Mission Possible: Financial Institutions Can Automate 100% of the Balance Sheet  

Amongst all the demands of the CFO of a financial institution, the accuracy of the balance sheet should not be a source of worry. However, the financial close is ultimately a data management challenge that depends on people, process and technology with disparate systems and departmental practices. 

Financial institutions face some of the most complicated regulations and interpretations that are continually changing. When you add in market factors that include dynamic interest rates, fintech disruptors and the cost of capital, finance leaders need more confidence in their data to gain the agility and resiliency required for real-time decision making.   

So how can this agility and resiliency be achieved? Is AI going to be the magic bullet?  

According to IDC’s “Office of the CFO Survey 2024,” one of the CFO’s largest concerns is about adding AI into their financial workflows. “Other top concerns include compliance with complex financial regulations, new or updated financial systems and an ever-increasing need for ad hoc analyses. Updates or migrations in financial systems cause an ongoing need for ability and increased data validation.” AI is showing promise in many sectors, but when it comes to financials, finance leaders and controllers are still skeptical about accuracy. For CFOs considering implementing AI into their practices, it’s important to understand that not all AI is created equal. Make sure any AI solutions your team uses still provide teams control to validate and update outputs, if needed. 

Automated reconciliation, daily and monthly, is a game changer 

On a daily basis, financial institutions need an accurate view into their Federal Reserve accounts, debit, credit and ATM transactions, ACH, wires and Zelle P2P transactions and more. Leaders need insights to make good decisions, and they need to know they can rely on their data. Manual reconciliation works fine when everything is in balance. But when data doesn’t match up, or there’s too much data, it can be impossible for staff to locate the source of an error. That’s where Trintech can help. 

With deep expertise in banking and financial services, Trintech can help you transform processes and unlock efficiencies with purpose-built solutions for financial close automation. Our solutions can automate transaction matching and reconciliations, allowing teams to keep up with the pace of business. In fact, customers have told us that they would not be able to offer Zelle without our solutions. There would be no way to keep up with the volume if they were to fall behind even for one day. As Casey Peters, Senior Staff Accountant for Carter Bank & Trust and user of Trintech’s Frontier software shared, “It was one person’s entire job to balance the Federal Reserve. And with Frontier, we have the Fed balanced in 8 minutes. It’s just so seamless.” 

Automated reconciliation and certification can minimize write-offs by as much as 75%, according to the experience shared by our customers. That’s because rules engines match transactions faster and with greater accuracy than human workers. When exceptions exist, they are found and flagged automatically, which speeds up resolution processes and mitigates fraud.  All the data needed to investigate and resolve exceptions is accessible through a single, auditable system. 

Automate 100% of your balance sheet 

The same automation benefits apply when it comes to month end. Automated reconciliation and certification increases everyone’s visibility into – and confidence in – balance sheet data. Trintech can help you automate 100% of your balance sheet.  In just a few clicks, staff can trace transactions through the entire financial close life cycle, from data ingestion through matching, exception management, reconciliation, certification and sign off. We have deep expertise from working with financial institutions and every core account processor and understand the specific demands and challenges of this sector. 

By automating 100% of your balance sheet, financial data becomes more traceable and transparent, which makes financial leaders and auditors happy. Leaders can see exactly how the figures were achieved before they certify the data. Data becomes a source of knowledge that can inform decisions and direct strategy.   

Whether you have a centralized or decentralized reconciliation function, one of the main benefits of leveraging our matching and certification software is that consistent, unified processes are established across all departments. Time spent on audit and compliance is reduced and teams are focused on higher value work that they enjoy. The financial close process also becomes easier as the data flows seamlessly through, with higher data confidence.   

Greater efficiency and more resilient operations  

By securing and ensuring your daily and monthly financial data with stringent financial controls and a single source of truth, you gain the needed agility and resilience for any strategy. Your daily transaction matching is automated and traceable. Your monthly balance sheet reconciliations are automated. If you want to add AI into your financial process, you know that your financial controls are in order and your compliance, audit and risk management processes will be sound.   

Automated, integrated reconciliation adds efficiency to the month-end close, no matter where staff works. Integrating core financial applications eliminates rekeying and other redundancies that cause mistakes and drain productivity. Automation speeds up recurring processes such as transaction matching and approval workflows and can shorten processing and closing times. 

Minimizing manual research and intervention during reconciliation can lead to efficiency improvements of up to 80% and lower operational costs, based on internal analyses of Trintech clients. Time is valuable, especially when it’s reallocated to higher priority work, and at Trintech, we give you time back for what matters most.