Success Story Library
Intrawest Shared Services Implements Trintech’s Accounting Compliance Solutions
Overview
Intrawest Shared Services is a subsidiary of Intrawest, an international ski and golf resort company with headquarters in Vancouver, Canada. Individual resorts may process thousands of credit card charges daily, for everything from room and restaurant charges, to lift tickets, to pro shop merchandise. As a result, the company has to manually match each charge against the bank statement and each cash register’s intake to the general ledger. Currently, Intrawest’s US-based Shared Service Center reconciles 2300 accounts on a monthly basis, with 65 entities reporting information to the Shared Services Center in Colorado.
Challenges
Consumer credit card purchases for room charges, lift tickets, merchandise, and incidentals, and all on-site cash registers which supply data to the general ledger, need to be matched to bank statements that arrive monthly. “With a manual process of matching every transaction to bank statements every month, adjustments and disputes often take an additional month to find and resolve. ReconNET typically reconciles 70% automatically saving tremendous amounts of time. This automation allows us to deal with potential issues on a daily or weekly basis,” says Grant Baesman, Associate Director of Accounting, Intrawest Shared Services. In addition to challenges with matching transactions and reconciliation, the company daily accrues credit card transaction fees from their bank. fees that cannot be adjusted to the general ledger until after the reconciliation process is complete. “In addition to the time-savings and increased visibility, ReconNET saves us steps in other areas. For instance, the tool is able to automatically journal credit card transaction fees and record them to the general ledger as they occur rather than after the reconciliation process is complete,” Baesman says.
Once Intrawest began to realize efficiencies with ReconNET, they evaluated their account reconciliation process, also manual, time-consuming, and heavily reliant on spreadsheets. They reviewed AssureNET GL for review and certification and the tracking of metrics. Prior to selecting AssureNET GL, they loaded all of their outstanding items into a spreadsheet (including the data they received from ReconNET) to print out and compile in a hardcopy binder with supporting documentation. The manual system made it impossible for resorts to review their monthly reconciliations unless someone was available to scan and e-mail the information after a group of reconciliations were completed. As with transaction matching, keeping account reconciliation current was an overwhelming task. Despite completing reconciliations a month in arrears, the team continuously missed goals set for reconciliation due dates.
The company needed to create visibility between the shared service center and the individual resorts, providing the shared service center with visiblity into reconciliations that were completed at the resorts, and providing the resorts with visibility into the timeliness of processes at the shared service center. “We wanted to be held accountable, so the resorts would see what we’re accomplishing and when,” says Baesman. “We understood the value of AssureNET GL in addressing our challenges, including increasing visibility to corporate headquarters and to the resorts and providing the flexibility to review accounts individually rather than in large groups,” Baesman continued.
Objectives
Intrawest Shared Services selected ReconNET to achieve the following:
- Streamline the credit card matching reconciliation process and match the G/L to bank statements
- Decrease human error and the amount of time required to manage daily details (With the volume of matching required to reconcile transactions to bank statements and cash register receipts to the general ledger, there is a great opportunity for errors.)
- Add resorts (transaction reconciliations) without adding staff. Intrawest Shared Services found that ReconNET was able to automate approximately 70% of their transaction reconciliations, that otherwise would have required additional staff or staff time to meet internal deadlines
Intrawest Shared Services selected AssureNET GL to achieve the following:
- Add resorts (account reconciliations) without adding staff. Intrawest Shared Services discovered incredible efficiencies in moving from a paper-based, manual system to an electronic system. AssureNET GL enables staff to eliminate steps associated with printing reconciliations and backup material to store in binders. - Staff can simply attach the information electronically using AssureNET GL
- Automation of the tracking function, by allowing the company to drill down into the details of which employees performed which reconciliation tasks. AssureNET GL makes it easy to identify and track reconciliation details to increase staff accountability
- Provide reports to resorts to create greater visibility into the status of their account reconciliations, ensuring charges can be verified or issues resolved more quickly
- Decrease human error and the amount of time required to manage daily details by requiring certain tasks to be completed in a corporate policy-driven order. AssureNET GL templates eliminated the possibility of error associated with skipping a step or including incomplete data. Reconciliations cannot be signed off until the standards set by the company’s corporate policy are achieved
Capabilities Provided
Intrawest Shared Services selected ReconNET to automate the credit card matching reconciliation process and to match the G/L to bank statements. By having reconciliations matched automatically through ReconNET, the company increases efficiency and reduces the likelihood for errors. The company benefits from numerous transactional and operational efficiencies and expects that once the system is fully implemented they’ll gain further benefits, including:
- Time savings as a result of replacing a manual system with an automated solution for depository accounts
- Newly energized cash team, as they see what the system can do. They need no longer feel overwhelmed by tedious activities
- Automation significantly reduces time spent manually searching through bank statements and matching them to credit card purchases
Intrawest Shared Services selected AssureNET GL to automate the company’s metrics and make those metrics visible via online access to Intrawest’s corporate headquarters and resorts. The company benefits from efficiencies of a paperless system, including:
- Increased visibility and transparency of reconciliations
- Flexibility to do reviews at any time as reconciliations are finished
- Closed architecture system that reduces errors and the potential for fraud
Testimonial
“We’re not fully implemented with ReconNET yet, but we’ve already seen a reduction in transaction processing time by eliminating most manual processes. This has brought a renewed energy to the staff and they look forward to what’s ahead.”
“Technology like AssureNET GL impacts the way account processes are managed in many ways. There are the hard cost savings of time and expense, but there are also unquantifiable metrics that are equally important, such as the quality of reviews and overall employee satisfaction.” - Grant Baesman, Associate Director of Accounting
Other Information
If you would like to learn how you too can streamline credit card reconciliation and match the G/L to bank statements, contact Trintech today.
