Direct Heating & Plumbing

How Direct Heating & Plumbing automated statement reconciliation

Statements now matched, not just at month-end

Weekly

Dependency on a single person

Zero

Discrepancies flagged, not left to manual checks

Live

Industry

Wholesale

Product

Statement Reconciliation

Company size

SME

ERP

Intact

The Business

Direct Heating & Plumbing Merchants is a UK-based supplier of heating, plumbing, and bathroom products with branches in Southend, Chelmsford, Benfleet, and Colchester. They provide a wide range of stock, including boilers, radiators, underfloor heating, bathroom suites, showers, taps, and over 9,000 boiler spare parts.In addition to supplying trade professionals and homeowners, they offer in-branch advice, free quotes, and showroom displays, along with next-day delivery services. Their combination of stock availability, knowledgeable staff, and multiple locations makes them a go-to resource for plumbing and heating needs across Essex and the surrounding areas.

The Challenge

The finance team faced a recurring challenge with statement reconciliation. Collecting statements, checking each transaction against the ledger, and identifying missing entries was highly manual and time-consuming. To make matters worse, statements were only reconciled at the end of the month, meaning the team had to wait for everything to arrive before they could even begin.

For the person responsible, this was a lengthy, repetitive task involving detailed comparisons and VLOOKUPs to try and resolve queries. For larger clients in particular, identifying and working through discrepancies could take a considerable amount of time, delaying query resolution and piling extra pressure onto the month-end close.

Pain point 1

The task was lengthy and repetitive, relying on detailed comparisons and VLOOKUPs to resolve queries

Pain point 2

Reconciliation only happened at month-end, so nothing could start until everything had arrived

Pain point 3

Larger clients meant discrepancies took considerable time to work through, delaying resolution and piling pressure on month-end

The guidance and support from Open ECX transformed what could have been a complex integration into a seamless process; they became an extension of our team. Every question was answered quickly, and we felt fully confident every step of the way.

Ryan Davies, Finance Manager

The Solution

Working with Open ECX, Direct Heating & Plumbing successfully integrated with Intact, creating a seamless and efficient process. Weekly statements are now automatically emailed and matched against the ledger. Unlike invoicing and ordering integrations, which focus on capturing data at the point of transaction, statement reconciliation works by comparing the supplier's record of activity against the company's own ledger in real time. This ensures every payment, credit, and invoice is fully aligned, with discrepancies highlighted instantly rather than being left to manual checks at the end of the month.

Through the Open ECX portal, discrepancies are flagged and the finance team can quickly identify missing or mismatched entries. This transparency also links into the weekly payment run, where outstanding amounts are clearly visible and can be resolved before payments are processed. The result is a streamlined workflow that reduces complexity, supports more accurate reporting, and ensures the team is working with live information rather than delayed month-end data.

Direct Heating & Plumbing also credits the high level of support from Open ECX as a key factor in their success. With a dedicated contact who understands their processes in detail and responds quickly to queries, the integration was smooth and effective from day one.

How it worked

1

Open ECX connected to Intact, creating an automated feed of weekly supplier statements that are matched against the live ledger as soon as they arrive.

2

Discrepancies, missing entries, and mismatched payments are flagged immediately in the Open ECX portal, replacing the manual month-end check with a continuous, real-time process.

3

Outstanding items are linked directly into the weekly payment run, so the team can identify and resolve issues before money moves, rather than chasing them after the fact.

The Outcomes

What was once a time-consuming task restricted to a single person can now be carried out by anyone in the team. That removes a significant dependency risk and protects the business from unnecessary exposure at month end. Issues are spotted immediately, errors are avoided, and knowledge is shared across the department rather than sitting with one individual.

The faster process has further strengthened supplier relationships. By resolving queries more quickly and improving communication, the finance team has made already strong partnerships even more efficient and collaborative. Crucially, statement reconciliation is no longer a dreaded manual job but a straightforward, reliable task. The team is more efficient, staff morale has improved, and Direct Heating & Plumbing now has a reconciliation process that matches the scale and speed of their wider operations.

Outcome 1

Real-time

Discrepancies flagged, not left to month-end

Outcome 2

Zero

Dependency on one person to run reconciliation

Outcome 3

Stronger

Supplier relationships and team morale

We've had to work at pace onboarding our customers with Open ECX. Throughout the project, the Open ECX onboarding team have responded brilliantly, creating customers' connections at such a speed that our project will finish earlier than the anticipated deadline.

Ryan Davies, Finance Manager

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