A growing number of enterprises are investing in specialized software for preparing data to produce timely, accurate financial statements, according to new research from global AI-centered technology research and advisory firm Information Services Group (ISG) (Nasdaq: III).

The 2026 ISG Record to Report Buyers Guides™ reveal that many organizations seek to increase the productivity and resilience of finance departments, especially as accounting regulations evolve and corporate structures become more complex. Dedicated software can make the record to report (R2R) cycle — the tasks performed between recording activities in a company’s books and reporting financial results — faster and more efficient.

“Holding onto existing accounting tools just because they are familiar is one of the most expensive things a finance department can do,” said Robert Kugel, executive director, business research, ISG. “Enterprises need to consider and compare R2R software platforms, especially as providers continue to enhance their capabilities with AI.”

The ISG Buyers Guide research provides the rankings and ratings of 23 software providers and their products for finalizing and summarizing an enterprise’s financial activities. The series includes guides to software for record to report, financial consolidation and financial close functions.

The R2R cycle ensures revenue, expenses and other transactions are correctly recorded and accounts are balanced to produce accurate financial statements for the month, quarter or year. This requires carrying out a set of repeated activities in a prescribed order. For companies with accounting systems from multiple providers or other complicating factors, general-purpose accounting software may fall short in this process.

Organizations with multiple subsidiaries, joint ventures or other units with different forms of ownership need to consolidate records before closing the books. In some cases, companies need to comply with different accounting standards across the corporate hierarchy, which often requires dedicated consolidation software.

As enterprises continue to seek faster closing of accounts, demand for specialized software is increasing. By 2028, ISG expects half of all midsize and larger enterprises to use close management software to accelerate and better control the process. These platforms offer features including centralized document storage, secure data sharing and real-time integration with source systems for last-minute corrections.

Workflow automation is an increasingly important capability, especially in hybrid work environments and global organizations. It allows the officers in charge of the close-consolidate-report cycle to spend less time on administrative tasks while achieving tighter control over the process. Providers are advancing the capabilities of these platforms by continuing to integrate AI-enabled features.

“AI and generative AI can significantly increase the productivity of employees involved in financial closing and reporting,” Kugel said. “In addition to conserving resources, this may help accounting departments attract and retain scarce talent.”

For the 2026 ISG Buyers Guides for Record to Report, ISG produced three Buyers Guides: Record to Report, Financial Consolidation and Financial Close. Each covers the essential platform categories and products in the given technology segment. A total of 23 providers were assessed: Anaplan, BlackLine, Board, FloQast, HighRadius, IBM, Infor, insightsoftware (IDL Konsis), insightsoftware (Longview), Jedox, Lucanet, NetSuite, OneStream, Oracle, Planful, Prophix, SAP, Talentia, Trintech (Adra), Trintech (Cadency), Vena, Wolters Kluwer and Workday.

ISG rates software providers’ products in five evaluation categories: Overall, Product Experience, Capability, Platform and Customer Experience. Providers ranked in the top three for each evaluation category are named as Leaders. Those that meet the greatest proportion of our evaluation criteria are named as Overall Leaders.

OneStream was the top Overall Leader in all three Buyers Guides. It was followed by Oracle and BlackLine in the Record to Report Buyers Guide, by Board and Oracle in Financial Consolidation and by BlackLine and Oracle in Financial Close.

In addition, the following providers were rated as Exemplary or Innovative in each of the Buyers Guides:

Record to Report: BlackLine, Board, OneStream and Oracle were rated Exemplary. Prophix was rated Innovative.

Financial Consolidation: Anaplan, BlackLine, Board, OneStream, Oracle, Planful, Prophix, SAP, Vena and Workday were rated Exemplary. No providers were rated Innovative.

Financial Close: BlackLine, OneStream, Oracle and Prophix were rated Exemplary. FloQast, Trintech (Cadency) and Workday were rated Innovative.

The ISG Record to Report Buyers Guides are the distillation of more than a year of market and product research efforts. The research is not sponsored nor influenced by software providers and is conducted solely to help enterprises optimize their business and IT software investments.

Visit this webpage to learn more about the ISG Record to Report Buyers Guides and read executive summaries of each of the three reports. The complete reports, including provider rankings across seven product and customer experience dimensions and detailed research findings on each provider, are available by contacting ISG.

About ISG

ISG (Nasdaq: III) is a global AI-centered technology research and advisory firm. A trusted partner to more than 900 clients, including 75 of the world’s top 100 enterprises, ISG is a long-time leader in technology and business services that is now at the forefront of leveraging AI to help organizations achieve operational excellence and faster growth. The firm, founded in 2006, is known for its proprietary market data and research, in-depth knowledge and governance of provider ecosystems, and the expertise of its 1,500 professionals worldwide working together to help clients maximize the value of their technology investments.

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