Revenue reporting is a basic performance measure of a company, but it can be complex to manage and has the greatest risk of errors and inaccuracies. According to a survey conducted by RevenueRecognition.com, revenue reporting is one of the most difficult tasks for many companies. More than 35% of the companies, who participated in the survey, reported that revenue recognition accounting is the most complex process to manage.

Many companies are facing similar problems with their revenue reporting systems. Since revenue is the key factor for every business, it is essential to employ an efficient tool which helps the organization to avoid risks associated with the error reporting.

In this article, we will discuss about the importance of reporting revenue, why many companies are struggling with their revenue reporting systems and how to ensure accurate and consistent reporting.

Revenue reporting is key process – it’s more than just a billing activity: Revenue reporting is a critical process which deals with complex business transactions. It helps investors and business executives understand the profitability and the sales results of any business. It is more than a billing activity, it provides strategic information about the business operations, assists in effective decision making and helps to identify competitive advantages, core competencies, and the problematic areas.

Many companies are relying on spreadsheets: The complexity of maintaining a business is continuously increasing these days. Customers and investors are expecting more returns on their investments. Financial professionals are dealing with complicated contracts and stringent regulatory frameworks. All these factors are making it very difficult to recognize the revenue properly.

Though the complexity of maintaining a business is increasing day by day, many of the companies are still using spreadsheets to handle complicated and critical revenue reporting tasks. The above mentioned survey reported that 92% of the public companies are using spreadsheets for one or more critical revenue accounting activities. Companies are still using spreadsheets in spite of being aware of the risk associated with them, due to the lack of knowledge about the availability of specialized applications for revenue reporting.

Issues with spreadsheets: Spreadsheets are no longer sufficient to handle today’s complex revenue reporting challenges. It is very difficult to maintain billing and other revenue processes accurately and consistently using those outdated methods. The reporting processes driven by spreadsheets do not meet the operational and compliance requirements for accurate and timely reporting. Errors in spreadsheets impact the organization financially and hence are not reliable to perform complex transactions like revenue reporting. Spreadsheets are difficult to use and they require extraordinary effort to maintain. Spreadsheets are more prone to revenue leakage, and are main cause of delays in reporting revenue, slower billings and renewals.

Implement a holistic and comprehensive solution: In order to lower the risk of reporting errors, one needs to identify new opportunities that can steadily analyze and report existing revenue streams. Many revenue management tools are readily available in the market that automatically perform consistent revenue reporting processes like pre booking analysis, event monitoring, forecasting, and internal controls. They can effectively face complex managerial challenges.

The risk of reporting revenue errors can be constantly eliminated by replacing old revenue reporting systems with effective tools. This also increases transparency and accuracy of the reporting information which helps the organizations to address the risks effectively.