How Traverse Hospitality's Accounting Firm Delivers More Value with Topkey

Traverse Hospitality, a Colorado-based short-term rental management company overseeing 150+ properties, partnered with Topkey to modernize their financial operations. Working with their accounting firm, SPRCHRGR, led by Senior Controller Angie Stone, Traverse eliminated manual processes, reduced accounting costs, and achieved near real-time financial reporting. The implementation resulted in significant time savings: approximately 30-60 minutes per employee per month, while enabling better oversight and fraud prevention.

The Challenge: Manual Processes Hindering Growth

When SPRCHRGR, the accounting firm selected by Traverse, took over their financial operations, they encountered a system built on manual workarounds and disconnected processes that were hindering the company's ability to scale effectively.

Inefficient System Utilization

The existing technology stack wasn't being leveraged to its full potential. Despite having access to powerful platforms like Topkey and Guesty, the previous processes relied heavily on spreadsheets and manual data entry. As Angie Stone explained, "None of the systems were being fully utilized", forcing the team to maintain parallel tracking systems that created unnecessary work and increased error risk.

Employee Expense Management Chaos

Without proper expense management workflows, the accounting team spent excessive time chasing down receipt information and transaction details. This created a cycle of back-and-forth communications that frustrated employees and delayed financial reporting. The manual process also made it nearly impossible to implement proper approval workflows or maintain oversight over employee spending.

Limited Financial Visibility

"Previously, we didn't have a way to, at a glance, look at the health of our company."

Perhaps most critically, the manual processes prevented timely financial reporting. The accounting team couldn't provide management with real-time insights into company performance, limiting their ability to make informed strategic decisions. This lack of visibility was particularly problematic for a growing company managing over 150 properties across multiple locations.

Owner Charge Management Bottlenecks

One of the most significant pain points was managing owner charges, expenses that needed to be billed back to individual property owners. The team was tracking these charges in Topkey but then maintaining separate spreadsheets to monitor them before manually uploading to Guesty. This dual-system approach created opportunities for discrepancies and consumed valuable time that could be better spent on strategic financial work.

The Solution: Comprehensive Topkey Implementation

Traverse’s implementation strategy focused on maximizing automation, improving integration between systems, and creating real-time processing capabilities that would scale with their growth.

Key Implementation Components

External Credit Card Integration

One of Topkey's most valuable features for Traverse was its ability to handle external credit cards from any provider. Unlike competitors such as Ramp and Bill.com, Topkey allowed employees to continue using their preferred credit cards, whether for cash back rewards, established credit history, or personal preference, while maintaining centralized expense management.

"I was really excited when we first started using Topkey because it can handle external credit cards, and Bill won't, Ramp won't, so many of the other platforms don't use external cards."

This flexibility proved crucial for employee adoption. Rather than forcing everyone onto a single corporate card with potentially lower rewards, Topkey accommodated the existing ecosystem while providing the oversight and automation the company needed.

Real-Time Transaction Processing

The implementation transformed employee behavior around expense reporting through Topkey's instant notification system. When employees swipe their cards, they receive immediate text notifications prompting them to capture receipts and add transaction details. This real-time approach dramatically improved compliance, with most employees now completing their expense reports within two days - a significant improvement from previous delays.

"They're getting a text notification when they swipe their card...it is so much easier for them to take a picture of it right then."

Streamlined Approval Workflows

Topkey enabled Traverse to implement proper oversight and approval processes that weren't possible with QuickBooks alone. Leadership now reviews and approves every card transaction, ensuring expenses are properly categorized, marked as billable when appropriate, and comply with company policies. This level of oversight also serves as a critical fraud prevention measure.

Seamless QuickBooks Integration

The integration between Topkey and QuickBooks eliminated double data entry and dramatically reduced reconciliation time. By establishing Topkey as the source of truth for all card transactions, the accounting team simplified their QuickBooks workflow to primarily matching transactions rather than manual entry and categorization.

“Our current rule is that any transaction that comes through Topkey has to sync over and it's only being matched. And Topkey is our source of truth." 

Exceptional Customer Support Experience

One of the most significant differentiators in Traverse's Topkey experience has been the platform's responsive customer support and rapid feature development cycle.

Rapid Feature Development

"We're giving feedback, and two weeks later, we're seeing system improvements. And I've never experienced that with other systems that rapidly, let alone like over and over again."

• Comment Functionality: Requested one week, delivered the next.
• Bulk Line Item Assignment: Streamlined the process of assigning multiple line items to properties and GL accounts.
• Enhanced Categorization: Improved the ability to assign both properties and categories simultaneously.

Superior Support Quality

"Topkey’s support is next-level. "

The support team's responsiveness enabled real-time problem resolution, even during training sessions.

Results: Measurable Impact Across Operations

Quantified Time Savings

The Topkey implementation delivered significant time savings across multiple areas of financial operations:

Employee Expense Management:

• 5+ minutes saved per transaction on email communications
• 30-60 minutes saved monthly per employee on expense reconciliation
• Total monthly savings of 3-7 hours across 6-7 credit card users

Bank Reconciliation:

• About 3 hours a month saved (eliminating manual QuickBooks entry)
• Monthly reconciliation reduced from 10-30 minutes to under 1 minute per credit card account

Owner Charge Management:

• 1+ hour monthly saved through automated tracking and auditing within Topkey

Financial Process Improvements

1. Enhanced Compliance and Fraud Prevention

Beyond time savings, Topkey improved the quality and reliability of Traverse's financial processes. The platform's approval workflows and oversight capabilities provide critical fraud prevention measures, particularly important given the accounting team's previous experience with employee fraud at other companies.

2. Improved Employee Compliance

"Most employees take care of their charges within two days. And I haven't experienced that level of being on top of it before."

Employee compliance improved dramatically with the real-time notification system. The immediate prompts for receipt capture and transaction details, delivered when employees are still at the point of purchase, resulted in much higher completion rates and more accurate expense reporting.

3. Near Real-Time Financial Reporting

"Topkey is allowing us to not just save money, but start having as close to real-time financials as possible and focus on budgeting and planning."

Most importantly, the company achieved near real-time financial visibility. Management can now access timely insights into company performance, enabling more informed strategic decisions and better oversight of the organization's financial health.

Strategic Business Benefits

The implementation also positioned Traverse for more advanced financial initiatives, including trust accounting implementation, a requirement for their industry that demands seamless integration between all financial systems. 

Here are three ways Traverse has been impacted: 

1. Cost Reduction

"By accomplishing our goal of rolling out a full utilization of Topkey, we are saving on accounting costs."

2. Enhanced Decision-Making Capability

"We are better able to have fast turnaround in reporting, so that we have more insight into the health and profitability of the organization, as well as areas that we need to tighten up on."

3. Enabling Strategic Financial Work

"It's the financial planning and analysis work, the FP&A work, that they really see the value in. And Topkey allows us to do more of that."

Why Topkey over other solutions? 

Property Management Integration

Topkey's integration with Guesty provides a critical advantage over general expense management platforms. The ability to sync owner charges directly into the property management system eliminates manual data entry and ensures consistency between corporate accounting and property-specific financials. This integration is particularly valuable for short-term rental operators who need to manage both corporate expenses and property-specific charges that get billed back to individual owners.

"Ramp can't sync owner charges back into Guesty. So right there Topkey is more valuable."

Flexible Credit Card Management

"Being able to use any credit card is so important. I can use any credit card connected to the system."

The platform's ability to handle any credit card from any provider gives it a significant advantage over competitors that require specific corporate cards. This flexibility accommodates employee preferences while maintaining centralized control and oversight, a crucial balance for growing companies.

Industry-Specific Design

Topkey's design specifically addresses the unique needs of short-term rental operators, allowing teams to manage both property management and corporate accounting in a single platform. This unified approach reduces complexity and improves efficiency compared to managing separate systems for different aspects of the business.

Added Value of Topkey for Accounting Firms

As a third-party accounting partner supporting vacation rental managers like Traverse Hospitality, Angie Stone of SPRCHRGR shares how Topkey transforms the accounting workflow, not just for operators, but for accountants managing the books behind the scenes.

“Without a system like Topkey, we are pestering business owners and senior leadership, C-suite level personnel, with transactional questions that distract them from their daily work...When we have a platform like Topkey, where they're getting a text notification when they swipe their card.. it is so much easier for them to take a picture of it right then.”

Looking Forward: Foundation for Growth

Trust Accounting Implementation

"We're implementing trust accounting due to the nature of the short-term rental space. And in order for us to do that, we've invested time in fully utilizing Topkey."

The Topkey implementation serves as a foundation for more sophisticated financial management. Traverse is now implementing trust accounting requirements, which demand seamless integration between all financial systems. The solid foundation provided by Topkey's integration with QuickBooks and Guesty makes this advanced initiative possible.

Strategic Financial Focus

With operational efficiency achieved, Traverse's accounting team can focus on higher-value activities like budgeting, forecasting, and financial analysis. This shift from transactional work to strategic financial planning provides greater value to the organization and better supports its growth objectives.

Conclusion

Traverse Hospitality's Topkey implementation demonstrates how the right technology, combined with expert implementation and ongoing support, can transform financial operations. The measurable time savings, improved compliance, and enhanced visibility have positioned Traverse for continued growth while reducing operational costs.

The partnership showcases Topkey's unique value proposition in the short-term rental space: seamless integration with property management systems, flexible expense management, and responsive customer support that enables rapid optimization.

For short-term rental operators seeking to modernize their financial operations, Traverse's experience illustrates the transformative potential of purpose-built solutions combined with committed implementation partnerships.

For more information about Topkey's solutions for short-term rental operators, book a demo with our team. 

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Topkey is a financial technology company and is not a bank. Banking services provided by Thread Bank; Member FDIC. The Topkey Visa Debit & Charge Cards are issued by Thread Bank pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. and may be used everywhere Visa cards are accepted.

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