Beyond the Close: Passport Streamlines AP and AR With FloQast Ops

With the month-end Close under control and compressed to just six days, Passport, a parking and payments software provider, wanted to bring more structure and transparency to its Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, and Cash Forecasting capabilities. With expanded workflow-specific dashboards for AP and AR from FloQast Ops, Passport is Closing more quickly and has achieved greater operational control, eliminated year-end audit adjustments, and consolidated critical accounting functions into one trusted source for greater simplicity – and accuracy.

There is nothing more nerve-racking and stress-inducing for an accounting professional than outdated, missing, or just plain wrong numbers. 

Sam Upton, Vice President, Controller at Passport, was already an enthusiastic user of FloQast Close but had become concerned with the controls and decentralized sources of information used for Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable reconciliations.

“With new growth and expansion, it had gotten a bit out of hand for us, and we needed a more structured process specifically for AP and AR,” Upton said. “MineralTree and NetSuite are our processing platforms, but regular maintenance activities, reviews, and updates were not getting done on a timely or consistent basis.”

Working with his FloQast Accounting Success Manager, Upton learned about the additional accounting workflows beyond the Close that already existed in his FloQast subscription via FloQast Ops, including Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable, Compliance, FP&A, Reporting, Operations, and Payroll.

“FloQast Ops has allowed us to codify and capture the best practices we were already following, and it tracks it all in one place for us now,” Upton said. “It’s easier to see that things have been done, and it’s really helped with accountability.”

Controls and Collaboration for AP & AR – All-Inclusive

Upton said his team’s knowledge of FloQast Close checklists, notes, and dashboards has been easy to apply to the additional AP and AR workflows.

“Key activities and reminders for reconciling vendor statements, verifying payment terms, and checking on discounts are all itemized now, and there was no significant lift to add them. Making them more visible and routine has helped us avoid fire drills and prevents larger problems.” – Sam Upton, Vice President, Controller

The AR side has become more organized and accountable as well.

“Our checklists on the AR side are different but particularly important because they affect our customers and incoming cash,” Upton said. “We’ve now got workflow tasks to check billing terms, payment postings, and invoicing documentation that our clients need to pay us.” 

The collaborative features of FloQast Ops have also improved team productivity and communications.

“We use the notes functionality quite a bit, especially when uploading workbooks or other documents,” Upton said. “The notes clarify key details, which prevents extra emails or Slack messages or digging through Google Drive, saving time and double work for everyone on the team, as well as our outside auditors.”

Intuitive and Iterative User Experience Drives Immediate Value

The built-in FloQast workflows were easy to stand up and start using. Slight changes or modifications can be made on the fly as well.

“It was very seamless to get everything into FloQast,” Upton said. “I can also iterate or add to the workflows as we decide we need new controls or details that help us improve each month.”

While time-savings and trust have all improved since expanding the FloQast workflows, it’s the comfort of knowing things are done and done right the first time that seems to matter most to Upton.

“The biggest thing for me is the comfort of having everything in one place, knowing where we stand, and being confident that it’s accurate,” Upton said.

“Where FloQast Ops has helped us most as a team and saved us the most time is achieving a perfectly clean audit, with no adjustments needed. We’re doing all the right things every month now, and we don’t have to fix anything at year-end.” – Sam Upton, Vice President, Controller