Top Financial Reporting Tools for Care Home Groups

Financial Reporting for Care Home Operators

Still wrestling with spreadsheets and outdated systems? You’re not alone, and you don’t have to settle for clunky reporting.

Care homes have a unique setup, so standard accounting software often doesn’t cut it. To get around this, finance teams spend hours manually building reports in Excel. But good news – there are several purpose-built reporting tools out there that give you the insights you need, without the headache.

In this article, we’ll walk you through three popular reporting tools that suit different budgets and needs: Microsoft Power BI, Sage Intacct and Interactive Visual Explorer.

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The Importance of Financial Reporting

Due to industry challenges and uncertainty, striking the balance between keeping the business viable and providing the best quality of care is an ongoing struggle. Financial reporting shows you the finer details, so you can steer the ship in the right direction.

Why it’s so important:

• Cash flow clarity: See where money’s coming in, going out and what slows it down
• Cost controls: Spot overspending, optimise funding and put controls in place
• Strategic planning: Build budgets, plan investments and make confident decisions
• Compliance: Accurate reports are key for stakeholders and regulators like CQC

However, if your tools aren’t up to scratch, reporting can be a real headache. Hours of manual data entry, inaccuracies and even more hours spent checking and re-checking data mean that getting the insights you need takes too long.

Microsoft Power BI

If you’re looking for a flexible add-on to boost your reporting tools, Power BI could be your new best friend.

It’s a business analytics tool that pulls data from different sources and turns it into fully customisable reports and dashboards. The visualisations bring your data to life through maps, pie charts, scatter charts and more.

Why it’s great:

• Combines data from multiple systems for a full picture
• Drill down into the details behind the visualisations with just a few clicks
• Can be accessed via desktop, cloud and mobile app
• Integrates with various systems (such as Sage 200) to reduce manual input

The beauty of Power BI is that it’s accessible for most people, all you need is a free account to get started. You don’t need to be a tech wizard or undergo extensive training, though existing knowledge of tools like Pivot Tables is beneficial.

You may need a paid subscription to use certain features, such as sharing and collaboration. Check Microsoft’s website for pricing information.

Sage Intacct

Looking for an all-in-one solution? Sage Intacct is a cloud-based accounting system with everything a finance leader could dream of, from AP automation to inter-company transactions and more.

The reporting and dashboard features empower you to build any report you need without being limited by the capabilities of the platform.

What makes it shine:

• Reports – Choose from over 150 pre-built reports, tweak them or build your own from scratch using advanced report builders and filters. Reports can also generate automatically based on a set schedule and distribute to the relevant people.
• Dashboards – Build as many custom dashboards as you like, combining reports, visual KPI cards, charts and more. Allowing you to track performance in real-time, compare entities and drill down directly to the granular detail.
• Dimensions – Tag your transactions with dimensions such as region, department or revenue stream to add layers to your reporting. This allows you to easily filter or group data in any way you want to for your reports and dashboards.

Plus, with all your entities on the same database, pulling all that data into reports is quick and easy, no manual entry and no fuss. When you have accurate data you can trust, it empowers you to make strategic decisions with confidence.

There’s so much more that Sage Intacct can do aside from financial reporting, find out more here.

Interactive Visual Explorer (IVE)

Interactive Visual Explorer (IVE) is an add-on for Sage Intacct which extends the built-in dashboard and reporting capabilities. It allows you to interact with your live data and explore it in more detail and from different angles through visualisations.

The interactive visuals tell a story, providing a deeper understanding of your data and helping you to spot trends, identify outliers and make decisions.

Why choose IVE:

• Sits natively within Sage Intacct
• No setup, implementation fees or server installation required
• Easy to use and there are numerous free resources from Sage to help you
• Sage Intacct users can access IVE without needing additional users
• Over 200 pre-built visualisations for you to use

Everything you build can be shared with the rest of the organisation by embedding in dashboards or exporting in various formats including PowerPoint, Excel or PDF.

Find out more about Sage Intacct IVE here.

Get Started Today

You shouldn’t have to bend your processes to work around outdated and inefficient systems. Let’s help you find a solution that works around your needs (and budget).

If you’d like to see Sage Intacct in more detail, check out our on-demand webinar ‘Strategic Planning for Today and Tomorrow with Sage Intacct’. In the video, you’ll see a demo system built to simulate a real care home, complete with dashboards and processes tailored to the industry. Click here to access the recording.

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To discuss Sage Intacct, Power BI or IVE in more detail, complete the enquiry form.