Workiva Helps KeyBank Modernize Financial Operations

Workiva, a provider of data collaboration, reporting and compliance solutions, today announced that KeyBank, a subsidiary of KeyCorp a Cleveland-based bank and financial services company, is using Wdesk to streamline accounting policies and financial processes across its company.

“Wdesk has been a game-changer. I use it every day in every aspect of my work,” said Stacy Gilbert, Senior Vice President and Director of Accounting Policy at KeyBank.

Gilbert’s technical accounting team maintains the bank’s accounting policies and implements new accounting standards established by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). Most recently, her team implemented the FASB Accounting Standards Codification Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (ASC 606) that require certain companies to re-evaluate when and how they account for revenue streams.

“I spend a significant amount of time making sure the business units who have to apply the requirements of these accounting standards understand them and apply them appropriately,” said Gilbert. “The implementation of the ASC 606 standard was a significant effort that was made much easier by using Wdesk.”

“Wdesk lets us work collaboratively and always with the most current information. I can assign tasks, track projects and easily share documents and solicit comments,” added Gilbert. “So for example, with the revenue recognition standard, we had to work very closely with our auditors. Working in Wdesk allowed us to streamline audit documentation, testing by the auditors and the financial reporting requirements.”

Gilbert’s team is also focused on implementing the new FASB lease standard, which will go into effect for public entities beginning in 2019, and the Current Expected Credit Loss (CECL) accounting standard, which will change how financial institutions calculate allowance for loan losses beginning in 2020. “Without Wdesk, management of all the accounting requirements and implementation efforts of the many working groups would be cumbersome,” Gilbert said. “Wdesk documentation and support binders give our auditors and my team confidence that we are working with the correct numbers and can support decisions with appropriate documentation.”

Gilbert, who used Wdesk at her previous employer, said team members feel more ownership because of the transparency throughout their end-to-end process. “Wdesk gives teams one place to collaborate and gather large amounts of data. In the past, that information was scattered, but now that the analysis and supporting documentation are in one place, we are operating much more efficiently,” she said. “If a decision isn’t documented in Wdesk, then that decision never happened. It’s a culture change, but one that has been well received and easily adopted.”

Gilbert says as teams were introduced to Wdesk, they found it easy to use and powerful. “After seeing the benefits, our Chief Accounting Officer started insisting that we work more in Wdesk,” added Gilbert. “This support helped us get more processes moved to Wdesk. Now there are power users across multiple teams, and we have improved operating efficiency across the bank.”