With data volumes increasing exponentially and regulatory reporting requirements becoming ever more complex, Finance functions are demanding more from their technology partners to support the delivery of their reporting processes.
The complexity of both the data and the accounting rules in the Lloyd’s Market make data preparation a significant bottleneck in financial reporting. This puts demand for the automation of reporting high on the Finance function’s strategic agenda. The integration of advanced technologies is now enabling Finance to realise change, with machine learning and cloud computing being two of the critical enablers:
- Machine learning provides the real-time analysis of large data sets needed to automate the application of rules and data transformations. It enables accounting rules to be applied against complex data sets in a standardised and controlled way, providing the accountant with both reporting outputs and a risk assessment of process outcomes;
- New data streaming technologies aligned to cloud-based processing mean that finance functions can now have the flexibility and performance in their IT infrastructure needed to deliver end-to-end finance reporting automation.
The outcome is that Finance no longer needs to run periodic reporting processes, as the implementation of new and complementary technologies means that the data they need for reporting is always ready, a significant value adds to the business.