Trintech has announced that its Unity Suite – Reconciliation 6.0 has achieved certified integration with SAP ERP 6.0 applications. The certification was granted by the SAP Integration and Certification Centre.

Trintech's Unity Suite provides an integrated software solution for the Last Mile of Finance. The Last Mile of Finance refers to the financial closing process, which has steadily become more complex as businesses have globalised and become subject to more sets of regulations. Trintech Unity offers solutions for operational reconciliation, general ledger reconciliation, financial close, and financial reporting and filing, using the XBRL or iXBRL formats, in line with the Integrated Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

Many of South Africa's corporates and public sector entities run on SAP. This certification means that data from their SAP systems can be seamlessly used by Trintech in the financial closing process. In so doing, companies can complete the Last Mile of Finance much more effectively, and spend less time on repetitive close and compliance tasks.

″This certification makes the closing process much more efficient for companies that use SAP,” says Conrad Steyn, director of Barnstone, which is the exclusive representative of Trintech in sub-Saharan Africa. Barnstone was instrumental in Trintech's SAP accreditation by developing the connector that links Unity Suite to SAP.

″Being able to draw down data from the SAP system will improve visibility and process management even more, further reducing the financial and reputational risk of imperfect or late reporting. An added benefit is the enhanced productivity of finance staff involved in the closing process, generally a factor that is overlooked.″

While return on investment obviously depends on individual companies and the industries in which they operate, customers can expect to reduce personnel costs, improve cycle times by 20% to 75%, reduce audit fees by more than 10%, and decrease the time spent on routine compliance/governance tasks by more than 20%.

″These are already substantial returns, and improving Trintech's efficiency by linking direct into the SAP system could increase them still further. This is truly a milestone for Trintech and its customers,″ Steyn concludes.