Spreadsheets Are Risky Business for Trade & Recycling Companies
Let’s face it. Spreadsheets are the familiar, comfortable go-to for finance teams in waste, trade, and recycling organizations. They’re easy to use and offer a convenient workaround for the limitations of existing QuickBooks or legacy systems. As you well know, however, spreadsheets require a lot of maintenance and force your finance team to spend hours doing manual entry—a process that leaves room for costly errors. Purpose built recycling software saves time and eliminates the need for redundant human-related data entry and the associated errors.
Consider the pitfalls of over-reliance on spreadsheets:
- It’s risky. According to Ventana Research, 35% of companies find data errors in their most critical spreadsheets, 26% contain formula errors, and 19% have format errors. Even a single data entry error can ruin an entire set of calculations and cause costly delays.
- It’s hard to manage. Excel sheets tend to multiply, with multiple versions of the truth floating around the company. This complicates otherwise routine processes, such as putting together reports for boards of directors at the end of each month.
- It’s slow. Entering everything by hand takes time. You also have to account for redundant manual processes, which divert precious resources away from other, more critical tasks. Ventana Research has found that 91% of executives in midsize companies said it’s important or very important for their finance teams to assume more of a leadership role. However, finance executives lack time and other resources. This is no surprise when users spend at least a day a month on spreadsheet maintenance, according to Ventana Research.
Close the books faster with purpose-built scrap management software
The research firm highlights several financial activities such as the accounting close that could benefit from replacing spreadsheets with “dedicated recycling software.” The firm’s benchmark research finds that 75% of midsize companies make extensive use of spreadsheets in their closing process. Using spreadsheets to handle allocations and analyses associated with the close is time-consuming. Thus, those with a heavy reliance of spreadsheets take longer to complete their quarterly close than those who limit their use of spreadsheets.
Similar results were found for companies that rely on spreadsheets to manage their consolidation process. Ventana Research also notes: “Organizations that have multiple entities and use spreadsheets for consolidations must cope with a time-consuming and error-prone process that involves various sets of calculations and adjustments in the spreadsheets and manual journal entries to adjust balances among entities.”
Sage Intacct and RKL eSolutions offer a safer, smarter way to do business
Bottom line: Spreadsheets, despite their familiarity, are a poor fit for your growing waste, trade, or recycling organization. Cloud financial management software like best-in-class Sage Intacct offers ease of use, automates core processes so you can focus on business, and delivers rich insight into your company’s financial and operational performance. Best of all, it frees your finance team to become a real driver for growth. And with the experts at RKL eSolutions to assist you, the transition from spreadsheets to success is easier than you think.
