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Finance

Automating Trade Reconciliation and Standardizing Client Reporting for a Financial Services Company

Automating_trade

Focus Areas

Automation

Process Improvement

Digital Transformation

Business Problem

A mid-sized financial services company was struggling with high operational costs and low client satisfaction because of difficulties in trade reconciliation and client reporting in its middle-office operations. The firm manually reconciled trades which led to a high risk of errors as well as delays in generating accurate client reports. 

Key challenges:

  • Reconciling Trades: Large transaction datasets were not being processed efficiently because the bank’s SQL Server environment lacked effective indexing and query optimization. This led to poor database performance which impacted the seed of financial reporting.

  • Inconsistent Reporting: There were no standard processes to generate, validate, and deliver accurate and timely reports to clients.

  • Operational Challenges: The absence of automation in reconciliation and reporting increased operational costs due to the substantial human resources needed to manage manual tasks.

  • Client Satisfaction: Client trust decreased due to the inaccurate and delayed reports. Institutional clients, who required timely financial data to make informed decisions, were especially unhappy.

The Approach

Curate designed a solution to address the inefficiencies in trade reconciliation and non-uniform client reporting processes. The solution involved implementing an advanced automated reconciliation software and standardizing client reporting framework and middle office processes to ensure that the firm would be able to scale operations while minimizing the risk of errors.

Key components of the solution:

  • Discovery and Requirements Gathering: Through workshops, system assessments, and stakeholder interviews, with the internal operations, IT, and middle-office teams, Curate assessed the current reconciliation and reporting processes, and identified the following key objectives:

    • Automate the trade reconciliation process to reduce manual effort and errors. 

    • Establish a standardized system for client reporting that would integrate with the reconciliation process.

    • Improve the speed and accuracy of data reconciliation and reporting to meet client expectations.

    • Ensure that the firm can scale by handling increased trade volumes without additional operational strain.

  • Automation of Trade Reconciliation: Curate implemented an advanced automated reconciliation solution that interfaced with the company’s existing systems and minimized manual efforts.

    • Trade Reconciliation: An automated trade reconciliation software was put in place to pull trade data from multiple sources and automatically reconcile transactions. 

    • Monitoring and Alerts: The system was designed to identify and alert the middle office on mismatches between trade data sources in real time.

    • Integration with Trade and Accounting Systems: The software was integrated with the existing platforms to ensure seamless data flow between systems.

  • Standardization of Client Reporting: Curate developed a standardized client reporting framework that integrated with the automated reconciliation process to generate more accurate reports quickly.

    • Report Generation Automation: The new system automatically generated client reports once trade reconciliation was completed. This enabled the company to deliver client reports quickly with fewer errors.

    • Personalized Reporting: Customizable report templates were designed which would allow the firm to deliver reports customized to each client’s specific needs.

    • Real-Time Report Access: Client trust and satisfaction improved since reports could now be accessed in real time through the system’s secure client portal. 

  • Process Standardization and Scalability: Curate standardized the firm’s middle-office processes to ensure consistency and scalability.

    • Workflow Standardization: To ensure a consistent structure and minimize errors during peak periods, standardized workflows were established for client reporting and trade reconciliation.

    • Scalability: The automated systems were designed to scale as trade volumes increased so that the company could process data quickly and accurately without additional resources.with the firm so that data could be processed quickly and accurately without the need for additional staff or resources.

  • Stakeholder Engagement and Change Management: Curate worked closely with the internal teams and existing vendors to ensure the success of the new systems.

    • Internal Teams: Curate worked with the firm’s IT and middle-office teams to ensure that the new systems met their operational needs. Regular feedback sessions were held to address any concerns and optimize the solution.

    • Vendors: Curate coordinated with the firm’s existing technology vendors to ensure seamless integration of the new automation tools with the firm’s trade and accounting systems.

    • Training and Change Management: Comprehensive training and change management workshops were given to the firm’s operations and middle-office teams on managing the new automated systems. 

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Business Outcomes

Improved Operational Efficiency


The firm could process more trades in less time and with fewer errors with the automation of trade reconciliation. It reduced the time required for reconciliation processes by 70%.

Better Reporting


The time required to generate and validate reports reduced by 50% by automating client reporting. This led to improved client satisfaction and trust.

Reduced Operational Costs


Overall productivity improved with the automation of manual processes. The firm reduced labor costs by 40% and staff were freed from manual tasks to focus on higher-value tasks.

Sample KPIs

Here’s a quick summary of the kinds of KPI’s and goals teams were working towards**:

Metric Before After Improvement
Trade reconciliation time 5 hours/day 1.5 hours/day 70% reduction
Reconciliation errors 12 errors/month 2 errors/month 90% reduction
Report generation time 4 days 2 days 50% reduction
Operational costs (manual labor) $250,000/year $150,000/year 40% reduction
Client satisfaction (survey score) 7/10 9/10 2-point improvement
**Disclaimer: The set of KPI’s are for illustration only and do not reference any specific client data or actual results – they have been modified and anonymized to protect confidentiality and avoid disclosing client data.

Customer Value

  • Higher Client Satisfaction: Clients valued the increased transparency and accuracy of their financial reports, leading to stronger relationships and increased trust in the firm’s services. The firm saw a substantial improvement in client satisfaction scores. 
Illustration of financial systems automating trade validation and generating consistent client reports across platforms.

Conclusion

Curate transformed the company’s middle-office operations and client experience by reducing errors, accelerating reconciliation, and streamlining report generation. The firm could also scale operations to handle increased trade volumes without compromising on accuracy and speed, which positioned them for future growth.

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