Epicor’s Financial Management solution is an incredibly powerful suite of tools for finance departments, and at its core is the General Ledger module. Although the GL isn’t consciously used outside the accounting function it is linked to all aspects of the business operations. In this post, we’re going to look at the key features and benefits of Epicor GL, and how it can help you achieve better financial reporting.
Flexibility for a range of requirements
First and foremost, Epicor GL gives you the ability to record and report on finances for a wide variety of requirements from one central place and without the need for repeat data entry. The multiple books functionality allows you to establish unlimited financial books which are seamlessly consolidated into a single view and one version of financial truth. Whether you’re tracking subsidiaries, setting up books for forecasting, statutory vs management accounting or consolidations, GL can help you do this whilst removing the complexity.
Another thing that the multiple books functionality gives you is flexibility around timings. Each book can have a different financial calendar assigned. This is particularly useful if you’re acquiring a new business – you may need to maintain multiple calendars during the transition period of bringing the acquired company in line with the core business. The ability to give each book a completely independent financial calendar gives you the capability and the freedom to do this in a timeframe that suits all of the parties involved. Epicor GL gives maximum flexibility to businesses with multiple sites, multiple currencies, multiple geographies and multiple subsidiaries and partners.
Time saver
Epicor GL’s central architecture is designed to make it as easy as possible to maintain a range of accounts, whilst still maintaining a consistent view of “the truth”, without the need for extensive admin and additional tasks for the user. Within Epicor, transactions post to different accounts within different books simultaneously without the user having to know. They are also able to process both management and statutory accounts at the same time without the need for multiple transaction entry. This streamlining of process will not only have an effect on the day-to-day, but will also have a noticeable impact when it comes to month and year-end.
Get better insight
The Chart of Accounts (COA) functionality within Epicor GL allows up to 20 user-defined segments, giving users the ability to record, store, allocate and report on financial data at a summary and highly granular level. Some segments can be defined as Dynamic which means that you can control postings from transactions to specific accounts based on, for example, the customer, supplier, project that is involved.
The Fastclose Financial Intelligence tool then allows you to report on customer/project profitability, for instance, in real time. If you operate across multiple sites you can view your P&L at the company level and also at branch level comparing performance instantly. You monthly board reports can become a daily event – vastly improving the information available for decision making.
Posting Engine
The rules-based global posting engine is central to the way Epicor applications work, and in particular, how Epicor Financial Management handles system transactions. Powerful enough to support the most complex global enterprise, with a need to configure comprehensive rules for how transactions from sub-ledgers are managed and posted to the general ledger, yet easy enough to support straightforward or out-of-the-box standards for smaller businesses.
It all comes together
As with most aspects of the Epicor ecosystem, you can often really begin to appreciate the value of a specific tool or module when you see how it seamlessly interacts to help you be more efficient, compliant and ultimately profitable. If you’d like to understand more about how Epicor could deliver value to your finance department and wider business, get in touch.
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