Challenge

After recent exponential business growth, our client was struggling to scale its back office support and frontline customer service.

The result? Elevated financial risks due to non-compliance risk, and reputational risks due to customer dissatisfaction.

Solution

The EXO Edge solution was to:

• create and train new offshore teams to support key job functions;
• automate new processes — and integrate them with existing software;
• customise reporting to allow for real-time updates.

Benefit

Key benefits to the client include:

• 60 percent direct cost savings;
• 100 percent compliance with relevant regulations and agreements.

Example 1 — Property Managers

Problem

Property managers’ portfolios had multiplied, resulting in a risk of decreased focus on the customer. The payables processing cycle increased to more than 60 days, significantly increasing vendor pain.

Solution

The EXO Edge solution eliminated the need for property managers to enter invoices — and for onshore accountants to verify them. This was achieved by the creation and training of new offshore teams, and the institution of a new Standard Operating Procedure.

Benefit

Property managers could focus completely on their core activities; the overall payables cycle was reduced by 15 days within the first operational month; and customer ratings improved significantly.

Example 2 — Delays filing claims

Problem

The client was obligated to file periodic replacement reserve claims from the lender for property improvements. Due to the lack of staffing and clearly defined process, there were significant delays in filings — and some filings were then rejected, with the cost falling on the client.

Solution

EXO Edge’s solution was to develop a clear Standard Operating Procedure — and build a dedicated team to prepare the filings, and a detailed tracker to ensure compliance and eliminate rejections.

Benefit

Within the first 60 days of operations, the backlog was cleared and ongoing delays were eliminated. Moving forward, the client relied extensively on the tracker to keep lenders updated on upcoming claims.

Example 3 — Use Tax accounting

Problem

In the USA, Use Tax is levied on products and services used in a jurisdiction where sales tax is in effect — but purchased from a jurisdiction where tax was not paid. With existing staff facing increased workloads, and new staff struggling to get up to speed, the client had identified instances of failure to account for Use Tax correctly.

Also, with the US unemployment rate hovering around 2 percent at that time, the client had not been able to recruit and train the requisite new staff. This led to increased customer dissatisfaction — and multiple risks of non-compliance, including:

• Non-compliance with new sales tax legislation;
• Failure to perform strict credit and criminal record checks before customer onboarding;
• Untimely lender filings and submissions.

Solution

EXO Edge built an automated solution for the client to (a) account for Use Tax by grossing up relevant invoices in the accounts payable process and (b) prepare returns and filings for every relevant state.

Benefit

With increasing audits of Use Tax, the EXO Edge solution eliminated any associated financial risk for the client. Key benefits for our client included:

• 60 percent direct cost savings;
• 100 percent compliance with regulations and agreements.

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