Users let down by poor accounting software

More than one in three senior finance professionals are struggling with database, desktop and reporting software problems, according to the latest report from ebusiness applications firm, Comshare.

In a survey of large corporates, 36 per cent of finance workers said they are hindered by inconsistent database information, spreadsheet errors, and an inability to identify key variances.

Those in charge of large organisations' budgeting processes said their IT wishlist includes: data that is accessible to all relevant managers across an enterprise; a central database; and the integration of budgeting, planning and forecasting systems.

Nigel Youell, international marketing director at Comshare, said: "Budgeting is a collaborative process involving many people in a company, but the data they all have needs to be shared. So centralise the database and distribute access to it with Internet and intranet technology."

He said many companies already have the database technology. The survey showed 68 per cent of respondents use Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server 7 or DB2 software, in order of popularity.

John Fanning, executive consultant at KPMG Consulting, said: "This research isn't just about Comshare's latest product offerings - existing budgeting software hasn't taken off as vendors would have wished, but with the Internet there's the chance of renting applications as they're needed."

The survey showed 69 per cent of those surveyed said they are considering Web-based budgeting.