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Group reporting software for mid-sized groups that keep their books

Finconsol produces group accounts for companies that already keep their own books: balance sheet, profit and loss, cash flow, fund flow, worksheet and trial balance, with budget against actual. You do not replace any accounting system. Each company is read or uploaded, and the reports are built on top.

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Trace any figure

Select a figure to see the companies and accounts behind it.

Group revenue of 5,956 thousand opens into the five companies and the intercompany amount removed. Zenvara Technologies, 1,842, opens into its accounts, including 420 of fees from Zenvara Inc.

    • Software services1,180
    • Support and maintenance242
    • Fees from Zenvara Inc.420
  • Zenvara Inc.2,310
  • Zenvara UK Ltd968
  • Zenvara FZ-LLC744
  • Zenvara Pte. Ltd.512
  • Intercompany removed(420)
  • Group revenue5,956

The board asks about the group. The books answer about companies.

Mid-sized groups usually have good books at company level and nothing at group level. The question is simple: what was group revenue last month, and what did it cost to earn? The answer takes days.

Replacing every company's accounting system with one shared system would answer it, but it is a project of its own, and it disrupts the books that work.

  • Management accounts for the group are assembled by hand each month.
  • Subsidiaries differ: different systems, different charts, different currencies.
  • Group figures cannot be traced to the company and account behind them.
  • Numbers move after the board has read them.

How groups report today

The group report is either a spreadsheet that one person understands, or a reporting tool that adds the companies together. Both leave gaps.

Spreadsheet, reporting tool and Finconsol compared for group reporting
SpreadsheetReporting toolFinconsol
Group balance sheetBuilt by hand, often does not balanceCompanies added togetherTranslated, eliminated, with a balance check
Tracing a figureFollow the formulasStops at the companyGroup, company, account, then transaction for Zoho Books
Budget against actualSeparate fileSeparate set-up per companyCompany and group, ahead or behind
After the board reads itAnyone can change itAnyone can change itLocked, with a change log

How Finconsol reports on a group

Finconsol is a layer over the books you already have. Companies on Zoho Books connect directly. Companies on Xero, QuickBooks or any other system upload a monthly trial balance. See integrations.

Each company's accounts are mapped once to a group chart, foreign companies are translated into the group's currency, and balances between companies are eliminated. Ownership percentages give each partly owned company its minority interest. The method is described in financial consolidation software.

From there every report is a view of the same numbers, so they agree with each other. Click any group figure to open it into companies, with intercompany removed, and then into accounts.

Part-owned companies. Enter the ownership percentages for the holding company and subsidiaries. Minority interest is calculated and shown. A holding company's sub-group can be reported on its own.

Controls. Months lock, every change is recorded, and group adjustments are journals in Finconsol, apart from the companies' books. See close controls.

Currencies. The group reports in one currency. See multi-currency consolidation.

The reports in the set

  • Balance sheet. The group position with its own balance check.
  • Profit and loss. For any month, quarter or year.
  • Cash flow. Indirect method, reconciled to cash.
  • Fund flow. Where money came from and where it went.
  • Consolidation worksheet. A column per company, the adjustments and the group total, tied to the statements.
  • Group trial balance. On one chart of accounts.
  • Comparisons. Against the previous period and the same period last year.
  • Budget against actual. Variance and variance percentage, month and year to date. See group budgeting.
  • Export. What is on screen exports to Excel and PDF, and prints.
  • Dashboards and board packs. See management reporting software.
Revenue by company, with currency translation and eliminations shown as their own lines

Good to know

  • Finconsol builds group reports from your existing books. It is not a general ledger, and it does not post transactions to your companies.
  • Zoho Books companies refresh every night. Companies on other systems update when a trial balance is uploaded, and figures are at account level.
  • Every statement carries its own balance check, so a report that does not balance says so.
  • Most groups are live in a day.

Questions

What is group reporting software?
It produces the financial reports for a whole group of companies: one balance sheet, profit and loss and cash flow that cover every company, with the figures between them removed. Finconsol does this on top of the books each company already keeps.
What reports should a group produce each month?
At least the balance sheet, profit and loss and cash flow for the group, with a comparison against the previous period. Most finance teams add a worksheet showing each company, a group trial balance and budget against actual. Finconsol produces all of these.
Do I need to move all my companies onto one accounting system?
No. Each company keeps its own books in its own system. Zoho Books companies connect directly, and companies on Xero, QuickBooks or anything else upload a monthly trial balance.
What is the difference between group reporting and consolidation?
Consolidation is the work of combining companies: mapping, translating, eliminating intercompany and adjusting. Group reporting is what comes out: the statements and reports the board and managers read. Finconsol covers both, and each depends on the other.
Can each subsidiary use a different chart of accounts?
Yes. Each company's accounts are mapped once to one group chart. The company keeps its own names and numbers, and the group reports on the common chart.
How do I report on a group with part-owned companies?
Enter the ownership percentages for the holding company and its subsidiaries. Finconsol calculates the minority interest for partly owned companies and shows it in the group statements. A holding company with its own subsidiaries can also be reported as a sub-group.
How does budget against actual work across the group?
Budgets and latest estimates are entered per company or for the group. With no group plan, the group budget is the sum of the company plans. The report shows actual, budget, variance and variance percentage, each line marked ahead or behind.

Related

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