Why Historical Financial Data Alone Isn’t Enough for Growth

Key Takeaways 

• Sage Intacct transforms financial reporting from data summaries to strategic insights. This helps finance leaders move beyond relying solely on historical data and instead support forward-looking decisions.  
• Sage Intacct is equipped with powerful tools like Financial Report Writer, Interactive Custom Report Writer, and Interactive Visual Explorer which equip organizations to customize, analyze, and visualize reports in real-time, saving hours and enhancing decision-making.  

Every organization depends on accounting reports to provide historical business data and a past view of financial position. However, with the rapid evolution of automation and digital intelligence in financial management tools, reporting capabilities can move your financial summaries from static to strategic.  

Moving Beyond Data Summaries 

Foundational reports such as profit and loss statements, cash flow statements, and balance sheets remain essential for assessing financial health.  While these reports provide critical insights, they are inherently backward-looking and reflect only past performance.  

As financial operations become more streamlined and less error-prone through intelligent automation, controllers and chief financial officers can now shift their focus from data integrity to forward-thinking strategies.  With financial solutions like Sage Intacct, financial leaders are better equipped to participate in strategic discussions that articulate their organization’s story and shape its future. Whether preparing a board presentation, developing a reporting package for capital raise, or supporting a crucial leadership meeting, the right reports move beyond describing past performance to guiding the organization’s future.  

Supporting Your Reporting Needs  

The business software market offers a vast array of reporting and analysis tools at varying price points, many with integration capabilities across accounting platforms. Sage Intacct stands apart from the rest as the only AICPA-approved financial management solution designed to support both accounting compliance and modern reporting requirements. With comprehensive, built-in reporting capabilities, the platform transforms your financial data into actional insights helping organizations plan, perform, and grow.  

Building Flexible Financial Reports 

Sage Intacct’s core Financial Report Writer offers flexibility with financial and dimensional data across expanded statements and functional reporting.  The ability to layer statistical data on top of a financial statement or easily create profit and loss reports by department and location help finance leaders drive strategic planning conversations. The Custom Report Writer, also included in Sage Intacct’s core package, extends reporting beyond standard financial statements. It allows users to create tailored, operational reports—such as pay files, open purchase orders by project, or employee rates by location—bringing financial and nonfinancial data together in a single view.  

Used together, these reporting tools empower finance leaders to move past baseline reporting. These tools support faster analysis, more informed decision-making, and the ability to confidently answer business questions as they arise.  

Interactive Custom Report Writer 

The Interactive Custom Report Writer (ICRW) supports building even deeper analysis by creating multidimensional reports with real-time drill-down capabilities. Controllers and CFOs can filter, sort, and analyze data across multiple objects and tables. This integration creates a more dynamic and customizable reporting experience. 

Designed to reduce reliance on spreadsheets, ICRW allows users to interact with live data rather than exporting reports for manual analysis. This tool includes a library of prebuilt reports that can be customized to fit specific business needs, making advanced reporting accessible to users at varying skill levels. With Sage Intacct’s user-friendly interface, teams are empowered to create custom interactive reports or work with a Sage Intacct partner, such as EisnerAmper, when additional expertise is desired. 

Going Beyond Reporting with Interactive Visual Explorer  

Interactive Visual Explorer (IVE) enhances ICRW reports by delivering visual dashboards, trend analysis, and data exploration in minutes. For organizations that frequently prepare materials for executive presentations, IVE can reduce the manual workload spent gathering and formatting data, creating charts, and combining spreadsheets in Excel.   

In addition, IVE enables real-time data exploration during meetings, allowing users to drill into reports, visualize patterns, and pivot back to the discussion without interruption. This capability eliminates delays and keeps meetings focused on collaboration and high value conversations. 

Final Considerations 

Organizations moving away from legacy platforms such as QuickBooks Desktop or Microsoft Dynamics Great Plains have an opportunity to modernize not only their financial systems, but also how they use data to support decision-making. The shift to an easy-to-use cloud-based financial management platform enables greater visibility, agility, and confidence in reporting across the organization.  

Sage Intacct supports this transition by turning historical financial data into timely, actionable insights.  This, in turn, reduces manual effort, supports visual storytelling, and enables finance leaders to move from retrospective reporting to forward-looking strategy. Realizing this value requires more than just technology. A thoughtful implementation and reporting strategy is essential to establish a platform that aligns with your organization’s operations today and into the future. 

Getting Started with Sage Intacct 

EisnerAmper’s Sage Intacct team helps organizations translate strategy into execution—providing the guidance and tools needed to streamline business processes and support continued growth. Our goal is to equip your organization with the skills to maximize productivity and fully leverage Sage Intacct’s capabilities, from implementation through long-term support and optimization.  

Are you ready to embrace the future? Contact us below to learn more.