Accountants running the books of any business type know that period closing is always a headache. In 2013, CPA, Mike Whitmire decided that he had taken just about enough of period closing madness and decided to set up a service to break the panic-driven cycle of this essential accounting task. FloQast was born.
The purpose of FloQast is to provide task schedules for employees and draw in data from existing accounting packages to reconcile journals and ease period closing. It isn’t an accounting package. Instead, the service interfaces to several ERP systems and accounting software packages, particularly Microsoft Excel, which many accountants love to use.
As well as data exchanges, the FloQast system includes a team management section, which facilitates collaboration. This is tied to a task manager that also works as a scheduler. With this system, the Senior Account can define the responsibilities for each data source that will feed into closing. It is then necessary to place deadlines on each data source that tells those individuals when they need to deliver their work. Chaining back, the stages of work that make those finished contributions available are defined.
Everyone knows when closing is meant to occur, so FloQast is all about chaining back, much like a Just In Time system to decide a series of deadlines that will get work done in time. That schedule is going to be the same every month, so, once the task management goals have been settled, they can be replayed every month.
FloQast integrations
The important feature of FloQast is its ability to exchange data with other systems. This capability is called integration. This process of data exchange is what makes FloQast useful for accounting, even though it is not, in itself an accounting package. Essentially, FloQast is a coordinator or controller for other packages.
The ERP systems that FloQast can interface with include:
- Sage Intacct
- Oracle Applications
- Oracle NetSuite
- Microsoft Dynamics
- SAP
- Workday
- Yardi
It is even possible to consolidate data drawn from several different ERP systems. Also, and most importantly, the system can interface to Microsoft 365 and its key application, Excel.
FloQast modules
FloQast is a SaaS platform and it is available in seven modules:
- FloQast Close – The core module that implements closing
- FloQast Ops – A workflow management unit that directs data towards the close
- FloQast ReMind – A channel for requests for information during the closing
- FloQast AutoRec – An automated reconciliation service
- FloQast Flux – A flux analysis tools
- FloQast Analyze – data visualizations to aid manual analysis
- FloQast Connect – The mechanism to orchestrate data with other applications
The FloQast system
FloQast gives the team a structure to work to. It then allows each team member to see what steps need to be completed and what the deadline is.
The management console allows the team manager to see progress towards completion and identify which steps are overdue. Simultaneously, those people who are falling behind also know about it. In short, the FloQast system does the nagging for you.
As the figures get finalized, the accountant can then start the reconciliation process through the FloQast interface. This also offers variance analysis to identify where the figures are out of synch and need to either be recalculated or annotated and balanced.
It might take you a few months to set your deadlines so that last-minute panics are eradicated. However, once you have fine-tuned your schedule, you can bed in all of your accounting tasks so that you cruise to a close at the end of each month without any problems.
FloQast details
FloQast is a hosted platform, so you don’t need to install any software to use the system. The package’s cloud location makes unifying a distributed team possible. Collaborators don’t need to be in the same office or even in the same country to work together towards closing.
FloQast doesn’t publish a price list, so you have to request a quote. The easiest way to assess the system is to access a demo.
FloQast alternatives
FloQast is a great system for getting period end over the line. However, it isn’t the only financial process automation package and there are rival systems that offer greater functionality. Even if you just want a system that promotes better collaboration for closing, it is always a good idea to consider several alternatives before making a purchasing decision.
Our shortlist of alternatives to FloQast is:
- Oracle Hyperion Financial Close Management: Best alternative to FloQast for large organizations. Part of a wider ERP and financial management platform, this online system focuses on closing.
- Redwood Finance Automation Record to Report: Best alternative to FloQast all-rounder. Like FloQast, this SaaS product coordinates the operations of your existing financial packages rather than replacing them.
- BlackLine Close Process Management: Best alternative to FloQast for close management. This close match for FloQast is part of a SaaS finance business process orchestration package.
- Flectra: Best alternative to FloQast for medium-size businesses. This low-cost system is suitable for all but the largest organizations and has a free version.
- Dolibarr: Best alternative to FloQast that is free to use. A comprehensive ERP system that is free to use and includes accounting functions and can manage the closing.
- Intuit QuickBooks: Best alternative to FloQast for small businesses. A great, easy-to-use accounting package for owner-operators that will sort out journal entries and closing from business transaction data.
What do we look for in the best alternative to FloQast?
When compiling a list of the best alternatives to FloQast, we rated packages based on the following criteria:
- Market sector – We made sure to include options for different types of businesses.
- Platform – The FloQast system includes several modules, so we looked or packages that had a similar structure.
- Integrations – We focused on packages that can interact with third-party systems.
- Security – The packages we recommend must have both external security and account segmentation that enables the capabilities of user groups to be limited and the actions of individual users to be tracked.
Rather than ordering the results of our search as a ranking of the best alternatives in decreasing prominence, we have selected the best option for several different business types.
You can read more about each of our recommendations in the following sections.
1. Oracle Hyperion Financial Close Management
The best alternative to FloQast for large organizations
Oracle offers an extensive ERP from its cloud servers. This is one of the original ERPs and it has expanded over the years to become a complete support package for every business process. The closed-loop strategy of Oracle’s system automatically generates journal entries from business activity data that is entered into the screens of the ERP.
One of the modules in the ERP cloud platform is the Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) system. This includes a Financial Consolidation and Close unit. An associated Account Reconciliation service gets most of the close work done for you. The Close phase involves identifying which tasks are left to complete and who should be working on them. The tool also includes the final financial statements for inspection.
The Oracle ERP system includes localizations that adapt the accounting rules within the system for the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) of the location.
2. Redwood Finance Automation Record to Report
The best alternative to FloQast all-rounder
Redwood Finance Automation is an orchestration system, which means that it connects other software packages so that they can coordinate activities and share data. The system works like a scheduler and you put together process flow diagrams, which get interpreted into scripts. Each process definition states which software package executes it, which other process feeds data into it, and which follows on.
The Redwood system is a SaaS platform. It doesn’t include any accounting software. Instead, it works with the accounting systems that you already use. The Record to Report (R2R) part of the tool focuses on converting journal entries into financial statements.
For close management, the process creation screens offer a closing checklist. This boils down to a checklist that not only defines processes but allocates tasks to team members. These tasks are unified in an overall view and can also be accessed by each team member as a personal task list with deadlines for each step.
The processes in the close management list include automated activities such as reconciliation. Exceptions that can’t be handled automatically get flagged for manual attention. Thus, the amount of work that team members need to implement to get the period close completed is drastically reduced – by 80 to 90 percent.
QUALITY ALTERNATIVE TO FLOQAST: Redwood Finance Automation Record to Report is a great pick. It improves the performance of the accounting packages that your team already uses, so no one needs retraining to use the system. It automates reconciliation and produces task lists for team members as well as provides an overview for progress supervision.
3. BlackLine Close Process Management
The best alternative to FloQast for close management
BlackLine is very similar to FloQast, except that it has wider capabilities than just focusing on close management. This system interconnects with other accounting software to provide a coordinating system for all accounting activity.
The BlackLine service encourages you to define task process flows and assign each process to team members, It generates tasks lists with deadlines for each task step. For close management, there is a firm deadline for all reporting to be completed. So, it is possible to chain back from that deadline and create a timeline with dates on which each task needs to be completed to meet the overall deadline.
The BlackLine system includes task automation that removes a lot of the work that team members would otherwise have to be performed manually. This is particularly the case with account reconciliation.
BlackLine is a cloud-based system, so it doesn’t require you to keep technicians on the payroll to manage it. The third-party systems that the tool manages can also be cloud-based. It is particularly strong at interfacing with SAP.
4. Flectra
The best alternative to FloQast for medium-sized businesses
This ERP system is offered as a cloud platform or for installation on Linux. The package has a lot of modules but you don’t have to take all of them. For example, you could just subscribe to the Accounting package, which is where you would implement close management. This system is great for growing companies because there is a free Community Edition that includes all of the ERP, CRM, and HR modules.
Taking out the whole ERP system or using the Community Edition makes data flow automation possible. However, within the Accounting module, you still get the ability to reconcile accounts and generate out take calculations and financial reports.
The Accounting package is suitable for small and middle-sized companies and the entire ERP would be good for mid-sized enterprises.
5. Dolibarr
The best alternative to FloQast that is free to use
Dolibarr is very similar to Flectra and it is completely free to use – there is no paid version. The software package offers an ERP plus HR, CRM, and Web management modules. The bundle installs on Windows and Linux and you don’t have to activate all of the modules if you don’t need them.
The Dolibarr system is a software package that you download from the Dolibarr website and install on Windows or Linux. The system will work over a network and you can also allow it to be accessible across the internet to remote users. The administrator screens allow for the creation of individual accounts, to which you can limit access to functions. The creation of user accounts also enables activity tracking.
The Dolibarr package includes supply chain, sales, and invoice management tools, which will all flow data through to the built-in accounting package. Using the entire ERP helps to automate the close process and make progress tracking easier.
6. Intuit QuickBooks
The best alternative to FloQast for small businesses
QuickBooks is an online system that is great for owner-managers who don’t know anything about accountancy. The tool also includes utilities to run your business, such as supply chain and inventory management.
The QuickBooks system talks in terms you can understand, so you can implement reconciliation through the confirmation of deliveries and the payment of invoices. You need to perform bank reconciliation to finish the process. Once everything is accounted for, you just check a box, enter a date, and press a button to close the year.
Close management is a lot easier if you reconcile all activities as you go along and don’t leave unfinished work in the system. The tool includes tutorials on how to use the screens in the package and you can access it from anywhere with a mobile app or on your laptop.
