1. No category

The Partnership
You Can Count On
Seth Pomeroy, Partner
NDH Group, Ltd
May, 2015
312-461-0505
1
http://www.ndhcpa.com
Proposed Agenda
The Value of Cloud Financial Management Systems & Reporting

Prospective Review:
• Gain a mutual understand of your options for accounting tech & reporting
• Define “Cloud” and contrast to on-premise technology
• Survey “What is a cloud financial management system today?”

Agreed Upon Outcome:
• Identify your challenges and vision for financial management & reporting
• Commence an assessment of the cloud delivery method
• Understand your process for evaluation and options for a diagnostic review
•

For Information on Cloud Financial Management Systems Contact:
Seth Pomeroy, CPA, MIS / [email protected] / 312.461.0505
312-461-0505
2
http://www.ndhcpa.com
Setbacks of On-Premise and “Fake Cloud” Systems

Current Constraints:
• Manage financial accounting w/premise-based ERP and reporting tools
• Tolerate risk of data loss by onsite hosting, or by unknown 3rd parties
• Updates to current ERP software require rewrite of customizations
• Workforce gains access to ERP system via remote connection
• Operate using multiple systems approach, with inefficient integrations
• Data mart is used to consolidate data required for financial analysis
• Decisions delayed by lack of real-time and detailed reports, dashboards
• Proposals for “new” on-premise and “fake cloud” solutions questionable
312-461-0505
3
http://www.ndhcpa.com
What is Cloud? Contrast to On-Premise Technology
Evaluation  / Model  Cloud
On-Premise
Architecture
Multi-tenancy
Single-tenancy
Define
Single instance of
software for user group
Single instance of
software for single user
Delivery Method
Browser, tablet, PDA
Remote connection
Browser (possible)
Management
Software partner
Self (or vendors providing
update, hosting, backup)
Transformation for Organization
Infrastructure eliminated, Some data sharing, but
focus on core business
still inhibited by systems
Transformation for Finance
Custom financial process,
and built by finance
Limited financial process,
but dependent on IT
Visual
Multiple tenants
single software
Single tenant
single software
312-461-0505
4
http://www.ndhcpa.com
What is Cloud? Contrast to On-Premise Technology
Evaluation  / Model  Cloud
On-Premise
Economies-of-Scale: Application
and Infrastructure
Yes
No
Fortune 100-Class Data Center
Yes
Uptime ~99.98% (supported SLA)
No
Non-Disruptive Maintenance
and Upgrades
Yes
No
Rapid Innovation
Yes
No
Natively Designed for Universal
Web-Access
Yes
No
Forward Compatible
Customizations
Yes
No
Modern-Day Web-Services API
Yes
No
312-461-0505
5
http://www.ndhcpa.com
What is a Cloud Financial Management System Today?
Given the delivery method, and the
architecture supporting Cloud are unique, how
does cloud financial management take
advantage of these differences, and what do
these systems offer anyway? Or, what is a
cloud financial management system today?
312-461-0505
6
http://www.ndhcpa.com
Cloud Financial Management: Secure

System of controls to mitigate both internal and external threats to data,
report, and application security.
• Infrastructure – World-class data centers with the highest-level of
physical, network, application, and data protections
• System of Controls – Permissions, IP authentication, audit trail,
complex passwords, and human interaction
• SLA Guarantees – Disaster recovery, data ownership
• Accreditations – SSAE 16 TII audit (controls at service org.), Digicert
 Cloud financial management aggregates requirements of large
buyers, and allows economic feasibility for highly secure system.
312-461-0505
7
http://www.ndhcpa.com
Cloud Financial Management: Transparent

Real-time reporting of system status and service level agreements reflect
accountability of stated purpose. Third-parties provide endorsements.
• General System Status – Published history of uptime, daily average
response time, daily incident reports
• Global Segmentation of Status – Global monitoring stations
• SLA Guarantees – 99.8% availability (TTM avg. closer to 99.99%)
• Endorsements – Proving high-level of controls, functionality, and
technological acumen from organizations like AICPA, CODiE, Gartner
 Cloud financial management leverages uniform monitoring of all
participants, and significant cost distribution to adv. technology.
312-461-0505
8
http://www.ndhcpa.com
Cloud Financial Management: Scalable

Infrastructure, and vendor foresight in architecture of applications,
allow a virtually unlimited scaling of transactions, data, and methods.
• Hardware – Vendors keep utilization low, allowing quick response
• Future – System designed for scale and growth
• Specifics – Records, users, transactions, dimensions (data attributes),
book methods, and entities are practically unlimited in expansion.
• Concurrency – Simultaneous use has little functional bearing
 Multi-tenancy allows for economics of scale; Cloud financial
system developers used in build-out (especially multi-entity).
Evaluation
Sample of Single Large Customer
Total Transactions Booked
> 100,000,000
Monthly Web Services Calls
> 30,000,000
Customers
> 600,000
312-461-0505
9
http://www.ndhcpa.com
Cloud Financial Management: Global

Cloud architecture is ideally suited to global businesses who depend on
concurrent use, collaboration, multi-entities, and consolidation.
• System for Unlimited “Multi” – Entities, currencies, books
• Global Consolidation – Real-time consolidation into any reporting
currency, book, or statutory method
• User Permissioning – Sets applicable filtered access for a single report
• Hardware/Infrastructure – World-wide performance monitoring
 Cloud means world-wide browser access to common application
and data. Cloud financial management adds specific functionality.
312-461-0505
10
http://www.ndhcpa.com
Cloud Financial Management: Custom

“Conventional software packages can’t accommodate change without
involving IT specialists.” (7 Reasons to Move to Cloud Financials Now, Phil Wainewright)
• Driver – Finance is driver of change; data modeling, workflows,
approvals, custom objects, and reporting are all non-programmatic.
• Data Modeling – Unlimited dimensions can be created for analysis
• Custom Apps – Custom apps can be deployed (SaaS partner hosts)
• Pushed Forward – Customizations guaranteed with new releases
 Architecture of cloud financials allow finance to focus on making
own improvements to data collection, reporting, and workflows.
312-461-0505
11
http://www.ndhcpa.com
Cloud Financial Management: Enabling

Cloud gives rise to better and quicker decision-making, and provides a
more complete picture of the health of the business and marketplace.
• Data Rich – Means of data collection, type, and attribution are unique
Means
Type
Attribution
Web Services
Other Applications
Currency, Statistical
Reporting Books
Dimensions
Other Data Tags
o Dimensions allow you to match rev. and cost to underlying source
• Presentation Rich – Financial, metrics, multi-dimension, statutory
 Cloud financial management allows you to streamline data
capture, attribution, and reporting for quicker decision-making.
312-461-0505
12
http://www.ndhcpa.com
Cloud Financial Management: Integrated

No system will provide 100% of the functionality you need or want
• SaaS Financial System Approaches:
Best in Class
Suite
Options for integrating with other
“best of” systems. Tends to specialize in one type of functionality, or
focus on a constituent group.
“All-in-one” solution. Attempts to
sponsor a broad application set that
works better for extended processes, especially non-financial Co.’s
• Web Services APIs – Allows accurate posting of trade activity, with
highly detailed segmentation, from other systems.
• Other Applications – Both pre-integrated and marketplace apps
 Architecture of cloud financials offer choices for extended use.
312-461-0505
13
http://www.ndhcpa.com
Cloud Financial Management: Manageable

“Finance no longer held back on new initiatives for lack of proper
systems to support them.” (7 Reasons to Move to Cloud Financials Now, Phil Wainewright)
• Implementation – Avoids risks associated with conventional software;
separates risk of managing infrastructure from finance initiatives.
• Data Modeling – Manage all dimensions as public objects or allow a
mix of public and private objects depending on entity requirements.
• Testing – Constituents can view, and complete user acceptance
testing on a live basis, for any object in the system.
 Using cloud financials, implementation and changes to the
system are more rapidly completed, tested, and deployed.
312-461-0505
14
http://www.ndhcpa.com
Cloud Financial Management: Automated

Cloud financials are built to automate workflows and reduce staff time,
errors, and admin focus. They also allow reduction of risk.
• Automate Basic Functions – Invoicing, collections, bill payment, data
input, and reporting (financial, metrics, dashboard)
• Automate Advanced Functions – Consolidation, scheduling, metrics
calc., and forecasting
• Scriptless – Some cloud financial systems do not require scripting to
complete custom workflow processing (done using standard UI)
 SaaS financial management vendors continue to leverage costs of
developing further workflow automation to network of users.
312-461-0505
15
http://www.ndhcpa.com
Cloud Financial Management: Evolving

The model is working. Leading cloud financial systems are realizing
significant increases in market share over traditional systems.
• Public Co.’s – More public companies are seeing the value of Cloud,
and trust infrastructure as they would their own.
• Development – Releases made quarterly or semi-annually (depending
on partner). All releases are automatically applied, with customizations preserved. Release features are robust and increasing.
• New Options – Some Cloud vendors have options for private data
infrastructure, and hardware
 Market share gains by cloud financial Co.’s allow economics of
developing new products and relationships to be realized.
312-461-0505
16
http://www.ndhcpa.com
Cloud Financial Management: Profitable

Decision-making enhancement, staff time reduction, and infrastructure
elimination drive ROI, but risk mitigation trumps ROI.
• Visibility of Costs – Costs are planned, as subscriptions; capital and
operating costs related to ERP infrastructure are eliminated.
• Risk Mitigation – While not typically considered in ROI, risk reduction
significant, with offsite and world-class data host.
• Integration & Automation – Time reduction for mgm’t and staff
• Visibility of Results – More lead time on results, and action thereof
 ROI from cloud financials should be obvious and remarkable.
Reduction of risk, and improved visibility, factors in assessment.
312-461-0505
17
http://www.ndhcpa.com
Understanding Your Process for Evaluation

Prospective Considerations:
• Management assessment of the Cloud delivery model
• Board consideration of the Cloud approach, vendors, service providers
• Options for a proof-of-concept or pilot program
Options for a Diagnostic Review

Potential for discovery process, including ROI study

Requirements review

Research on Cloud options and prospects

For Information on Cloud Financial Management Systems Contact:
Seth Pomeroy, CPA, MIS / [email protected] / 312.461.0505
312-461-0505
18
http://www.ndhcpa.com