Why does it take so long?

I am sitting here today in the throes of the election coverage, wondering why it is taking so long to decide these races and see who is going to be controlling the legislative branches of our government. I am sure many of you are doing the same. One would think with technology advances, and many years of going through this process, that efficiencies would have helped get us all to an answer earlier.

Obviously, we all probably know there is a surge of mail-in and absentee ballots this year, which are unprecedented and would delay the results. Litigation may also hold up the results before we are finished. But there is probably another factor playing into this as well – quality control. Each state wants their numbers to be right. And we as observers also want it to be right.

How does this apply to my financial institution? Well, there are a lot of things that you do that require time to make sure they are right. Any compliance-related disclosures need to be right, or we risk the possibility of fines and lost customers. Our calculations of interest need to be right. Loan documents need to be right. Reconciliations of accounts need to be right. So do a hundred other items we do on a regular basis. We must have controls in place (quality control) to ensure that these things are correct.

How are you looking at making sure the control procedures are correct and efficient, so we can have correct and timely results? Is there an area you are concerned about for accuracy and timeliness? If you are not having someone review your procedures for both adequacy and efficiency, contact your relationship executive. They will be able to suggest ways to ensure accuracy and timeliness, so we are not wondering why it takes so long for results.