$61MM Orlando-based Priority Credit Union (PCU) has chosen Aux, a CUSO based in Denver, CO and the D.C. area, to step in and assist with their full accounting function. With a new management team and a forward-looking mindset focused on collaboration and soundness, the 90-year-old credit union is turning the corner towards a healthier future.
“We engaged the Aux Team to replace prior accounting staff and help us ‘untangle the spaghetti’ and get our books in order,” comments Alan Rowe, Chief Strategy Officer at PCU. “I came into PCU last year to lead a
turnaround, as the credit union has been severely troubled for a number of years. Among the many challenges new management encountered was a complete mess in its accounting area— from sloppy, incorrect entries going in all directions, to numerous unreconciled accounts going back a few years, and almost everything in between,” lamented Rowe.
Aux, who specializes in expert-level accounting services, finds situations like this are more common than one might expect. “The credit union industry is facing challenges from numerus directions right now. We feel that if we can take the burden of accounting off the plate of a credit union who is struggling, we can allow them to instead focus on managing their CU,” explains Diane Parham, CFO and Head of Accounting Services at Aux.
An increasing number of credit unions are finding that partnering with a collaborative accounting team provides tremendous benefits. For healthy and troubled credit unions alike, mitigating key- person risk, creating effective separation of duties and minimizing staffing concerns are compelling. The first to offer full credit union accounting services in the country, Aux Accounting Services cover daily duties, Call Report and budget preparation, and everything in between.
In early 2020, Rowe reached out to Aux with interest in their specialized accounting services, which have helped many credit unions clean up their accounting function. “They have done an outstanding job in rectifying all those problems in just a few months and have set us up with great systems and reporting, using industry best practices,” says Rowe. “We feel privileged to work alongside PCU during these unprecedented times,” says Parham, who took the credit union onboard right before the pandemic struck.
Since then, Aux’s team of highly qualified accountants has assisted with everything from ACH processing to participation in PCU Board meetings. “PCU has been a great partner to work with. They’ve worked hard to get us in touch with the right vendors to clear up balancing issues and worked side by side with us as we research outages. We are looking forward to future forecasts and budgets to help them plan for a brighter tomorrow,” comments Parham.
“Aux provides built-in backup as well as financial consultation with their team of experts,” says Rowe. “We view them as a key strategic partner as we work to turn the corner and build a premier credit union to serve the Central Florida community for the future.” “At Aux we believe in the strength of the ‘people helping people’ philosophy and we’re proud to be the people helping the people who help the people,” concludes Parham.
The Aux suite of collaborative back office services include full-service accounting and CFO-level services, full-service compliance, and data analytics, which was just launched in June of 2020. Learn more about Aux’s services and solutions at auxteam.com/solutions/.
ABOUT AUX
Aux, established in 1992, is a Credit Union Service Organization (CUSO) owned by 55 credit unions, and serves nearly 200 participating clients. We provide a variety of progressive back office solutions that drive credit union success, like accounting, compliance and data analytics. We are leaders in credit union innovation, cooperation and research. We do the hard work for you. We are Aux Team proud.
For more information on Aux, please visit us at auxteam.com or contact us at (720) 945-7235.
ABOUT PRIORITY CREDIT UNION
Priority Credit Union was founded in 1930 by a small group of postal employees and is the oldest credit union in the Central Florida area. It is now a community charter serving over 14,000 members with 6 offices. The credit union was founded and still exists today to provide a reliable place to save and borrow finances. The mission of PCU is: “To foster the growth of our employees and, as a team, deliver financial advice and products to the people of our community for each stage of their lives.”
Learn more at www.prioritycu.org.
