Communication is critical to any restaurant group’s success and performance. Unfortunately, many inadvertently put up communication walls that slow down or bury critical financial processes. These walls can even result in companies losing thousands to millions of dollars.
Financial teams can benefit from improved communications by leveraging Sage Intacct’s collaboration tool, Sage Intacct Collaborate. Sage Intacct Collaborate is a powerful collaboration tool that effectively allows employees to connect, collaborate, and share files, data, and expertise.
Sage Intacct Collaborate provides an environment for employees to share insight and propose new and creative ideas.
Let’s look at an all-too-common scenario happening today at Yummy in My Tummy Restaurant’s finance team’s office.
- Sonny notices a General Ledger entry made by Jamie was posted in the wrong month. At least he thinks that the date is wrong, but he isn’t 100% sure.
- Sonny wants to ask Jamie about this. He could take a screenshot of the entry, which will have many steps to complete. So, instead, he writes down the journal entry number, minimizes his accounting program, and opens his email. He sends an email to Jamie to confirm the journal entry’s date.
- Jamie works within the accounting system, which is the ideal place to research Sonny’s questions. Still, he doesn’t notice Sonny’s email until the end of the day when he is late leaving for his son’s basketball game. Since Jamie closed out of the accounting system for the day, Sonny’s question will have to wait until tomorrow.
- Sonny has been working on putting out fires all day, and it is now the end of the day. He will have to tell his CFO there will be a delay in publishing the company’s financial package until he can connect with Jamie and get his questions answered.
- Jamie arrives at work the following day, completely unaware of the pain his lack of response has caused the group. But on a good note, his son scored the winning basket in last night’s game! After grabbing some coffee and chatting with his colleagues about his son’s accomplishments, he rereads the email, notes the journal number, and proceeds to open the accounting system to research Sonny’s question. Jamie then opens his email back up and answers Sonny’s question mid-morning.
Now, let’s replay this scenario by leveraging a new way of doing things.
Sonny notices a General Ledger entry made by Jamie was posted in the wrong month.
Sonny wants to ask Jamie about this.
- So, instead of jotting down the entry number, he clicks a box on the entry to ask Jamie about this date using Sage Intacct Collaborate.
Jamie works within Sage Intacct and can see Sonny’s question at the top of his screen.
- Had Jamie been at the dashboard reviewing the day’s past-due invoices on the dashboard, he would have seen Sonny’s question there, too. Jamie clicks on the link and is taken to the entry in question. No more clicking through and minimizing all those windows to do his research!
- Jamie can see the entry and notices he did indeed post the entry in the wrong period. He can instantaneously correct his mistake. He can even comment back to Sonny, letting him know the error has been corrected, and attach a copy of a spreadsheet as a backup.
- Sonny immediately sees the reply and can publish the monthly financial package on time for the CFO’s meeting with the rest of the management team.
So, where can you find this powerful tool and begin to leverage it? Good news! Sage Intacct Collaborate is part of the Sage Intacct subscription; all you need to do is subscribe, configure, and start to use it!
To subscribe to Intacct Collaborate within the subscription section of Sage Intacct, you will need to have the correct permissions or see your Sage Intacct admin for assistance. The configuration is as simple as clicking the correct integration option and verifying the Company information. You and the rest of your team are ready to begin improving communications through collaboration!
To begin to use Sage Intacct Collaborate, look for the chat bubble next to your name in the upper right-hand corner of Sage Intacct. This will take you to the Collaborate Center, where you can set up your user preferences, groups, and feeds.
To begin to chatter with your colleagues on records or transactions throughout Sage Intacct, look for the below feed image:
You can not see Collaborate on Sage Intacct pages such as AP Pay Bills or Generate Invoices. Collaborate is only available on records and transactions.
If you would like more information or to learn how this tool can be accessed, please get in touch with a Tablespoon team member.