Meeting the challenges facing the Finance team in Retail

In a sector where competitive pressure is fierce and change is the only constant, most Finance teams spend more time than they would like wrestling with spreadsheets and reacting to queries. There is precious little time left to contribute to issues of performance management and direction.

The LAKE SunSystems solution will release you from the stress and hassle of spreadsheet forecasting and the routine cycle of accounting and reporting, and help you take a much more active role in the management of overall business performance.

Fully integrated with budgeting and forecasting

With a LAKE solution that includes SunSystems Budgeting and Forecasting, Finance is able to take a more active role in predicting the impact of changes in tactics, business conditions, and strategic direction.

The solution builds on underlying General Ledger code structures to support continuous budgeting, rolling forecasts, and "what-if" analyses.

With detailed operational plans (e.g. by Department, Team, Office, Project, etc) feeding into the P&L, Balance Sheet, and Cash Flow statements, SunSystems

encourages collaboration between different parts of the business
reduces the business risk and overhead associated with dozens of inter-linked spreadsheets.

The combination of SunSystems and LAKE's rapid implementation method represents a cost-effective Performance Management solution for your business.

Drive decisions on location profitability, organisational structure, operations and new ventures

User-friendly web-based Reporting and Performance Management tools ensure that managers can uncover and analyse the trends, problems and opportunities that are often concealed in detailed transactional data. Within seconds they can understand the "who, what, when, where, why, and how" of their bottom line.

Monitor the performance of every aspect of the business

With a LAKE SunSystems solution managers can analyse activity mapped against their own unique key performance indicators (KPI's) and business dimensions such as location, branch, cost centre, expense type etc. User-defined hierarchies can be used to aggregate and segment these KPI's and dimensions in line with actual or projected business models, giving managers a unique insight into every facet of their business.

Share information and collaborate with employees, partners, customers and suppliers

The LAKE SunSystems solution is XML-enabled, and employs web portal self-service technologies to deliver information to employees, managers, partners, customers, and suppliers, helping them collaborate to drive the business forward.

Streamline the buying process and control spend

The LAKE SunSystems solution helps organisations bring spend under control. It provides managers and directors or partners with complete visibility of the cost pipeline and validates every purchase request and commitment against budget at any level. At the same time, transparent processes and sophisticated approval-routing, guarantee improved governance within a clear, structured, controlled spending policy.

Produce financial and management reports at the click of a mouse

At the click of a mouse the LAKE SunSystems solution allows you to produce reports from the same underlying database for all interested stakeholders; including board members, committees, management, budget-holders, employees, the public, the government, and regulatory authorities.