Financial Efficiency, Visibility, and Scalability: How RWS Found Success with Adra by Trintech

Business Drivers to Automate

When fresh eyes following a restructure revealed gaps and inefficiencies, the RWS team knew that they needed a change. “We were tracking month-end tasks in spreadsheets, which then were printed off on good old-fashioned paper and ticked off as items were completed,” shared Kirstin Brennan, Record to Report Global Process Owner at RWS. “There was no way to track whether balance sheet reconciliations were actually being reviewed or not, which raised audit concerns. At the end of the day, tracking tasks in Excel isn’t prudent because the data can all be manipulated.”

In addition to the need to track and document tasks, RWS faced a lack of visibility. “Our finance team didn’t have any visibility into where our accounting team was in the month-end close processes or whether we would close the books on time, which prompted constant questions—not what you want when you’re on a tight deadline,” confided Brennan.

Looking for a Solution: The Decision to Partner with Trintech

As a global organization, RWS prioritized a centralized document repository when they began their search for a solution. “Our team is spread across the globe, so if someone needed a backup or another file, they’d have to reach out and ask for it and then wait. These communications could take a while, given different time zones and holidays, let alone busy schedules,” shared Brennan. “We also had regulatory concerns top of mind, so we wanted to ensure that there was a safe place to save sensitive data for easy auditability as well as to meet retention requirements.”

Additionally, visibility was top of mind for the RWS team. “We’re in an age of consistently changing and adapting, so it was important that we be able to improve our processes as well,” commented Brennan. “We looked for a solution that would not only allow us to track our month-end processes, but also closely monitor to find opportunities for improvement.”

Starting the Digital Transformation Journey

Thanks to the user-friendly interface, the team was up and running in no time. “The more complex a system is, the longer it takes for the team to learn how to use it, and the more expensive it ends up being, both from a time and cost perspective,” shared Brennan. “The implementation of Adra by Trintech went very smoothly and it was easy enough to use that our team was using it without aid within 2 months. Even today, everyone comments on the ease of use.”

Phase 1 (2019)

Deployed Adra Balancer for balance sheet reconciliations and Adra Task Manager for tracking month-end tasks. “It was a Big Bang approach at the time,” Brennan explained

Phase 2 (2021)

Introduced Adra Matcher for bank
reconciliation in Europe, addressing reporting inefficiencies

Phase 3 (2024)

Expanded Adra Task Manager across all divisions and scaled Adra Balancer to
reconcile 6,500 accounts across 91 entities

Adra has been a game-changer for us,” Brennan concluded. “It’s not just about tracking tasks; it’s about driving continuous improvement and enabling our teams to focus on what matters most.”

Adra by Trintech in Action

With tens of thousands of transactions being auto-matched monthly, 6,500 automatic reconciliations monthly, and 5,000 month-end and compliance tasks being tracked annually, it’s safe to say that the Adra Suite has made a big difference for RWS.

Trintech’s Adra Suite has transformed RWS’s financial processes, enabling greater efficiency, visibility, and scalability. With plans to further integrate and optimize its tools, RWS is poised to maintain a strong financial foundation for years to come.

Adra Matcher Adra Balancer Adra Task manager

Adra Matcher

Processes tens of thousands of transactions monthly, reducing manual effort significantly.

Adra Balancer

Manages 6,500 reconciliations monthly. “With manual inputs and direct feeds, the system adapts to our needs,” Brennan explained.

Adra Task manager

Tracks over 1,050 month-end tasks and 5,000 compliance tasks annually. “It provides visibility into progress, allowing leadership to review statuses without interrupting the team,” Brennan noted.