Business Drivers to Automate

Prior to exploring automation with Trintech, Finnair’s processes were executed using Excel files that were stored in SharePoint. “These processes were fully manual and there was a large opportunity for human error,” shared Madli Apsolon, Record to Report Team Lead. “Twice a year we complete a quality check, which used to take approximately two weeks due to our manual processes. We quickly found that there were large gaps. Not all data was being transferred from SAP and not all accounts were being reconciled.”

“Additionally, we have an internal requirement for variance analysis which was slipping through the cracks,” continued Apsolon. “During the quality check, we realized that these internal requirements were not being enforced, and therefore were not being completed.”

Decision to Automate with Trintech

As part of a company-wide focus on innovation, Finnair maintains an investment review process to evaluate different investment proposals and business cases, as well as projects related to them. When issues with Finnair’s financial processes were raised, the company acted quickly, putting together the Monthly Closing Project Steering Group. Madli Apsolon was included in this committee and was able to share her experience: “We were very attracted to Trintech’s customer-oriented approach throughout the entirety of the sales cycle, and it was clear to us that Trintech was the best solution for automating our reconciliations.”

By implementing
Trintech, we were able to
reduce the headcount
by three full time
employees, in addition
to streamlining our
processes to be more
efficient, which saves
our team time. It’s made
a huge difference.”

Solution in Action

“Trintech has fully met and even exceeded our expectations when it comes to our reconciliation processes,” remarked Apsolon. Riina Juriado, Record to Report Sr Financial Controller, continued: “We’ve been able to leverage templates that provide us with visibility and control, harmonizing the account reconciliation process and making it easier than ever.”

“With regards to our controls, we now have the ability to enforce our variance analysis requirement as well,” provided Apsolon. “This ensures that the data we receive from SAP is complete and correct.”

Additionally, the cost and time savings have been significant. Apsolon continued: “By implementing Trintech, we were able to reduce the headcount by three full time employees, in addition to streamlining our processes to be more efficient, which saves our team time. It’s made a huge difference.”

Finnair and Trintech: A True Partnership

Finnair was happy to find that Trintech’s customer-oriented approach continued past the implementation of the solution and into their long-term relationship. “The customer success center has been very helpful, with the ability to suggest new functionalities and find answers to questions from other users,” shared Juriado. “We’ve really appreciated the customer-focused events, including the annual conference and regular webinars. They’ve given us the opportunity to continue learning about the solution and ways to increase our ROI.”

Looking to the future, Finnair looks forward to expanding their relationship with Trintech. “We’re absolutely looking into other Trintech solution offerings and investigating how they can continue to add value to our organization.”