Improving The Accrual Process
The Turning Point: How Lean Partner Transformed a Struggling Accrual Process Into a Seamless Financial Engine
It began the way many financial challenges do, quietly, almost unnoticed at first. Every month, the accounting team wrestled with accruals that didn’t reconcile, late postings, missing data, and adjustments that seemed never-ending. What should have been a straightforward financial closing cycle instead became a stressful monthly ritual. Forecast accuracy dropped. Reporting delays increased. And leaders began questioning why such a critical process felt so unpredictable.
When Lean Partner stepped in, we didn’t just look at the numbers, we listened to the people behind them. Almost immediately, patterns began to surface. Teams were handling accruals manually, often relying on fragmented knowledge and inconsistent practices. There was no centralized training for staff who performed receiving roles, and new team members often learned through trial and error. In many cases, the organization didn’t even have a complete list of who was performing POR (Proof of Receipt), leading to large pockets of untrained users.
As we dug deeper, we found structural issues embedded into the workflow. For example, vendors frequently submitted invoices before teams performed POR, creating mismatch errors. New system changes added complexity that few were trained for. And documentation formats varied widely, slowing down verification and reconciliation. According to the analysis in the project report, out of 339 invoices reviewed over one month, 20% were rejected due to wrong invoicing practices — a drain on time and morale.
The story of this improvement is not about technology upgrades. It is about clarity, empowerment, and structure. We learned that the organization had at least 126 personnel who raised PRs or performed POR, yet only 30 people were attending the recurring training sessions. This gap alone explained much of the inconsistency. Teams were trying their best, but they were not set up for success.
So Lean Partner redesigned the experience from the ground up. We created self-serve training modules accessible to all target users, ensuring no one was left behind. We worked with line managers to ensure every new project manager received clear onboarding on the accrual process. We introduced regular training cycles to reduce recurring mistakes. And we supported the team in creating a structured, accurate data list so that responsibilities were clear, trackable, and transparent.
Month by month, something remarkable began to happen. Errors decreased. Accruals became timely. Forecasts became more reliable. And the accounting team — once overwhelmed — felt in control again. By Q4 2022, the organization achieved the outcome everyone had been striving for: an accrual cycle that no longer required constant adjustments and firefighting.
The results of this transformation were clear and powerful:
- Procurement saved 2 hours per week
- Accounts Payable saved 1 hour per month
- Accounting teams saved 2 man-days per month
- Accruals became timely and accurate
- Recurring user errors significantly reduced
- Staff confidence and process clarity improved
This success story proves that even the most technical financial processes are powered by people, and when people are empowered with the right knowledge, structure, and tools, excellence follows naturally. Lean Partner is proud to have helped this organization regain accuracy, stability, and trust in one of its most important financial processes.