Can Finance Automation Help Future-Proof the Organization?

Impact of Automation

Finance automation seems a bit nebulous without some sort of framework on its impact. The impact sets the tone for the true impact globally and how serious automation has become – and not just a fly-by-night whim.

A recent report from Grand View Research emphasized that the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) service segment accounted for more than 61% of the market share in 2020. Further, Mordor Intelligence is forecasting that the Automation-as-a-Service market is expected to hit a CAGR of 26.9% between 2021 to 2026.

Additionally, there are tremendous savings and efficiencies gained when RPA is implemented strategically. To that end, Automation Anywhere announced that they collaborated with Arab National Bank to automate their back-office processes.

So, the result was Arab National Bank was able to complete 2 million requests and save 40,000 hours of manual work.

In spite of this encouraging data, many CFOs and their teams still struggle with manual processes that could be automated. A 2020 survey conducted by Tipalti and Censuswide found that:

• 72% of finance organizations spend as much as 520 hours per year on manual accounts payable tasks.
• 75% of CFOs said their finance teams have been able to fully function and complete all processes on time while working remotely, but only after making significant changes.

Future-Proofing with Automation

What does this mean?

Obviously, there isn’t a magic button to press to remove all risk factors when planning for the future. But, there are things you can do to lead the organization towards finance automation success.

Francesca Valli, in a great article on LinkedIn, outlined 3 key points for CFOs to focus on.

1. Automate (and have on-a-par conversations with CIOs and software vendors)
2. Re-orient your role (and add premium value to the enterprise)
3. Create future-proof teams (“digital citizens” prepared for the future of work)

The CFO of today is not like that of yesteryear. Tight collaboration with colleagues is imperative to orchestrate a future-proof organization and addressing the numerous challenges facing financial leaders.

So, the challenge question remains: Are you investing in future-proofing your organization?

Closing Thoughts

You won’t get things perfect. But, to keep your footing on the path to perfection, automation must include a quality-driven mindset.

• Quality investments in people and technology.
• Quality decisions based on collaborative conversations with peers in technology, operations, and other lines of business.
• Quality governance of data and processes to ensure compliance to remove the risk of efficiency gain setbacks.

Resources

• https://www.wsj.com/articles/cfos-look-to-ramp-up-automation-investments-amid-pandemic-11586338202
• https://www.cfodive.com/news/lack-of-automation-preventing-efficient-financial-close-cfo-survey/599986/
• https://www.cfodive.com/news/ai-will-yield-biggest-return-cfo-spending-during-coming-decade-gartner/600867/
• https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2020-01-25-gartner-forecasts-worldwide-it-spending-to-grow-6-point-2-percent-in-2021