Your ERP's built-in reports are the right tool for one company's transactions inside one system: they are current, detailed and already paid for. An AI finance department such as Naarvin sits on top of your ERPs rather than replacing them, adding the group view, explanations, board reporting and answers in Arabic or English. If you run one company on one well-configured ERP and its reports serve management well, you may not need it.
What do ERP reports do well?
The ERP is the system of record. Its reports read the same data your team posts, so they are current to the last entry and open straight to the source document.
- Standard statements and listings: trial balance, profit and loss, balance sheet, aged receivables and payables, and ledger detail.
- Transaction detail: from a balance to the invoice, bill or journal behind it.
- Operational reports for the modules the ERP runs, such as inventory, sales orders and purchasing.
- Nothing extra to run: no new system, no new access to manage and no data leaving the ERP.
For a single company on one ERP, with a chart of accounts that matches how management thinks about the business, those reports may be all you need.
Where do ERP reports run out?
The limits usually come from the shape of the business rather than from the ERP. How far a given ERP goes depends on its edition, modules and configuration, so test these points against your own setup:
- Several companies on different systems. A group that grew by acquisition often runs more than one ERP, each with its own chart of accounts and currency. No single ERP report sees all of them.
- Consolidation. Eliminating intercompany balances, minority interests and currency translation need group logic that many single-company setups do not hold. See group consolidation and intercompany eliminations.
- Explanation. A report shows that marketing costs rose. Someone still has to find the supplier, the project and the entries behind it, and write it up.
- Board and investor reporting. Board packs and commentary are usually rebuilt by hand every month.
- Questions. A CFO with a new question learns the report writer or waits for an analyst.
Teams fill these gaps with exports and spreadsheets. That works, at the cost of hours each month and the risk of a broken link. The comparison with spreadsheets covers that trade-off in detail.
How do ERP reports and Naarvin compare?
| ERP built-in reports | Naarvin | |
|---|---|---|
| Role | System of record: transactions are posted and stored here | A layer on top: reads each ERP and prepares the finance work for people to approve |
| One company, one ERP | Strong: current, detailed and already in place | Adds explanations, commentary and board packs, which may be more than you need |
| Companies on different systems | Each ERP reports on its own companies | Each company keeps its system, and every account is mapped to one finance model |
| Consolidation | Depends on the ERP, its edition and setup | Eliminations, minority interests and currency translation for the group |
| Why a number moved | Drill down by hand | What changed and why, down to the ledger lines |
| Board pack and commentary | Usually built outside the ERP | Board packs, and month-end commentary drafted for your review |
| Questions | Report filters and the report writer | The CFO Copilot answers in Arabic or English from the ledgers, and each figure opens to its source records |
| Access | ERP user roles | Roles by company; the Copilot sees only what the person asking can see |
| Postings and payments | Made in the ERP | Approved journals go back to supported ERPs once your admin turns sending on; Naarvin never moves money |
| Cost and setup | Included in the ERP you already run | A separate subscription, set up by our team; plans on request |
What does an AI finance department add on top of the ERP?
Naarvin is an AI finance department: agents run the close, reporting, treasury, planning, compliance and risk work, and send every decision to the right person. For reporting, that means:
- One set of numbers for the group: every company combined, in any currency, with eliminations, minority interests and currency translation.
- Explanations: when a figure moves, the agents trace it to the company, project, supplier and ledger lines.
- Reports people read: monthly management reports, a KPI scorecard, board packs and investor updates, and month-end commentary drafted for your review.
- Answers on demand: the CFO Copilot answers from the ledgers in Arabic or English. Figures come from the product's own finance functions, not from the language model, and it says so when the data cannot support an answer.
- A daily brief of what needs attention, every morning, and custom reports split by company, cost centre, project or customer.
What stays in the ERP?
Every transaction. The ERP remains the ledger of record: invoices, bills, payments and postings live there, and each company keeps its own system. Naarvin reads from it.
Journals that Naarvin prepares go back only after your team approves them, and sending stays off until your admin turns it on. Where the ERP allows, they arrive as drafts for your team to post; for an ERP without a two-way connector, approved journals go out as an import file. Naarvin never moves money: it prepares payment files that a person uploads to the bank.
Which do you need?
The ERP's own reports are likely enough if:
- You run one company, or a few on the same ERP with one chart of accounts and one currency.
- Management reads the standard statements as they come out of the ERP.
- Few questions need answers across companies or systems.
- The board receives the statements without a separate pack.
An AI finance department is worth a look if:
- Your companies sit on different ERPs or report in different currencies.
- Consolidation is a spreadsheet exercise every month.
- Explaining a variance takes days of drilling and emailing.
- Board packs and commentary are rebuilt by hand.
- Leaders want answers in Arabic or English without waiting for an analyst.
The two are not exclusive. The ERP keeps its reports for transactions and operations, and Naarvin adds the group view, the explanations and the board reporting.
How do you try it without changing your ERP?
- Connect one companyOur team signs in to the ERP or adds a key. Credentials are encrypted when saved and never shown again, and the AI never sees them.
- Map the accountsAccounts are mapped to one finance model from suggestions a person confirms.
- Check the dataData quality checks show whether the loaded books can be trusted before anyone reports on them.
- Run a month togetherOur team runs the first close side by side with yours. Book a demo to start, and see pricing for the plans.
Questions people ask
Do we have to replace our ERP?
No. Each company keeps its own system. Naarvin connects to it and maps every account to one finance model.
Does Naarvin post to our ERP?
Only approved journals, and only once your admin turns sending on. ERPNext, Odoo, Xero, QuickBooks Online, Business Central and Zoho Books can receive them, as drafts where the system allows. Any other ERP gets an import file.
Our ERP has a consolidation module. Do we still need Naarvin?
Perhaps not for consolidation alone, if all your companies run on that ERP and the module handles your eliminations. Naarvin is most useful when companies sit on different systems, or when the team also needs explanations, commentary and board packs.
Can the AI make up a number?
Figures come from the ledgers through the product's own finance functions, not from the language model, and every figure opens to its source records. When the data cannot support an answer, the Copilot says so.
Who can see which companies?
Access is set by role and by company, and the Copilot answers inside the scope of the person asking. See [security](/security) for how each organization is kept apart.
What does it cost?
There are three plans, Starter, Standard and Enterprise, each with users, companies and a monthly AI allowance. Prices are shared on request: see [pricing](/pricing).