NG Advantage Reduces Audit Risk and Speeds up Month-End Close with Skystem

NG Advantage (Burlington, VT) delivers compressed natural gas by truck to customers without pipeline access. As a subsidiary of a publicly traded California parent company, NG Advantage is subject to SOX compliance, along with annual internal and external audits, putting its close process under scrutiny.

Before SkyStem, NG Advantage managed its month-end close in Excel, a process that created several critical risks:

• Audit risk: Manual sign-offs in Excel could be edited or deleted after the fact, an immediate red flag for auditors.
• Data integrity: Staff could unintentionally overwrite prior periods’ reconciliations, creating control failures.
• Limited visibility: Tracking close progress meant a steady stream of emails and check-ins with the team.
• Knowledge silos: Critical monthly tasks lived only in the Director’s head, creating a continuity risk if she was out or left the role.

NG Advantage first encountered SkyStem at a conference in Palm Springs. After a closer look at the platform’s capabilities, the team requested a demo, gathered input from across the group, and made the decision together.

In 2025, NG Advantage adopted SkyStem’s ART, a month-end close automation and workflow tool that eliminates up to 90% of administrative close and reconciliation activities. The transition was immediate, and the payoff compounded quickly.

• Audit-ready compliance: System timestamps replace editable sign-offs. A full, exportable workbook captures every prep, review, and sign-off, locked in time and ready for auditors.
• Period isolation: Staff can only work within the active period, eliminating accidental overwrites and the control failures that come with them.
• Manager visibility: A real-time dashboard shows exactly which reconciliations are done, in progress, or still open, no chasing the team for status updates.
• Task continuity: Built-in task lists document recurring monthly responsibilities, so the close runs smoothly even when team members are out.
• Faster close, deeper analysis: Reconciliations are completed faster, freeing the team to step back and spot anomalies, trends, and discrepancies they might otherwise miss.