RaceTrac Inc., a prominent player in the fuel and convenience store industry, operates an expansive network of over 585 locations across 11 states, including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Texas. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, this family-owned company has been serving guests since 1934 with a mission to make life simpler and more enjoyable. To support its growing footprint and complex operations, RaceTrac relies on seamless financial systems. Megan Wallace, Director of Financial Systems and Processes, recently shared insights into the company’s decade-long partnership with Trintech.

The Challenge

Before adopting Trintech’s Cadency Platform, RaceTrac faced substantial challenges managing reconciliations and month-end close processes. “It was all very manual. We were compiling reconciliation support in Excel, printing them out, and putting them in notebooks—which was very inefficient,” Megan explained.

The lack of a centralized repository resulted in inconsistent processes, limited visibility, and extensive manual workloads. “We relied heavily on verbal communication— walking from desk to desk—and lacked a clear view on the status of reconciliations, as a whole,” Megan added.

The Decision to Implement Trintech

In 2014, RaceTrac recognized the need for automated and standardized workflows. Their criteria included a solution that was experienced in the market, capable of automating manual processes, accessible online, and provided standardized workflows. Trintech’s Cadency Platform emerged as the clear choice due to its robust capabilities and established market presence.

Implementation Success

RaceTrac’s implementation was carefully phased across its accounting, finance, and tax departments, ensuring a smooth transition. “Cadency allowed us to maintain our workflows while providing better controls,” Megan noted. “A critical factor was that Trintech’s implementation team came onsite, shared best practices, and significantly eased the transition from paper-based processes to online.

Key Benefits and Outcomes

With Trintech’s Cadency Platform, RaceTrac gained enhanced visibility and control over their financial processes:

• Daily Visibility: “We perform daily reporting on reconciliation status. Leaders now have a clear, holistic view of reconciling items, significantly improving our understanding of potential P&L impacts,” Megan shared.
• Complete Reconciliation: Cadency ensures every account is reconciled, dramatically improving accuracy. “Having Cadency ensures we know every account is reconciled, addressing our previous issues of incomplete reconciliations,” she emphasized.
• Streamlined Audits: Auditors have direct access to Cadency, dramatically simplifying the auditing process and saving significant time.
• Continuous Improvement: Megan highlighted Cadency’s ability to identify inconsistencies proactively: “Cadency brings things to light, allowing corrections before the month-end close.”

Leveraging Trintech with Workday Financials

RaceTrac further benefited from the partnership with Trintech when they migrated to Workday Financials in 2020. Despite a significant shift in their GL account structure, Cadency provided continuity and stability. “As a result of moving ERP systems, Trintech’s Cadency provided accessibility that gave us access to current as well as historical reconciliation data,” Megan said.

Advice for Prospective Users

For businesses considering a similar financial transformation, Megan’s advice is clear: “Jump on board. Implementing technologies like Trintech allows you to shift focus toward strategic business needs. The biggest advice I’d give to prospective clients is to be sure to involve end users along the way to allow for effective change management.”

The Trintech Partnership

Reflecting on the decade-long relationship, Megan concluded, “Our experience has been great. Trintech has continuously supported us and is moving in the right direction with ongoing enhancements and I look forward to unlocking additional value with their partnership with Workday.”

In conclusion, the investment in the Cadency Platform has delivered robust returns for RaceTrac, significantly enhancing operational visibility, accuracy, and efficiency across its financial processes.