For a finance team transitioning from Microsoftโs sunsetted Management Reporter (MR) to new reporting software, the challenges and risks of recreating financial reports are substantial.
Depending on the complexity of reports and the software chosen as the Management Reporter replacement, the process of converting financial reports from Management Reporter to a new reporting tool can take anywhere from ten minutes to six months or longer.
In this article we will begin with the latter scenario and explore the many roadblocks that finance teams should be aware of when planning their transition. We will then share a use case from a Microsoft customer with 80 different reporting entities that overcame these roadblocks and successfully converted all their financial reports from Management Reporter into our ReportFYI software within ten minutes.
Time and Cost Considerations When Converting Reports from Management Reporter
1. Complexity of Reports
Basic financial statements like income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements may take 1-2 weeks each to recreate, depending on how well the new system supports standard templates. But highly detailed reports with specific dimensions, rollups, or departmental breakdowns could take several weeks to months each, especially if they require advanced customization.
Report packages are also an important consideration. Carefully redesigning report packages such as board reports, consolidated statements, or region/manager summaries may involve multiple interlinked components that could easily require several months to fully rebuild and validate.
2. Number of Reports
As the number of reports increases, so does the total time required. 10-20 reports may take 2-4 months to rebuild, whereas 50+ reports could require six months or more depending on the complexity and resources available.
3. Software Features and Support
Software with robust automation and pre-built integrations like ReportFYI for Dynamics can speed up the process. But a lack of automation or poor support may add weeks to months for manual adjustments and troubleshooting.
4. Training and Learning Curve
Staff will need time to learn the new software, leading to reduced productivity during the transition period. Associated costs involve not only loss of efficiency and delays in getting financial statements into the hands of decision makers, but also the potential need for unanticipated paid training sessions.
5. Consulting Fees
External consultants may be required to set up and configure the new software, train staff, or provide support during the transition. If the new system is complex and not user-friendly, the finance team may be unable to work independently and therefore become reliant on ongoing consulting help โ with an average cost of $100-$300/hour, depending on the level of expertise.
6. Data Cleanup, Validation, and Testing
Migrating data often requires significant time for cleaning and organizing financial data to ensure it is compatible with the new system. Recreated reports require thorough validation to ensure accuracy, which can absorb significant time and resources. This process almost always involves additional labor hours for testing and debugging, or the need to hire consultants to resolve issues.
7. Loss of Historical Data Usability
Transitioning to a new system often necessitates the decision to leave historical data behind. While scaling back on data may help optimize the new system, there are always ramifications for finance (read how FYIsoft helps you avoid this in this blog post). If historical reports or data are not fully migrated, recreating them later for analysis or audits could incur additional time and expenses.
How to Bypass a Painful Transition from Management Reporter
The potential delays and added costs involved with converting reports from Management Reporter can be significant. What may have seemed like an insignificant piece of a much larger transition to a new ERP can oftentimes result in months of delays, significant budget overruns, and mounting frustrations for both the finance team and the many stakeholders who may be lacking the real-time financial data needed to make decisions.
Fortunately for Microsoft customers, there is a way to avoid all of these problems and successfully get up and running with a new reporting system in as little as ten minutes. The following use case outlines the journey of one such customer.
Use Case: How One Microsoft Customer Converted Reports from Management Reporter to a New Reporting Software in Ten Minutes
For this growing healthcare enterprise with 80 entities, financial reporting is complex, which was a priority concern for CFO Brandon Malanowski. The finance team had become expert users of Microsoftโs Management Reporter, a tool that had been weaved into the teamโs monthly financial close processes. However, since Management Reporter is a legacy product and not available in the cloud, it would no longer be an option.
It was time to find a new financial reporting engine for Business Central โ one that would fill the gap that Management Reporter was leaving and bring minimal disruption to the finance team.
โThe minute I saw a demo of ReportFYI, I knew I could begin using it right away,โ recalls Brandon. โThe functionality was so similar to Management Reporter. There were some additional features that would make our reporting even easier, so there was a small learning curve. But at a basic level, I could have begun creating our initial reports right away.โ
Fortunately, he didnโt have to recreate all those reports, thanks to FYIsoftโs unique report conversion tool.
Automated Report Conversion from Management Reporter
With ReportFYI, Management Reporter users gain tremendous value from FYIsoftโs automated report conversion tool. The software converts existing Management Reporter (or FRx) reports into FYIsoftโs report format, with average accuracy rates of 80-90%, thus avoiding the need to manually recreate hundreds of financial reports.
Before making the conversion, Brandon made the wise decision to audit the companyโs existing report structures and eliminate or edit reports that had become outdated or unused over the years. โIf I hadnโt done that [clean up], we literally could have been up and running with our new reports that same day โ maybe within ten minutes of the port. The process was so easy, and FYIsoftโs support team was outstanding.โ
This video overview provides a glimpse at the ease in which reports are automatically converted from Management Reporter into FYIsoftโs financial reporting software, ReportFYI.
Ensuring an easy, pain-free transition from Management Reporter begins with this automated conversion process, but that is only the beginning of the benefits for Microsoft customers. ReportFYI is even more powerful than Management Reporter. Brandonโs team has decreased the time spent on reporting by at least 50% by leveraging powerful automation features found in ReportFYI:
- Automated multi-entity consolidation and reporting
- Automated creation of reports and report packages
- Automated one-click report distribution: all reports, to all the right report owners, with just one click
- Automated financial statement formatting
- Automated integration of financial data across reporting, budgeting, and analytics for customers with FYIsoftโs full suite that includes ReportFYI, BudgetFYI and AnalyticsFYI
Schedule a demo and see why Microsoft customers are choosing FYIsoft for a no-pain transition from Management Reporter.