Reconciliations Done Right: Automate and Scale Your Bank and Credit Card Reconciliations

RECONCILIATIONS DONE RIGHT Susan Parcells, CPA, CGMA Director, Finance Transformation

The world’s most trusted solution for Finance Controls and Automation 2

Today’s Speaker

Susan Parcells, CPA, CGMA Director, Finance Transformation & Product Expert BlackLine

Susan Parcells, CPA, CGMA is Director of Finance Transformation and Product Expert for BlackLine. Throughout her career as both an auditor and various management positions within Accounting, Susan recognized that the traditionally manual processes within the financial close were not only inefficient but often times exposed companies to risk. She began to focus on process improvement around the close, helping accounting teams reduce their workload and instead use their analytical skills to focus on other value-added activities, all while enhancing controls around those processes She now spends her time attending conferences, tradeshows and other venues to educate companies on ways in which they can optimize their financial close processes along with having great control around them. Her greatest passion is helping others, which makes this role at BlackLine a perfect fit.

The world’s most trusted solution for Finance Controls and Automation


BLACKLINE IS…


BLACKLINE CLIENTS GLOBAL


AGENDA Identify best practices around bank and credit card account reconciliations Discuss challenges around performing bank and credit card account reconciliations Explore different ways to perform these types of reconciliations including using spreadsheets, using NetSuite and using BlackLine Learn how BlackLine’s Transaction Matching and Reconciliation Management solutions can help companies of all sizes address the challenges around not only the bank and credit card reconciliations but all balance sheet accounts, helping to ensure accurate financial data.


ACCOUNT RECONCILIATIONS

What is it? The process of verifying the integrity of data between independent records (such as a bank statement, vendor statement, etc.) and a company’s internal financial records. Why perform account reconciliations? To ensure the accuracy of the company’s financial data.


BANK ACCOUNT RECONCILIATIONS

What is it? The process of verifying the integrity of data between bank records and a company’s internal financial records. Why perform bank account reconciliations? • Ensure the bank balances are correct and accurate along with the

company’s internal financial data. • Protect against fraud


ACCOUNT RECONCILIATION REQUIREMENTS

CFOs / CEOs need to attest to the correctness of the financial statements and internal control systems of their entities and corporate group.

The purpose of reconciliation management is to provide reasonable assurance as to the accuracy of financial data at a specific point in time.

The focus of account reconciliation is on the correctness of account balances because they directly roll-up into the financial statements.

It is the process of comparing account data (on balance or item level) that exist in two systems or locations (outside of systems, e.g. on paper), analyzing variances, and making required corrections, so that the information is accurate.

There is a significant qualitative nature of Account Reconciliation. The assessments have to be documented by relevant calculations, clear and complete explanations, and copies of supporting documents in compliance with company policy.

The process and results of reconciliations must be easy to track and verify, and may be checked and signed-off by auditors.


ACCOUNT RECONCILIATION BEST PRACTICES Account reconciliations should be:

All inclusive Accurate Completed and reviewed in a timely manner Support the appropriate accounting principles Constantly reviewed and improved

A few extra tips: Maintain a well documented policy that is up to date Keep desktop procedures up to date Provide adequate training




What are some of the challenges or risks? The process is manual and time consuming Often reliant on spreadsheets which may contain errors Little to no standardization across the reconciliations, making it difficult for reviewers, management and even auditors to quickly understand the data. Lack of visibility into statuses and risk Unclear ownership and workflow Lots of supporting documentation, binders, boxes which take up space and can easily be misplaced. Policies and procedures are often outdated or even non-existent Accountants may know the steps to prepare the reconciliation but not truly understand what is going on in the account






ISSUES WITH EXISTING PROCESSES RECAP Human error Inefficient process Formula issues Lack of Standardization Lack of Visibility – Details – Errors not identified and fixed on a timely basis

Lack of Visibility - Status Searching for supporting documentation Lost reconciliations Printing costs Storage costs Difficulty managing cash


BlackLine Transaction Matching Accurately match and reconcile millions of transactions in minutes.

User Configurable Matching Rules | Automatically Create Reconciling Items Full Audit Trails | Data Import Wizard



BlackLine Account Reconciliations Eliminate spreadsheets, and increase efficiency, control and visibility.

Rules Driven Automated Reconciliations | Templates for Every Account Easy to Use Dashboards

FINAL THOUGHTS


Expectation of Accuracy

Compliance Creep

Shift to Real-Time

Operational Complexity

INCREASING DEMANDS


Now is the time to automate processes and provide increased control and visibility across the entire Modern Finance organization


Decrease risk and enforce

controls

Provide visibility into processes

Increase efficiency

MODERNIZING THE WAY FINANCE & ACCOUNTING WORK


THE BLACKLINE PLATFORM

TECHNOLOGY

PRODUCTS

SOLUTIONS


REAL RESULTS. REAL ROI.

Strong ROI with an average 3-6 month payback from labor savings

MeadWestvaco Corporation ROI: 495% Payback: 2 Months

Cox Communications ROI: 227% Payback: 6 Months

Education Management Corporation ROI: 138% Payback: 10 Months


THANK YOU

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QUESTIONS?

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Susan Parcells @SusanParcells 818.223.9008 [email protected] https://www.blackline.com

https://www.blackline.com/

Economy & Finance

Reconciliations Done Right: Automate and Scale Your Bank and Credit Card Reconciliations