This article will zoom in on financial reporting and budgeting processes, with a focus on the BI solutions that aid the hotel and restaurant industry in financial reporting and budgeting demands, for Microsoft Dynamics users.
Today’s business world looks more and more to Business Intelligence (BI) analytics as an important way to make sense of your company data for richer decision-making regarding the future of your hotels or restaurants. Whether you’re new to the world of BI or not, modern tech solutions can be unclear in what they actually offer for your hospitality-specific needs. Recently, Solver worked with an accountant in the hotel industry, and we heard her loud and clear about how overwhelming it can be to find the right software to help her management team to make choices and move forward. Because of this interaction, we are going to dedicate this article to demystifying the top features and functions you should know about in the modern reporting and planning technology marketplace, zooming in on ways you can manage and analyze your data using Microsoft Dynamics for your hotel or restaurant.
We’ll begin by admitting that there are some primary characteristics that make up the most dynamic, powerful, and easy-to-use BI solutions. First of all, you have a couple of options in terms of integrating your company data. You can run reports directly from Microsoft Dynamics with some third party software. Integrating live means that you can achieve real-time analytics, with up-to-date information right from Dynamics. Another option involves a BI data store, like an OLAP cube or a data warehouse, which are spaces that can store diverse company data types on a stable platform, delivering high performance analyses.
Involved in BI data stores is the replication of your information from Dynamics (and other sources) to the BI database, in order to get an up-to-date report. OLAP cubes and data warehouses are more streamlined in producing reports and budgets, as opposed to querying data live from the Dynamics server, but it will be an additional investment. You will invest your money, time, and sometimes, additional staffing to manage the added technology. Every company has their own particular objectives, so you’ll have to know what you want and need.
You’ll also want to evaluate technology platforms. Today’s third party reporting and planning solutions can be Excel- or web-based, proprietary, or a hybrid. Because of Excel’s popularity within the finance professional world, it would seem like Excel should be the obvious option, but there are other choices to consider. Modern Excel technology platforms are toolbar additions that streamline and enhance Excel to more effectively evaluate and make plans with your company data. And additionally, the Web has become the increasingly popular option in the software world.
To continue learning more about reporting and budgeting tools for hotels and restaurants, read the rest of this article here.
by Solver, Inc