Executive summary

Nivoda - a global diamond, gems, and jewellery trader - operates at a global scale, with complex inventory flows, high transaction volumes, and multi-currency activity across 13 entities. For much of that growth, finance was constrained by manual processes that could not keep pace.

Month-end closes regularly extended beyond 20 days. Bank reconciliations alone consumed weeks of effort, creating downstream pressure on audit planning and close coordination as the business scaled.

By implementing Stacks as its close and reconciliation platform, Nivoda has moved from an environment where closing the books was uncertain to one where progress is visible, reconciliations are automated, and the close is steadily accelerating. The most recent close was completed in 12 days, with further reductions in sight.

What a successful close looks like at Nivoda

For Nivoda, month-end success is not about speed for its own sake. It is about delivering accurate, audit-ready numbers quickly enough for the business to act on them.

As JP explains:

“For me personally, it’s being able to give the numbers on time to the right people… [in] a good, reasonable amount of time, say 10 days, that the business can actually use the insights.”

The challenge: scale-outpacing process

When JP joined Nivoda, the finance team was operating under growing complexity:

• 13 subsidiaries across multiple jurisdictions
  
  

• High-volume, multi-currency transactions
  
  

• Complex inventory and intercompany flows
  
  

• 130+ bank accounts, many with thousands of transactions each month

Despite significant effort, the close remained unpredictable.

“We have never been able to close the books… multi-currency, multi-subsidiary, inventory, banks, thousands of transactions. Before Stacks, it was always a mad rush to try to close books, especially around audit time.”

Bank reconciliations were the biggest bottleneck. Manual spreadsheet-based processes could not keep up with transaction volume, pushing the close well beyond 20 days and drawing senior leadership into operational work at year-end.

The downstream impact was delayed audits, filing extensions, and overlapping audit cycles - a clear signal that the existing approach would not scale.

Why Nivoda chose Stacks

The decision to adopt Stacks was driven by a need to move beyond incremental spreadsheet improvements.

Two capabilities stood out during evaluation.

AI-powered bank reconciliations

Stacks demonstrated high-accuracy matching on Nivoda’s real bank and GL data during the evaluation process. For JP, this was the moment the solution clicked:

“On the call… There was a 95% accuracy match… that’s when I was sold.”

Excel-native journal automation

Stacks’ Excel Assistant allowed the team to continue working in spreadsheets while removing manual upload and validation friction. Journal entries that previously took hours could now be prepared and posted in minutes - without compromising control.

Implementation and adoption

Nivoda began implementing Stacks in September 2025, completing technical setup and training. Stacks was implemented as the system of record for the month-end close.

The team adopted:

• Workspace and close checklists for task ownership and dependency management
  
  

• Automated bank reconciliation workflows to replace spreadsheet matching
  
  

• Excel Assistant for daily and monthly journal activity

Adoption was immediate and broad across the team. Stacks became the place where work actually happened, not a tool used only at month-end.

“From day one, Stacks actually started working.”

The impact: a faster, more controlled close

Since implementing Stacks, Nivoda has made steady progress in reducing close timelines:

• Before Stacks: 20+ days, with inconsistent completion
  
  

• After implementation: reduced to 12-16 days

Just as importantly, finance leadership now has real-time visibility into close progress.

“Now with Stacks, I feel a little bit more in control… I know where the team’s sitting when I check the month-end checklist.”

Manual effort has been significantly reduced, particularly for bank reconciliations, which are now performed directly in Stacks rather than through side-by-side spreadsheet comparisons.

Audit readiness as a continuous state

Stacks has shifted audit preparation from a year-end scramble, where Nivoda had to face delays on Group audit, and has to apply for extensions, to a monthly discipline.

“Throughout every single month, you’re already reconciling… You don’t have to worry about year-end.”

With reconciliations, evidence, and logs captured consistently, auditors can access structured documentation without extended follow-ups - allowing Nivoda to return to an on-schedule audit cadence.

Excel Assistant for journal entries

Stacks’ Excel Assistant enabled the team to continue working in Excel while eliminating manual uploads and validation errors.

Journal postings that previously took three hours or more - especially for intercompany and high-volume entries - can now be completed in around 15 minutes, with built-in validation against NetSuite data.

A pragmatic approach to AI in finance

Nivoda’s view on AI is grounded in practicality. The goal is not to replace professional judgement, but to eliminate repetitive, low-value work.

“I don’t wake up every morning excited to do bank recons.”

By automating high-volume tasks like transaction matching, the finance team can focus on compliance, insight, and partnering more closely with the business.

Why Nivoda recommends Stacks

JP’s advice to other finance leaders evaluating Stacks is simple:

“The quickest way to sell Stacks is not to tell them - it’s to show them.”

Seeing the platform operate on real data makes the value clear: a close that is faster, more predictable, and built to scale.

For Nivoda, Stacks has transformed month-end from a source of risk into a foundation for growth.