Having recently joined FastClose, Steve Hare, a 10-year veteran of Epicor consulting, shares his perspective on why many organizations are choosing FastClose over BAQs for operational reporting.
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This is where FastClose stands out. It eliminates the need for technical involvement. We provide over 100 out-of-the-box templates and solutions across all Epicor modules, finance, operations, inventory, sales, and more. That means users can simply open FastClose, select a report, and get the data they need. No technical setup. No waiting on IT. If you’re an accountant or operations lead, you can get answers in minutes.
Furthermore, while dashboards in Epicor allow linked data sets for drill-downs, these links are fixed within the dashboard. Screen real estate becomes a limitation quite quickly. FastClose reports come with flexible drill paths that enable rapid data analysis, and these can be easily configured by the end user to take them anywhere in the Epicor data set.
Danny Graham :
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That sounds great, but are there any limitations?
Steve Hare :
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Every tool has its limits, but FastClose keeps pushing the boundaries. At its core, FastClose builds what we call a ‘catalog, a set of best-practice templates designed to meet the most common reporting needs. Occasionally, a manager might request a very specific report that’s not in the catalog, but that’s not a problem. If it makes sense and could benefit others, the FastClose team quickly develops and adds it as a new shared template.
Effectively, we’re building a library of best-of-breed operational reports, all of which are fully drillable, giving users the ability to go from high-level numbers to granular transactions in seconds. Some of the most popular reports include GRNI, Stock Reconciliation, and Sales & Margin Analysis.
We’re also continuing to expand beyond Financials. For example, we’re building operational reports to support other areas such as:
- Job Closing – identify jobs to be closed and flag any issues that need attention, with drill-downs to operations, issued materials, labour transactions, etc.
- On-Time In-Full (OTIF) Delivery Metrics
- Operational Load vs. Capacity Analysis
And that’s just the beginning.
Danny Graham :
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Thanks Steve, so FastClose empowers end users, removes dependency on IT, accelerates reporting, and delivers answers faster.
For any organization running Epicor that’s still relying heavily on BAQs and dashboards, that’s going to be incredibly powerful.
To discover more about how FastClose can reduce reporting workload on IT and put it in the hands of end users
FastClose is a cutting-edge corporate performance management solution that empowers organizations to streamline financial reporting, data analysis, and dashboard creation. FastClose seamlessly integrates with popular BI tools like Power BI, allowing end-users to harness the full potential of their data.
