Drill Down!

Ever been to a financial presentation before the Board, and watch the Controller trying to substantiate dollars . . . . . .

Ever been to a financial presentation before the Board, and watch the Controller trying to substantiate dollars in a particular account?  I have, many times, and it “tain’t funny McGee.” There he is, frantically thumbing through reams of paper looking for that lost posting.  Sounds of stuttering and a lot of sweating occur at moments like this. 

There is a better way, providing you have the right software!  A good G/L system needs to have the ability to “drill down” into an account and present to the viewer all postings to that account.  Sadly, there are only a few G/L systems that can do this, and even some of those are hampered by lack of historical detail data because they accumulate detail transactions into summary accounts every time a reporting period is closed.

Imagine how nice it would be having this type of software connected to a projection system on the Controller’s laptop.  When a Board member asks the question, “Why is the Board’s entertainment account 50% over budget?” The Controller can instantly display the fact that the Board consumed 3 cases of Scotch at the last quarterly meeting!  It may not have been the answer that they expected, but at least this time the Controller would not be the one stuttering and sweating!

This is but one example, albeit rather whimsical, on how this type of software can be used.  Think of all the uses it would have in everyday situations.  Rather than have to dig through all of the posting reports (if you can even find them) to determine what happened to an account, just drill down to the detail. 

Drill down is a fantastic tool, and every system should have this ability.  Are you listening, developers?