Prix de l'énergie : comment réagir en tant que financier ?

As energy costs rise, here is why real-time reporting is becoming essential.

With soaring prices for raw materials, payroll and energy, companies need to be agile. Real-time financial reporting has become a necessity.

Christophe Engels owns the family business Engels. It started out in 1945 selling windows and has grown into a group of seventeen companies. Reginald Nobels, managing partner at EMASPHERE, explains how this financial tool lets you get to the heart of the business.

"Accounting used to be a necessary chore, but today it is more of a strategic instrument than ever. We no longer track our financial figures every quarter or every month, but every single day. In uncertain times, you need to be able to react very quickly," says Reginald Nobels.

"Many companies only track their financial figures once a quarter. That may be enough when the economy is stable, but right now it is better to do it every day."

Reginald Nobels, Managing Partner at EMASPHERE

Christophe Engels and his two brothers run the family business, founded in 1945, together. "We started out during a particularly turbulent period. In 2007, my father passed away. Two years later, my grandfather stopped working. He was 88 years old. We had to restructure immediately. Today, the company is running beautifully. We bounced back strongly after that difficult period, and we now employ 210 people. We would never have made it without an intense focus on our numbers. "

"You can build reports in Excel, but it takes time and it is easier to make mistakes. That is why the whole group switched to EMASPHERE."

Christophe Engels, CFO at Engels

Basing every choice on reliable data

"From day one, we paid close attention to our accounting and our numbers. Many companies can only see their results after each quarter, or even after a full year. For example, they only found out how they performed in 2021 in May 2022. That may be enough when everything is going well, but we did not have that luxury when we took over the company. We could not afford to do things halfway. Every choice and every decision has to be right and based on reliable data. We needed to see all our figures and follow them closely. Even once Engels had recovered, we kept paying close attention to our financial figures. In these troubled times, we have turned that into our strength. Our thirst for information has only grown. "

"In the meantime, we have grown into a group of seventeen companies. We offer goods and services ranging from doors and windows to real estate, as well as audio marketing and radio ad production. We have a fixed reporting structure in EMASPHERE, designed for every company in the group. Everyone reports the same way, builds their budget the same way, closes their books the same way... We moved from traditional accounting to management accounting. You can do that in Excel, but it takes time and it is easier to make mistakes. That is why the whole group switched to EMASPHERE. "

Anticipating soaring raw material prices

Reginald Nobels, managing partner at EMASPHERE, has thirty years of business experience. He has watched financial reporting become far more important. "For many companies, accounting was mostly a necessary chore, something they had to take care of to meet all kinds of obligations. Today, it is more of a strategic instrument than ever. EMASPHERE is not just a financial tool. We know how companies are run and which figures they need to make the right strategic choices. Our customers do not use our platform at the end of the month or quarter, but every day, so they can react quickly. "

"For us, real-time insights are EMASPHERE's greatest strength," Engels confirms. "Every morning, we receive automatic updates. We see the financial impact of the decisions we make as it happens. That may not be necessary when the economy is stable, but right now the situation changes so quickly that you have to anticipate constantly."

"For us, real-time insights are EMASPHERE's greatest strength. We see the financial impact of the decisions we make as it happens"

Christophe Engels, CFO at Engels

"Aluminum prices are skyrocketing. To get ahead of the likely rise in raw material costs, we decided to increase our inventory. But between the moment we buy our aluminum and the moment our customers pay for their windows, it takes a good six months. So we needed to know the exact state of our liquidity and cash flow. Could we pre-finance this larger inventory ourselves, or did we need to look for additional financing? Other factors also come into play, such as the sharp rise in payroll costs and energy prices. EMASPHERE lets us track all these costs in real time, along with the revenue we bring in on the other side. Not every month or every week, but continuously. "

Trusting your employees

Reginald Nobels also stresses the importance of sound risk analysis in these unstable, uncertain times. "Many companies do not have a clear picture of their biggest risks. An overall view does not tell the whole story, especially in large companies with complex structures. The numbers can look good while something is wrong with a specific project, product or market. You need to be able to spot these underlying risks in time. Because by the time they surface, it is often already too late: they have spread through the whole company like an oil stain. EMASPHERE lets you report and analyze by market, product, department, project... A single glance shows you what is working and what is working less well, so you can anticipate."

"You need to be able to spot these underlying risks in time. Because by the time they surface, it is often already too late: they have spread through the whole company like an oil stain."

Reginald Nobels, Managing Partner at EMASPHERE

Engels makes the most of this capability, as Christophe explains. "We meet with each business unit every month. We show what is working well, what is working less well and what could still be improved, backed by the latest figures. One of EMASPHERE's main strengths is that it lets us easily create dashboards ourselves. That way, we can involve employees who are much less familiar with our financial figures."

"I have noticed that this transparency reassures our employees and builds their trust. Of course, they also read the papers and watch the news, which bombard them with doom-laden messages about soaring prices and companies in distress. We respond proactively to their questions and doubts by sharing our figures with them in a completely open, accessible and clear way. When employees receive their paycheck, they have to ask themselves whether it will last until the end of the month and what might be left over to save. We show them that we do the same thing as a company."

He concludes:  "We try to create a degree of predictability. That builds trust."