How UPS cut root-cause analysis to five minutes
average time to find the cause of a discrepancy
Month-end used to be the most stressful time of the month. Now we catch most errors earlier, and sort out what remains in minutes.
UPS Finance Operations TeamFinance operations
From a day of chasing errors to 5-minute answers
At close, the team could see a discrepancy but not its cause. They had to open several systems, compare records, and message colleagues: was the operation entered incorrectly, was a field missing, or did data fail to make it across from another department? Finding the answer took a day on average.
The first Numerus agent takes on that work. It collects the related records and shows where the chain broke: in synchronisation, a manager's entry, a local rule, or a departmental hand-off.
Finance now gets the cause and the supporting data in five minutes on average. The correction can start straight away.
Impact
- 1 day saved per problem
- Fewer urgent requests across teams during close
- Month-end stays on schedule despite discrepancies
We used to spend a day figuring out what broke. Now we see it almost immediately.
UPS Finance Operations Team
Fewer errors, fewer month-end fires
The first agent made investigations faster, but it did not stop errors from entering the process. A manager could still enter an operation incorrectly, skip a required field, or miss a local exception. The problem would still show up at close.
The team added a second agent to check data as it is entered. It flags incorrect fields and operations before the record moves to the next system or department.
As a result, 82% fewer data-entry errors now reach month-end. The team is not fixing the same mistakes every month.
Impact
- 82% fewer errors become finance's month-end problem
- Managers fix mistakes in their own workflow, not after close starts
- The team spends less time cleaning up repeat issues
The best discrepancy is the one that never makes it to month-end.
UPS Finance Operations Team
Month-end no longer depends on manual investigations
Month-end used to stall easily. One discrepancy led to waiting for another department, pulling a new export, and reconciling again. The team worked under pressure because no one knew how many such cases would appear before close was finished.
Now fewer errors reach close, and Numerus gathers the context for the ones that do. Finance can see who should own the fix and where to start.
Close became a normal operating process.
Impact
- Fewer last-minute blockers during close
- Less stress and fewer urgent requests for the finance team
- The close is easier to plan and keep on schedule
Month-end feels manageable now. We know what needs fixing and can get on with it.
UPS Finance Operations Team
The control process no longer lives with one person
The old process relied on people who knew where a particular problem was likely to come from. When volumes rose or a similar issue appeared in another department, the team had to start the investigation again.
Numerus keeps the recurring causes, source records, and fixes in the workflow. The team can see what happened, why it happened, and what worked last time.
Impact
- Close does not depend on one person's memory or workbook
- Teams resolve similar issues the same way
- Every fix makes the next close less fragile
We no longer depend on who remembers how this was fixed last time.
UPS Finance Operations Team
UPS's advice: start with the errors that repeat
Do not start by replacing every system. First look at what delays close every month: where synchronisation breaks, which fields are missed, what managers enter incorrectly, and where data gets lost between departments. Make the cause visible, then stop it from happening again.
See what is holding up your month-end close
If your team still spends days tracing discrepancies across systems and departments, Numerus can identify the recurring causes and set up agents to find and prevent them.
This customer story is for informational purposes only. Results reflect UPS's specific systems, data sources, and operating model. Outcomes may vary across companies.