The season of spring cleaning is upon us! This annual tradition of decluttering and organizing our homes can also be applied to our professional lives, particularly for accountants looking to streamline their financial close processes. Just as we tidy up our living spaces, it’s time to clean up our financial records and processes to ensure a smoother, more efficient close.  

Sweeping Away the Pain Points of Manual Financial Close Processes 

For many accounting teams, the financial close process can be a source of stress and frustration. Over-reliance on spreadsheets and other manual processes leaves teams stuck in a continual loop with time consuming, error-prone processes, where they struggle to press pause long enough to address these common pain points: 

• Lack of Visibility: Without a centralized system, tracking the status of various tasks and ensuring all data is up to date can be challenging. 

• Reconciliation Delays: The process of reconciling accounts can be slow and tedious, often dragging out the close process. 

• Data-Entry Errors: Manual data entry increases the risk of mistakes, which can cascade into larger issues down the line. 

• Compliance Challenges: Keeping up with changing regulatory requirements can be difficult without automated systems to ensure accuracy and compliance. 

• Team Stress: The pressure to close the books quickly can lead to burnout and high stress levels among accounting staff. 

The Cleaning Solution for Accountants: Financial Close Automation 

Using spreadsheets as your “accounting software” is like scrubbing the kitchen floor with a toothbrush: it gets the job done, but it’s going to take a while and you will miss some spots. There’s a better way to get both cleaner data and better processes. Automating your month-end close processes with purpose-built financial close software can transform the pain points of outdated processes and solutions into opportunities. Here are some key benefits: 

• Increased Efficiency: Automating repetitive tasks, like transaction matching and exception management, accelerates the close process, allowing teams to focus on more strategic activities. 

• Enhanced Accuracy: Reducing manual data entry minimizes errors, leading to more reliable financial statements. 

• Improved Compliance: Automated controls and audit trails ensure adherence to regulatory requirements. 

• Better Collaboration: Centralized platforms facilitate communication among team members, streamlining workflows and providing a clear audit trail. 

• Real-Time Reporting: Access to up-to-date financial data enables informed decision making and timely reporting. 

Northern Tool Got Their “Cleanest Books in Years” with Trintech 

Northern Tool, a Minnesota-based tool supplier with over 120 store locations across more than 20 states, engaged with Trintech and got their “cleanest books in many years,” according to Katie Vogel, Senior Staff Accountant. Before implementing Trintech, the team had little visibility into the status, quality and completion of recs. With Trintech, they were able to successfully spring clean their financial close processes, improving on-time completion of recs, increasing accuracy and visibility while cutting their time to close.  

For some, spring cleaning your financial processes can be a daunting task, and it doesn’t happen overnight, but the team at Northern Tool can attest that it’s worth it. “We wish we would have done this years ago,” shares Vogel. “It has brought so much value to our team.   

For those who feel overwhelmed at the thought of transforming their current processes, Amy Stenlund, Senior Project Accountant for northern Tool, offers this advice, “Start with the small wins first, then go on to bigger, more daunting tasks.” Many Trintech customers follow this approach, starting with automating a few key accounts, then gradually moving on to larger ones. 

Conclusion 

Spring cleaning isn’t just for your home—it’s a valuable practice for your financial close processes, as well. By addressing the pain points of current processes and leveraging the benefits of financial close automation, accounting teams can achieve a more efficient, accurate, and stress-free close. Take a cue from Northern Tool and consider how automation can help you get your cleanest books ever this spring. 

Ready to start your financial spring cleaning? Explore how Trintech’s financial close software can transform your processes and set you up for success. Schedule a demo today! 

Written By: Lindsay Rose

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