In the following interview, [name] explains how Opti.View helps to process and analyse the data provided by the company. Read the full interview between hsp and Mr Schafi-Neya here.
The interview in full
hsp: Mr Schafi-Neya, thank you very much for agreeing to answer a few questions for our clients. What sort of tasks do you typically undertake in your client projects?
Mr Schafi-Neya: Managing the flood of data in multinational companies is becoming an ever-greater challenge. A group’s financial data is often stored on different IT systems (SAP, Oracle, Navision, Datev, etc.), which makes it considerably more difficult to carry out a consistent analysis of the data. Added to this are difficult tasks such as migrating to other systems. The complexity of the application systems means that only trained users are able to utilise them for data extraction and processing. This is costly and increases reliance on individual staff members. The process of gathering data and information for purposes such as consolidation, VAT verification, transfer pricing, e-balance sheets, etc., is very labour-intensive and costly, and highly prone to errors when carried out manually. Financial data in the systems of foreign subsidiaries often appears like a black box when viewed remotely and is difficult and labour-intensive to analyse and validate.
hsp: What is the aim of your relational data model?
Mr Schafi-Neya: The company should make do with simple application resources that are already available wherever possible. That is why I opted to use the pivot table functionality in MS Excel to query and analyse the company’s data. My approach, based on a relational data model:
- is independent of the source system (SAP, Oracle, Navision, Datev, etc.). The customer provides the financial and
ERP data is available in the form of text-based files, such as those in .csv format; - enables cross-system evaluation and analysis of financial data;
- is easy to use for every employee thanks to pivot-based queries;
- enables a systematic and secure database-driven processing of data;
- is a cost-effective way of analysing financial and business management data from all group companies.
In short, this method allows all entries for a selected period (year, quarter, month, etc.) to be organised in the structure required by the company and in line with external requirements. It is only this processed data that enables a comprehensive data analysis – one that is not possible within the system itself to this extent or depth – particularly for purposes such as international transfer pricing documentation, VAT verification, group consolidation, procurement analyses or other reports.
Above all, because this allows existing „logical“ relationships between individual business and account areas, as well as business transactions, to be mapped, and the corresponding entries to be extracted with a double-click via pivot queries. Each analysis can therefore be broken down to the level of individual documents with ease. This creates transparency
and efficiency for users and senior management.
hsp: Could you please give us a brief overview of the basic functionality of your Data model.
Mr Schafi-Neya: Based on the structure of the financial or business management data provided by the company, we work together to develop the necessary data architecture. I then use the data structure and the data architecture to develop the relational data model. The result is a data matrix which, as I said, can be analysed and evaluated using a pivot query.
Using this method:
- In principle, all companies within a group can be presented in a comparative format.
That creates transparency. - is the centralised monitoring of company data at a glance using Excel Pivot Tables or other
BI tools can be used. This approach is efficient. - A wide range of business analyses can be generated using a modular approach. This provides flexibility.
- enables the automated processing and analysis of data for various types of reports
and -scale frees up enormous staffing capacity. This saves costs.
hsp: Why did you choose Opti.View from hsp?
Mr Schafi-Neya: Exporting, for example, the asset items from a company’s financial accounting system can involve a considerable volume of data – perhaps many millions of data rows or journal entries. Each data row, in turn, consists of many columns of information – in some cases more than a hundred. In my relational data model, the primary data set is enriched with additional information so that various analyses can be carried out later. The relational data environment does not tolerate errors. A single extra space in a data cell leads to
This means that the entire data model no longer adds up, so that, for example, the debits and credits no longer balance. I need powerful and reliable tools for data processing and error analysis. That is why I chose Opti.View.
Opti.View – a powerful and reliable tool
hsp: From your point of view, how did the initial contact go? What went well, and what could have been better?
Mr Schafi-Neya: Above all, I appreciate the expert and reliable support, and I can say with certainty that, as a customer, I am the focus of their attention. Enquiries are answered without delay and solutions are sought as quickly as possible. Of course, it does happen from time to time that GoBD exports provided by the customer, for example, cannot be imported without errors. In such cases, the staff at hsp are immediately on hand and find a solution quickly and pragmatically.
hsp: Would you like to offer any advice to others facing a similar challenge?
Mr Schafi-Neya: Opti.View is a comprehensive yet easy-to-use solution for importing GoBD data, offering excellent value for money. What’s more, it makes it incredibly easy to create your own data export in accordance with the GoBD standard from multiple spreadsheets. This gives you flexibility and means you don’t have to rely on external support.
hsp: Thank you very much, Mr Schafi-Neya, for your time. We look forward to continuing to work with you.
Find out more about our product on our Opti.View page and everything about the person we’re talking to at www.schafi-neya.de.
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