Receiving up-to-the-minute information about finances and supply lines will improve companies' ability to monitor costs and keep abreast of demand patterns, according to the PricewaterhouseCoopers Technology Forecast 2003-2005, which was issued yesterday.

With the current economic climate making it important to control overheads, firms could reap significant savings by implementing software systems that allow them track their accounts day-by-day and to keep a close watch on supply chains, said Mr Eric M Berg, director of the PricewaterhouseCoopers Global Technology Centre.

Technology can help make daily dealings more transparent, boosting efficiencies and lowering costs he said during a presentation in Dublin.

"Corporate transparency continue to be at the forefront of discussion in the business world and provides an important incentive for businesses to make use of these capabilities," Mr Berg said.

Utilising technology in this way would have immediate benefits for Irish business, added Mr Joe Tynan, partner of the Global Technology Industry Group, based in Dublin.

"The current economic environment means that companies operate under significant cost constraints. There will be few new investments in large-scale technology project," he explained.

One of the key emerging technologies of the next two years will be XBRL, an electronic format for simplifying the flow of financial statements, performance reports, accounting records and other financial information between software programmes, PwC said.

"The effect XBRL will have on the business community will be more significant than the transition from paper and pencil analysis of financial information to the use of electronic spreadsheets," said Mr Robin Menzies, partner in the Irish Global Risk Management Solutions practice.

"In the next three to five years XBRL will move from the early adopted phase to become the generally accepted way to report business information."