What is a Financial Disclosure Management system?
A disclosure management system provides organizations with a platform to author company reports by allowing them to create, manage, and publish documents and statements. With a meteoric rise in the frequency and volume of these disclosures over the years, we are seeing more transparency and accountability in publicly available financial and non-financial data. Companies are beginning to rely heavily on robust disclosure management solutions that enable them to publish high-quality disclosures.
Why is disclosure management important?
Disclosure management solutions empower companies to author corporate reports leveraging technology with ease and flexibility. It allows people to collaborate seamlessly with each other and improve the quality of disclosures. If a company is listed on an exchange, it instills trust in its many stakeholders and makes it more accountable for its business activities in those parts of the world where such disclosures are mandated. Investors and analysts can make more informed decisions and quell speculation. Regulators can ensure fair markets and lower information asymmetry. Good financial disclosures are therefore in everyone’s best interest.
What does a good solution bring?
A cloud-based disclosure management solution can make it a breeze to collaborate with colleagues and peers throughout the report generation process. This streamlines the whole activity by providing maximum visibility to all parties concerned and eliminating the dissonance between them, ensuring everyone is always on the same page. A good disclosure management solution brings tons of flexibility to its users by integrating source data from various systems and allowing it to generate a narrative for the efficient generation of corporate reports. A spotless audit trail is all but guaranteed with good disclosure management software, allowing you to also publish your reports in XBRL seamlessly if need be.
What should you look out for in a disclosure management solution?
Companies are generally looking for disclosure management software that will increase accuracy, control, and efficiency. Here we list some of the features that are absolutely essential for a smooth reporting process:
- Cloud-based SaaS offering allowing for seamless collaboration
- Easy-to-use UI (User Interface) and an enriching UX (User Experience)
- Permission-based access to report sections and workflows (for preparers, reviewers, and final sign off process)
- Smart data linking across document content for both text and numbers
- An extremely solid emphasis on data security
- Robust integration with a host of ERP software
- The ability to compare and create different versions of the same document
- The ability to create successive reports with ease (roll-forward feature)
- Ability to generate multiple report formats such as Word for internal review, PDF for website publications, and XBRL/iXBRL for any digital regulatory reporting requirements if any
While a lot of these features are now becoming commonplace, IRIS CARBON® has been offering them for a long time and continues to improve on them by means of customer feedback and rigorous internal testing.
How do you gauge a good solution?
When deciding which solution to choose for your organization, it is important to start internal discussions with all the teams directly or indirectly involved in disclosure reporting to identify existing obstacles in the process. Once everyone has weighed in and you have determined your final requirements, it is time to proceed with software and vendor due diligence. References from existing clients of a software provider are good indicators of their quality. There are a host of other variables that should be considered such as demos, training sessions, integration with your current source system, support and assistance, and even the ability to provide a sample report. Your solution of choice should also be able to provide you with the flexibility of bringing the process in-house if you so choose, instead of fully outsourcing it.
Why are disclosure management solutions becoming more commonplace?
As disclosures continue to swell in number, a lot of companies want to make information available that is accurate as well as precise. Failure to disclose certain data or misreporting can carry untenable consequences for them, both financial and reputational. A robust and trusted disclosure management solution can ensure that the reports produced are of the highest quality. This also makes financial markets a fair playground for all concerned stakeholders like analysts, traders, and investors. With a lot of the report creation slowly being automated, it also allows companies to run leaner and more efficient internal reporting teams thereby speeding up the process even further.
What are some of the salient features of IRIS CARBON®?
If you are looking for a solution that can aid your organization with corporate disclosures, IRIS CARBON® provides you with a mix of features you are unlikely to find anywhere else. You get:
- Unmatched collaboration
- Smart data linking
- Easy audit and review
- Version control
- One source, multiple outputs
- Unimpeded access to consultation and training
If you would like to learn more about these features, you can read more in our blog here.
