in 2012, one of our goals is to have 24/7 accounting. To achieve this we must be able to update revenue, income, and balance sheet numbers every day. This real-time reporting responds to our demand for more timely financial information.

However, 2 obstacles stand in the way of 24/7 accounting:

1. Having the necessary accounting systems to close the books on a daily basis,
2. Reliability concerns associated with unaudited realtime data.

Only a few companies have the necessary accounting capabilties. Cisco Systems, which pioneered the concept of the 24-hour close, is one such company.