Modernizing Shared Services: 3 Problems Slowing You Down (and How to Fix Them)

52% of organizations are shifting from transactional back-office work toward core business support — up from 48% in 2025. Shared service centers were designed to create consistency, reduce redundancy, and centralize reconciliation across portfolios. And structurally, they work. But could it be better? (Spoiler alert, the answer is yes).

The issue isn’t the model. It’s the lack of finance shared services automation supporting it. The travel and hospitality industry loses over $1.5 billion annually to manual payment reconciliation, money that could be reinvested in growth.

In this blog we will review why some businesses leveraging shared service centers struggle, while others become real strategic advantages. These are the three most common problems finance teams experience working with shared services:

1. Manual Reconciliation Risk in Shared Services:

   Congratulations, you’ve taken financial processes outside of property level successfully centralizing them. But something still feels wrong… manual reports emailed to your team can’t be safe, and your data is only as good as your SSC team’s typing skills, you’re one missed zero, or broken formula away from a heavy write off. Check out problem 1 to learn how you can address this workflow function (or disfunction).

2. Delayed Reconciliation and Lack of Portfolio-Wide Visibility:

   Tired of waiting weeks for exceptions? Manual processes aren’t only a liability for errors; they cause severe delays. Teams are making decisions on outdated, unreliable data, and errors are caught when it’s too late to do anything about it. Check out problem 2 to find out what is causing delays in your processes and the impact on your properties.
   You have shared services but are thinking of breaking up? (Please talk to your therapist before making such a decision) Solution 2.5 could be for you.

3. Messy Data Blocking Finance Shares Services Automation:

   Do you wish you could do more with your data overall? This is a bit of a combination of all problems. AI and automation rely on clean, consistent data. If your SSC processes are not integrated, standardized, and error-free, you will not be able to trust its output for insightful or actionable analytics. Check out Problem 3 and restore control.

 Evention’s Total Recon platform allows you to transform your reconciliation to leverage your SSC strategically, rather than just centralizing the work elsewhere. Let us tell you how you can create a financial trust layer without disrupting how properties or brands are structured today.  

1. Problem: Manual Reconciliation Risk in Shared Services

Shared service teams often reconcile across dozens, or hundreds, of locations. That’s a lot of spreadsheets to keep track, 45% of finance leaders report that manual processes slow them down. A workflow of that nature typically looks like this:

• Download reports from multiple systems
• Re-key data into spreadsheets
• Run macros to match transactions
• Email exception reports back to properties

Even when centralized, this method introduces version control issues as multiple files circulate across teams, often with no clear source of truth. Documentation becomes inconsistent from property to property, making processes harder to standardize. Over time, these gaps increase audit exposure and reduce confidence in the integrity of the numbers.

Solution: Modernize your Shared Service Process with Total Recon 

No more potential typos or multiple versions of the same file. Centralization without the cleanup, is still chaos. Keep the chaos away with integrated systems and role-based access for SSC and on property teams.

The structure stays centralized. The execution becomes automated, scalable, and audit-ready. Shared service accountants use Total Recon directly instead of spreadsheets. And with our role-based permissions, you’re able to maintain control from location to location.

• Transaction-level matching is automated
• Exceptions are categorized and visible instantly
• Portfolio-wide visibility replaces fragmented file

2. Problem: Delayed Reconciliation and Lack of Portfolio-Wide Visibility

One of the biggest shared service pain points, especially with third-party providers, is timing. Organizations that operate on weekly reconciliation cycles are far more likely to face month-end adjustments and preventable write-offs simply because errors are detected too late. Evention data shows that, on average, shared service center outputs take 1–2 weeks to reach the property level, creating a lag between transaction activity and corrective action. That delay increases the risk of revenue leakage, limits recovery opportunities, and ultimately exposes the organization to greater audit scrutiny.  

Solution: Daily Reconciliation (No more waiting)  

Shortening the feedback loop between transaction activity and action, without removing shared services from the process provides the quick clarity needed to take action on errors and discrepancies. Total Recon allows Shared Services to still own reconciliation, but with automation, consistency, and visibility across the entire portfolio.

With automated validation:

• Exceptions are surfaced faster
• Teams act daily, not weeks later
• Backlog noise decreases
• Revenue recovery improves
• Close becomes smoother and more predictable

Solution 2.5 (Bonus) Total Recon Can Replace Shared Services for Reconciliation

For properties that want more control or faster turnaround: Total Recon can be used instead of a shared service center for reconciliation.

Properties are now able to: 

• Eliminate shared service fees 
• Act on exception report in real times 
• Gain Portfolio-wide visibility

This option isn’t always the easiest organizational change, but it is available, especially when cadence, cost, or visibility are pain points. But we know there’s more to SSCs than just reconciliation, which is why we seek to empower them not replace them.

3. Problem: Messy Data Blocking Finance Shares Services Automation  

Like looking into murky waters, looking into dirty data provides zero visibility. Over time, some brands realize the challenge isn’t just cadence, its unreliable data. Messy data in, means messy data out.

Common frustrations include:

• Limited insight into match rates
• Heavy reliance on emailed reports
• Multiple handoffs between property and shared service teams
• Difficulty understanding portfolio-level trends

When reconciliation feels distant, finance leaders lose confidence in the data outputs. For multi-property portfolios, inconsistent reconciliation processes create reporting variance across locations, limiting true portfolio-wide visibility. In the era of AI and automation-everything, your tools are only as good as the data you feed them. GenAI, automation, analytics platforms are now central to shared services value delivery and future adoption.

Solution: Restore Control with Portfolio-Wide Visibility

AI and automation rely on clean, consistent data, which is not unachievable. Combined with your shared service center, or deployed independently, Total Recon provides centralized visibility across all locations, giving finance leaders a single source of truth.

Total Recon delivers portfolio-wide match rates and performance metrics, enabling teams to measure reconciliation health immediately. It also creates clear accountability by user and by property, ensuring transparency around ownership, activity, and resolution.

The result:

• Greater operational control
• Fewer cross-team dependencies
• Stronger accountability
•  Cleaner financial close 

And what’s better than one system that helps you unify everything? TWO systems that help you unify everything. Credit Card Analytics (Total Recon’s right-hand man) can provide additional insight at a bird's eye view level. So, you don’t have to go digging for hours. While separate from reconciliation, CCA works especially well alongside shared services: 

 Leadership gains a bird’s eye view of: 

• Fees 
• Trends 
• Benchmarks 
• Processor performance across all properties 

This is particularly valuable when reconciliation is outsourced and analytics are otherwise fragmented across processors. Two truly is, better than one.

The Bottom Line  

Shared services aren’t the problem; they’ve been a smart move for years. The real challenge is when they’re still powered by spreadsheets and manual reconciliation risks.

Modernizing shared services doesn’t mean turning your operations upside down. It simply means strengthening the infrastructure behind the work your team is already doing.

When centralization is supported by automation and real-time visibility, finance teams spend less time cleaning up yesterday’s issues and more time confidently controlling what happens today.

Our Co-Founder, Mike Baldinger, has a way with words. View his video to get an easy breakdown of how shared services are a lot like... cleaning out your basement.