With any small business, you have recurring accounting operations, tasks and reports that have to be completed, and a solution like QuickBooks is sufficient to an extent. But when your business starts to grow, and you now have to manage multiple legal entities on separate databases, what happens? You most likely have to hire additional staff to manage these multiple companies and databases. With multi-entity companies, whether we’re looking at three or thirty-three related companies, what used to function as an adequate accounting solution, looks more like a band aide on a large cut.
Separate databases – mistakes will happen
The problem lies in that QuickBooks is structured to accommodate one database file per entity. The result: every accountant wastes time logging in and out of each company each time they transition from one database to another. Add all that time spent transitioning, logging in and out. The cost adds up.
Also, related entities share transactions, resulting in dual records, one for each entity's books. If Entity A covers an invoice for Entity B, that transaction has to be updated and balanced for corresponding accounts for both companies. The result, the accountant has to make the same update twice, to keep both books accurate. If one update is missed on either account, everything gets thrown off. To compound this problem, the mistake isn’t usually uncovered until much later when it’s more difficult to analyze and fix.
Heavy reliance on Excel
Along with using QuickBooks, most accountants will rely on Excel to consolidate multiple entities. This cumbersome task requires heavy use of exporting, cutting and pasting. With all of this labor intensive work taking place, you now have overly stressed accountants trying to avoid mistakes.
You might be able to scrape by with two or three entities, but beyond that, you’re leaving the door open for a minefield of errors. Now consider all the month end work that follows. This leaves less time for proactive analysis, and your accountants are relegated to a more reactive role. Not to mention that the data they provide to you is probably five days old.
Not so cloudy anymore
Instead of trying (in vain) to get by on QuickBooks and spreadsheets, why not gravitate to an organic, sound solution?
Consider a cloud based solution like Gravity Software® (Gravity). Gravity allows for financial consolidation in less time without absorbing large implementation costs of a more conventional on-site solution. Written on the Microsoft Power Platform (aka Dynamics 365), this allows organizations to set up multiple entities in one database. Master information like customers & vendors can be shared or secured as needed.
By consolidating all your legal entities into one database, login once and you’re ready to go.
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Fewer Mistakes: By automating accounting processes like consolidations, you can minimize and even eliminate those costly mistakes that pop up when managing multiple spreadsheets. Now, staff can focus on value-added analysis.
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Simplifying shared expenses: Enter an expense once and automatically keep your Due To and Due From accounts in balance.
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Improved Visibility: Eliminate poor visibility into divisional and subsidiary performance. Gravity provides real time access and multiple levels of accurate, consolidated reporting with key performance indicators available at any time.
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Reduced Cost: Save money with lower overall ownership cost. Enjoy automatic and free updates, and the convenience of a monthly subscription.
Upgrade your systems to Gravity so you can reduce costs, increase effectiveness and efficiency to help your business grow faster. Get the real-time insights into all your lines of business to make better informed decisions. The technology just works. Schedule your online demo or check out our Free 30-Day Trial. My business is connected. Is yours?
Gravity Software
Better. Smarter. Accounting.
