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Accounting Today
Accounting Today
Southeast’s fastest growing hubs, as well as Bengaluru, India
A large privately held wealth management firm managing over $20 billion in assets was struggling behind the scenes. With multiple service providers handling different aspects of their financial operations and compliance, the client found themselves constantly bridging communication gaps, managing overlapping requests, and dealing with inconsistent reporting. The burden of coordination fell heavily on the CIO, who was spending more time overseeing vendors than focusing on strategic initiatives.
The core challenges included:
The client needed an advisor who could ask the right questions, help them simplify the experience, and bring everything together under one roof. They were looking for a team capable of supporting multiple service lines while maintaining timely, transparent communication.
That’s when they turned to Elliott Davis.
From the first conversation, our approach was different. We led with questions, then built a fully integrated service model tailored to their needs.
When we presented a coordinated proposal covering Service Organization Control (SOC) reporting, IT audit, tax, internal controls, and cybersecurity, the client’s leadership, including the CFO, COO, and internal audit manager, immediately recognized the value. They realized they were gaining a dedicated advisor that would operate as an extension of their own organization.
In our first SOC engagement, we identified a misalignment between internal password protocols and written security policies, a finding previous auditors had missed. Our revised SOC report was more accurate, empowering the client to take meaningful action.
Our cross-functional specialists helped replace fragmented workflows with a unified process, eliminating duplicate requests and siloed conversations. With one team, one plan, and one clear line of communication, the client experienced a smoother, more coordinated engagement. When questions arose, our response time was exceptional. That responsiveness, paired with timely and consistent updates, became a hallmark of the relationship.
Through consistent collaboration and a shared commitment to excellence, what began as a tactical engagement quickly grew into a strategic relationship. As trust deepened, so did the scope of our involvement. Today, we continue to support the client with ongoing cybersecurity and IT audit services.
The impact of vendor consolidation is clear and compelling. Here’s what our clients consistently gain:
For this client, the biggest win was the ease of working with a single firm. With Elliott Davis, they gained a trusted advisor that understands their business, speaks their language, and consistently provides practical, forward-thinking solutions.
The information provided in this communication is of a general nature and should not be considered professional advice. You should not act upon the information provided without obtaining specific professional advice. The information above is subject to change.
Switching or adding a banking partner is a strategic move involving complex risks, legal obligations, and operational requirements. For fintechs, where banking-as-a-service (BaaS) relationships are central to delivering products and maintaining compliance, getting this transition right is critical. A poorly managed change can disrupt your business and damage the trust you’ve worked hard to build with your customers and with your partners.
Here’s what to consider before you make the move.
There are plenty of valid reasons to consider a new or additional banking relationship. Maybe you’re preparing to launch a new product, expand into a new market, or reduce concentration risk by diversifying your partner base. In some cases, a fintech may simply outgrow its current relationship or find that the institution’s risk appetite no longer aligns with the business model.
Whatever the reason, the decision should begin with a clear-eyed understanding of the full picture—starting with your contracts.
Before initiating any conversations with prospective partners, examine your existing agreements. Many BaaS contracts include exclusivity clauses or restrictions on establishing relationships with other institutions. These provisions can be buried in legal language and easy to miss but overlooking them could create unnecessary friction, or worse, legal disputes, with your current partner.
Work with your legal and compliance teams to review these agreements thoroughly. If you’re unsure how to interpret exclusivity or non-compete terms, that’s where experienced advisors who understand BaaS partnership dynamics can be helpful. Addressing these terms early allows you to pursue new relationships with transparency and integrity, avoiding surprises later in the process.
Once you’ve cleared the path internally, the next step is due diligence on your prospective banking partner. It’s tempting to assume that all banks or credit unions that support fintechs operate similarly—but that’s rarely the case. Each partner has a different compliance culture, operational approach, and risk framework.
Before committing, ask:
A key step is talking to fintechs that already work with the institution. While your prospective partner won’t share proprietary details, they should be able to provide references or introductions. These conversations offer insights into how responsive, collaborative, and transparent the partner is in practice, not just on paper.
No matter how exciting a new partnership may seem, it’s important to understand what you’ll be expected to implement and manage on the ground. Every institution will apply its own interpretation of regulatory guidance, and those interpretations will affect how you run your day-to-day operations. Failing to anticipate these changes can lead to missed deliverables or delays in your go-live timeline.
To prepare, ask prospective partners detailed questions like:
These conversations can reveal whether the relationship will be scalable—or simply transactional. If you’re juggling multiple partnerships, see our guidance on coordinating multi-bank audits.
Changing or adding a banking partner is disruptive, even when it’s a positive change. It takes significant time, coordination, and resources to get it right. From migrating customer accounts and updating contracts to revising compliance policies and realigning technical integrations, your team will need an internal roadmap that covers:
Depending on your product and customer base, the switchover may involve regulatory notifications or increased scrutiny from existing oversight bodies. Build in sufficient time to meet these obligations while maintaining business continuity.
In the fintech space, the strength of your program depends heavily on the strength of your partnerships. A banking partner doesn’t just provide access to financial services—they are also extending their charter and their reputation to your business. That level of trust means their compliance and risk functions will be deeply connected to yours.
That’s why it’s important to look beyond pricing or go-to-market synergies. Ask yourself:
Making the right decision here lays the groundwork for smoother audits, faster product rollouts, and greater stability as your company grows.
At Elliott Davis, we help fintechs evaluate their readiness, conduct program assessments, and navigate complex transitions. Our team understands the regulatory, contractual, and operational realities that come with BaaS relationships.
If you’re considering a new banking partner, contact us today to discuss how we can support your strategy and help you move forward with clarity and confidence.
The information provided in this communication is of a general nature and should not be considered professional advice. You should not act upon the information provided without obtaining specific professional advice. The information above is subject to change.
The financial close process is a critical part of accurate and timely reporting, yet many organizations still struggle with month-end close challenges, such as manual data entry, data discrepancies, and limited visibility. These obstacles can slow down operations and increase the risk of errors.
In this article, we explore five of the most common close-related issues and provide practical solutions to overcome them. Strategies like implementing accounting software, standardizing procedures, and reallocating resources can help streamline reporting and shorten the close cycle. As more companies adopt technology-driven close processes, the opportunity to improve speed, accuracy, and efficiency is well within reach.
Many organizations still rely on manual processes for data entry and reconciliation, which can lead to errors and delays. An accounting team might spend hours manually entering data from multiple sources into spreadsheets, increasing the risk of human error.
Solution: Implementing automation in accounting can significantly streamline data entry and reconciliation. By integrating with existing accounting systems, these tools help reduce errors, accelerate the close cycle, and handle data collection, reconciliation, and reporting. This frees your team to focus on more strategic tasks.
Inconsistencies in financial data from different sources can cause significant reconciliation issues. Discrepancies between the general ledger and sub-ledgers can lead to time-consuming investigations to identify and resolve the differences.
Solution: Real-time data validation and integration across accounting systems help promote consistency and accuracy. By using accounting software that validates data as it is entered and connects multiple systems, organizations can reduce discrepancies and streamline reconciliation. This approach keeps data accurate and up-to-date, reducing the need for manual corrections.
Varying processes and procedures across departments can lead to inefficiencies and confusion. If different departments use different methods for closing their books, it can create bottlenecks and delays in the overall financial close process.
Solution: Standardizing workflows and setting clear month-end expectations can improve coordination and efficiency. Organizations should adopt standardized procedures for the financial close process, so all departments follow the same steps. This can include using checklists, templates, and timelines to guide the accounting team through each stage.
Limited visibility into the financial close process can make it difficult to track progress and identify bottlenecks. If managers cannot see which tasks have been completed and which are still pending, it can lead to missed deadlines and increased stress for the accounting team.
Solution: Using real-time reporting tools and dashboards can enhance visibility and transparency throughout the close process. These tools provide a clear view of the status of each task, allowing managers to monitor progress and identify potential issues before they become critical. Real-time reporting also enables better communication and collaboration among team members, helping everyone stay on the same page.
Limited staff and time can hinder the financial close process. A small accounting team may find it difficult to complete all the necessary tasks within tight deadlines, leading to delays and increased workload.
Solution: Leveraging technology to automate repetitive tasks and reallocating resources to focus on high-value activities can help overcome resource constraints. By automating routine tasks such as data entry and reconciliations, organizations can reduce their manual workload so their accounting teams can take on higher-value responsibilities. Additionally, cross-training staff and hiring temporary help during peak periods can provide the resources needed to handle the workload effectively.
Engaging an accounting and business advisory firm for fractional support can ease resource constraints and enhance operational efficiency. At Elliott Davis, clients benefit from specialized expertise and advanced technologies that support accurate and timely financial reporting. When experienced professionals manage complex accounting needs, internal teams can concentrate on core business priorities.
The financial close process is fraught with challenges, but with the right strategies in place, organizations can overcome obstacles and achieve a faster, more accurate close.
Contact us today to get started.
The information provided in this communication is of a general nature and should not be considered professional advice. You should not act upon the information provided without obtaining specific professional advice. The information above is subject to change.
