Trends 2011: Financial Processes And Applications

Investment in financial management applications — including accounting, financial reporting, budgeting, and forecasting — will improve along with the economy in 2011. Compliance mandates act as a catalyst to energize the financial systems replacement cycle, along with the common need for accounting systems as a fundamental system of record. Looking ahead, planning systems are in high demand to support agile forecasting processes. Also, companies are investing in automating the close-to-disclosure cycle, which includes financial consolidations, preparation of regulatory filings, and XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) output. Demand for software-as-a-service for financials will likely increase as more product offerings become available. Companies should align their financial system investment plans around processes that address financial information requirements of the past (e.g., historical results), present (e.g., business performance and cash), and future (e.g., planning, budgeting and forecasting).