How a growing community bank replaced manual financial processes with an integrated platform and gave its finance team time back for strategy.
Shore United Bank, N.A. is a $6.2 billion community bank serving customers across Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia. As the bank grew, its spreadsheet-based financial planning processes couldn’t keep pace. Data preparation consumed the finance team’s time; strategic analysis didn’t get the attention it deserved.
Shore United Bank partnered with Empyrean Solutions to implement an integrated platform spanning asset liability management, financial forecasting, and liquidity monitoring. By combining Empyrean ALM, Empyrean Budgeting & Planning, and Empyrean Liquidity, the bank replaced fragmented manual workflows with a unified platform designed for accuracy, scalability, and speed.
The result: an 85% reduction in manual effort, giving the finance team more time to generate insight and support strategic decisions.
The Challenge
What challenges led Shore United Bank to modernize its financial planning processes?
As Shore United Bank grew, spreadsheet-based workflows created friction across FP&A, ALM, and liquidity management. Manual preparation slowed recurring analysis, increased consistency risk, and kept the finance team focused on data assembly instead of strategic decision support. These workflows created three compounding challenges.
First, reporting was time-consuming. Recurring reports and analyses required extensive data assembly before the team could begin interpreting results.
Second, the process was difficult to scale. As the bank’s complexity increased, spreadsheet-based workflows raised the risk of errors and inconsistent outputs.
Third, it limited strategic focus. The FP&A team spent too much time preparing data instead of delivering the analysis leadership needed.
Shore United Bank needed a solution that could:
- Reduce manual work and free up team capacity
- Improve accuracy and consistency across reporting and forecasting
- Support continued growth without adding headcount or complexity
- Deliver faster, more reliable analysis to leadership
The Solution
How does Empyrean Solutions support community bank financial planning and balance sheet management?
Shore United Bank selected Empyrean’s integrated platform to bring financial planning, balance sheet management, and liquidity oversight into one place. Rather than connecting separate point solutions, the bank implemented three capabilities that share data and workflows natively:
- Empyrean ALM is an asset liability management platform that models interest rate risk and supports balance sheet strategy. It gave Shore United Bank’s team robust scenario analysis capabilities and clearer visibility into performance across varying rate environments.
- Empyrean Budgeting & Planning is a financial planning and forecasting solution built for financial institutions. Automated workflows replaced the bank’s manual processes, and integrated data sources made forecasting faster and more consistent.
- Empyrean Liquidity is a liquidity monitoring and scenario analysis tool designed for bank treasury and finance teams. It shifted the bank’s liquidity management from reactive to proactive, with better data integration and scenario modeling built in.
Beyond the technology, Shore United Bank valued the quality of the partnership. Empyrean’s team brought both responsiveness and deep industry knowledge to the engagement, working collaboratively to align the platform with the bank’s specific goals and workflows.
The Results
What results did Shore United Bank achieve with Empyrean Solutions?
Shore United Bank saw tangible improvements across the finance function:
Less time on data prep. Manual preparation time for recurring analysis and reporting was reduced by 85%, giving the team at least 30 hours back each cycle.
More focus on strategy. With routine assembly work automated, finance professionals shifted their attention to interpretation, scenario modeling, and supporting leadership decisions.
Stronger accuracy and compliance posture. Reduced reliance on spreadsheets lowered error risk and improved consistency across reporting cycles.
A platform built for growth. The bank’s systems and processes now adapt to increasing complexity without requiring manual workarounds.
Faster, more confident decisions. Quicker turnaround on analysis means leadership gets timely insights when they need them, not after the window has passed.
“Empyrean Solutions has transformed how we manage FP&A by reducing manual work, improving data consistency, and enabling faster, more forward-looking decision support. The integrated platform has also strengthened governance by making recurring financial processes more transparent, consistent, and repeatable.”
— Roman Magar, Vice President, Director of Financial Planning and Analysis, Shore United Bank, N.A.
“Shore United Bank is a great example of how forward-thinking financial institutions can transform finance and risk functions into strategic drivers of growth. By integrating budgeting, ALM, and liquidity into a unified platform, their team has strengthened both efficiency and insight, positioning the bank for continued success in a dynamic market.”
— Chris Maclin, CEO, Empyrean Solutions
Why Empyrean
Why did Shore United Bank choose Empyrean’s integrated ALM, Budgeting, and Liquidity platform?
Shore United Bank chose Empyrean’s integrated suite because it solved the root problem: siloed tools and manual handoffs between them. By consolidating ALM, budgeting, and liquidity into one platform, the bank got consistent data across all three functions and eliminated the reconciliation work that came with disconnected systems.
The key decision factors:
- End-to-end integration: Financial planning, interest rate risk, and liquidity managed in one cohesive platform
- Operational efficiency: Automated workflows replaced time-consuming spreadsheet processes
- Improved accuracy: Consistent data across reporting, forecasting, and modeling reduces errors
- Scalability: Flexible infrastructure that grows with the bank without requiring constant manual adjustment
- Industry partnership: Empyrean’s team brought financial institution expertise and a collaborative approach that made implementation smooth and effective
Interested in learning more?
Get a DemoKey Takeaways
- Shore United Bank reduced manual preparation time by 85%, giving the finance team at least 30 hours back each cycle.
- The bank moved from spreadsheet-heavy workflows to an integrated platform across FP&A, ALM, and liquidity.
- Consolidated data improved consistency across reporting, forecasting, and scenario modeling.
- The finance team gained more capacity for leadership support, scenario analysis, and strategic planning.
- The project positioned Shore United Bank to scale finance operations without adding unnecessary complexity.