3 exciting opportunities for career starters to launch their career

Reconciliation is the process of comparing internal books of records against external sources—such as a bank, securities depository, a credit card statement—to ensure both books of records are in sync.  Reconciliations play a vital role in a firm's daily operations, supporting activities such as cash flow reporting, regulatory reporting, risk mitigation, fraud prevention, audit and governance. It is an important control function.
 Reconciliation software has automated the identification of transaction discrepancies between books of records. The reconciliation software will flag the transactions that are not in sync, but a manual intervention is needed to analyze and resolve the differences in a timely manner. Therefore, financial services organizations, such as universal banks, investment banks, brokerages and custodians, that deal with large volumes of daily transactions, employ thousands of reconciliation associates.

The books of records may not be in sync due to timing differences in transaction postings, missed transactions and wrong postings. Reconciliation associates and analysts are responsible for analyzing the transactions, conducting audits, checking for errors, resolving transaction discrepancies between books of records, and bringing them into agreement. Some of the major reconciliation in Banking and financial services include Nostro Reconciliation, Cash Reconciliations, Position Reconciliation, Balance sheet Reconciliations, Account Reconciliations, ATM Reconciliations etc.

Reconciliation associate role is for career starters who prefer stress free job that also offers stability, learning opportunities and career growth. A reconciliation associate will grow into the role of a reconciliation analyst within a couple of years and then progress to reconciliation supervisor roles. A reconciliation associate typically would require an associate or an undergraduate degree and should have excellent analytical and critical-thinking skills. Alternate career paths for reconciliation analysts with 5+ years of experience include Financial Analyst, Accountant, Business Analyst and Operations manager.

Top employers – JP Morgan, Bank of America, Citi, Bank of New York Mellon, Barclays, Lloyds Bank, State Street, Accenture, Genpact, TCS, HCL.

The global AML landscape is diverse, and financial institutions are struggling to keep pace with rules and regulations to remain compliant. Banks and financial institutions have paid close to $2.0 billion in fines in 2021 for noncompliance with KYC / AML guidelines.  Effective KYC processes are the backbone of any AML compliance program. With EU strengthening AML/CFT rules and creating a decentralized EU regulatory agency known as AMLA, banks are dedicating significant resources and time to KYC compliance processes. The demand for KYC analyst will continue to grow in the foreseeable future.

 A KYC Analyst is part of the banks' compliance operations and is primarily responsible for validating the identity of the new customer as per the process established by the bank. They review the documents submitted by the customer, confirm the authenticity of the document, conduct basic due diligence on the customer, and assign a risk rating to the new accounts. Due diligence process may include sanctions screening, PEP checks, and adverse media reports leveraging specialized AML/KYC services providers.

The minimum qualification required for most KYC analyst roles is a bachelor's degree, preferably in finance, accounting or law. A certification in financial Crime Compliance, or as a certified KYC analyst, is an added advantage for career starters. KYC analyst role requires strong research and observational skills, data analysis skills, sound decision-making skills, and strong written and oral communication skills. KYC analysts have excellent career growth opportunities within the compliance division as team leads, AML officer and compliance manager. They can also opt for a career in IT and compliance consulting as business analyst and process consultants.

Top employers – JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Citi, Barclays, Lloyds Bank, BNP Paribas, Accenture, EY, PWC.

Cash flow management is vital to any business. Accounts Payable (AP) and Accounts Receivable (AR) function within the Finance & Accounting department tracks when the company gets paid for the goods and services sold, and what the company needs to pay for the goods & services you procured.  The focus of the accounts receivable group is to ensure the business gets paid as quickly as possible, while the account payable would focus on getting more time to pay the bills owed by the company to suppliers and creditors improve cash flow.

To improve AR & AP processes companies need to invest in new technology, employees and tools, however most companies are reluctant to do so. Therefore, outsourcing of AR & AP function has been increasing. The service providers not only have the tools, skills, and technology to manage the AR & AP process but also improve the overall process and reduce the number of DSO days thus positively impacting the cashflow.
Understanding of accounting and book keeping is needed for associates working the AR & AP processes therefore a degree in accounting or commerce is beneficial for those aspiring for a career in Finance & Accounting function. Other skills include punctuality, communication skills, interpersonal skills , problem solving skills and collaboration skills. One of the problem with most large corporations is  that they segregate works like AR, AP and GL. Therefore from a career growth perspective there is limited scope for organic growth though Accounts receivable accountant can become accounts receivable manager or credit controller.
Top employers –  Accenture, Genpact, TCS, Wipro, Capgemini, Infosys, HCL, EXL

Careers in Business operations can be a good launchpad for career starters. The three career roles mentioned above offer long term career options for those interested in business operations career. Depending on the size of the organization and country of operations, the job titles and roles & responsibilities may change. Aspiring candidates therefore need to carefully read the job description in the job posting and figure out if the role is what they're actually looking for, especially if you’re applying across industries.