Managing Finance with SIX FinanceFlow
Financial management is not limited to issuing invoices or checking a bank balance. It is the process of understanding where money comes from, where it goes, what the company owns, what it owes and whether its activities are profitable.
SIX FinanceFlow connects sales, purchasing, expenses, payments, accounting, budgets and financial reporting with the operational processes that created them. This gives finance teams and management a traceable view of the business, from the first commercial transaction to final reporting and compliance.
Finance begins before an invoice is created
Every financial result begins with an operational event.
A sales team confirms a customer order. Purchasing orders material from a supplier. A warehouse receives goods. Production consumes components. An employee submits an expense. A technician completes a service appointment. A project reaches a billable milestone.
Each event may create a financial effect.
If these operational records are disconnected from finance, employees must copy the same information into several systems. This increases the risk of mistakes, delays and inconsistent reporting.
SIX FinanceFlow connects operational activity with its financial result:
Business activity → Financial document → Approval → Accounting → Payment → Reporting → Compliance
This connection helps the company understand not only what happened financially, but also why it happened.
The complete financial lifecycle
A controlled financial process contains several connected stages:
| Stage | Main purpose | Typical result |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction creation | Record the original business activity | Order, delivery, expense or service record |
| Financial documentation | Create the formal financial document | Invoice, credit note or expense record |
| Review and approval | Confirm correctness and authority | Approved financial obligation |
| Accounting | Classify the financial effect | General ledger entry |
| Settlement | Record incoming or outgoing money | Paid or partially paid balance |
| Reconciliation | Compare related records | Confirmed and explained difference |
| Reporting | Summarize financial performance | Management and statutory reports |
| Compliance | Prepare required tax and audit data | Traceable and controlled reporting |
SIX FinanceFlow keeps these stages connected so the company does not have to rebuild the financial story at the end of every month.
Understanding the difference between revenue, profit and cash
Revenue, profit and cash are related, but they are not the same.
Revenue
Revenue is the value earned from selling goods or services.
A company may record revenue when it issues an invoice, even if the customer will pay later.
Profit
Profit is what remains after the costs related to the revenue are deducted.
A company can have high revenue but low profit if materials, labor, transportation, discounts or rework consume most of the income.
A simplified formula is:
Profit = Revenue − Costs
Cash
Cash represents money that is currently available in bank or cash accounts.
A profitable company can still experience a cash shortage. This can happen when customers pay slowly while suppliers, employees and tax authorities must be paid sooner.
SIX FinanceFlow helps management examine these three views separately. This prevents a high sales value from being mistaken for strong profitability or healthy liquidity.
Reliable finance begins with reliable master data
Financial documents depend on correct master data.
Important financial master data includes:
- Customer and supplier details
- Legal names and registration numbers
- Billing and delivery addresses
- Tax identification numbers
- Payment terms
- Bank accounts
- Currencies
- Tax codes
- Units of measure
- Product and service codes
- Accounting accounts
- Cost centers
- Departments
- Projects
- Document numbering rules
One incorrect tax number or payment term can affect many later transactions.
SIX FinanceFlow uses shared business records across SIX ERP. A customer used in CustomerFlow can remain the same customer in sales, invoicing, payments and reporting. A supplier used in PurchaseFlow can remain connected with purchase orders, deliveries, obligations and payments.
Shared master data reduces duplicate records and supports consistent reporting.
From sales activity to customer invoice
The sales process may begin with an enquiry, opportunity, quotation or customer order.
Once the company has delivered the agreed product or service, it can create a customer invoice. Depending on the configured workflow, the invoice may originate from:
- A confirmed customer order
- A goods delivery
- A completed service appointment
- An approved project milestone
- Recorded working time
- A recurring agreement
- A manually approved financial request
The invoice should contain:
- Customer identity
- Invoice date
- Document number
- Delivery or service reference
- Product or service description
- Quantity
- Unit price
- Discount
- Tax treatment
- Currency
- Payment terms
- Due date
- Total amount
SIX FinanceFlow preserves the relationship between the invoice and the activity that created it. This allows finance teams to verify what was sold, delivered or completed before the invoice is issued.
Credit notes and invoice corrections
An issued invoice should not simply be overwritten when something changes.
A price may have been incorrect. Goods may have been returned. The customer may receive an approved reduction. Part of the service may have been canceled.
A credit note records the correction while preserving the original invoice.
This creates a clearer audit trail:
Original invoice → Reason for correction → Credit note → Updated balance
Controlled corrections are important because financial history must remain understandable. If users can silently replace old values, reports may change without a clear explanation.
SIX FinanceFlow keeps corrections connected with the original financial document and the responsible business process.
Managing accounts receivable
Accounts receivable represents money customers owe to the company.
An issued invoice does not mean the money has arrived. Until payment is recorded and matched, the amount remains open.
Receivables management should show:
- Customer
- Invoice amount
- Invoice date
- Due date
- Amount paid
- Open balance
- Days overdue
- Payment status
- Responsible salesperson or account manager
- Disputes or agreed payment arrangements
An aging report groups receivables according to how long they have been outstanding. For example:
- Not yet due
- 1 to 30 days overdue
- 31 to 60 days overdue
- 61 to 90 days overdue
- More than 90 days overdue
This helps management identify collection risk.
SIX FinanceFlow can connect receivables with customer, sales and communication records. Finance and sales teams can work from the same balance instead of maintaining separate payment lists.
From purchasing to supplier obligation
The purchasing process begins when the company identifies a need.
The complete flow may include:
Purchase request → Approval → Supplier quotation → Purchase order → Goods receipt → Supplier invoice → Payment
A supplier invoice should be checked against the related commercial records.
This review may compare:
- Ordered quantity
- Received quantity
- Invoiced quantity
- Agreed price
- Invoiced price
- Delivery charges
- Tax amount
- Payment terms
- Supplier details
This is often called invoice matching.
If 100 units were ordered but only 80 were received, an invoice for 100 units may require investigation. If the supplier price differs from the approved purchase order, the difference should be explained before payment.
SIX PurchaseFlow, StockFlow and FinanceFlow can maintain the connection between the order, receipt, supplier invoice and payment.
Managing accounts payable
Accounts payable represents amounts the company owes to suppliers and other parties.
A controlled payable process should show:
- Supplier
- Invoice or obligation
- Approval status
- Due date
- Open amount
- Planned payment date
- Currency
- Payment priority
- Dispute status
- Supporting documents
The goal is not simply to pay everything as early as possible.
Paying too late may damage supplier relationships or create penalties. Paying too early may reduce available cash unnecessarily.
SIX FinanceFlow helps finance teams organize upcoming obligations according to due date, approval and available funds.
Employee and operational expenses
Not every cost begins with a supplier purchase order.
Employees may pay for:
- Travel
- Accommodation
- Transportation
- Meals
- Fuel
- Parking
- Small tools
- Training
- Customer meetings
- Project requirements
A controlled expense record should include:
- Employee
- Expense date
- Category
- Amount
- Currency
- Tax information
- Receipt
- Project or department
- Business reason
- Approval status
- Reimbursement status
SIX Expenses can connect the record with PeopleFlow, ProjectFlow, ServiceFlow and FinanceFlow.
This makes the cost visible in the correct business context. A travel expense for a customer installation should not disappear into a general expense category if management needs to understand the true cost of that service or project.
Financial approvals and separation of duties
Sensitive financial activity should not depend on one person.
Separation of duties means dividing financial responsibility between different roles.
For example:
- One employee creates a supplier record
- Another records the invoice
- A manager approves the obligation
- Finance prepares the payment
- An authorized person releases the payment
- Accounting reviews the final posting
This reduces the risk of errors, unauthorized spending and fraud.
Approval rules may depend on:
- Document type
- Amount
- Department
- Project
- Cost category
- Supplier
- Currency
- Legal entity
SIX FinanceFlow can support controlled approval stages and role-based access. The system should preserve who created, changed, approved, rejected or canceled a financial record.
Recording and allocating payments
A payment must be connected with the correct financial document.
A customer may pay:
- One complete invoice
- Part of an invoice
- Several invoices in one payment
- An advance before invoicing
- An amount that differs from the open balance
A supplier payment may also settle several obligations at once.
Payment allocation connects the money movement with the related invoice or obligation.
Without allocation, the bank balance may be correct while customer and supplier balances remain wrong.
SIX FinanceFlow preserves:
- Payment date
- Amount
- Currency
- Payment method
- Bank or cash account
- Customer or supplier
- _Related documents
- Allocated amount
- Remaining balance
- Reference information
This creates a clear settlement history.
Reconciliation explains differences
Reconciliation compares two sources of financial information and explains any difference.
Common reconciliations include:
- Bank statement against recorded payments
- Customer balance against open invoices
- Supplier balance against unpaid obligations
- Inventory valuation against accounting balances
- Expense reports against reimbursements
- Project costs against financial entries
- Tax records against declared amounts
A difference does not always mean something is wrong. A payment may still be in transit. A bank fee may not yet be recorded. A supplier credit note may arrive later.
The important point is that the difference must be identified and explained.
SIX FinanceFlow connects financial records with their source transactions, making reconciliation easier and more traceable.
Cash flow and liquidity control
Liquidity describes the company’s ability to meet its obligations when they become due.
A cash flow view should include:
Expected inflows
- Customer payments
- Advance payments
- Financing
- Refunds
- Other expected receipts
Expected outflows
- Supplier payments
- Payroll
- Taxes
- Loan payments
- Rent
- Operating expenses
- Planned investments
Timing is critical.
A company may expect a large customer payment next month but still lack enough cash to cover this week’s supplier and payroll obligations.
SIX FinanceFlow combines open receivables, payables, due dates and recorded payments to give management a more useful picture of financial timing.
Budgeting creates a financial plan
A budget defines how the company expects to earn and spend money during a future period.
Budgets may be created for:
- The complete company
- A legal entity
- A department
- A cost center
- A project
- A product group
- A business location
- A specific investment
A budget should not remain a static spreadsheet that nobody reviews.
Management should compare budgeted values with actual results.
A simple budget variance is:
Budget variance = Budgeted amount − Actual amount
The meaning depends on the value being measured.
Spending below budget may be positive, but it may also mean that planned work has not happened. Revenue above budget may be positive, but only if the additional revenue remains profitable and collectible.
SIX FinanceFlow connects planned financial values with actual business transactions so managers can investigate the reasons behind each variance.
Forecasting is different from budgeting
A budget is the approved plan. A forecast is the current expectation.
The company may begin the year with one budget but update its forecast as conditions change.
A forecast can consider:
- Current sales pipeline
- Confirmed orders
- Open customer invoices
- Expected supplier payments
- Project progress
- Production demand
- Seasonal changes
- Currency effects
- Delayed investments
The budget should usually remain available as the original target. The forecast provides the newer view.
Comparing budget, forecast and actual results helps management understand both performance and changing expectations.
General ledger accounting
The general ledger is the central accounting record of the company.
It organizes financial activity into accounts such as:
- Cash
- Bank
- Customer receivables
- Supplier payables
- Inventory
- Equipment
- Revenue
- Material costs
- Payroll costs
- Travel expenses
- Tax obligations
Every accounting entry contains at least two sides. This is the basis of double-entry accounting.
For example, when a customer invoice is recorded:
- Customer receivables increase
- Revenue increases
When the customer pays:
- Bank funds increase
- Customer receivables decrease
The two events are connected, but they are not the same event.
SIX FinanceFlow can organize accounting entries through the chart of accounts, accounting periods, departments, projects, cost centers and source documents.
Dimensions provide management detail
A general ledger account explains the type of financial value. A fina_ncial dimension explains where the value belongs.
Useful dimensions may include:
- Department
- Project
- Branch
- Warehouse
- Product line
- Customer group
- Region
- Employee
- Cost center
- Profit center
For example, “travel expense” explains the cost type. The project dimension explains which project caused it.
Dimensions allow one accounting structure to support several management views without creating hundreds of nearly identical accounts.
SIX FinanceFlow can keep operational references connected with financial entries, allowing management to analyze results by the dimensions important to the business.
Cost allocation and true profitability
Some costs can be assigned directly.
A material purchased for one project is a direct project cost. Technician time recorded for one service appointment is a direct service cost.
Other costs are shared.
Examples include:
- Office rent
- Management salaries
- Utilities
- Shared software
- Insurance
- Administration
Shared costs may be allocated using an agreed rule. The rule might use revenue, working hours, floor area or employee count.
The allocation method must be consistent and understandable. Changing the rule only to improve a department’s reported result makes the analysis unreliable.
SIX FinanceFlow combines direct transaction data with structured financial allocation to support a clearer view of cost and profitability.
Inventory has a financial value
Inventory is not only a warehouse quantity. It is also a financial asset.
The company needs to understand:
- Quantity on hand
- Unit value
- Total inventory value
- Reserved stock
- Damaged or obsolete stock
- Goods in transit
- Material consumption
- Cost of goods sold
When goods are purchased, received, transferred, consumed or sold, both operational and financial information may change.
SIX StockFlow and FinanceFlow connect inventory movement with valuation and financial reporting.
This is important because an inaccurate warehouse quantity may also create an inaccurate balance sheet and profit calculation.
Manufacturing changes the meaning of cost
Manufacturing converts raw materials, labor and machine time into finished products.
The total production cost may include:
- Raw materials
- Components
- Direct labor
- Machine time
- Energy
- External processing
- Packaging
- Waste
- Rework
- Production overhead
A planned cost is based on the Bill of Materials, routing and expected effort. The actual cost is based on what production really consumed.
SIX ManufacturingFlow and FinanceFlow can compare planned and actual production values. This helps management understand cost variance, product margin and the financial effect of scrap or rework.
A product may look profitable when only material cost is considered. The result may change after labor, machine time, waste and overhead are included.
Projects require separate financial control
Projects often combine employee time, purchases, expenses, materials and customer billing.
The project manager needs an operational view. Finance needs a financial view. Management needs both.
SIX ProjectFlow and FinanceFlow connect:
- Project budget
- Planned labor
- Recorded working time
- Employee expenses
- Supplier purchases
- Material consumption
- Customer invoices
- Project revenue
- Actual cost
- Profitability
This makes it possible to identify a project that is on schedule but financially weak, or profitable on paper but delayed in customer payment.
Field service has its own financial flow
A service appointment may create several financial effects:
- Technician labor
- Travel time
- Spare parts
- Consumables
- External purchases
- Customer charges
- Warranty costs
- Follow-up work
SIX ServiceFlow can pass verified service results into invoicing and financial management.
The payment model matters.
A warranty repair may produce internal cost but no customer invoice. A paid repair may include labor, parts and travel. A maintenance contract may already cover part of the service.
Connecting ServiceFlow and FinanceFlow helps the company understand both service revenue and the real cost of delivery.
Financial reporting answers different questions
One report cannot answer every management question.
Profit and loss statement
The profit and loss statement shows revenue, costs and profit during a period.
It answers: Did the company earn more than it spent?
Balance sheet
The balance sheet shows assets, liabilities and equity at a specific date.
It answers: What does the company own, and what does it owe?
Cash flow report
The cash flow report explains how money moved through operating, investing and financing activities.
It answers: Why did available cash increase or decrease?
Receivables report
This report shows customer balances and overdue amounts.
It answers: Which customers still owe money?
Payables report
This report shows supplier obligations and due dates.
It answers: What must the company pay, and when?
Budget report
This report compares planned and actual values.
It answers: Where is performance different from the approved plan?
SIX FinanceFlow uses connected transaction data to support financial and management reporting from the same underlying records.
Period closing creates a reliable result
Companies divide financial activity into accounting periods, usually months and years.
Period closing confirms that the records for the period are complete enough for reporting.
A closing process may include:
- Recording missing invoices
- Reviewing customer and supplier balances
- Completing bank reconciliation
- Checking expenses
- Reviewing inventory values
- Recording depreciation
- Confirming tax balances
- Posting adjustments
- Reviewing unusual account balances
- Preparing financial reports
- Locking the period
Locking prevents unauthorized changes after the financial result has been approved.
If a correction is required later, it should follow a controlled adjustment process instead of silently changing historical data.
Multi-currency financial management
Companies may buy, sell and hold funds in several currencies.
A multi-currency transaction requires:
- Transaction currency
- Company accounting currency
- Exchange rate
- Transaction date
- Settlement date
- Currency difference
Exchange rates may change between invoicing and payment. This can create an exchange gain or loss.
Bulgaria adopted the euro on January 1, 2026, using the fixed conversion rate of 1.95583 Bulgarian lev per euro.
For Bulgarian companies, financial systems must preserve historical lev records while supporting euro as the current accounting currency. Reports, opening balances, price histories, contracts and old documents must remain traceable after conversion.
SIX FinanceFlow supports controlled currency data and historical transaction records so the financial history does not disappear when the operating currency changes.
Financial compliance begins with transaction quality
Compliance cannot be created only at the end of the reporting period.
It depends on the quality of the original data:
- Correct customer and supplier identity
- Valid tax treatment
- Consistent document numbering
- Accurate dates
- Complete quantities and prices
- Supporting documents
- Controlled approvals
- Traceable corrections
- Correct accounting classification
- Protected historical records
If the original transaction is incomplete, reporting software cannot automatically make it correct.
SIX FinanceFlow supports compliance by keeping the operational source, financial document, approval, accounting entry and payment connected.
VAT and structured electronic invoicing
VAT compliance depends on factors such as transaction type, customer location, supplier location, goods or services, tax rate and applicable exemptions.
The system must preserve enough structured information to support the required tax treatment and reporting.
Electronic invoicing is also becoming more important across Europe.
Under the EU VAT in the Digital Age package, digital reporting requirements for cross-border business transactions are planned to apply from July 1, 2030, based on structured electronic invoicing. Domestic real-time reporting systems must align with EU standards by January 1, 2035.
This means an invoice must increasingly function as structured data, not only as a PDF document.
SIX FinanceFlow should preserve invoice fields in a structured form that can be validated, exchanged and reported according to the applicable national or European format.
SAF-T and detailed accounting data
SAF-T stands for Standard Audit File for Tax.
It is a structured electronic file that provides accounting and business data to a tax authority.
The Bulgarian National Revenue Agency introduced the SAF-T obligation for the first group of companies from January 1, 2026. The agency also launched an electronic filing service and publishes the Bulgarian file structure and technical schema.
SAF-T preparation can require detailed data from:
- General ledger entries
- Customer records
- Supplier records
- Sales invoices
- Purchase invoices
- Payments
- Tax codes
- Products
- Inventory movements
- Assets
- Accounting periods
This is why SAF-T is not only an accounting export.
The financial records must remain connected with sales, purchasing, warehouse and other operational data. Missing codes, inconsistent identifiers and incomplete transaction links can create validation problems.
SIX FinanceFlow provides the connected financial structure required for SAF-T mapping and controlled data preparation. Final compliance still depends on correct configuration, current technical specifications, company procedures and review by qualified tax or accounting professionals.
Audit trails protect financial integrity
An audit trail explains the history of a transaction.
It should show:
- Who created the record
- When it was created
- What was changed
- Who approved it
- Which documents support it
- Which accounting entries were created
- Which payment settled it
- Whether it was corrected or canceled
Auditability is stronger when records are connected instead of copied.
A customer invoice connected with its order, delivery, accounting entry and payment provides more evidence than an isolated number in a spreadsheet.
SIX FinanceFlow supports this source-to-result traceability across SIX ERP.
Financial permissions must follow responsibility
Financial information is sensitive.
Not every employee should see bank balances, salaries, margins or tax reports. At the same time, employees need enough access to complete their responsibilities.
Permissions may control:
- Viewing financial records
- Creating invoices
- Approving expenses
- Changing supplier bank details
- Preparing payments
- Posting accounting entries
- Closing periods
- Viewing profitability
- Exporting reports
Access should follow the principle of least privilege. This means employees receive only the access required for their work.
Permissions should also be reviewed when an employee changes position or leaves the company.
Compliance is a shared responsibility
No ERP system can guarantee compliance by itself.
Compliance depends on:
- Correct system configuration
- Current legal requirements
- Reliable master data
- Accurate daily transactions
- Employee training
- Controlled approvals
- Periodic review
- Qualified accounting and tax advice
- Timely software updates
SIX FinanceFlow provides the structure, traceability and reporting data needed to support compliance. The company remains responsible for applying the correct rules to its legal entities and transactions.
Common financial problems and how connected data helps
Duplicate data entry
The same transaction is entered in sales, accounting and spreadsheets. Connected processes allow one verified source to continue into later stages.
Missing invoices
Operational work is completed, but finance is not informed. Connections with sales, projects, manufacturing and service make billable activity more visible.
Late customer payments
Sales and finance maintain different balance lists. Shared receivable data supports coordinated collection activity.
Uncontrolled supplier obligations
Invoices arrive without a confirmed order or receipt. Purchase and warehouse connections support invoice verification.
Hidden project costs
Employee time, purchases and expenses are stored separately. Project-linked financial records reveal the complete cost.
Incorrect inventory value
Warehouse quantities and accounting balances do not match. Connected movements and valuation support reconciliation.
Unclear profitability
Revenue is visible, but labor, materials and shared costs are missing. Integrated costing provides a more realistic margin.
Weak audit evidence
Documents, approvals and accounting entries are separated. A complete transaction history improves traceability.
Compliance prepared too late
Tax and audit data is assembled manually at period end. Structured daily records make reporting more reliable.
Implementing SIX FinanceFlow
A successful implementation begins with the financial process, not only with software settings.
A practical sequence includes:
- Define legal entities and accounting currencies
- Review customer and supplier master data
- Design the chart of accounts
- Define departments, projects and cost centers
- Configure tax codes and document numbering
- Define approval responsibilities
- Connect sales and customer invoicing
- Connect purchasing and supplier obligations
- Configure expense management
- Define payment and reconciliation processes
- Connect inventory, manufacturing, projects and services
- Prepare budgets and management reports
- Configure statutory and SAF-T mappings where applicable
- Test complete transaction scenarios
- Train users according to their roles
- Approve opening balances
- Establish monthly closing procedures
The implementation should test complete flows instead of isolated screens.
For example, the team should test a customer order through delivery, invoicing, payment, accounting and reporting. It should also test a purchase request through receipt, supplier invoice, payment and financial posting.
Management must define one financial truth
Technology cannot solve a conflict when departments use different definitions.
Management should clearly define:
- When revenue is recognized
- Which costs belong to a project
- How inventory is valued
- Who approves spending
- Which report is authoritative
- When a period is considered closed
- How corrections are handled
- Which master data may be changed
- Who owns each financial process
SIX FinanceFlow provides one connected data structure, but the organization must agree on how that structure is used.
From financial administration to financial intelligence
Basic financial administration records what already happened.
Financial intelligence helps management understand why it happened and what may happen next.
Connected financial information can answer questions such as:
- Which customers generate revenue but pay slowly?
- Which products sell well but produce weak margins?
- Which projects use more labor than planned?
- Which suppliers create the greatest cost changes?
- Which departments exceed their budgets?
- Which inventory remains unused?
- Which services create high warranty costs?
- When could the company experience a cash shortage?
These questions require information from across the business, not only from accounting.
SIX FinanceFlow brings operational and financial data together so management can move from recording transactions to understanding performance.
The business result
SIX FinanceFlow creates one connected financial process:
Sales and operations → Invoices and expenses → Approvals → Accounting → Payments → Reporting → Compliance
Finance teams gain clearer receivables, payables, payments and accounting records. Operational teams work with shared customer, supplier, project and inventory information. Management receives a more complete view of cash, cost, revenue and profitability.
The result is better control over daily finance, stronger traceability, more reliable reporting and a sounder foundation for regulatory compliance.
SIX FinanceFlow turns separate transactions into one understandable financial picture, helping the organization know what happened, why it happened and what action should come next.
