Why should automation and reconciliations, in this day and age, still be on the agenda? While volumes have increased massively, legacy systems are struggling to keep up.

When trading, settlement and cash operate as separate systems, we need a living book of record, to ensure that every penny that comes in or goes out is tracked and reconciled against the purchased asset.

How can spreadsheets can still prevail in the digital payments environment? We might have thought, as digital and real-time payments adoption continues to see high growth among consumers and businesses, that things would be changing. But we’re not seeing it.

It is still surprisingly common to see separate departments reconciling their own accounts, making it even more difficult for the finance and accounting teams to verify the data and close the books at each period. As volumes continue to grow, it becomes even easier to miss, mistype or even deliberately manipulate data in the reconciliation process. This is especially true when many accounts are still being reconciled with spreadsheets and highlighters.  And then, the higher the volume, the more those problems intensify until they roll into the next separate problem and period. The end result of all this is an almighty mess.

So what’s the obvious thing to do? What about fixing the problem before it starts? When the book is reconciled each day, it generates accurate data – a single, accurate version of the truth. A core front-to-back processing engine provides natural integration with all aspects of the investment process on an event-driven basis. The database provides the basis for the multiple, configurable, yet completely consistent views required by different professionals across the business, delivered through standard APIs.

Failing to address such a fundamental problem brings the inevitable unexpected or uncontrolled outcomes that always result from information that is incomplete, inaccurate or both – certainly not what investors, stakeholders or regulators expect.

Idea Group is recognised as a pioneer in the field of automated payments systems for the investment management industry. Click to see our product portfolio