Insight

2005 Consensus Software Awards

Product Description

Insight is a financial analysis and modelling tool designed and developed by Atac to help financial analysts, corporate financial controllers, and particularly small-business owner-operators make better financial decisions.

Insight incorporates the internationally-recognized Du Pont ratios to measure financial performance, identify financial strengths and weaknesses, and - most importantly - translate financial goals into do-able financial targets.

As an indication of market acceptance, Insight has been licensed to the Bank of America, used in hundreds of accounting practices in Australia and New Zealand, sold by Solution 6 as an add-on to their practice management software, re-badged and customized for internal use by Orica, and sold in New Zealand by the Thompson group of companies.

The twin keys to Insight's success are (1) a revolutionary visual presentation of corporate P&L and Balance Sheet, which makes sense of the various financial interactions and shows the exact impact of proposed financial decisions; and (2) the ability of  users to meet their chosen financial target by mixing and matching from a wide range of available options. 

The visual P&L and Balance Sheet	Mix-and-match Targeting options
Click on the image to see the detail	Click on the image to see the detail

Insight starts where traditional accounting systems end. Using the financial data available from most accounting systems, Insight provides three levels of financial analysis:

• 20+ Key Performance Indicators, Financial Ratios, and other business "drivers"

• "What-If" modelling, to evaluate the impact of proposed financial decisions

• If-What" modelling or "Targeting", to select the best way of meeting financial goals.

Other features include:

• Consolidation of financial results across an organization

• Consolidation of financial results across time

• Rollover of financial results to start a new period

• Isolate and view the exact impact of any proposed change (“Delta”)

• An Entry Advisor to automatically locate the correct financial field when entering data

• Easy comparison of different financial models

• Optional “traditional” accounting presentation of results

• Import and export of financial data via a standard format

• Benchmark financial models, downloadable from the web

• The level of financial detail displayed is determined by the user

Because all financial modelling and setting of financial targets is done on a single, visual-presentation screen, the financial repercussions of proposed actions are constantly being presented and reinforced - leading to better financial decisions. This also makes Insight fun to use – something highly uncommon in a financial tool.

Innovation

Financial analysis with clarity

Click on the image to see the detail

Insight was specifically designed to bring innovation to the ordinarily staid world of financial analysis. It does this in several different ways.

1.       A sophisticated tool for non-professionals 

Insight is the first industrial-strength, financial-analysis tool designed for use by professionals and non-professionals alike. Prior to Insight, analysis tools that contained features required by professionals were difficult, if not impossible, to use without formal financial training.

The use of Insight by a wide range of small-business owners and operators, as well as its extensive use by the professional analyst & CPA markets, is a tribute to the success of those ease-of-use features, such as Insight’s visual presentation, Help system, and Entry Advisor.

2.       Look and Feel

Working with P&L and Balance Sheet figures in a visual mode rather than the traditional representation, and having ALL financial items on a single screen has a major impact on the quality of financial decisions made by users, particularly non-professional ones.

Visual P&L and Balance Sheet

Click on the image to see the detail

Visually, not only do the figures make more sense - flowing from left to right as they do - but the way that P&L, Balance Sheet and Funding all contribute to financial health is immediately obvious.

In addition, the (sometimes) unexpected relationships between items are easy to detect and are constantly being re-enforced, as there are no financial impacts “hidden away” on other screens.

For financial professionals this visual representation in a single screen is a major leap forward. For non-professionals it explains financial statements better than any text book, and acts as a great education tool in itself.

3.       A “Real-World” ability to mix and match options

Targeting is a major feature of Insight and the most challenging aspect of financial analysis.

Typical “What-If” modelling helps to evaluate financial decisions conceived by the user (What happens If I ……?).

Targeting (or “If-What” modelling) takes this one step further and allows the user to specify a precise financial goal and have Insight provide all the financial options for getting there (If I want my return to be …… What do I have to do?).

Mix-and-match Targeting options

Click on the image to see the detail

Whilst Targeting itself is not an Insight innovation, prior to Insight the user could accept only one of the options offered; an all-or-nothing approach that was limited in application.

Insight is the first product to provide the ability to reach financial target by taking relevant portions from any of the options offered, which is the way corporate goals are reached in the real world.

All this happens in a friendly environment that encourages trial-and-error until the best solution is found and then recorded as the new budget.

4.       Still ahead of the competition

Since Insight first hit the market a small number of competitors have emerged, although none have made any significant commercial impact.

Whilst at least one competitor has reproduced (after a fashion) Insight’s mix-and-match Targeting ability, none of the competitors have managed to produce a product whose look-and-feel is as well-suited to non-professional use as Insight, or managed to produce a product that is as much fun to use.

There is also no indication that these competitors will match Insight’s ongoing innovation and future development into a web-based service offering (at least not until we show the way).

As with most financial products that do not satisfy a statutory compliance requirement, use of Insight is optional. The strongest competitor to Insight is, in fact, a target-market decision to “do nothing”. This is where Insight’s friendly, informative, look-and-feel continue to provide the competitive advantage.

Performance

Insight clearly meets, and exceeds, industry expectations. 

Although Insight is used for many different purposes, the most common uses of Insight are:

• by financial professionals to prepare business plans & then explain those plans to the business owner using Insight’s visual presentation

• by business owners to develop a financial plan to meet a very specific goal (reduce the bank overdraft to $150,000; become cash flow positive within the year, etc)

• by accountants to provide value-add business intelligence services to small-business owners

As commercial evidence of Insight’s widespread acceptance and excellent real-world performance:

• over 1500 individual copies have been sold within Australia and New Zealand

• Insight has been licensed by the Bank of America for use in evaluating business financial statements that have been submitted in support of commercial loan applications. More specifically, Insight is used to model worst-case scenarios and uncover hidden financial weakness in entire loan portfolios

• Insight has been licensed by Solution 6 for sale as a add-on product to their accounting practice management system, enabling accountants to offer better financial advice to their small-business clients

A custom version of Insight has been produced for internal use by Orica

Potential

Because Insight (1) incorporates the internationally-recognised Du Pont methodology for measuring financial performance; and (2) clearly shows the unique inter-dependence of P&L, Balance Sheet and Funding components in each business entity, it is equally applicable both within Australia and Overseas.

In its current form Insight has huge overseas potential. Insight has already sold over 1,500 copies in Victoria Australia (at an average price of US$499). Obtaining the same market penetration in the US and EU (with an average price of, say, US$299) will produce sales approaching 190,000 units.

Potential “as is”

There are no structural reasons why Insight could not obtain equivalent market penetration overseas in sales to small business, financial professionals, large corporates, and banks.

• Financial performance of business is measured the same way in Australia and every other western country, as witnessed by Insight’s use of the Du Pont performance measures. Only minimal nomenclature changes are required to tailor Insight for a variety of markets, including the US and Europe. 

• The overseas demand within small business and amongst financial professionals for simple tools to measure, model and benchmark financial performance is even greater than within Australia.

• Insight already has “beachhead” sales and the initial “trophy” customers (Bank of America in the US ; Solution 6 in the UK and Sth Africa) required to start on overseas campaign.

Potential from ongoing development

A redesign of Insight is underway that will increase this potential for overseas (and local) sales

1. The size of overseas markets justifies the production of industry-specific versions of Insight. Whilst the basic measurement and modelling of financial performance remains the same, each industry has specific, important benchmarks. Incorporating these benchmarks in custom versions will give Insight even greater relevance and greater sales penetration.

2. Incorporating Insight functionality into a web-based service. Offering Insight functionality as part of a collection of web-based services for small business is a natural progression for the Insight product, and provides the ideal method of leveraging Insight’s international potential.

Other information the judges should know

For more information on Insight, please visit www.atac.com.au\insight.htm

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format copyright © Consensus Pty Ltd
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The visual P&L and Balance Sheet

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Mix-and-match Targeting options

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  Financial analysis with clarity

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