Tide
AutoRek has all the functionality our business needs in a reconciliation tool. It automates the process from end-to-end, and the flexibility of the auto-match rules has allowed us to tailor the solution to our data requirements. Since implementing AutoRek, our team has reduced the time spent on reconciliations by 90%.
Bethany Cox Lead Reconciliations Controller at Tide.Tide is a UK financial technology company providing mobile-first banking services for small and medium-sized enterprises. It enables businesses to set up a current account and get instant access to various financial services.
The challenge
Tide was seeking a cloud-based reconciliation solution to eliminate spreadsheet usage through end-to-end automation. It was important to them that the solution offered:
- Comprehensive dashboards and reporting for data-driven business insights
- Specific functionality, such as automated contra records, the ability to split and add items, and configurable auto-match rules
- The flexibility to store data separately to comply with different geographical regulations
- An integrated, automated workflow feature
The solution
AutoRek implemented a banking solution to automate the reconciliation process from end-to-end, as well as to streamline and simplify reporting processes.
The solution contains two instances: a UK instance, made up of an automated bank to ledger reconciliation and an international payments reconciliation; and an India instance, also made up of a bank to ledger reconciliation and an international payments reconciliation.
Both instances ingest data from multiple sources and automate several enrichment tasks, giving Tide higher quality data and more visibility of unreconciled items. Data is held separately across each instance to ensure compliance with each jurisdiction.
How it’s used
Tide currently use AutoRek for:
- All operational reconciliations, regardless of country or jurisdictions
- Customer transactions and payments
- Reporting and MI
- Financial close processes
- Investigative work
- Internal and external audits
In the future, they also plan to:
- Broaden out the end-to-end reconciliation function as the business expands
- Make reports and MI on all transactions available to the wider business
- Move from T+1 to real-time reconciliations
- Integrate AutoRek’s safeguarding solution for compliance with FCA safeguarding rules
The benefits for Tide
90% + time saved on reconciliations
Tide’s reconciliations were previously manual and performed in Microsoft Excel, which required 3-4 hours of work to complete daily. Since implementing AutoRek, the process now takes 15 minutes – a 90%+ reduction in the time spent on reconciliations across several different use cases. The team now have 173 working days freed up across the year to perform investigations, analyse data and support other teams across the business.
Data control and visibility
Implementing AutoRek has given Tide more control over their financial data. They now have:
• Full visibility of positions
• Insights into FX differences
• Actionable MI and reporting
• A golden source of data for all teams across the business
• The ability for staff to pull their own data if required
• Up-to-date account balances for finance and treasury teams
• Configurable match rules to set specific rules for different data sets
• Data that is enriched ahead of reconciliation
Simpler sign-off and attestation
The in-built workflow functionality of AutoRek has allowed Tide to connect its departments together more seamlessly. Workflow and case creation logic allows for unmatched items to be escalated to different teams across the business for investigation and resolution. Being able to upload images as evidence has also made audits less time consuming. A full history of all cases, as well as associated evidence and commentary, is retained in the platform for easy reference in the future.
Ease of use and self sufficiency
Tide wanted a solution built with usability in mind. Their team now find managing reconciliations straightforward with the intuitive UI of AutoRek. Simple navigation means that users can operate the tool without complication reading buttons. The ability to change colours for different breaks is especially useful in accommodating members of the team with dyslexia.
Fully scalable to support company expansion
With international growth plans, Tide needed a solution to scale alongside their business. The flexibility of AutoRek means that they can continue to expand internationally with no concerns around reconciling higher volumes of data or compliance with regulations that stretch across multiple territories. Tide also plans to incorporate AutoRek’s safeguarding solution, as well as stay up to date with the latest software upgrades.