IBM Cognos Financial Analytics

Overview

Actionable information on your financial performance.

IBM Cognos Financial Analytics, part of IBM Cognos Performance Applications, deliver hundreds of pre-built reports, metrics, and connections to standard data sources to help you understand your financial performance, cash flow, vendor relationships, and more.

Answer key questions such as:

  • What are the days sales outstanding (DSO)? How has this changed over time?
  • What is the margin for customers, by region?
  • How do our profit centers rank? Which has been the most profitable?
  • What regions, products, and customers are top contributors to bad debt?
  • What money is owed this period? What percentage is past due?
  • Which vendors have outstanding invoices? How much money is owed?

With the information found in IBM Cognos Financial Analytics reports and metrics, monitor and report on performance using these key areas:

  • Customer credit—understand customer payment patterns, the cost to serve them, and the risk of non-payment in any given period.
  • Cash inflow—forecast cash inflow to ensure you have sufficient cash to cover purchases, expenses, financing, and operations.
  • Key financial ratios—analyze leverage, liquidity, and profitability to provide an accurate picture of your current financial standing. Compare current performance to past results.
  • Financial performance—monitor, manage and communicate financial performance through income statements and balance sheets.
  • Vendor accounts—analyze vendor payment history and share results with procurement and inventory. Use as a basis for cash outflow forecasting and managing vendor relationships.
IBM Cognos Financial Analytics draws on these three modules:
  • Accounts Receivable Analysis—reports and metrics covering customer credit, cash inflow, organizational effectiveness, and shipping performance.
  • General Ledger—reports and metrics covering profit centers, overall income, financial ratios, operational performance, and account balances.
  • Accounts Payable—reports and metrics covering cash outflow, supplier relationships, discounts, terms of payment, and overdue accounts.