Stephen Ball
Senior Manager, External Reporting & Accounting Policy
Our 6K and 40F filings were manually prepared with disparate inputs. WorkOps brought everything together in Wdesk, transforming our entire document assembly process. And using their validation checker has virtually eliminated all manual tick and tie. I highly recommend them for your next Wdesk reporting project.
- Stephen Ball, The Stars Group
Michelle Francis
Director,
Financial Reporting
WorkOps created an extensive data collection model that largely automated a previously time-consuming and manual process for us. They also created FP&A and monthly accounting models in Wdesk that are not only very effective, but allow for greater control and transparency in our day-to-day reporting.
- Michelle Francis, Fortis Inc.
Julie Girard
Manager, Accounting Services, Consolidation and Standardization
The team at WorkOps were a joy to work with and each consultant is professional and efficient in their approach. I was surprised by the speed with which they created our financial statement model in Wdesk. In the end, they exceeded our expectations and created tremendous value for our organization.
- Julie Girard, Industrial Alliance
John Peellegoda
Treasurer
WorkOps was recommended to setup Wdesk for our reporting purposes. They created a spreadsheet and document set housing both quarterly and annual periods, and dynamically connected our financials, MD&A, earnings release and executive deck. We went from multiple departments with tedious disclosure tie-outs to a single, streamlined production process. The workflow transformation and resulting efficiency gains have been truly amazing.
- John Peellegoda, GTAA
Daniel Packer
Specialist,
Financial Reporting
Despite an extensive review process that involved everyone from our analysts to CFO, data consistency errors were still found in final versions of month-end reports and presentations. WorkOps created a validation file in Wdesk that automated nearly 1,000 checks and balances. They also took the time to properly train our staff to maintain and improve upon what they built. Their model changed the way we work and I would strongly recommend them to help optimize any Wdesk setup.
- Dan Packer, Alectra Utitlities
CASE STUDY corner
fortis re-defines data collection with workops
Day-to-day work rarely slows down for an energy company like Fortis Inc. with utility operations throughout Canada, the United States and the Caribbean.
Financial Accountant, Chantelle Mugford, said it was once time-consuming for her team to manually collect, input, round, translate and analyze information from multiple subsidiaries and data sources for assembly of their financial statement notes and disclosures. A few years ago, Fortis decided to transform their process by using the Workiva connected reporting and compliance platform to save hours on SEC and SEDAR reporting.
The challenge was finding time to free anyone from daily workloads in order to implement the Workiva data collection module, so they could maximize the time savings and productivity gains of using the Workiva platform.
Workiva connected Chantelle and Mark Hynes, Manager, Financial Reporting at Fortis, with WorkOps Consulting CEO, Nigel Bunbury. WorkOps, a full-service Workiva partner firm, helped Fortis centralize their data collection, aggregation and reporting analytics in a single environment, so teams could access information faster, refresh data more often, and more trust the analytics.
“They had both the accounting experience and Workiva platform design and build proficiency that helped us get there – and get there quicker,” Mark said of the WorkOps team.
An Expert Team of Professionals
Because WorkOps consultants are all CPAs, they were familiar with the pain points financial reporting teams often experience as well as how to solve them. They also well understood the Fortis team’s goals.
“We didn’t have to explain complicated accounting disclosures to them. They just understood from the start.”
Even with a slight time difference between the Fortis headquarters in Newfoundland and WorkOps’ office in Toronto, the WorkOps team was there to help, Chantelle said.
“I’ve worked with WorkOps constantly day-to-day. They’re fantastic,” Chantelle said. ”They are there non-stop. They are always there for you.”
The nimble WorkOps team was able to help the Fortis team use more of the Workiva platform on an accelerated timeline.
“I would highly recommend working with them. You physically would not have the time in your day-to-day job to take on what they do and the product that they prepare. The end result is just so much better than what you could create yourself, in the timeframe they do it in".
Communication
“The communication with WorkOps has been world class,” Mark said. “They are a small team, but they’re there for you any day or time you have any questions. If I want to speak to anyone on the team, I give them a call, and within minutes I usually hear back.”
“They’ll sit with you on-site. They’ll help out. I have nothing but positive things to say about WorkOps.”
Today, Workiva is helping Chantelle and her colleagues connect data and stay more connected with each other throughout the financial reporting process, thanks in part to the implementation by WorkOps.
The Fortis WorkOps Success Story
The end result is just so much better than what you could create yourself in the time they do it in.