Reporting solutions are as vast as the Earth’s oceans.
Often companies end up with reporting solutions “by collection.” The process where a reporting tool is introduced as a side effect of:
- Implementing a new piece of software
- A new hire has used it in the past
- Freeware
Often this process of “collection” leaves holes or dark areas in their vision of the state of the company.
For example, you may have great control over journal transactions, receivables, and payables, and even be able to report total revenue or asset valuation. However, without cohesive data sets, you may not necessarily be able to explain the source of revenue or the sudden drain on assets. These “holes” leave a company with the inability to make strategic product placement decisions, or critical market position determinations.
Solution
The Reporting Pyramid is an approach to enterprise data that involves establishing best practices for purpose reporting.
- Open up the ability to provide more meaningful line level reports, enabling your clerical staff to proceed directly to work activities.
- Establish a strong platform generating board level decision documents which are rich with on-demand detail without sacrificing the ability to “get the picture at a glance”.
- Establish a base of data congruence feeding directly into the company’s strategic planning and forecasting.
- Together, these pillars lead to a congruent reporting strategy where each level compliments the next. All of a sudden, board level decisions can be based on immediate “how did we get here” visibility. Department managers are making decisions based on the actual performance of their staff rather than perceived performance.
Contact Highstreet to learn more.