sound project implementation methodology has helped in Kiteview’s growth, becoming a Platinum status partner for SAGE Pastel within just 1 year.

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Sage Intacct Collaborate

Sage Intacct Collaborate

Sage Intacct Collaborate

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Collaborate spans every process and device so your finance, sales, and services teams can cooperatively resolve any issue.

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Connect your back office and Salesforce front office (Salesforce customers only).

 

 

Collaborate to resolve non-routine issues as a team

Non-routine transactions – such as clarifying policies, gathering missing information, or resolving exceptions – can slow down or derail critical financial processes. Sage Intacct Collaborate lets you handle them quickly, efficiently, and effectively to keep your business on track.

See a clearer picture of the issues

Sage Intacct Collaborate helps speed up financial management processes – while keeping you firmly in control. In one click, you see all messages related to a particular issue, giving you the complete context from all participants as you work on the resolution. You don’t have to explain a situation multiple times – just leave a note.

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Sage Intacct Collaborate brings the whole team together

Collaborate puts everyone on the same page to improve communication and teamwork, expedite processes, and improve decision making. What’s more, Salesforce finance employees can also join Salesforce Chatter from inside Sage Intacct.

Sage Intacct Collaborate lets you have the conversation where it makes the most sense

Forget endless email threads. Instead, when issues arise, communicate right inside Sage Intacct to resolve specific journal entries, accounts, projects, invoices, purchase requisitions, and more. For Salesforce users, these same conversations appear in Salesforce Sales Cloud, so sales teams can participate using the system they’re most familiar with.

Robust multi-book functionality

Learn more about Sage Collaborate

If you are interested in finding out more about how Sage Intacct Collaborate can speed up your workflow and streamline your business, click the contact us button below and we will be in touch with you.

About Us
Kiteview Technologies (Pty) Ltd was founded in May 2010 to provide the Sage Evolution Business Management solution to the SME market. The management team of Kiteview have combined +30 years of experience in the delivery of small to mid-market Financial & Business Management solutions. This experience, combined with a sound project implementation methodology has helped in Kiteview’s growth, becoming a Platinum status partner for SAGE Pastel within just 1 year.

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The Easiest Way to Manage Inventory

The Easiest Way to Manage Inventory

Article credit: Sage 

There are many trends that seemed to have reversed over the past few years. Eating out is surging once again. Travel is gaining. Consumers are shifting spending to more essential items from bigger ticket items. And just-in-time inventory is now more just-in-case inventory. The main cause of the last point is due, primarily, to the global supply chain’s continued kinking with delays, strikes, and shortages.

According to the Wall Street Journal, many large companies have doubled the amount of inventory they are holding in an effort to negate the impacts of longer lead times. Others are cancelling orders or lowering prices. In all cases, revenue is impacted.

Whether you are taking on more inventory to hold longer or experiencing increased demand, you need a way to effectively manage your inventory. And once you start managing your inventory, you need to commit to it. You put in a beginning balance, now you must constantly, and consistently tell the report what you have done; data needs to continually feed the report.

Your company may have different stock rooms or warehouse locations. One may go through inventory quicker than the other. Should you buy more inventory or simply transfer it? If you simply consume, financially, not physically, the inventory, the costs will need to be allocated – in particular, for true project costs. Supplies often fall into this category.

So, what is the easiest way to manage inventory in all of the above scenarios? Automate it with inventory tracking software.

How does inventory management software simplify the control of inventory?

There is nothing new about moving a process from spreadsheets to an automated system. Nor anything surprising about the accuracy and efficiency in which the move results. What is new is the direct and automated flow of real-time operational data into and out of your favourite Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system – from order management and purchasing to scanning and barcode generation covering receipt to shipment. All this while facilitating collaboration amongst cross-functional teams.

Three primary components of inventory management software

1. Barcoding and automated data capture

Let’s face it, processes in the warehouse or stock room can be slick and quick, not to mention more accurate, when paper is removed, and data entry reduced. Arming your receivers with the ability to scan incoming inventory puts the order and, if needed, all information about the order at their fingertips. This can help ensure the counts, types or quality of inventory received match what was ordered, diverting issues at the beginning.

Taking this a step further, when your warehouse workers can print barcodes or labels at the point of interaction, they can complete receiving and storing tasks quicker. More importantly, the data captured is real-time and accurate, and if it is an integrated system, flows into the ERP to update orders, items and more. Efficiency is increased allowing you to scale and take on more volume or to decrease cycle times to improve Days Payable Outstanding (DPO) or even cash flow.

The same barcoding and mobile data capture tools used to receive and manage inventory are often equipped to help you count and ship inventory too. Cycle counts are much less painful and the sting of inventory write-offs is nearly nonexistent when you bring in barcode scanning. Additionally, your shipping team can use scanners or equipped smartphones to pick and ship orders too. Again, efficiency and accuracy are improved as transactions are captured rather than entered. Smart systems can even require task completion, ensuring process consistency and thoroughness.

2. ERP with financial and operational data

With integrated ERP software or accounting and financial management system, managing inventory data does not become a task, it is automated. Data is updated throughout the inventory management lifecycle as it flows through each stage, making visibility and reporting nearly effortless.

Collaboration also becomes effortless as all teams operate from one source of truth. From scanning the barcodes at receipt to printing the shipping labels as the orders go out the door, inventory counts and statuses are automatically updated. Now Sales knows how much is in stock to avoid overpromising. Accounting knows if there are any discrepancies with a purchase order, and with certain shipping systems, customers have visibility as to the status of their shipped order.

A cloud-based ERP provides secure, anywhere anytime access to your inventory data, enabling a business to proceed regardless of where, in many cases, an inquiry or report needs to happen.

If you are a small or medium-sized business, you want to avoid making things complex by automating them. An easy-to-use ERP with inventory management and inventory automation for light warehouse automation and kitting needs should meet both your digital transformation and process improvement objectives.

Inventory Dashboard

3. Active, real-time inventory management

In a recent survey from BDO, Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) from mid-market companies consider accurate demand and inventory management as a chief supply chain priority. Additionally, a top strategy for 2022 is digital transformation.

As inventory directly impacts your cost of goods sold (COGS), which in turn impacts your profits, it’s imperative you trust your inventory numbers. This is where automation changes the game. Inventory is received, Sales generate orders which generate inventory transactions or fulfilment, all culminating into a shipment. Inventory counts and their status change and having visibility into this helps you be a more agile company as you can prioritize orders and better manage inventory carrying costs among other tactics.

Say goodbye to weekend inventory counting “parties” and the doughnuts and pizza that accompanied these all-hands events. (As a high-school grocery store worker – I thought they were a lot of fun.) Inventory automation, or incorporating barcoding and scanning into your warehouse, brings regularity into cycle counting and cuts the fear of a massive inventory write-off shock.

If you are ready to commit to simplifying inventory management for your small or mid-sized business, check out our datasheet on inventory control for a glance at right-sized inventory software that ties to your financials and to see how barcode scanning can bring you the right level of inventory automation.

About Us
Kiteview Technologies (Pty) Ltd was founded in May 2010 to provide the Sage Evolution Business Management solution to the SME market. The management team of Kiteview have combined +30 years of experience in the delivery of small to mid-market Financial & Business Management solutions. This experience, combined with a sound project implementation methodology has helped in Kiteview’s growth, becoming a Platinum status partner for SAGE Pastel within just 1 year.

Contact Us

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