Ready for 2025?

In 2025, the introduction of electronic invoicing (E-invoicing) will be a significant milestone for businesses, bringing many changes. Transitioning to SaaS technologies is crucial in this context, as companies can benefit greatly from the advantages of these digital solutions. Especially in accounting, the workload can be significantly reduced with AI-based booking suggestions. Having worked with solutions like Datev Cloud and Sage, I see a clear advantage in time savings and error reduction.

However, implementing AI in accounting is just the first step. Another major opportunity lies in applying AI-based reporting solutions. To use these optimally, careful planning is required. This means businesses must adjust their budgets at the account and cost center levels to have meaningful variance analysis. Many smaller companies struggle to adjust their accounting first, before developing an accurate budget. A thorough analysis of the past trial balance and a strategic discussion about the company's goals are necessary here.

The use of AI reporting tools is particularly beneficial because they allow businesses to automatically generate monthly reports without significant effort. These tools are user-friendly and do not require specialized data analysts or controllers. They replace time-consuming and error-prone Excel reports, offering an efficient solution to save costs and preserve resources. Data quality is key: only when the underlying data is correct and clean can AI in reporting be truly effective.

In my experience, many companies, especially smaller ones, struggle to implement accounting and reporting efficiently, especially when the underlying data from various upstream systems is incorrect. Data cleaning and transitioning to SaaS-compliant accounting systems are the foundation for using AI as a competitive advantage.

Another important aspect of budgeting is that variances of more than 25% are often unrealistic and can lead to long-term problems. Therefore, a realistic and well-thought-out budget should always serve as the basis for strategic planning.

In summary, businesses should begin transitioning to digital solutions and AI-based tools early. Only in this way can they work more efficiently, reduce costs, and optimize the quality of their data – all key factors for long-term success in 2025 and beyond.