{"id":2554,"date":"2016-03-29T18:55:19","date_gmt":"2016-03-29T18:55:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.peeriosity.com\/shared-services\/articles\/?p=2554"},"modified":"2022-08-03T06:45:34","modified_gmt":"2022-08-03T06:45:34","slug":"utilizing-third-party-tools-to-better-manage-the-closing-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peeriosity.com\/shared-services\/articles\/2016\/03\/utilizing-third-party-tools-to-better-manage-the-closing-process\/","title":{"rendered":"Utilizing Third-Party Tools to Better Manage the Closing Process"},"content":{"rendered":"

Even with the proliferation of ERP systems in recent years, the accounting close continues to be a major resource drain for most companies.\u00a0 To streamline this critical process, many companies have adopted the use of a variety of third-party tools that are now available in the marketplace that are designed to seamlessly interface with the major ERP systems, such as SAP, Oracle, and PeopleSoft.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A recent Peeriosity PeercastTM<\/sup> featured a major energy company operating in approximately 80 countries, with over 80,000 employees and a variety of different brands.\u00a0 Considering the size and complexity of this company, it would be an understatement to say that the accounting close is anything less than challenging, even with well-developed processes and leading-edge technology in place.\u00a0 Also, to assist in this monumental effort, a significant portion of the General Accounting function<\/a> has been outsourced to Accenture, a leading global professional services company.<\/span><\/p>\n

As part of the Accenture relationship, the feature company is provided with access to the Accenture Planning and Control Tool (APC), which is a comprehensive and collaborative task management control tool that enables management and process owners to capture and track critical path activities and issues in a real-time environment.\u00a0 Some of the functionality of this tool includes the following:<\/span><\/p>\n