But as the sheer volume of transactions within the corporate general ledger increases among corporations in Asia and globally, technology will play an increasingly important role in controlling costs and improving visibility over their operating environment.

 

What are the options for corporations seeking the perfect blend of new technology while controlling costs, improving visibility and driving efficiency and consolidation?

 

As business and transaction volumes increase, tremendous strain is placed on the workflow and processing requirements for reconciling the general ledger. This heavy lifting can be labour-intensive – and such manual processing requires a significant investment of resources and cash.

 

It is under this scenario that automated, real-time reconciliation and exception management can have a dramatic impact through increased efficiency, streamlined operations and cost savings.

 

Automating these processes reduces transaction disparities and also provides greatly improved visibility over operations and cash. By taking this step toward increased control, corporations can also significantly reduce their operational risk and vulnerabilities, in addition to the general benefits that come with automating processes.
 
Reconciliation solutions today are capable of assisting with automating processes, identifying exceptions earlier and reducing the total cost of those exceptions. Automation gives a company increased control by delivering the ability to identify, assess and control exceptions in the matching and reconciliation process, thereby promoting a more efficient and effective workflow.

 

For example, automating intra-day reconciliation allows corporations to identify a possible transaction break before it has the opportunity to develop into a full-fledged error that may incur unnecessary fees. Real-time access to information provided by a technological solution allows corporations to make appropriate adjustments sooner in the process, reducing costs in the long term.

 

With automated solutions offering real-time views and trend reporting, corporations are given a greater ability to utilise funds with vastly improved auditing ability and control. At the same time risk exposure is significantly reduced because the company is able to perform intra-day reconcilement.

 

Slow-to-settle transactions are identified early on and are examined before the end of the day. As regulatory controls tighten, operational efficiency requirements continue to become more and more important.