Data is undoubtedly one of the most significant assets you have. Data can help you make intelligent decisions, drive critical insights into the health of a business, identify risks and opportunities, and build a financial narrative for each company with which you work. But do you have the reports that allow your data to tell its story and present a straightforward narrative?
Here, we explore five consolidated group reports and why you need them to help make sense of all the financial data available to you.
1. Dashboard report
Only a short while ago – considering the speed of recent technological advances – data was locked in static mode confined to fields in spreadsheets. You’d need an Excel-formula whizz in your office to manipulate the data to extract some meaning from it.
Fast forward, and now data is a dynamic asset, not the static information it was once.
Modern accounting platforms have seized upon dynamic data to create real-time dashboards. For example, Joiin’s dashboard delivers a highly visual one-page financial overview that looks great on both a mobile and desktop, meaning you can easily stay up to date with the metrics that matter most to you, wherever you are.
Why you need a dashboard: As you’d fire up your email system every morning to check messages, with a glance, an on-screen dashboard report lets you quickly grasp that day’s highlights and make sense of your numbers, with data presented visually in charts and graphs that are easy on the eye. It will deliver a clearer real-time picture of business performance across a client’s consolidated portfolio, like operating profit margins, cash in bank and total revenues.
2. Off-the-shelf reports
The twin downward pressures on CAs – to be more efficient with time and better utilise this for advisory services – means you’re likely searching for time-saving initiatives in your practice.
Enter today’s accounting platforms, most of which now offer pre-built report templates that you can easily use with your data. Simple to integrate with existing cloud accountancy software, our Joiin platform offers five core off-the-shelf reports, meaning you can efficiently run reports as the Joiin platform’s readymade automations do all the heavy lifting for you. Our off-the-shelf reports are profit & loss, balance sheet, cash flow, KPIs, and trial balance.
Why you need off-the-shelf reports: Utilising pre-built off-the-shelf reports with your data takes the strain out of monthly consolidated group reporting, clawing back vital time for use elsewhere in your work. The time you save frees your capacity to have strategy-focused discussions and offer essential advisory services to your valued clients.
3. Customisable reports
While off-the-shelf reports are convenient for common reporting scenarios, there will be situations when you need a custom-made report, such as a bespoke investor presentation or to meet a specific regional accounting requirement. For example, if you operate in different territories, you might want to create an APAC or European group report to segment your entities and view each region’s performance.
Our Joiin platform comes with a rich set of features and filters, meaning you can fully customise reports to meet your needs. For example, within Joiin’s global settings, you can control things like branding and exchange rates. At the same time, automatic conversions simplify reporting across different currencies, and straightforward filtering eliminates the information you don’t need in a consolidated group report.
Why you need customisable reports: In your role as a CA, there will be times when you need to present bespoke reports to your clients. Customisable reports will deliver the options you require, such as the potential to include branding, filters, and features to help you edit reports and build the financial narrative you want to present.
4. Report packs
With time invested in creating customised reports, you can go one step further within our Joiin platform and take your tailored customisations to create professionally presented report packs.
In practice, this means selecting any combination of custom reports, personalising them with relevant branding, and efficiently running off a pack whenever you need to, whether for a client meeting or presentation.
If you’re a CA, you can group all a client’s reports into one package that can be quickly sent and then downloaded as a PDF or Excel spreadsheet at your client’s button click. Joiin report packs can be saved and re-used later.
Why you need report packs: Report packs enable you to create more time for yourself by delivering regular in-depth reporting, such as monthly client reports. With just a few clicks, you can see everything in one document and export it as a PDF or spreadsheet for easy distribution and keep any created packs for future re-use.
5. Automated reports
With reporting such a critical piece of the CA and client relationship, the last thing you need is to fail when it comes to getting your reports out to clients. Joiin offers CAs a crucial feature for automatically distributing reports more effectively.
Within Joiin, our multi-client feature lets CAs create separate areas for managing clients and automating how reports are shared. Joiin can provide your clients with a portal where you can personalise report designs and branding, and each client can view reports wherever they are.
Why you need automated reports: Within Joiin, any off-the-shelf reports, custom reports and report packs can be made automatically available within each client’s portal, meaning you can build new relationships and cement existing ones based on the regular and accurate reporting required by your clients.
If you’d like to explore Joiin’s reporting features, get started with a free two-week Joiin trial
To see how Joiin reports can be created and utilised in your practice, sign up for a Joiin webinar
About Joiin
Joiin is the consolidated reporting app for cloud accounting software like Xero, QuickBooks Online and Sage Business Cloud, and Excel spreadsheets. Click and connect in minutes, pull through data to Joiin and enjoy powerful plug and play features that automatically consolidate financial, sales and KPI data, creating great-looking reports to be shared seamlessly with colleagues and clients.
