Game Of Numbers: Financial Reporting with GLSense

Efficient financial reporting keeps organizations pulsing. In essence, it lays the foundation for understanding performance from a wide and drilled-down perspective - enabling enterprises to scope out areas that require more attention and those that are thriving. It informs forecasting and decision-making at every level. This relies on how effectively finance teams can access, analyze, and present financial data. GL Wand has long since been the preferred tool for finance teams, especially those using Oracle E-Business Suite, because of its intuitive interface, powerful capabilities, and seamless integration with ERP systems. That being said, as more organizations migrate to Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP, an Excel financial reporting tool that is not just easy to use but offers real-time data analysis and can tap into data from multiple sources, including legacy data, is paramount. AirQuery’s GLSense is stepping up as an alternative to GL Wand for Oracle Fusion Cloud systems in this scenario. 

Let’s take a closer look at why GLSense is a good choice for Oracle Fusion financial reporting regarding GL Wand alternatives.

Must Watch: Check out how AirQuery can help with all your reporting needs 

GL Wand: The Tool Finance Teams Prefer

GL Wand has been the reporting tool of choice for finance teams for some time now. This real-time financial management software, designed to work with Oracle E-Business Suite, can access, analyze, share, and present financial data. It offers users intuitive tools and simplified workflows while enabling live access to data via Excel. It allows users to run ad hoc inquiries and generate drill-down reports, catering to diverse needs with dynamic reporting capabilities. Finance teams can easily customize and design reports to meet specific requirements, like generating income statements, balance sheets, or cash flow reports.

Some of the key features that make it such an invaluable tool include:

• Planning, budgeting, and forecasting tools
• Financial Account Hub (FAH) reporting capabilities
• Cost allocation models
• Dashboard interface
• Slice-and-dice analysis capabilities

In addition, GL Wand seamlessly integrates with ERP systems like Oracle E-Business Suite, eliminating the need for manual data extraction and thereby reducing human error occurrences. As hinted at earlier, it plays well with Excel, too. This integration enhances productivity by allowing users to work within the familiar Excel interface while leveraging the powerful reporting capabilities of GL Wand. Finance teams can perform calculations, create charts, and apply formatting – all within Excel.

Furthermore, GL Wand prioritizes security and compliance. The tool allows administrators to define and manage user access controls, ensuring that only authorized personnel can access and manipulate financial data. This safeguards sensitive information and enables organizations to comply with regulatory requirements and internal governance policies.

The Challenges with Oracle Fusion Cloud Financial Reporting 

It’s easy to see why GL Wand for Oracle ERP has been the mantra for finance teams. Why, then, would you consider GLSense for GL Wand or other alternatives? Concerns arise once organizations migrate from Oracle E-Business Suite and similar ERP systems to Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP. Using GL Wand for Oracle Fusion Cloud may not be the most effective and convenient solution for financial reporting. But before we dive further into alternatives, let’s examine some of the challenges with Oracle Cloud ERP financial reporting. 

Data Integration Complexity

One of the primary challenges in financial reporting with Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP is the complexity of integrating data from various sources. Extracting, consolidating, and integrating this data into a unified and coherent report demands a meticulous understanding of the system's architecture. 

Performance Bottlenecks with Large Datasets

As businesses grow, so does the volume of financial data. Handling large datasets for Fusion Cloud financial reporting can lead to performance bottlenecks. Generating reports that involve extensive data may result in delays, impacting the speed and efficiency of financial insights and decision-making processes. This challenge becomes more pronounced as organizations scale their operations.

Restrictions On Database Access For Excel

To secure data, Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications restrict access to databases. This limits the scope of data extraction only to the fields and attributes that OTBI provides. BI Publisher is another option but requires significant technical expertise. 

Data Security with Excel Integration

Directly connecting Excel to the cloud to streamline Oracle Cloud financial reporting potentially exposes data to risks. On the other hand, restricting access to data is another challenge when pulling data directly from Excel, as it significantly compromises the integrity of reports. Additionally, Oracle Fusion Cloud stores data in a structured manner using specific data types. Excel may not support these structures, and data integration and transformation might be required. This could potentially lead to loss and/ or misinterpretation of data. 

Must read: Migrating to Oracle Fusion Cloud? Find out how AirQuery can help unify your data.

GLSense: An Effective Alternative To GL Wand For Fusion Cloud Financial Reporting

AirQuery GLSense helps enterprises simplify and automate Fusion financial reporting in Excel. It is emerging as a convenient alternative to GL Wand for Fusion, offering a single platform for multi-source financial reporting. It simplifies the financial reporting process and provides accurate and timely information.

GLSense connects to a wider range of data sources, including non-Oracle systems, allowing users to integrate data from several sources into a single report or dashboard. It is far more flexible regarding data extraction and analysis from multiple sources like Oracle E-Business Suite and Oracle Cloud ERP than GL Wand. It offers users more control and allows them to construct complex reports. 

The key features that make GLSense a good choice for Oracle Fusion GL reporting include: 

Unified Financial Reporting & Analysis

GLSense empowers users to consolidate data stored in multiple sources, like Oracle EBS and Fusion Cloud, and eliminates the need for different tools, saving time and resources for finance teams. It breaks data silos, creating a single source of truth (SSOT). GLSense automates this data aggregation, thus eliminating manual processes and reducing human error. 

Excel Add-in 

GLSense is an add-in that retrieves data from the General Ledger without compromising security. It also leverages Excel features, like displaying data across multiple sheets in customized formats, carrying out complex calculations with pivot tables, and drilling down to individual transactional levels. It is a lightweight add-in that enables finance teams to access data from anywhere on a computer and ensures seamless Oracle Fusion Cloud GL reporting via Excel. 

Purpose-Built Analytics for GL Data from Within Excel

GLSense offers a 360-degree view of General Ledger data while allowing users to get into the details at the sub-ledger level straight from Excel. It provides an intuitive experience for complete drill-down and enables fast and easy distribution of financial reports without switching between applications. Pre-built drill-down reports enable users to get answers to business questions without extensive manual data analysis. Interactive charts, filters, and conditional formatting help achieve new insights into data and recognize trends and patterns that influence strategic decision-making.

GL Balance Cube for Different Perspectives

Seamlessly integrating data from multiple sources into a cube provides a comprehensive, holistic, real-time view of financial data. Organizations can analyze and interpret this data from various perspectives and gain business insights. 

Financial Statements & Reports

Create and generate various FSG Reports and statements such as Trial Balance reports, Balance sheets, or financial statements straight from the Cloud or On-premise ERPs such as Oracle Fusion Cloud, E-Business Suite, NetSuite, etc. GLSense also allows finance teams to accelerate key processes by quickly accessing several pre-built, sub-ledger drill-down reports for Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Fixed Assets, Inventory, Purchasing, and more. It also enables quick analysis of journal activity by creating charts, applying filters, and using conditional formatting.

Run & Schedule Financial Reports from Within Excel

With GLSense, finance teams can create financial statements and share financial reports as Excel workbooks.  

Real-Time Ad-hoc Reporting

Enterprises can harness the power of real-time data and account analysis, enabling them to 

audit financial transactions and ensure accuracy during period-end reconciliations. It provides an in-depth look at financial data, offering agility in Oracle Cloud ERP GL reporting and enabling better-informed decisions. 

Learn more about GLSense as a financial reporting solution.

Financial Reporting Convenience On Your Spreadsheet

The migration to Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP is inevitable; enterprises that have not yet made this leap are well on their way there. And that makes incorporating financial reporting tools that can easily access and analyze cloud and legacy data so important. A seamless integration with Excel is a bonus as it reduces the time finance teams need to acclimatize to it. Its ability to pull data from the cloud and legacy sources into Excel in real-time and with minimal manual intervention makes GLSense a convenient alternative to GL Wand for Oracle Cloud GL reporting. It streamlines real-time financial reporting processes, ensuring data accuracy, and empowers users to focus on meaningful analysis and decision-making. 

Empower your finance teams with GLSense. Try a free demo today!