Thinklytics

Frost Bank · Financial Services · Austin, TX · 18 weeks

Call report preparation automated from 3 weeks to 2 days

A $4.2B regional bank spent three weeks each quarter on manual call report preparation, relying on four senior analysts. We redesigned the metric layer for ALCO, credit risk, and call report workflows to automate the process. This cut report prep time drastically and resolved all MRA issues found in the next regulatory exam.

Challenge

The bank spent three weeks every quarter manually preparing call reports, tying up four senior analysts. This manual work led to inconsistent results each quarter. A recent regulatory exam flagged four data quality issues in the call reports. The bank had six months to fix these problems before the next exam.

Approach

We redesigned the metric layer for ALCO, credit risk, and call report pipelines, creating precise definitions for all 140 call report line items. We automated data extraction and calculations, cutting preparation time from three weeks to two days. We also implemented a validation step that flagged data quality issues before submission to the regulator.

Outcome

We cut call report prep from three weeks to two days by streamlining data collection and automating calculations. This dropped annual compliance labor costs by $680K. When regulators reviewed the reports, they found no MRAs. We freed up four senior analysts to focus on strategic finance work instead of report assembly.

We Went Through 140 Call Report Line Items to Pinpoint What’s Actually Driving Sales

Alright, here’s the scoop. Our analysts were all over the place with how they defined 12 out of 140 call report line items. No wonder the numbers didn’t line up quarter after quarter, it was a mess. So, we got everyone on the same page by locking in one clear definition for each of those 140 line items. Then, we set up automated calculations to keep things consistent from now on. Boom, problem fixed.

Double-checking our data so we dodge those annoying submission errors

Alright, here’s the scoop. We put together a validation layer that ran 280 automated checks on every finished call report before it got submitted. These checks were pretty sharp, they made sure schedules matched up, caught any big jumps compared to last quarter, and even benchmarked results against other banks in the same peer group. When we tested this on the bank’s last quarter data, it flagged 8 issues that might have triggered MRAs. Caught those early, which saved a lot of headaches down the line.

We told our compliance analysts to tackle the riskiest cases first. Simple as that.

Here’s the deal: four senior analysts were buried, spending three weeks every quarter just cranking out call reports. We switched things up. Instead, we had them tackle this huge 18-month backlog of strategic finance projects. The impact? Their productivity soared, and we unlocked a ton of mental bandwidth. Even the CFO said it was the biggest efficiency jump they’d seen from any initiative.

Results

  • $680K Annual compliance labor saved
  • 3 wks to 2 days Call report preparation cycle
  • 0 MRAs in subsequent exam
  • Month 1 New analyst fully productive

Our last exam turned up four MRAs, and we had another one scheduled in six months. Thinklytics helped us clean the data and automate the process, so this time we ended up with zero MRAs. The analysts who used to spend time on call reports are now able to focus on higher-value tasks.

Chief Financial Officer, Regional Bank ($4.2B AUM)

In the client's terms

The question

Which number is right, and who gets to decide?

The situation

Three weeks of every quarter went into preparing call reports, occupying four senior analysts, and the result varied quarter to quarter. A regulatory exam had returned four data quality findings, with six months to the next one.

What we found

The inconsistency was not carelessness. One hundred and forty line items had no written definitions, so four analysts were making the same forty judgement calls afresh every quarter and not always the same way.

What it produced

Preparation fell from three weeks to two days and $680K a year in compliance labour. The following exam returned no MRAs. The four senior analysts moved to strategic finance work, and a new analyst now reaches full productivity in month one.

The roadmap

The metric layer behind ALCO, credit risk and call reporting was redesigned around written definitions for all 140 line items. Extraction and calculation were automated against those definitions. A validation gate runs before submission so a data quality problem is caught internally rather than by an examiner.

The work behind this result

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Frequently asked questions

How long does call report preparation have to take?

Two days at Frost Bank, down from three weeks, once all 140 line items had written definitions and the calculations were automated against them. That released four senior analysts and $680K a year in compliance labour.

Why do call report figures vary between quarters?

Because undefined line items get re-interpreted. Twelve of Frost Bank's 140 line items had no agreed definition, so four analysts were making the same judgement calls afresh each quarter and not always the same way.

How do you avoid regulatory findings on call reports?

Validate before submission. Frost Bank's reporting now runs 280 automated checks covering schedule cross-foots, quarter-on-quarter movement and peer benchmarks. Run against the prior quarter it flagged 8 items that could have become MRAs, and the following exam returned none.