From AFAS limitations to data freedom

Many organizations run into limitations when reporting on data from AFAS. At E-mergo, we are convinced that the combination of TimeXtender and Power BI offers the solution to these challenges. In this blog, BI consultant, and former controller and AFAS consultant, Mark de Boer shares how we overcame the limitations with this powerful combination and reached a new level of convenience, flexibility and up-to-date data.

Goodbye Excel, welcome up-to-date data

The importance of always having up-to-date data became clear to me once more during an important meeting where valuable time was lost on discussions about which figures were the real ones. Two employees had run the same analysis in the morning, but changes in the meantime produced different results. Discussions like these can undermine trust in analyses and waste valuable decision-making time. With the switch to TimeXtender and Power BI, these worries are a thing of the past. You always work with the most current data, which gives you peace of mind and allows you to make well-considered decisions.

Version control and central storage of forecasts and budgets

Managing different versions of forecasts and budgets can be a complex task, especially when multiple people are involved in updating the data. TimeXtender offers the solution with simple version control, integrated with SharePoint. With just the push of a button, we always have access to different versions and can compare data in our analyses.

Dynamic dashboards allow us to compare data quickly and intuitively. Are you in a monthly meeting and want to compare the data with last month's forecast? No problem: with a simple click you adjust the data and immediately see the results. Is a new forecast submitted and do you want to quickly see the differences? With one push of a button you get insight into the differences. Thanks to this functionality, we experience a new level of flexibility and efficiency, which lets us make better-informed decisions and respond faster to changes in the data.

Historical data

The importance of historical data is often underestimated, but as a controller I often faced the challenge of retroactive corrections that were carried out differently than agreed. This made it hard to trace what costs and revenue were based on, because hours or bookings in the past had been changed or even deleted.

Fortunately, TimeXtender offers the perfect solution by storing monthly copies of all data. This means we always have a reliable historical overview, so we can quickly find out why certain events or changes took place, such as fluctuations in absenteeism rates or deleted project hours. This not only simplifies the audit of annual figures, but also saves valuable time when analyzing data and gaining valuable insights.

Central management of KPIs and formulas

With TimeXtender we can store and manage all calculated KPIs and formulas centrally. Manually repeating calculations for every new analysis is a thing of the past. If a KPI calculation needs to be changed, we can do so in one place instead of in every individual analysis. This efficiency saves valuable time and minimizes the risk of errors, allowing us to focus on valuable insights from the data.

With the combination of TimeXtender and Power BI, we have said goodbye to Excel and embrace the flexibility, reliability and convenience of working with up-to-date data. This powerful combination has taken our data analysis to a higher level and enables us to better support our customers with valuable insights and decision-making.

Want to know more?

Do you work with AFAS and want to know more about the benefits of Power BI and TimeXtender? Then get in touch with us via the button below.