In as many as 80% of cases, financial institutions run on self-built systems -- often pre-internet era systems designed for 9 to 5 branch banking and patched up over time to meet changing technology and customer needs. This has left them with major issues, according to Core Banking Software Solutions, including the ability to achieve accurate and timely reconciliation.
Reconciling general ledger accounts is essential for ensuring that all banking transactions match the balances shown in each account. Accurate reconciliation is vital for maintaining credibility and trust between the bank and its customers. While some accounts are reconciled monthly, others are reconciled on a daily basis – a time-consuming, high-volume process.
At IBERIABANK, an established Louisiana bank that delivers comprehensive financial services, undergoing manual and timely reconciliation processes has been a pain point for years. Denny Pagnelli, Controller at IBERIABANK explains, “There are millions and millions of rows in the general ledger. We’re talking about 19 gigs of data that need to be reconciled. As we grew, it became clear that we needed to automate the process.”
The bank began using Monarch to automate its general ledger reconciliation process. Now, they are able to extract the necessary data from its various databases and multiple PDF reports. The process is fully automated and, as a result, is faster and much more efficient. Pagnelli can schedule the reconciliation process so it runs overnight, which saves the bank quite a bit of time. “On one account, we were able to cut the reconciliation time from 2 hours to 2 ½ minutes,” said Pagnelli. “This frees up time to analyze the results and rectify any outstanding issues more quickly.”
To learn how you can save time with general ledger reconciliation and other report generation processes, download a free trial of Monarch.