5 Ways How Outsourced Record-to-Report Services Define Success for Manufacturers

Owing to the business turmoil that has unfolded in the wake of the pandemic, the manufacturing industry now finds itself at a crossroads. While there still seems to be uncertainty around new variants of the virus and potential lockdowns, manufacturers, on the whole, are quite aggressive about business recovery and expansion. In this environment, data has come to take the centerstage and manufacturing businesses find themselves reevaluating their record-to-report (R2R) service providers more than ever before.

What is the Importance of Record-to-Report Services in Manufacturing?

Over the course of time, data has emerged to be the most valuable resource on the planet. Manufacturers, irrespective of the company size, end up generating a great deal of financial data pertaining to inventory, sales, customers and operations amongst more.

In addition to producing financial statements that comply with local accounting standards, an efficient R2R function also provides strategic, financial and operational feedback on business performance. When a business fails to utilise the potential of this data, not only does it result in poor business decisions, but can also impact a company’s overall growth.

In order to overcome bandwidth issues and avoid high costs associated with hiring full-time data scientists, finance leaders often enable their record-to-report process transformation by partnering up with an experienced third-party vendor.

How Do Record-to-Report Outsourcing Services Benefit Manufacturers?

On a holistic level, outsourcing record-to-report services to a specialist vendor helps a business streamline the function, automate redundant tasks and avoid costs associated with hiring onshore resources. Let us look how these partnerships can particularly help manufacturing companies turbocharge their growth plans:

1. Know Your Customer Better: One of the biggest advantages of optimising the R2R function is that you get in-depth insights on your consumer base. This can help a business better understand the needs of their customers and modify their product to meet their specific needs ensuring that you stay ahead of competition.

RELATED CASE STUDY: Read the case story to find out how QX’s outsourced record-to-report services helped a leading PBSA company in UK standardise reporting activities across sites.

Additionally, such an exercise also helps understand the consumer’s pain points. This information can prove to be vital while defining the brand’s voice and designing marketing campaigns. A combination of right customer base, correct communication channels and targeted messaging will lead to successful campaigns executed at lower costs.

2. Planned & More Thoughtful Production: When you work with a dedicated record-to-report outsourcing service provider, you are most likely to get a much better understanding of your inventory. An experienced R2R service provider can leverage data to decode demand patterns to keep production levels in check and maximise sales & profits. During the course of inventory analysis, businesses also stand a chance to identify bottlenecks and other factors hampering production.

In addition, a dedicated team of data experts can also delve deeper to consider factors that affect demand shifts and make predictive analysis related to consumer behaviour.

3. Improved Team Efficiency: Since manufacturing, as an industry, relies heavily on working capital, team productivity plays a key role in determining the profitability of any business. Outsourcing record-to-report services provides increased transparency around sales, production, input & output and revenue. This data can then be leveraged to identify loopholes in the supply chain and facilitate actions like process optimsation and technology implementation.

4. Accelerated Expansion: Introducing new products is one of the most common techniques adopted by manufacturing companies to propel business expansion. However, introducing a new product is a risky move that involves substantial investment of time, money & resources. An outsourced R2R function allows businesses to better understand the market scenario, feasibility of the product, competitor analysis and predict sales.

5. Superior Customer Experience: Owing to the fluid nature of the modern marketplace, to say that the needs and expectations of an average consumer have evolved, would be an understatement. Businesses that value customer relationships and provide customised service are likely to stay ahead of the curve and prosper in this post-pandemic scenario. Working with a record-to-report outsourcing service provider can allow companies to better understand matrices like demand patterns and customer expectations to provide superior experience.

RELATED BLOG: Do you know that manufacturing companies commonly leverage Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems to optimise finance & accounting. Read the blog to find out the key benefits of an ERP system.

Enabling Record-to-Report Process Transformation with QX

Deciding to outsource record-to-report activities for your manufacturing business is surely the first step to your transformation journey but it is actually the process of choosing a vendor that can determine the success or failure of your project.

Remember, while outsourcing R2R to a company, you are essentially sharing all your critical financial data with them. Therefore, it is important to choose a reliable and experienced company that understands your specific needs and devises customised solutions.

QX Global Group’s outsourced record-to-report services introduce a dedicated team of data experts to your business to streamline reporting and enable smarter business decisions. Get in touch to speak with our experts today!

Originally published Dec 23, 2021 11:12:54, updated Mar 08 2022

Topics: Record-to-report cycle