Ever had one of those moments when you are staring at your screen debating between laughing, crying, or throwing your computer out the window?  All because the software that is supposed to make your job easier is only complicating it more? Your financial reporting system shouldn’t cause stress in your life; it should help and simplify your life.  It should save you time. Raise your hand if you want the ability to provide a better product for your customer in less time? (P.S. You should be raising your hand right now)

Let’s go over the reasons you are thinking about breaking up with your financial reporting software and how Reach Reporting can win your heart over and solve the problems from your current relationship. We have broken it down into five common issues we have heard from those in the industry. I am sure some, if not all, may resonate with you.

1. It’s too hard

To quote Bonnie Tyler, “Once upon a time I was falling in love, Now I’m only falling apart. There’s nothing I can do, it’s a total eclipse of the heart”. In the beginning, you had the highest of hopes for your financial reporting software, and now that instant attraction is gone and you are left wondering where to go next. Reporting software’s purpose is to make your life easier and reduce stress, not add to the pressure.

Reach Reporting was created to be EASY!! No manual data entry, no hard to read spreadsheet, no number crunching, and best of all, it is incredibly user-friendly! Make the whole report creating process simpler with Reach Reporting, just log in and have your first beautiful report in minutes. (Yes, I said minutes!! As in a mere 90 seconds) Once logged in, the information is pulled directly from QBO or QBD, Xero, or CSV trial balance, and that’s it. The hard work is already done; the calculating, layout, styling for you, and you can just sit back enjoy the spoils of it.

2. Over Sharing

Despite what we learned in Kindergarten, too much sharing can be a bad thing. Think about the coronavirus, juicy gossip, and financial information.  All of those things should be watched closely and not spread all over the place. Finances, whether your personal or your business, are a sensitive subject and should be treated with great care. It can be hard to push that send button with the anxiety that numbers (right or wrong) may end up in the inbox of the wrong person, and you are the one to blame. The CFO needs to see different information than the head of a particular department, and the board of trustees sees something different than anyone else.  How can we be sure each one gets what they need to make their decisions AND how to make sure that information is correct?

That is a problem Reach Reporting can help you solve! Inside our software, we have a section called MY LIBRARY, where you can save as many reports as you would like, One report for the CFO, one for the department head, one for the partners, and one for the owner. Once saved, they are easy to find and update for the next month or quarter. Gone are the days of stressing if you have sent the correct information to the right person.

3. Reports are not interactive or up to date

You have worked hard to create a report for your customer; you double-checked, you triple check, and then you push send. Then your customer wants to know WHY a number increased or decreased, and BOOM you are back in research mode and won’t have an answer for a few hours or days. Reach provides the details of WHY a number jumped or declined.  The customer only needs to drill down on that chart or graph to find more information.

You put all this hard work building and checking and double-checking and researching answers to your customer questions, and when done, data is out of date. As a CPA, it is vital to provide accurate/current information, and it is crucial to operating any business. If a person is working on delayed or poorly translated information, the success rate drops exponentially. It is like trying to coach a football team from across the street, and the game information is coming to you by courier pigeon from someone who doesn’t understand football.  There is little chance of you being an effective coach or business owner in this situation. You have no idea what’s happening in the current state of the game. Up to date information is KEY for your clients to make sound financial decisions.

Reach Reporting is always up to date with the latest information entered into QBO or QBD. When you set your report to show the last full month, every time you log in, it will show the previous full month from the current date—no fumbling around with dates and calendars. Current information is the best information.

4. The client doesn’t understand them

We have all been there… looking or listening to something, and you find yourself completely lost with no understanding of what you are reading or hearing. You just nod your head in agreement and hope you didn’t miss something vital. It is essential to remember; your customers are not accountants. That’s why they hired you! The reports you provide need to be simple, visual, and without the industry lingo/big words. While Reach Reporting reports are stunningly beautiful and professional, they are also CLEAR, CONCISE, and easy to understand.  Often, your clients won’t glance at the report simply because it is over their heads and won’t admit they didn’t understand. Instead, approach your clients with the understanding that their knowledge dwells mostly in areas other than finance and accounting.

Financial reporting is only useful if it converts data into information that is understood by the business owner. So log in and see how Reach can bridge the gap between business owner and CPA.

5. The reports are dull and ugly

You do all that hard work, all the calculating and data entry only to have a black and white spreadsheet and some graphs and charts in greyscale. Nothing to catch the eye of the business owner or CFO. Nothing to get that “WOAH” response. Let’s change that story and make your reports impossible to dismiss.

Let’s all admit it; beautiful things draw us in!  They catch our attention, and isn’t that what you want with your reports? So let’s create a financial story so beautiful and easy to understand. It simply CANNOT be ignored.

Reach Reporting has put together an entire design team whose job it is to make YOU look good. Reach Reporting has created beautiful professional reports; you can easily input your customer’s information onto the page. Or fancy yourself a designer with an eye for that kind of stuff?  Great! We have a report builder where you can make your own beautiful reports and save your design choices as templates.

Are you ready for a new relationship?

So let’s be honest, breaking up can be hard to do!  Unfortunately, sometimes it is necessary so we can move on to bigger and better things. If any of the above reasons (or are all of them) sounded like a thought you have had about your current financial reporting software, then come over and take a look at what we have to offer!  The transition will be painless, and if you are still not sure we have a 14-day trial that gives you FULL ACCESS to the software but not that long term commitment, you may be hesitant about making. Come on over to Reach Reporting and see that your relationship with your reporting software can be a match made in heaven.