Top reasons to automate accounting and reconciliation

Most financial institutions use an accounting system to automate general ledger and accounting processes. But it often stops there. Reconciliation and certification processes – essential to an accurate and compliant financial close – are often completed using a spreadsheet and highlighter.

In a time of digital transformation, don’t leave financial close activities to error-prone and unproductive manual processes. Just like the digitization of consumer-facing applications, automating back-office applications can be revolutionary. Consider the case of an accounting manager at a $2 billion credit union. Her team wasted countless hours researching transactions and, due to time constraints, wrote off many out-of-balance transactions and missed looking at every reconciliation daily.

After automating accounting and reconciliation processes, the credit union improved the accuracy and speed of reconciliations, taking some from two to three hours to less than 20 minutes. The accounting staff is more productive, thanks to daily reconciliations and fewer write-offs. And unknown out-of-balances are a thing of the past.

Financial closings are among the most critical responsibilities of any business. Beyond leaving behind inefficient and error-prone methods, here are the top reasons to automate the financial close process, from accounting to reconciliation and certification.

 

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