What’s Holding Businesses Back from Moderning Record-To-Report Processes?

Led by two experts at TRG International, Kavisara Preechaaukkarakul and Tan Yih Chorng, the session brought together finance, IT, and operational leaders to explore the modern Record‑to‑Report (R2R) processes as well as:

• Practical insights into Thailand’s evolving operational and financial management in hospitality (USALI 12th edition)
• Key challenges hotels face in digital guest experiences & sustainable finance processes
• Digital solutions like automation support compliance, flexibility, transparency, and efficiency

Why R2R automation matters now?

While accuracy, compliance, and reporting remain essential, today’s CFOs are also expected to provide forward‑looking insights, strategic partnerships, and real‑time visibility into business performance.

Yet in many organisations, the finance operating model has not evolved at the same pace. Processes remain heavily manual and reactive (instead of proactive) in nature.

According to the Deloitte APAC CFO Survey quoted in our webinar: [1]

• 83% of APAC CFOs cite revenue growth as their primary focus
• 72% emphasise cost discipline, not as a trade‑off but alongside growth ambitions
• 59% prioritise productivity improvements within finance teams
• 60% express optimism about their organisation’s prospects for the year ahead

The combination of these factors is driving many CFOs to reconsider the finance operating model altogether.

What is holding finance teams back?

In the webinar, our Presales Consultant, Tan Yih Chorng, broke down the number one cause of slow R2R cycles. The picture painted is one most finance leaders will recognise:

Only 10% of finance time is dedicated to analysis. The other 90% is consumed by manual processing, reconciliations, and data gathering. [2]

This leaves little room for forward‑looking insight, particularly when management reports often only become available on day 10–12 of the following month.

Read more:From Data Overload to Pivotal Action: How OLAP Powers Smarter Decisions Across Industries

Tan also outlined 4 structural bottlenecks common across APAC organisations:

1. Data aggregation across multiple entities

Most finance teams still perform manual extraction, formatting, validation, and data loading across diverse systems, which is highly prone to errors and rework at the most critical stage of the close.

2. Account reconciliation

Reconciliations often happen in spreadsheets, exchanged via email chains with limited auditability. Intercompany reconciliations can consume days of close time, repeated month after month.

Read more:What Leading CFOs Are Doing Differently to Tame Intercompany Transactions?

3. Spreadsheet‑based consolidation

Many multi‑entity organisations still rely on fragile spreadsheet models for consolidation, currency translation, and eliminations. One late adjustment can require cascading rework across the model.

4. Management reporting

Management packs require extensive manual compilation, formatting, and commentary. Any late change requires a restart of large portions of the workflow.

How automation can help businesses mitigate bottlenecks

The research shared in the session quantifies the potential impact of automation [3]:

• 38% lower cost per journal entry when 95%+ of entries are automated
• 66% faster journal entry processing with AI‑enabled finance operations
• Up to 80% reduction in manual R2R effort, with close cycles up to 25% faster
• APAC close cycles typically take 7–10 days, compared to 3–5 days for best‑in‑class organisations

The six‑day gap between an average close and a best‑in‑class close translates into substantial strategic advantage.

How Infor SunSystems and Infor EPM modernise R2R processes

TRG’s approach positions two interconnected layers:

1. The transactional foundation, where data is captured, using Infor SunSystems, which offers:
   • Real‑time posting — trial balances always reflect complete, current data
   • Native handling of multi‑currency, multi‑entity, and allocation requirements
   • Automated allocation rules that eliminate spreadsheet‑driven rework
2. The performance management layer, where data is consolidated, reported, and planned using Infor EPM, which offers:
   • 20% improvement in financial process productivity and data roll‑ups up to 30x faster
   • Group consolidation, including currency translations, eliminations, and adjustments
   • Complex ownership structures managed through configuration, not manual overrides
   • Close management dashboards (“close cockpit”) offering task‑level visibility

TRG’s role is to configure the architecture around each client’s realities, from the chart of accounts to local statutory requirements across APAC.

So, where is your business currently sitting on the R2R maturity curve?

• How long is your close, and why?
• Where are your biggest bottlenecks?
• How much time is spent gathering data vs. analysing it?

R2R transformation does not require a massive project on day one. Focused interventions can produce meaningful early wins and set the foundation for broader transformation.

The webinar is now available to watch on-demand. Get access to these valuable insights 24/7 via any device today!