Below I’ll review the main advantages of having an embedded banking solution.
Security of Your Association Funds
Associations want their funds protected and need transparent communication regarding security. Here are a few ways that embedded banking can secure your finances:
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You can receive bank account transactions in real-time. This allows you to detect fraudulent activity daily because you can be alerted when there are bank transactions that do not match an item already in the embedded system.
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You can have Positive Pay, a feature that alerts the bank about what checks are coming. The system can automatically upload a list of your association checks daily and the bank compares it to checks presented at the bank for payment that day. This provides heavy protection for your associations financials and helps proactively prevent fraud occurring.
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You can have quick, paperless, and secure transactions. This allows the vendor to receive their funds safely via ACH instead of relying on traditional mail.
Efficiencies for Accounting Staff
With embedded banking, you can improve employee efficiency in several ways:
Reduce the Number of Software & Logins Your Staff Needs
The tasks that traditionally require banking access can all be done in a software with embedded banking. This includes:
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Transferring Funds Between Association Accounts: Embedded banking allows this to be easily completed on a one-time or recurring basis.
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Homeowner Payment Search Functionality: Payments can be viewed by images since owner payment images flow automatically from the lockbox to the software.
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Vendor Payment Search Functionality: Vendor payments can be viewed because cleared check images flow back into the software from the bank.
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Return Payments Automation: Return payments automatically populate into the software for your staff to post on an owner’s account. Depending on the type of return, it may already be identified from the backup information.
Ease Staff Workload with Automation
It’s essential to search for a software provider that can automate a lot of the heavy lifting for your accounting department. To automate the financial processes, you’ll need an embedded banking solution that provides:
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Daily Bank Account Auto Reconciliation: Transactions from the bank will automatically match the transaction in your software, saving staff time at the end of each month.
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Month-End Bank Account Reconciliation: With embedded banking, your month-end bank account reconciliation will be done for you. This includes: uploading the ending bank balance from the bank and posting in the software, posting interest and/or fees into the software automatically, and uploading the bank statement into the software automatically from the bank.
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Automated Workflows: Build a workflow that works for you and that can produce, deliver, and store your monthly financials with the push of a button.
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Automated Lockbox Services: With embedded banking, you do not need to manually upload or download files to the lockbox. Validation files, which include blocked owners, are synced with the bank or lockbox provider, lockbox files are retrieved from the provider automatically, and adding or removing owners from the blocked list is done automatically via collection automation.
Summary
With the help of an embedded banking solution, you can increase staff efficiencies and enhance security measures for your company’s financials. This will place your community association management company ahead of the competition by allowing you to complete the financial process without waiting, and ultimately increase productivity for your accounting staff.
Learn how Vantaca’s embedded banking software solution reduced accounting department overhead costs by 75% while increasing association count by 60%