Save time and effort using automated reporting with Sage Intacct

When Laura Sloan delivered her speaking session at the Sage Transform 2022 Conference, she shared helpful “tips and tricks” about automating financial reports with Sage Intacct.

Sloan is a senior consultant and CPA at Baker Tilly with extensive knowledge on Sage Intacct accounting ERP system design, project implementation, and operational support. The cloud-based Sage Intacct software integrates with existing tools to automate routine and time-consuming processes, such as accounts payable and receivable, billing, cash management, general ledger, order management and purchasing. And, as Sloan emphasized, reporting.

During her presentation, titled “Generate Financial Report Packages with Ease,” Sloan suggested that by creating report groups with Sage Intacct, report authors will not only save time and effort but also “elevate” the quality of their reports, making them easier to understand and more meaningful to their intended audience.

Sloan began her presentation by defining the three different types of reports Sage Intacct can create:

1. Standard Reports come prebuilt with a core Sage Intacct subscription to present specific information and support key accounting functions but allow for limited customization. Examples include Trial Balance, Customer AR Aging, and Vendor 1099 activity.
2. Financial Reports present summary-level financial balances or activity for specified reporting periods of actual data, budget data, and/or custom book data. The core Sage Intacct subscription comes with several pre-built financial reports. Examples include Balance Sheet, Income Statement, or Cash Flow Statement.
3. Custom Reports are created by users on specific data areas for improved filtering and more meaningful output for the organization. The standard Custom Reports Builder is a modern, wizard-based creation tool that is included with a Customization or Platform Services subscription. Th Interactive Custom Report Writer offers powerful, advanced functionality in a real-time building interface and requires an additional subscription.

Sage Intacct users can generate reports one at a time, or multiple reports can be generated all at once from a “report group.” In addition to on-demand generation, users can also set report groups to automatically run. After defining the schedule, Intacct manages report distribution by storing the completed reports in Sage Intacct, sending to a cloud-based storage location, or emailing them directly to key recipients. The author can create a “cover letter” as a separate PDF file to provide more context to readers and guidance to stakeholders.

After a quick demonstration of reporting possibilities, Sloan envisioned a future when organizational finance leaders can set up Sage Intacct to automatically generate and distribute month-end reports and explanatory cover letters, immediately following GL close.

“You can be more efficient and flexible with your time,” she promised.

When creating financial reports, utilizing Sage Intacct not only saves you time but also enhances the quality of your reports. To learn more about how Baker Tilly can help you choose the best type of report for your business needs, contact us today.