Time for Real-Time Financial Reporting?
In Montreal, a financial planner can set a trigger to distribute a financial report the moment their budget is exceeded. In New Hampshire, accountants can easily look at the number, type and relationship between a taxpayer’s bills, all in a single portal. And in LA, a self-service data analytics tool allows users to create the data visualisations they need on demand.
Montreal, New Hampshire and LA are among a handful of municipal governments using emerging technology – like real-time financial reporting – to get the most out of their data.
A CPA Journal article this week compares these case studies into real-time municipal reporting to outline the opportunities this approach could unlock, and understand the challenges preventing implementation.
Modernising municipal reporting with XBRL data standards opens the door to more time-sensitive reporting that can increase flexibility, allow for customisation, and improve business efficiency.
Municipal financial reporting has long been plagued by particularly long delays, and being able to quickly access, understand and analyse data would benefit everyone, from investors and data users to the reporting entity itself.
Although implementing real time reporting and increased machine-readability in data presents a challenge, the clear benefits make it a worthy, and timely, initiative to take on. Lessons here for government reporting the world over, we suspect.
Read more here.
