Editor’s Note: This is the second in a two-part series on the power of technology-driven workflow processes and how the accounting profession is making them work.
Automation has long been a part of the manufacturing landscape, but it is no longer reserved just for that industry. In fact, finance professionals are starting to embrace digital solutions in ways they never have before. But a cursory look at the facts shows that accountants have a long way to go in their digital transformation journey.
According to a recent survey of more than 800 finance professionals by the Institute of Management Accountants and Deloitte, 75.7% of respondents claimed their company’s accounting processes are either largely manual or still a considerable manual effort. Only 1.4% said their workflow was fully automated.
But by leveraging emerging technologies, accountants are able to conduct more strategic planning, analysis and execution. Technology can play a crucial part in achieving the Office of Finance’s long-term objectives.
It may initially feel overwhelming to tackle the issue of automation, but when broken down into digestible chunks, digitizing the finance function is more approachable than you might realize if you think big, start simple,and scale quickly.
5 Key Areas to Get Started
In order to embrace automated processes to create more efficient workflows, it is worthwhile to identify the key areas where it makes the most sense for your organization. It is not about automation for automation’s sake and not every process can or should be automated. But these five areas are a great place to start.
No. 1 — Which repetitive tasks can you automate?
Routine tasks such as manual data entry, clerical work and other simple tasks that do not require a special skill set or human input are often highly error-prone. Implementing an automated solution can support higher accuracy and speed up routine work by leveraging rule-based automation. Data consolidation and autofill functions are two examples.
No. 2 —Which administrative tasks can you automate?
Administrative assignments support core business operations, which may be associated with compliance and documentation for various regulatory systems. Automation replaces burdensome paperwork and regulatory compliance by digitizing and introducing management for various types of documentation. Automating complex financial consolidation processes is one example.
No. 3 — Which departmental tasks can you automate?
Low-to-no-code apps or cloud-based solutions are able to manage processes that would otherwise require sending unwieldy documents via email. To reduce inbox insanity, open-source project management tools such as Basecamp or Monday.com alleviate the stress of a daily data deluge and inbox chaos.
No. 4 — Which enterprise-wide tasks can you automate?
Interdepartmental work such as processing insurance claims or seeking loan approvals can be time-consuming and confusing. Automation helps improve the customer experiences with straightforward processing, while also enabling the integration of individual business operations from across an enterprise into a single collaborative process that can better meet customers’ needs quickly and efficiently. Enterprise Performance Management software solutions are an example.
No. 5 — Which expert tasks can you automate?
Tasks that require deep subject matter expertise often rely heavily on human interaction. Even so, automating these types of tasks helps accelerate, not replace, what those experts bring to the table.
A good example of this can be found in the hotel industry. One of their key business metrics is room revenue forecasts. Automating this expert task with tools such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) offers a previously difficult to obtain level of accuracy and cadence, thereby improving decision making at all levels of the business.
The digital age of accounting is here with innovative solutions at your fingertips. With the right implementation, accountants can increase efficiency and effectiveness by automating repetitive, mundane tasks in order to apply their valuable time towards more strategic endeavors.
Technology makes it possible to maintain an overview without the time-intensive, error-prone activities of yesteryear. Exploring new avenues to improve business performance is not only exciting, but also necessary to keep pace with fast-changing markets and rising uncertainty.
Florian Winterstein, CEO at Jedox, is an expert on fast-growing SaaS/PaaS organizations with a career spanning more than 20 years in management and leadership of software and consulting companies and knows how to provide high-quality solutions. Serving board of directors at other globally recognised cloud vendors and as former chief strategy officer (CSO) of the BravoSolution Group, he brings comprehensive expertise in digitalization, business transformation, growth strategies and organizational development. Previously, he played a central role at international companies such as Lufthansa, Allianz, Vodafone and ThyssenKrupp. At Jedox he contributes his experience to further expand the internationalization and leading market position of the company.
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