By Alexandra Bordeiasu, NoCamels -
Despite some pop culture depictions of a wild, devil-may-care industry, financial management is an orderly, well-documented world, using the Excel program as the standard for meticulous data organization.
But as reliable as Excel is, this can mean seemingly endless tables and spreadsheets that every company needs to manage manually.
And these tasks involve long hours and repetitive processes that draw on multiple different programs and applications that, unlike Excel, are normally based in a company’s cloud server. The time and energy consumed could be put into other pressing issues.
Now, Israeli fintech company Datarails says it is revolutionizing these arduous financial management processes by integrating artificial intelligence into the Excel program through its proprietary technology.
FinanceOS, the company’s AI-powered financial planning and analysis (FP&A) platform, gives Excel secure access to the information it needs in the cloud, helping users automate manual tasks, simplify processes and foster collaboration across departments.
Once Excel is connected to a company’s cloud, Datarails enables a workforce to sort through masses of information while sharing data between departments for joint analysis.
“Typically, finance professionals need to manually update data in their Excel spreadsheets, as they are not connected to the different software they have in the cloud, where the data is stored,” Aviv Canaani, Datarails VP Marketing and Sales, tells NoCamels.
“But with FinanceOS, they can stay within their Excel file, but stay connected through the cloud. By doing so, we are revolutionizing the office of the Chief Financial Officer.”
By enabling personnel to remain within their familiar Excel environment, Datarails says it ensures accessibility and productivity, thanks to the AI now working alongside the program.
The platform also allows for real-time syncing of any changes across the different environments, eliminating this manual aspect of a workload.
“It’s not only saving employers time, but it also allows them to use their brain power for other purposes rather than to make sure that their numbers are right and that there are no manual errors,” Canaani maintains.
The platform’s algorithms analyze data from various sources, including accounting and CRM [Customer Relationship Management] systems, to generate useful recommendations.
“This enables finance teams to identify trends, forecast future performance and make informed decisions with confidence,” Canaani affirms.
The first thing the company does is integrate clients’ Excel program with the respective accounting, ERP [Enterprise Resource Planning] or CRM software that they are using to store the rest of the data.
This allows them to easily create different reports and dashboards to serve their business.
Users can easily create tailored financial reports and charts, facilitating quicker communication and collaboration across departments.
And beyond basic automation, the platform also offers advanced features such as customizable reports and dashboards.
“It’s easy-to-use software for anyone who has a good grasp of Excel,” Canaani explains.
Alongside FinanceOS, Datarails has developed two other AI-driven features to ease workloads, which altogether, Canaani says, set the company apart from any competitors.
“We’re spearheading everything that has to do with AI and FP&A,” he says. “We paint a complete financial picture for the CFO. No other company in our industry has this vision.”
FP&A Genius is an AI-powered chatbot that users can ask for insights about forecasts, budgets or other financial reports, while generative AI feature Storyboards allows users to automatically create presentations within the workspace.
Canaani gives the example of the AI platform highlighting a rise in the price of copper that could adversely impact a company’s quarterly targets – a connection that personnel may miss.
The company says its innovative approach to integrating AI with Excel, coupled with its growth and expansion plans, now not only redefines the ways businesses manage their finances but also sets new standards for efficiency.
The platform is also designed to smoothly scale as businesses grow, with the flexibility and agility to adapt to changing requirements, including adding new users, expanding into new markets or incorporating additional data sources.
This, Datarails says, eases the pressure on businesses to improve efficiency, reduce costs and drive growth.
Canaani says the Tel Aviv-based company, which was established in 2015, began with a mission to revolutionize financial management. He says co-founders Didi Gurfinkel (CEO), Eyal Cohen (COO) and Oded Har-Tal (CTO) recognized the limitations of manual processes and the potential of automation to resolve them.
“Ninety-five percent of the finance industry is a ‘blue ocean,” says Canaani, referring to the concept of an unexplored sector without real competition, which has the potential for new products to take a significant market share.
“Masses of data need to be explored, sorted, and used in decision making,” he says. “With Datarails, companies can connect and sync all their previously separated spreadsheets and sources of data.”
