Accounting has always been the backbone of a company. Without accurate accounting a business is sure to fail. While accounts have and always will be responsible for period opening and closing, they also have the capacity to contribute and change the trajectory of a company’s growth and success. So, what are some of the challenges that accountants face and how can Microsoft help alleviate them?

AI and Automation

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been a buzzword that is not properly used. Microsoft’s AI and Automation listen and adhere to a set of rules that are put in place by developers after considering best practices for your businesses needs. With the implementation of AI and Automation you eliminate the possibility of human error; we all know the infamous quote to err is human, but is that acceptable when referring to business and accounting? Automation saves time and money by doing the mundane tasks in the background, which allows a controller to work on more complex tasks and come back to check the result and confirm it was completed correctly. Automation also allows for real-time data processing; you can process and view financial transactions immediately which ensures that financial records are always current. This reduces the time it would take to make major financial decisions as well as major financial analysis.

Data Analytics

Data analytics is a valuable technique that has become increasingly essential to businesses. Data analytics is also not just one department. All departments can benefit from the use of data analytics, but for accountants this can further increase insight into how the business is performing. Coming into a meeting with hours even minutes old data can lead a business to make a disastrous business decision. Continuous monitoring is one of the many advantages of employing data analytics into accounting. This means you have real-time data to use when making critical business decisions. Dynamics Finance and Operations and Business Central applications provide reports using Power BI to visualize the data. Microsoft Azure is also used to store large volumes of data so that financial comparisons can be made over any number of years.

Taxes and Tax Law Changes

A big part of being an accountant is ensuring that your “books” are compliant. With Tax laws changing annually accounts need to be able to stay on top of them, this task can become a lot more arduous for large companies that have multiple legal entities operating in different countries. Microsoft Dynamics Finance and Operations and Business Central applications ease the burden by keeping track of these ever-changing laws, making accountants aware of the legislation and codes consistent with the changes. Microsoft also helps with Sales Tax; a Tax calculation service is offered that automates and simplifies tax calculations.

Cybersecurity

Finally, we can talk about the most important challenge that everyone is facing “Cybersecurity”, and if we can be honest protecting financial is crucial in keeping a company’s integrity. The Key basis of security in Dynamics Finance and Operations and Business Central applications comes down to 4 points:

• Authentication
  • Only users that have the correct roles, rights and permissions should be able to access the data.
  • Microsoft provides access through their own identity provider Microsoft Entra ID
  • The user must have a valid Account within the authorized tenant.
• Authorization
  • Access to Finance and Operations application are controlled.
  • Security Permissions and Roles are used to limit access and implement the least privilege necessary for a user to complete their duties.
• Data Security
  • Role based security can restrict access to table records based on security policies.
• Auditing User Logins
  • System Administrators have the ability to track user sign-ins and sign-outs.

While there are many challenges that can and are plaguing the accounting process, Microsoft has a solution available to mitigate and solve any problem you are facing. For every gap Microsoft will provide a fit. Let Cambay solve your accounting issues with a dynamics FinOps Implementation.