Automate and Control Financial Reporting
The heart of a month end, quarter end or annual close of the books centers around General Ledger (GL) where all financial transactions are rolled up. For the close process to go smoothly, it is critical that the information in a GL record is accurate and can be verified quickly. This verification of posted GL entries usually requires access to backup documents related to payments, receipts and credit/debit memos. For large public companies, Sarbanes-Oxley has put additional pressure on the close process since filings for 10-Ks and 10-Qs have been accelerated. Sarbanes-Oxley requires that financial statements be not only more accurate and certified but also produced more quickly. The 170 MarkView® General Ledger solution streamlines the close process by making all of the documentation associated with a GL transaction easily available from within the ERP GL module.
Journal Entry and Approval
170 MarkView for General Ledger provides the capability to process your manually entered Journal transactions via an electronic image of your journal entry documentation. The 170 MarkView workflow can allow for Journal Entry documents to be routed for additional approvals once the document is attached to the ERP record. A selected approver can then access these documents via a web interface to approve the document. In addition, the workflow can be configured to require approvals beyond that of the Journal Entry user, even if the Journal Entry user has the appropriate approval authority.
Seamless Access to AP and AR Drilldown Backup
The 170 MarkView General Ledger solution provides the ability to drill into the Accounts Payable and Receivable view from an ERP General Ledger module and view posted invoice and receipt records and their associated documents. With the 170 MarkView System, once a document is associated with an ERP record, the association is permanent - even as the record flows from one module to the next.
For example, when a GL user is viewing records in the GL module, the user may drill down on a journal entry to the ERP Invoice Entry interface. The ERP Invoice Entry interface will be launched and the related invoice record will be automatically queried. Once this record is queried, the user is able to access and view any attachments associated with the invoice record.
Support for Manual Journal Entries
Sometimes journal credit and debit entries must be entered manually. In today's world of heightened corporate governance, these manual adjustments must be documented thoroughly. During internal and external audits, tracking down these documents can be quite labor intensive. The 170 MarkView General Ledger solution enables all documentation to be quickly attached to manual entries.
Using a web form, a cover page with a bar code identifying a given journal entry is created using the 170 MarkView Bar Code Generator. Backup documents can then be scanned or faxed into the 170 MarkView which analyzes the bar code on the cover page to determine the journal name. The backup documents are then automatically attached to the journal record.
This process also works for journal entries that are automatically posted via AP or AR. Follow-up documents can be associated with journal records even after the posting.
Benefits of Automating and Controlling Financial Reporting
- Reduce Documentation - Since 170 MarkView automates core business functions, the processes themselves are self-documenting.
- Enforce Internal Controls - With segregation of duties, single consistent process and early visibility into accounting processes, 170 MarkView General Ledger delivers a comprehensive and credible view of your financial processes.
- Real-Time Compliance - 170 MarkView not only monitors processes in real-time but changes them in real-time as well.
- Missing Journal Documentation Report - Many organizations require backup documentation for all journal entries created in their ERP system. 170 MarkView provides web access to reports such as "Missing Journal Documentation" over a given time period.
