“The only thing that is constant is change.”
– Heraclitus of Ephesus
Within the ever-changing world of business, regulatory change stands out as particularly daunting to even the most experienced CFO. Time-bound, complex and often impacting multiple departments, failure to meet regulatory deadlines can result in fines, loss of stakeholder confidence and wasted employee time.
Over the last several years Aptitude Software has worked with global companies to implement software solutions to drive new standards governing Revenue Recognition (IFRS 15 / ASC 606), Financial Instruments (IFRS 9), Insurance Contracts (IFRS 17) and Leasing (IFRS 16 / ASC 842.) And we’ve learned a thing or two along the way. Our global delivery team, backed by our Centre of Excellence, has delivered many regulatory change projects over the last 5 years. Bringing project accelerators, best practices and years of experience, they help organizations achieve their goals. From compliance to complete finance transformation, our teams have delivered it all.
Our implementation team’s deep accounting expertise is a market differentiator. Many of our consultants are trained CPAs which gives us the ability to ‘speak the language of finance’ while simultaneously translating regulatory requirements into technological capabilities that automate data collection, accounting rule application, calculations, and reporting.
Deep accounting knowledge was a true value-add for one telecommunications client. During their revenue recognition project, they noted, “going with Aptitude Software was the right choice. We have spent so much time defining accounting policy and identifying data, we would not have had time to develop an accounting solution.” Another client remarked on our ability to understand their business, “we usually don’t need our technology partners to speak so much accounting but, in this situation, it’s been a big enabler.”
In the words of ancient Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, “the only thing constant is change.” Our team at Aptitude Software is always thinking about how to help CFOs understand and respond to constantly changing markets, product and shifts in customer desires. Our specialist software solutions help them meet their strategies and ambitions.
Learn more about the standards and how our finance specialist software can help your organization.
Leasing (IFRS 16 / ASC 842)
In order to achieve compliance, most finance teams will face data, systems, process and workflow challenges that will require time and thought to overcome. One of the largest B2B/B2C technology selected Aptitude’s Lease Accounting software to meet their requirements – handle high lease volumes, business and lease complexity and multi-GAAP reporting.
Revenue Recognition (IFRS 15 / ASC 606)
The revenue recognition standard went into effect for public companies early this year but private companies, who were given an additional year to comply, are still in the throes of implementation. We are proud to have helped companies like Intuit, Ciena, Red Hat and VMware as well as 3 of the largest 4 North American Telcos achieve revenue recognition compliance. We continue to work with many private companies (and public companies who have engaged us after failed implementations) to deliver revenue recognition compliance.
Insurance Contracts (IFRS 17)
IFRS 17 is the biggest accounting change ever to hit insurance organizations. Data granularity, timing of data flows, linking disparate systems and incorporating regional and other regulatory requirements are just some of the challenges insurers will have to overcome. We are currently involved in IFRS 17 implementations across the globe and engaged with over 120 insurers in the RFP/vendor selection process.
Financial Instruments (IFRS 9)
The IFRS 9 standard, which had an effective date of 1 January 2018, introduces a new methodology for financial instruments classification and the incurred loss impairment model is replaced with a more forward looking expected loss model. This is all in addition to the major new requirements on hedge accounting. We helped a large Irish bank comply with IFRS 9 using our Accounting Hub sub-ledger solution. This gave them a trusted finance data repository with granular detail to feed calculation engines and reporting tools, all delivered in under 12 months to make the compliance deadline. We are also currently assisting Insurers like FWD, who have chosen to implement IFRS 9 and IFRS 17 concurrently.
