I would like to take this opportunity to explain the value of automated and customised Management Reporting.


Although the standard Pastel reports are adequate for many businesses, there is a lot to be said for customised reports in Excel format. The flexibility and power of Excel allows one to present management information in creative and meaningful layouts, together with graphs and ratios.


Many businesses already do this, but not in an automated manner. The most common scenario is for the accountant to print out a number of standard Pastel reports, such as the trial balance, to Excel, and then a whole flurry of copying and pasting takes place, together with column inserting and deleting, until the final layout is achieved in Excel. And this routine repeats itself every month!


With Pastel’s Intelligence Reporting module (which is now a standard feature of Version 14 Advantage), an Excel template can be created for all your customised reports and, with a press of a button, the reports can be updated automatically with the current Pastel data.


This module frees up a huge amount of unproductive time, and allows the business to pull management information more timeously and efficiently, enabling management to make key decisions when it matters.


If you are not aware of this module, or would like to take advantage of it, please let me know. I can assist you in designing management reports that are unique to your business and that can add value immediately to your business decision making.