About Crowe

Crowe Global, commonly referred to as Crowe, is a multinational professional services network. It is the 8th largest global accounting network in the world by revenue. The network consists of more than 220 firms with over 40,000 employees in 130 countries.

Challenge

For Crowe, a crucial but time-consuming task had become a bottleneck: auditing. The audit process involved handling an Excel document comprising over 30 tabs. Each tab was dedicated to collecting financial data, and extensive calculations were carried out across the board.

Though the system was semi-automated—with data being entered in one primary tab and other tabs updating through pre-set formulas—it was far from efficient. Auditors spent hours navigating, checking, and managing this behemoth of a document. Errors were frequent, given the volume of data manipulation, leading to compromised data integrity.

Exo’s solution

To streamline this process and harness the power of Robotic Process Automation (RPA), we developed a custom plugin for Microsoft Excel using React. This tool, which is now available from Microsoft’s marketplace, added a layer of intelligent automation to the audit processes.

How it works:

  • The user begins with a template, presented as the first tab in Excel.
  • Through the plugin’s interface, users can perform various actions.
  • Depending on the chosen actions, different tabs are automatically populated with the necessary information.
  • With just a few clicks, the plugin generates a multitude of insights and KPIs tailored to the client’s needs.

    • The results

    Time efficiency

    The number of hours auditors previously dedicated to this task plummeted. With the new plugin, the firm witnessed a dramatic reduction in manual hours, resulting with time, will result in significant cost savings.

    Enhanced accuracy

    With the previous formula-driven system, there was a significant reliance on manual data input, which inherently carried a high probability of human errors. The new plugin, by automating many of these processes, minimized human intervention and, in doing so, drastically reduced the chances of errors being introduced. This shift not only ensure data integrity but also provided greater confidence in the audit results.

    Stakeholders & Development

    Stakeholders: The auditors, who previously managed the manual process.
    Team: 1 React developer
    Duration: The transformation was achieved in a mere 200 work hours—a small investment for the tremendous long-term benefits reaped.