The Importance Of Real-time Data On Business Financials

Having access to real-time financial data is critical to running a business in today’s economy. Better yet, it’s a prerequisite to success and the most important part of remaining up-to-date with a company’s financial performance. Unfortunately, far too many of today’s businesses rely upon manual processes when managing their company’s day-to-day finances. Far too many are forced to deal with data entry and key entry errors, ones that come from managing the company’s finances via excel spreadsheets, word documents and timesheets.

The reality is that these reporting systems aren’t live, don’t benefit from collaborative efforts, have inaccurate information, are rarely updated on time and can’t provide the type of real-time data that today’s enterprises need to make critical financial decisions. This is why it’s of vital importance that companies have access to an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software that tracks the business’s finances in real time. Here are just some of the reasons why today’s businesses must have real-time data tracking on their financial performance.

Inventory Reconciliation

Properly managing inventory is essential to improving gross profit on sales and growing the company’s revenue and market share. With this comes the responsibility of reconciling inventory on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly basis. Companies must have a live system capable of tracking a company’s value of inventory in terms of its carrying costs, its costs of financing, its costs of obsolescence, its costs of damage, its costs of theft and finally, its costs of freight. ERP software allows companies to not only track the value of inventory in real-time, but it allows them to see the impact of each of these costs on a daily basis. Since inventory is often a company’s largest asset, having access to real-time financial data is critical to mitigating these aforementioned costs.

Cash Flow Management

Maintaining a positive cash position is vital in today’s economy. Proper cash flow management means the company must continually manage and reduce its costs of inventory and receivable financing. Increasing inventory turnover rates, and reducing the time it takes to collect on receivables, are both critical aspects to reducing the company’s financing and maintaining a positive cash position. Proper cash flow management depends upon having access to real-time data, the kind of data that is easily accessible, readily available and always indicative of the company’s costs of inventory and receivable financing.

Real Time Financial Reporting

At the end of the day, it’s all about having access to accurate financial data. Companies must not only manage their day-to-day finances, but they must have the necessary financial information in order to decide upon long-term capital expenditures. This information is also needed when companies plan on expansion as accurate financial data is critical to a go/no-go decision. In addition, timely financial data helps companies decide whether to treat fixed assets as either onetime purchases, or capitalized assets that are depreciated over time. These decisions come from having real-time data on income statements, balance sheets and cash flow statements. These three financial reporting structures rely upon the kind of data that simply can’t be managed by excel spreadsheets or multiple timesheets.

Today’s businesses are constantly struggling to maintain a positive cash position. A large part of the problem relates to the high costs of dealing with customer bankruptcies and late receivables collection. Other issues pertain to a company’s costs to finance its inventory counts. Ultimately, companies need access to real-time financial data because it helps them to better manage their finances, which in turn allows them to reduce costs and improve efficiencies. This is why so many of today’s companies must do away with the high costs of managing finances via timesheets, word documents and excel spreadsheets.

The Law Of Scarcity

Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it…’” (Genesis 1:26-28). After God spoke order and abundant life into the darkness and chaos that was earth, He beheld it and declared that it was very good. Adam and Eve, made in the very image of God, were to learn to be like God. They were to have dominion over the earth just as their Father, Creator has dominion over everything. They were in training to rule with God as children in the Royal household or family of God. Their task as overseers of earth was blessed.

Unfortunately, at some point, Adam chose to stand silently by as the serpent enticed his wife and then himself to rebel against God. You may never have given it much thought but one of the ways Adam and Eve violated God’s Law was by theft. They stole fruit from God that He clearly told them was not theirs to have. God had given them everything and blessed them with abundance and yet they were convinced that it was not enough.

The law of scarcity is observed as man’s attempt to fulfill his infinite wants with finite resources. Because of this theft, God was going to crank scarcity up a notch.

You can read in Exodus 22:1-4 that it is required of the thief to restore not only that which he has stolen but there must be a quantitative loss to the thief. If the thief is not able to make full restitution, then he must be sold into slavery to pay off the full amount. Now look at how Adam was indeed punished according to the restitution law concerning theft.

In Genesis 3:17-19, the Judge of the universe pronounces sentence on Adam. “Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you…In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground…”

Before Adam’s theft, due to the sheer magnitude of abundance given to him as a blessing, Adam would make light work of maintaining himself, his family and the garden. This would have freed up much of his time to pursue other ventures to build and to grow and reach new heights. Adam would have grown spiritually and truly developed into a full blown son of God, maturing into the very image of His maker.

So notice the punishment is a curse on the abundance. Now Adam would fritter away his whole life (as all men generally do now) just keeping food on his table, clothes on his back and a shelter over his head from the time he is able to work until the day of his death. Adam rebelled against God whom has dominion over man. Now God allowed creation itself to rebel against Adam so he could experience what it is like to deal and work with rebellion. The curse brought enmity and fear between man and animal. The crops no longer yielded abundantly and the soil rebelled, bringing forth weeds to reduce production. The creeping things of the earth (insects) rebelled against Adam, destroying his crops and spreading disease. Weather patterns changed, also wreaking havoc on production; both food and construction of homes, villages, and societies.

The law in Exodus also requires that the thief be sold into slavery until the debt is paid. Adam indeed has sold his offspring into the bondage of sin. Sadly, instead of repentance, Satan has convinced man that the solution to scarcity is more theft by continuing to seek, within himself, the fulfillment of his wants and spiritual needs that only the Creator can fulfill. Man is perpetually duped into eating more and more of the forbidden fruit, hoping the next bite will be the missing dimension needed to be whole. Man continues to eat from this tree because he stole from it, to begin with, under the premise that man is inherently good and capable of defining what is right and then doing the right.

No one in their right mind would believe that the solution to overcoming sin is to sin more yet that is exactly what man has shown by his actions for 6,000 years. Our solution to theft is more theft to the level of governments that enforce social justice and the redistribution of wealth. Our solution to debt is to spend ourselves into greater debt as we can see in our own nation today where we are the world’s greatest debtor nation having surpassed all of Europe, including Britain, by 2.4 trillion dollars. Our solution to overcoming bondage is more bondage as we embrace the State as a solution instead of the Ten Commandments which James so rightly describes as “the law of liberty”.

Thanks be to God, that He has provided a second Adam, Jesus Christ, to redeem us from this curse in due time. Understanding this curse and its purpose is key to alleviating and overcoming its effects in a Christian’s walk. It is the answer to the question so many scoffers and would-be believers alike, who ask, “If there is a God, why does He allow so much suffering?” Count your blessings in this life, being content in a fallen world where nature itself is rebelling against us and seek God to fill the void we all have that can only be filled by our Father.

Why People Should Choose Financial Planner Course

Financial planners are in great demand these days. With the growing number of multinational companies India is poised to become the Economic Hub of the world and there is a more demand for those individuals who are expert in managing business related affairs for companies and organizations. There are plenty of courses in finance available these days that students and aspirants could take on however they should ensure that the institute they are taking admission is at par with the quality and has a sound track record of offering quality education to students.

After having served students for a long period we realized that most of the students in India are staying in villages and remote areas where there are no quality institutes and colleges. And here comes the need of online education. icofp.org is one of those institutes that have received wide recognition from students and knowledge seekers across India. To bridge this gap we gave come up with some online financial courses which students could take on without bothering much about their geographic location and financial needs.

With this article we have come up with some facts that will describe why people should take on online classes to receive a degree.

No Boundaries: Online courses could be taken up even by those people who are not willing to join a regular class due to lack of time or resources. With the help of latest technologies these institutes are offering quality online training to institutes without bothering much about the quality of the course.

Cost-effective: Online financial courses are of low-cost compared to traditional modes of teaching. Since these courses don’t need investment in terms of classroom, facilities and other things hence the input cost is reduced.

Same Value: Gone are those days when online courses were considered less valuable compared to traditional courses. With the advancement of computer technologies it has become possible for institutes to offer courses without compromising the quality of the course.

All we can say that if you are willing to take courses in finance online financial courses are good alternatives. All you need to do is choose the one that is equipped in offering quality education to students. Students need to realize that the rest of their life is going to depend on the education they will receive during this period and hence should ensure that they are taking admission only on reputed institutes.