As coronavirus COVID-19 spreads globally, the global financial markets have also reacted sharply.
Significant dollar values have been wiped out as major stock market indices fell at a time of growing concern. Still, the questions some ask are – is the market overreacting, and what has coronavirus have anything to do with businesses?
Some indeed claim the market is overreacting, and it is perhaps the fear of the unknown that worries most people.
Now, on to the question of what has this coronavirus have anything to do with businesses?
Coronavirus, being a new disease, is in its early stages of spreading, and that is not to be taken lightly. A new illness like coronavirus can potentially disrupt supply chains, dampen consumer spending, close down factories, or weaken demand. Without a clear battle plan yet on how to contain, there is, of course, cause for businesses to worry.
Many businesses have begun painting pictures of precisely that – disrupted manufacturing, empty stores, and broken supply chains, among other things. Companies like Microsoft, United Airlines, and Apple are now studying consumer behavior and general buyer sentiment. Perhaps what is worth pointing out is that how management teams of businesses react determines just how much damage this outbreak can bring about.
This is then where financial planning & analysis comes in.
Depending on their assessments, businesses may lay off workers or postpone planned investments. It is also worth mentioning that coronavirus isn´t the only external factor they need to worry about. Economic activity had slowed down even before the coronavirus came into the markets.
At a vulnerable time as this, business executives need access to real-time data and critical business insights that will help them in their decision-making.
Businesses must be able to cut its growth forecast with a certain degree of confidence. If a business requires a significant amount of time to produce financial reports, sales performance reports or have difficulty updating their budgets on the fly because they need to do all these manually in Excel spreadsheets, it will make decision-making by the management even harder which will lead to blind steering of the business.
For a business to cope and thrive in such an uncertain economic climate, it must be equipped with cloud-based software for financial analysis and reporting.
Let us break that into two parts – first, cloud and second, financial analysis, and reporting.
Why cloud if you must ask – it is because the benefits of a cloud solution against on-premises are well documented. There is a wealth of articles online explaining why the future is in the cloud but to name a few: smaller upfront investment, less hassle to install, easier management and maintenance, cheaper subscription pricing in general, flexible, and secure.
Then on to financial analysis and reporting – this process is still surprisingly done by many businesses in Excel spreadsheets or homegrown solutions. The manual nature by which some companies execute FP&A makes it time-consuming, labor-intensive, and inaccurate to the detriment of the business.
Imagine adding external stressors to the business, such as a surprise viral outbreak, and you have to produce real-time stats and business insights to senior management. It is a complete nightmare.
The only logical and sustainable way forward is, of course, to make sure that the entire FP&A process is optimized, streamlined, and automated by adopting cloud-based software for financial analysis and reporting.
If you are looking for a robust cloud-based software for financial analysis and reporting, start your search with a highly recommended solution in the market called Performance Canvas Financials.
Performance Canvas Financials is an end to end cloud-based software for financial reporting, budgeting and planning, and fiscal consolidation. It can analyze financial, non-financial, sales, and statistical data to help you with your business´ substantial analysis.
Visit www.performancecanvas.com for more information or email [email protected] to see a free online demo of this cloud solution.
