Millennials – people born between 1977 and 1995 otherwise referred to as generation why now make up the majority of the global workforce.
Millennials are called generation why because these people have a questioning nature. Unlike previous generations, millennials do not blindly obey. They like understanding why some things are the way they are. This nature is fueled even more by the rise of easily available information via the internet.
Millennials are the first ever generation that grew up in the era of computers and internet which is why millennials are at the forefront of technology.
Technological advancements in the past few decades have entirely transformed organizations and departments. Let us take the finance department for example.
For most millennials that came in the finance workforce, they work together with baby boomers (1946-1964) and generation X (1965-1976).
Finance leaders are faced with the unique challenges of providing a workplace for millennials that they enjoy in and of addressing the questioning nature of millennials.
Questions like – is this Excel spreadsheet the most optimal solution to current accounting practices? Is there a better way? Where can technology best help us so processes are more streamlined and access to real time insights are easily within reach when needed?
Millennials have definitely fueled the demand for continued technological advancements in various fields that contribute to businesses running more smoothly and performing better.
This is why the popularity of Corporate Performance Management or Financial Planning and Analysis solutions (whatever name you want to call it) like Performance Canvas Financials has been constantly rising.
New budgeting and planning software or financial reporting and analysis software has transformed finance organizations in many ways. Below are 5 examples.
- Improved Collaboration
Budgeting and planning solutions or reporting solutions have definitely changed the way companies collaborate internally. Technology has enabled connecting with colleagues anywhere and anytime. Collaboration features are very popular within finance as it allows teams across geographies to work in a frictionless manner. For example, having a good approval workflow within the adopted solution enables teamwork, mutual understanding, and ease in accomplishing tasks.
- Streamlining the Process
As mentioned, millennials are into improvements and streamlining. They always want to be productive and strategic which is why the term “best practices” have become so popular.
In finance, best practices in budgeting and planning could include driver-based budgeting, what if analyses, activity-based budgeting, assumption testing. In financial forecasting, best practices include live forecasting and for financial reporting, best practices include drag and drop reporting, comparison of actuals vs budget, variance analysis, trend analysis, and so on.
These best practices are then incorporated in how accounting systems work because millennials understand that automation is not the first step to business process improvement.
- Keeping the Business Secure
Technology has definitely played an integral role in the safe operations of a business. Security practices are now multi-layered.
For example, for Performance Canvas Financials – a unified and subscription solution for budgeting and planning, reporting, forecasting, and consolidation – security is enforced in the cells, in each user role access, and in the server. Having this multi-layer approach drastically reduces potential security hiccups.
- Modeling Businesses into Technology
There was a time when technology was so stiff that businesses just had to adopt. However, millennials are different. Millennials know that this does not have to be the case. Instead, millennials demand that technology accommodate unique business models so that the software they adopt makes sense for the unique business they are in. This attitude has paved the way for customization options in accounting solutions.
- Enabling Remote Work
Millennials are people who thrive in meaningful work. Flexible scheduling appeals to them because they place high value on work-life balance. With the use of cloud technologies within finance departments, access to data is not anymore limited to being in the premises of the company. Now they can have access to data or figures in their pads, mobile devices or home computers without having to compromise on security. This set-up has definitely enabled millennials to work from home. A setup that motivates millennials to stay within the company.
If your finance organization is looking for ways to improve and streamline the way you do budgeting and planning, financial reporting & analysis, financial forecasting, and financial consolidation, have a look at Performance Canvas Financials. It is a subscription-based solution that appeals to millennials as it is cost-efficient, it employs best practices in finance processes, it allows business modeling, and it is in the cloud which gives you access to data anytime and anywhere. Visit www.performancecanvas.com or email info@dspanel.com to learn more about this modern accounting solution.
DSPanel offers cutting edge technology platform for business analytics, planning, and visualization. DSPanel designs, builds, and operates with the end users in mind. Performance Canvas was created by DSPanel to answer the unarticulated needs of the market not addressed by previous available solutions. With Performance Canvas, information is transformed into valuable business insights for the business executives to utilize in their decision-making process. DSPanel currently has over 2500 organizations deploying their solutions.
