In a recent case study, Aptitude shows how it changed a UK bank with the Aptitude Softwares and its usages. Here are some of the key facts that would interest you, and help you in choosing the Aptitude Softwares for your company.
Client Background
One of the longest established retail and commercial banks in the UK had an overarching goal of simplifying their business in order to reduce costs while better serving internal and external clients. They also aimed to deliver sustainable growth to investors, particularly following the 2008 banking crisis. After acquiring many recognized brands over the years, they were looking for a platform to progressively transform their finance architecture and processes by business unit. They wanted a scalable platform that could start addressing existing divisional projects and grow into a company-wide strategic solution
Solution Benefits
Minimizing implementation cost and risk
The packaged nature of the solution and the accounting templates encapsulating best practices, appealed to the bank’s core goal of simplification. Since AAH was designed with banks in mind, most of the required functionality can be addressed with simple configuration of out-of-the-box templates. This reduces the risk to the bank as well as the time associated with implementation, especially when combined with Aptitude Software’s experienced consultants and the creation of a library of more bank-specific processes.
Simplifying data standardization
For almost all projects, data integration and standardization is a major issue. The Accounting Hub will provide the bank with a single, integrated platform to ensure end-to-end transparency and drill-down from the general ledger to detailed balances. Handling data sourcing, dimension mapping and accounting in the same platform will simplify and speed processes and reporting while minimizing operational risk. Furthermore, the single sourcing layer delivers data to both the General Ledger and Warehouses, ensuring that there is alignment of information between systems and eliminating a major point of reconciliation present in most architecture.
Accounting control
The Aptitude Accounting Hub is designed to make the mapping and accounting logic visible, understandable and changeable by Finance. This is done through the use of a graphical user interface that allows business users to ‘see’ rule structure and data inputs/outputs. Giving Finance increased ownership will ensure the bank’s flexibility in meeting new product and regulatory requirements and provides transparency to the business. It also decreases reliance on IT and the inherent barriers to change in the cost and availability of IT resources. Finally, it will speed identification and rectification of accounting issues.
General Ledger consolidation
As a result of growth by acquisition as well as organic growth, the bank has multiple Ledgers and Charts of Accounts across divisions, making it challenging to get one view of the organization. The Accounting Hub will allow the bank to decommission acquired or orphaned ledgers and systems without loss of current operational capability and decrease required on-boarding time for new financial applications.