Priority CU: Their New Chapter

Aux’s accounting services helps the Orlando-based, $60M credit union

Priority CU branch

In 2020, Priority Credit Union (PCU) chose Aux 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.

Let’s learn about the challenges faced by a small credit union trying to reverse years of neglect, who barreling into the future and embracing what the shared services model can offer in terms of back up, depth, expertise and flexibility.

🤔 The challenge:

Repairing years of mismanaged and sloppy accounting function – with limited resources and a small team.

“We engaged the Aux Team to replace prior accounting staff and help us ‘untangle the spaghetti’ and get our books in order."

– Alan Rowe, Chief Strategy Officer, PCU

A Complete Mess

“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 Alan Rowe, Chief Strategy Officer, PCU.

Lighten the Load

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.

“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.” – Diane Parham, CFO and Head of Accounting Services at Aux

Cleaning Up the Books

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.

ACH Processing to Participation in Board Meetings

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.

Working Side-By-Side As Partners

“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.

Priority CU Logo

About Priority CU

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.

Wondering how Accounting Assistance could help your credit union? Reach out to us for a zero-salesy, zero-pushy chat.👇

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