When I worked in a sales company whose main objective was generating revenue
through commissions for meetings, conferences, etc. through hotels, the executives and
my accounting team determined that one of our processes for receiving commissions was
no longer adequate after implementing NetSuite to integrate directly with Salesforce. We
had discussed the concerns we were having with recognizing revenue and the executive
team informed us that a conversation would be had across the organization to ensure
proper communication was relayed about the changes we were making to the current
process. We were told that it would be best handled by the managers to discuss the
change with their team members directly rather than hearing it from us.
During a sales meeting, the topic was brought up and many questions were asked
that could not be answered fully as the accounting team was not involved in this meeting.
After the meeting, a flood of emails came to accounting asking different questions, calls
were happening about the “way we have always done things” and it created more
confusion and frustration than we had hoped. When inputting the information necessary
to recognize revenue, we found errors requiring more analysis to ensure proper financial
reporting. This process change was during Covid-19 so having extremely accurate
financials was crucial for a company in this industry.
The problem with the way this change was rolled out was that the accounting
team did not get to address this directly and relied on others to convey the appropriate
message. The executive team saw this as a small change so they treated it as if it were just
a tick on an agenda rather than carefully considering the effects the change would cause.
The accounting team stepped in and held meetings directly with the teams involved with
Salesforce to ensure that the information was reported accurately and timely while also
addressing any concerns they may have had with the change to ensure each team was
compromising to meet the same end goal. Salesforce was our source of record. The
accounting team relied on the system to provide accurate dates for events for revenue
recognition purposes, accurate statuses to determine when billing was appropriate, and
other information that led directly to the company's financial reporting and meeting its
objectives.
The lack of effective communication leads to frustration, confusion, double the
amount of work, and inaccurate reporting. It is imperative that managers in any
organization consider the effects that communication may have on the company to avoid
downfall.
