In his book "Best Practices in Planning and Management Reporting: From Data to Decisions", David Axson contends that a best practice must meet six criteria:
- It must effect a measurable change in performance.
- It needs to be applicable to a broad spectrum of organizations.
- It should be proven in practice.
- It needs to exploit proven technologies.
- It must ensure an acceptable level of control and risk management.
- It has to match the skills and capabilities of the companies in which it is used.
Axson predicts that companys who adopt best practice can reduce the cost of the finance function:
Axson writes, "It is not unreasonable to project that as full adoption of established and emerging best practices increases, the overall average cost of finance could fall a further 50 percent by 2010."
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