Corporate reporting and associated tools

Infor Birst is a cloud-based analytics software tool that aims to help users discover insights without the need for analyst input. It unifies IT-managed enterprise data with user-owned data, supporting the blending of both in a top-down and bottom-up manner. It uses consistent business metrics to structure raw data into organized sets and visualizations.

It offers a seamless, integrated UI that allows users to perform every step of the data analysis process in a single interface, enabling a smooth experience. It can be deployed either from the cloud or self-hosted on-premise.

Users can purchase it in three available formats: per-user fee, by department or business unit or by end-customer in embedded scenarios. ActiveReports is a. NET reporting tool from GrapeCity that facilitates the creation of reports to display proprietary data in the form of documents or web-based formats. It is based on C code and uses the Visual Studio interface, offering easy use by programmers.

This reporting solution comes in a standard and professional edition and only operates on the Windows platform. It lets users export reports into a range of formats for collaboration and presentation. ReportsNow is a JD Edwards reporting solution that helps in real-time reporting of proprietary data for analysis. Pulling data from and integrating with JDE as well as non-JDE sources, it provides a host of intuitive functions to help create a wide range of business reports, allowing for automated scheduling and downloading of these reports.

Through advanced reporting via Data Access Studio, enterprises can create and edit any kind of data. Its mobile BI stack enables cloud connectivity, making reports available on any device. NET and other formats. It allows for enhanced development of multi-tier reports and interactive dashboards through an intuitive designer that can draw from internal and relational sources. It can be scaled through Stimulsoft Server to enable further functions like analytics and processing.

It is deployable via the web or on Linux, Mac or Windows. Panintelligence is a self-service, easy-to-use solution for company-wide reporting. It can display multiple data sources side by side, and the data shown is always live and up-to-date. It is easy to implement, cloud-based and offers multi-tenancy, load balancing, data mining and predictive analytics. Dashboards make it easy for anyone to visualize and communicate complex data in real time.

User activity can be restricted and audited, with role-based security. I-net Clear Reports is a Java-based enterprise reporting solution. With its free template designer and access to a template repository, it streamlines the process of compiling data into a presentable form.

It is compatible with anything that can run Java and can pull from any Java Database Connectivity data source. It can be embedded or executed stand-alone in a browser. The combination of Office and Windward's tags make the reporting process quick and easy by removing the work of hand-coding reporting templates. After embedding the Windward. NET or Java engine, users can merge data with their templates to generate reports documents.

A template can use multiple datasources in a single template. This software is one of the fastest growing products in the NoSQL database space. This program brings high-quality source integration to the table, meaning that users can import from any source; no coding skills needed. This data can then be streamed to a variety of sources. Upper Quadrant is an analytics and data science platform that facilitates marketing automation, campaign management, budgeting and forecasting.

Used specifically by race organizers for event registrations, subscriber outreach and eCommerce, it aggregates and standardizes data from people, brands, geographical locations, business units and disparate systems.

It enables data management and performance metrics tracking through real-time dashboards and shareable reports. Race organizers can share run metrics with customers through automated emails delivered straight to their inboxes. Integrate data from different platforms with the aid of connectors to facilitate robust analysis.

Access real-time data to extract useful insights. Export data to multiple destinations for advanced analysis and visualization. Consolidating data at a centralized location ensures users gauge ROI across different marketing channels and campaigns. Understand KPIs with up-to-date dashboards and reports. Leverage standard rules to define naming conventions for dimensions and metrics.

We know selecting software can be overwhelming. You have a lot on the line and we want you to make your project a success, avoiding the pitfalls we see far too often. As you get started with us, whether it be with Software Requirements templates, Comparing, Shortlisting Vendors or obtaining that elusive Pricing you need; know that we are here for you.

Our Market Research Analysts will take calls, and in 10 minutes, take your basic requirements and recommend you a shortlist to start with. Project Management. View All Software Categories. Austin Office S. Buyer's Guide Last updated on January 5th, Modern reporting solutions boost productivity and streamline business processes by providing unique, accurate and up-to-date information.

Creating a requirements checklist helps identify business needs when looking for a reporting solution. For enterprises willing to go the extra mile, embeddability, customization, real-time KPI monitoring and advanced analytics are some nice-to-have features in a reporting solution. Real-time intelligence and natural language processing have revolutionized the traditional way of presenting information.

Ask the right questions within your company and to the vendor to streamline software selection. What is Enterprise Reporting Software? Primary Benefits Boost Productivity Enterprise reporting provides business-critical information that teams can share with others in the organization.

Get a Single Source of Truth Popular reporting tools eliminate information silos, aggregating business data from multiple sources into a single platform. Gain Informed Insights BI platforms function on enterprise information presented as simple tables or visualizations that display desired business metrics. Streamline Goal Setting Identify the strengths and weaknesses of your business by viewing relevant metrics. Implementation Goals Goal 1 Optimize Resources Speed up report-building and free your team for other tasks; automate repetitive, often-used workflows.

Goal 2 Create Professional Reports Leverage pre-designed templates or build your own. Goal 3 Integrate With Existing Systems The software should integrate with existing sources and business applications — no need to start from scratch.

Goal 4 Track Business Operations Better manage costs associated with specific projects by capturing assets distributed across multiple platforms and networks. Data Integration Pull business intelligence from files, websites, databases, social media sites and live streaming devices. Data Discovery Get instant access to information — transform, analyze and present information through advanced interface options that are easy to learn.

Dashboarding Create interactive dashboards for easy exploration and analysis. Report Types Create data presentations on sales, employee performance, inventory and other critical metrics from out-of-the-box templates or build your own. Report Sharing Target specific leads by personalizing reports and export in any file format via email, or embed them into applications and web pages. Open Architecture Analytic reporting tools with open API-based architecture connect easily to sources and other software.

Alerts Write back to the database to set up and receive alerts and notifications when assets change. Advanced Analytics Drive automated information discovery with advanced analytics; leverage machine learning ML and statistical analysis through Python and R.

Data Security and Governance Secure digital assets with role-based access through row and column-level security. Current Trends Live Data Access Reporting platforms scale to ingest disparate, complex asset types in large volumes and transform them into valuable decision-driving assets. Mobile Reporting With accelerated time to market, users need intelligence as soon as it becomes available, even when they are out of the office.

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You will not continue to receive KPMG subscriptions until you accept the changes. Close Hi! Our privacy policy has been updated since the last time you logged in. We want to make sure you're kept up to date. Please take a moment to review these changes. It will also give you the option of generating cross-functional reports without ever constructing a single query.

You can quickly control who sees the resulting reports "one report, multiple views" and change the rules on the fly using its highly configurable report access settings.

Zoho Analytics is perfect for teams with a democratized BI approach where multiple methodologies and levels of technical sophistication come into play. Best of all, Zoho Analytics also seamlessly integrates with Panoply. As it's highly automated, Zoho Analytics makes generating BI and reports a breeze.

However, you might need a coder to generate some reports. ClicData is a completely cloud-based business reporting platform that comes with a data warehouse. ClicData is highly user-friendly, easy to embed, and easily accessed from any device from anywhere. As it offers both Android and iOS mobile integration, you can check reports while out on the field.

Reports can also be quickly dispersed via email or pushed to the web and social media platforms. TL;DR: ClicData is a user-friendly business intelligence and reporting tool that ticks all the boxes.

However, it can be challenging if you must depend on their support. If you're into social media and marketing, Whatagraph might be the right business reporting platform for you.

Popular among digital agencies, this automated and user-friendly platform helps generate eye-catching visual cross-channel multi-account marketing reports that people will read. Whatagraph automatically collects data from all your marketing channels and generates reports on demand.

You can also check your cross-channel performance metrics with a click or peek at what's going on in real-time. TL;DR: A robust business reporting platform for digital marketing agencies, but it can be buggy. Although Whatapgraph integrates with over 40 digital tools, it does not integrate with Panoply. Although the marketing collateral screams a "no-code solution" for non-technical users, it can prove to be challenging.

For example, Holistics enables data professionals to go straight into SQL from the interface to engage in advanced analytics. So, if you don't know your way around SQL, this isn't the right tool for you. Holistics cuts your data-wrangling time by half, so you'll have more time to engage in high-level data analysis. As it's designed to work with your existing data infrastructure, you can quickly bolt it onto your existing data warehouse and start working quickly. All that being said, users have reported that it isn't as extensive as other tools in this niche.

DBxtra is a leader in developing ad hoc business intelligence, analytics, and reporting tools, including Report Designer. DBxtra Report Designer is perfect for companies with non-technical and inexperienced report designers. This is because they can create and distribute interactive web reports and dashboards with zero knowledge of programming or SQL.

Low- to no-code users also benefit from a step-by-step report building interface, extensive tutorials, sample data sets, and report templates. As Report Designer connects to a wide variety of database types, you can bolt right onto your existing data stack.

Although users can design, deploy, and manage interactive ad-hoc reports and dashboards within minutes, some users report trouble navigating through some advanced features. However, advanced features might be a challenge for novice users. AgencyAnalytics is a popular enterprise SEO and marketing dashboard that helps marketing agencies show their clients how campaigns are unfolding. Its built-in SEO tools include backlink reports, rank tracking, and site audits.

AgencyAnalytics allows marketers to white label the dashboard and provides clients personal logins to watch their marketing campaign performance in real-time. You can also schedule and automate branded reports that provide timely SEO updates.

However, some users report that the features are rudimentary at best, so it's not the right reporting tool for advanced analysis. AnswerRocket is an AI-powered BI analytics and reporting tool built for businesses that demand direct access to their data. As it leverages natural language processing, you enter your queries just as you would ask someone a question in plain English.

ICAS , p. Content of the business reporting package: The above summary of key influential reports gives an indication of the broad range of information types that have been suggested as part of the reporting package. It is apparent that there is a degree of overlap between the suggestions, but a detailed comparison is rendered extremely problematic due to terminological differences and variations in both the scope covered and the level of detail provided.

This sub-section attempts to synthesise this material by providing a tentative framework for classifying and describing information types. Their suggestions are based either on a combination of casual observation and logical argument or, in a few cases, on detailed empirical investigation.

This reflects the two approaches that are used in practice to determine the content and presentation of corporate reporting, i. In general terms, there is a call for more information. There are two main reasons for this shift in the nature of the reportable information set.

First, it is recognized that many non-financial performance indicators lead financial performance indicators, hence providing more up-to-date information about future prospects. This is important in a world where rapid change means that companies must be adaptable in order to survive. Second, it can be argued that the exclusive reliance on financial performance indicators, which appears to privilege the interests of shareholders, is inconsistent with the pluralist approach to business.

Non- financial performance indicators, for example employee turnover and average delivery time, address the specific interests of these stakeholder groups directly. Several of the reports share the concept of a business having key drivers of success that must be identified and communicated.

Unfortunately, the terms used vary. In the general call for more forward-looking and non-financial information, it is possible to identify four broad issues about which such information is considered desirable. First, there is forward-looking information about strategy. Second, there is information relating to risk.

Third, the reports all tend to discuss although at different levels of detail value drivers and related non-financial performance measures or performance indicators.

The fourth and final area where additional information is required is background information, principally about the business of the company and the people who manage it.

ICAS identifies a number of specific sources of risk, ranked in a user survey in terms of their importance as drivers of company performance. Among 29 drivers, six risk-related drivers ranked highly as follows: vulnerability to competition ranked second, customer and supplier dependencies ranked tenth, while flexibility to technological change, vulnerability to exchange rate changes, vulnerability to interest rate changes, and vulnerability to changes in government policy all ranked between ten and twenty.

This discussion paper proposes a separate statement of business risk that not only brings together the current piecemeal disclosures required by various accounting standards and guidelines e. This statement would identify and prioritize key risks, describe the actions taken to manage each risk, and identify how each risk is measured. The identification of key risks would be based on their likelihood and significance, perhaps using a risk mapping technique. Importantly, all types of business risk, rather than only financial risks, would be included.

Thus, the statement of business risk would encompass external, environmental risks as well as internal risks, the latter of which could arise from operational, financial or other sources. A variety of possible measurement methods is considered. The need for a separate statement of business risk is, however, played down. For example, Price Waterhouse identifies four non-financial value drivers, relating to customers, people, growth and innovation, and process.

In each of these three examples, financial was an additional theme. Allowing for terminological differences, a consensus does seem to emerge from this. It is possible to describe information items based on their character and attributes. In particular, within the literature it has become common to use the following three dichotomous descriptors: forward-looking versus historical; financial versus non- financial; and quantitative versus non-quantitative.

AICPA has a seminal work relating to this changed set of practices. It is argued that the traditional attest function provides reliability assurance, with direct assurance on relevance representing a new field for the accountancy profession.

If the anticipated move away from point-in-time to real- time corporate reporting occurs, then system assurance will become of increasing importance to users.

Relevance services are more customized, targeted services compared to the highly structured audit services. Given the importance to users of information about risk and non-financial performance measures in business reporting models, assurance service opportunities relating to risk assessment and performance measures are clearly of direct relevance.

They are types of data assurance. Given the move towards allowing external users access to large sections of the corporate database, potentially on a real-time basis, assurances relating to information systems reliability are also of direct relevance.

It proposes a shift towards the assurance of processes in addition to outputs and that multiple levels and forms of assurance be developed p. It suggests that assurance seals could be tagged either to individual information items or to entire web pages, with electronic warnings at the gateways between assurance levels p.

It is, however, clear from the available literature that, although the general direction and nature of future developments in assurance services in relation to business reporting have been mapped out, detailed methods and procedures have yet to be determined.

The need for regulatory reform: The regulations concerning corporate reporting emanate principally from Statement of Accounting Standards SAS and other statues, with the Stock Exchange listing requirements being a further consideration for listed companies.

Indeed, over the years, the amount of voluntary information disclosed mainly in the unaudited sections of the annual report has been rising at a faster rate than the amount of mandated information Lee, The nature and scope of regulatory reform required to accommodate the proposed changes in business reporting depend largely upon whether the changes are made mandatory or not. If, for example, it becomes mandatory to provide information relating to strategy, risk, non-financial performance indicators, and background, then new financial reporting and assurance standards will clearly need to be developed.

However, to date, commentators who have discussed regulatory requirements have proposed evolutionary, voluntary, user-driven change in the short-to-medium term e. It is likely that regulatory reforms will seek to accommodate gradual change in business reporting, rather than mandate radical change.

The adversarial nature of financial reporting provides opportunistic financial reporting practices. For instance GAAP permits alternatives such as, LIFO versus FIFO for inventory valuation , requires estimates for for example, the useful life of depreciable assets , and incorporates management judgments are assets impaired?

Managers have a degree of flexibility in choosing specific accounting techniques and reporting procedures and the resulting financial statements are sometimes open to interpretation. The flexibility of GAAP financial reporting standards provides opportunities to use accounting tricks that make the company seem less risky than it really is.

For instance, some real liabilities like equipment leases can be transformed into off- balance sheet and thus less visible items. The company would appear from the balance sheet data alone, to have less debt and more borrowing capacity than is really the case. Bankers who fail to spot off-balance sheet liabilities of this sort can underestimate the credit risk lurking in their loan portfolios.

This strategy projects an image of a stable company that can easily service its debt, even in severe business downturn. According to SAS 10, Banks recognize their revenues when they are earned or realized. The timing of classification of loans and advances as non-performing, so as to put the related interest income in suspense, is a controversial issue.

Whilst some banks take such interest income on non-performing loans into interest suspense account, others take it into interest income thereby overstating profits. Managers have reasons to exploit this flexibility. Their interests may conflict with the interests of shareholders, lenders, and others who rely on financial statement information. There is therefore, the need to undertake further analysis of the corporate reports.

The Auditors rely on Analytical Review Procedures to assess the corporate reports.