It’s never been harder to hire for skilled entry-level work. As companies struggle to keep up with their workloads, Intelligent automation becomes an ever more present solution to the labor market problem.
But just how far reaching are automation capabilities in accounting right now? Is there enough utility in automation technology to actually relieve the burden on overworked teams?a
The last thing your team needs is a shiny new piece of technology that doesn’t actually solve a problem, so let’s break it down.
What are some of the key finance Automation opportunities?
In the finance world, Accounts Payable (AP) involves many high volume repetitive processes that can be time consuming and painful to manage. Leveraging technology that automates these manual tasks like invoicing, purchase order matching, and reconciliation can be extremely beneficial to speed, accuracy and compliance. Using a technology known as robotic process automation and custom software programs, known as digital workers, click through the manual digital processes an accounts payable team normally would, but with an accuracy rate of 99.99%.
The benefits of Accounts Payable (AP automation)
Accounts payable automation reduces staff hours dedicated to the manual process of entering data. Automating these processes allows a company to free up its human capital to focus on more valuable tasks related to company growth.
Some of the other benefits of Accounts Payable automation include:
- The elimination of data entry/copying and pasting between applications
- A reduction in data errors, including duplications
- Scalability, without the need to hire new staff
- The increased security of company finance records
Making AP automation work for your team
Automation solutions for Finance processes such as
Accounts Payable(AP) are easily configured to suit your company’s needs. Your Digital workers can input regular vendors, set up customized authorization workflows, and validate payables.
Accounts Payable (AP) automation can make your company’s financial management easier by allowing you to:
- Streamline the vendor onboarding process
Automate data exchange with your vendors, and send and receive invoices electronically. - Manage expense reimbursement
Have employees submit invoices and receipts through your AP automation software. Send them through the approval workflow, and release payments for reimbursements. - Review and reconcile invoices
You can set up your workflow so that your automatic invoicing matches the associated purchase order and payment(s). Once matched, rules will determine if they automatically reconcile or are added to a final approval page to be manually reviewed and reconciled. - Reduce your risk of financial fraud
Duplicate payments, false billing, and fraudulent transactions are flagged in the system for review. Common risks associated with traditional AP processes are minimized or eliminated through automation.
Automation-as-a-service
Automation as a service (AaaS), gives customers the flexibility they need to automate within their existing systems and processes, without the expense of monitoring and maintaining their automations in-house. At a time when engineering costs are at an all-time high (if you can even find the Automation talent required), AaaS makes it possible for companies to automate and see ROI quickly.
Is accounts payable a good fit?
Most accounting processes are entirely rules-driven, making them great candidates for Intelligent Automation. Automation thrives on consistent, rules-driven processes. Where there is a need for absolute accuracy and consistency in a rule-based digital process, there is likely a strong use case for Automation.