Beyond Automation: The Business Case for a Centralised Reconciliations Operating Model

In today's financial services landscape, operational efficiency isn't just a goal—it's a strategic imperative. While many firms have invested in reconciliation tools, true transformation isn't just about technology; it's about the Target Operating Model (TOM) that surrounds it.

A decentralised approach—with fragmented systems, dis

parate processes, and isolated teams—creates significant business drag: higher costs, inconsistent controls, and heightened operational risk. These inefficiencies directly impact the bottom line and the integrity of the balance sheet.

The solution? A shift to a centralised, best-in-class TOM built around a Reconciliations Centre of Excellence (CoE).

This model is a game-changer for three key business reasons:

➡️ Drives Down Operational Cost & Complexity: By consolidating reconciliation activities, we eliminate redundant tasks and system overlaps. A centralised team with a standardised process reduces the total cost of ownership and creates a scalable platform for growth.

➡️ Enhances Control & Mitigates Risk: A single governance framework ensures consistent handling of exceptions across the entire organisation. This proactive approach significantly reduces the risk of financial loss, regulatory fines, and reputational damage lurking in un-reconciled breaks.

➡️ Unlocks Strategic Value from Your Finance Team: The core of this model is a tiered operational workflow. The CoE, supported by automation, acts as the first line of defence, triaging and resolving the majority of exceptions. This prevents simple issues from unnecessarily escalating, freeing up specialised finance professionals to focus on root-cause analysis, process improvement, and strategic initiatives—not routine firefighting.

In this structure, technology does the heavy lifting, operators in the CoE provide the first-line resolution, and your finance experts are engaged only for complex, high-value investigations. It’s a smarter allocation of talent that turns the reconciliations function from a cost centre into a control centre for financial integrity.

The result? A function that is not just efficient, but resilient, controlled, and strategically aligned.

Contact us at ReconIQ for more information how we have helped countless financial services firms optimise their reconciliation processes, build a CoE, find the right reconciliation solution and implement reconciliation systems.