Why did SaaS CFOs vote Sage Intacct #1 in close management? 

A clunky SaaS close cycle can really throw a wrench in your company’s gears.

Not only does it get in the way of achieving real-time financial insights, it can even cause inaccurate revenue reporting that can lead to penalties for public companies.

A smooth close is a big deal.

That’s why we couldn’t be happier that Sage Intacct was voted the #1 close management solution in the 6th Annual SaaS CFO’s Tech Stack Report, a survey about the tools SaaS CFOs are using to streamline their workflows.

Sage Intacct is also the top solution in the following categories:

• core accounting,
• recurring billing,
• revenue recognition,
• and SaaS metrics reporting.

Here, we’re doing a deep dive on close management and answer the following:

• What’s responsible for our strong performance in that category of the 6th Annual Tech Stack Report?
• How have we helped our clients achieve a consistently smooth close?

Here’s what we’ll cover

How did we do in the Tech Stack Report’s close management category?

The 6th Annual Tech Stack Report featured input from hundreds of SaaS CFOs.

Software companies from around the world competed.

There was a healthy representation of firms funded by both private equity and venture capital.

The survey is a trusted source for SaaS CFOs to learn how to build their tech stack for maximum efficiency and long-term profitability.

We’re thrilled to say that, while spreadsheets still lead as a basic jumping-off point, Sage Intacct is far and away the top close management tool for SaaS CFOs.

And honestly, we think that makes perfect sense in light of what we’ve helped our customers achieve.

With our AI-based General Ledger Outlier Detection, we’ve enabled our customers to slash their close time by 80% or even more.

Outlier Detection for General Ledger is our machine learning solution that helps ensure the accuracy of your approval process.

It reviews journal entries and flags anomalies to help you proactively catch errors and identify issues and risks prior to your approval.

With Release 3, we’ve introduced new options for configuration and at-a-glance insights.

New icons allow you to quickly understand why journal entry lines were flagged as outliers.

Icons provide at-a-glance visual insight, saving you the time of investigating anomalies yourself.

Icons tell you if an outlier is a coding anomaly (account/dimension), an unusual amount, or if multiple outlier conditions are present.

You can also hover over line level outliers for more details.

You also gain more control over what gets flagged as an anomaly with configuration settings.

Customize thresholds per journal for outlier evaluation based on materiality and dimensions.

Dimension priority can be set so the system aligns to your needs when it comes to evaluating accuracy.

This helps limit the number of outliers that require your attention.

Achieve a smooth close with Sage Intacct’s continuous accounting

The problem with a manual close cycle is that it’s cyclical.

From your monthly transactions, to the reconciliations underpinning your close, everything takes place sequentially.

Sage Intacct revolutionizes close management by using AI to continuously close your books.

This is a rolling close.

It can tremendously simplify life for SaaS finance teams, and provide important strategic benefits for CFOs:

• unlock real-time financial data for more strategically sound decision-making
• eliminate human error in your close cycle with our best-in-class accounting AI
• with automation in your department, you and your team will be free to focus on more valuable tasks than manual reconciliations
• a rolling close makes it easy to close your books no matter what your monthly transaction load is
• close cycle automation makes it possible to scale your operations without increasing the size of your accounting department
• keep investors’ confidence in your company high by always having up-to-date financial data
• a rolling close can streamline compliance for SaaS companies in regulated industries, who must keep their books current

A valued customer of Sage Intacct, Ground Control offers a great example of what can happen when a company automates its close cycle.

Ground Control now closes 55% faster using Sage Intacct

Ground Control specializes in connecting communication devices in some of the most remote and challenging regions around the world, for applications ranging from forestry to mining, agriculture, and more.

The company has charted steady growth over more than two decades and now serves 4,500 customers in 130 countries.

Reflecting this growth, Ground Control recently underwent a merger with the firms Rock Seven and Wireless Innovations.

They needed accounting software that would provide a unified view of their business data across these entities and allow them to close their books with confidence.

So, after an end-of-life cutoff of their previous accounting solution, they opted for Sage Intacct.

“One big value we have with Sage Intacct is one source of data truth we can rely on once we close the books, versus always second-guessing yourself.”

Tina Gantley,
Group Financial Controller, Ground Control

Thanks to our software’s automated multi-entity consolidations, Ground Control got its financial close down from 11 days to just five, a 55% reduction.

This has given the company’s finance team considerably more time to devote to strategic initiatives and helped them utilize resources more efficiently. 

Key takeaways for SaaS CFOs

For SaaS finance leaders, a smooth and efficient close lays the groundwork for better decision-making and long-term growth.

Keep the following points in mind as you work to streamline your company’s monthly close cycle:

• turning close management into a continuous real-time process is the key to optimizing efficiency
• M&A activity can significantly complicate your close cycle, but Sage Intacct’s rolling close automation can get everything straightened out
• for SaaS companies in regulated industries, cloud accounting software can facilitate a timely close and help avoid non-compliance fines
• automating your close will enable you to scale your organization without increasing your finance department’s headcount
• Sage Intacct’s multi-entity consolidation helps SaaS companies streamline their financial close even when operating internationally — 200+ currencies supported 

Remember, the goal in all of this is to get to the point where you could run your P&L numbers at any time and be very close to the actual figures.

Accounting AI can make that happen.

Embrace a better close with Sage Intacct

For SaaS CFOs looking to win their market, optimizing the month-end close is a strategic imperative.

If you’re combing through your department looking for sources of manual errors and wasted time that you could automate for efficiency, your financial close should be near the very top of your list.

Wondering how the magic of cloud accounting can streamline your company’s close and make your life a bit less hectic?

Click here to sign up for a coffee break demo of Sage Intacct.