7 real-world use cases for robotic process automation in accounting

The currently available technologies empower the automation of multiple jobs in different spheres. Noteworthy, only a few occupations can be entirely replaced by technology solutions, while most jobs have a specific array of activities that can be automated. Thus, 60% of all occupations have at least 30% technically automatable processes. The financial close remains a bottleneck and source of frustration for accounting teams. Dealing with the minutiae of business transactions, evaluating exchange gains and losses etc. is not an easy job to do when performed manually. The first is the common hesitancy to remove human judgment from processes involving crucial financials.

rpa accounting use cases

Businesses can leverage RPA platforms to develop, monitor, manage, repurpose, and secure bots and their activities. The revenue from the global robotic process automation market size is expected to grow to $11 billion by 2027 compared to $1.40 billion in 2019. RPA bots allow the user to monitor inventory, place and approve stock orders, update ERP and WMS, forecast the optimum inventory levels and so much more. Apart from that, the RPA tool notifies whenever the inventory runs short thus helping you to optimize what and how to offer the right products to your customers. Bots can handle more easily (i.e., faster and more accurately) the maintenance of customer master files and credit approvals.

Best RPA Use Cases in Finance and Accounting

Automatically extract data from different paper documents, PDFs, excel sheets, etc., and stage it on a staging server. Auto-generate regulatory compliance reports from this data for federal reporting by using Intelligent Automation. Receive PO data available in the accounting system with that of invoices and inform the right stakeholders in case of any open PO/debit memos, void POs and exceptions. In the accounting system auto-search based on invoice and PO, confirm the availability in the open PO and debit memo queues. Check for the correct vendor and for any amount variance allowed, create a log for the exceptions, and email it to the stakeholders. Assist in end-to-end processing of billing related tasks and sub-processes.

rpa accounting use cases

Usually, this process is time-consuming as it includes such subtasks as data extraction and entry, timesheet validation, employee information verification, scheduling payments, and calculating pay-out. To avoid any inaccuracies or delays, RPA automates payroll management by extracting data from different sources and calculating payments with 100% accuracy. Accounting includes complex processes and impacts different companies’ departments. Minor human errors in each department can accumulate, leading to significant losses. RPA services for the accounting industry let companies automate manual accounting procedures to eliminate human errors from the equation.

Order to cash:

This carries no additional cost to you and doesn’t affect our editorial independence. Design the Process – Define the steps of the process and the intended end goal. Establish stop points where your team can review the work and verify that all is working smoothly. If a new customer is approved, the bot can also populate the CRM or customer profile with all pertinent information.

rpa accounting use cases

That’s the reason why Robotic Process Automation is gaining traction across industries, including the financial and banking sectors. Software that can automate routine, time-consuming https://globalcloudteam.com/ tasks is catching hold in accounting. Commonly known as robotic process automation, the technology frees up staff to devote their skills to higher-value work.

Avoid errors in processes:

The vendor is working with OpenAI to put the AI research lab’s GPT technology into its content management platform. The conference bolsters SAP’s case to customers that the future lies in the cloud by showcasing cloud products, services and … Challenges and benefits of cloud for the finance department Moving the finance function to the cloud can help companies.

  • Finance teams frequently have to manage data stored in multiple systems, which can often be an inefficient use of their time.
  • Despite everyone’s best efforts, to err is human—but in accounting, a simple numerical mistake can lead to drastic losses down the road and countless hours of corrections.
  • A pilot test will help you gauge whether or not your data is complete and accurately processed by the RPA software.
  • The conference bolsters SAP’s case to customers that the future lies in the cloud by showcasing cloud products, services and …
  • RPA takes help from the end-users to configure a software robot and also to employ existing applications that manipulate data, execute transactions, and communicate with other systems.

Robotic process automation is programmed to carry out and complete finite tasks with high precision and accuracy. Instead of having your workforce focus on these time-consuming and meticulous duties, you can utilise automation software to fulfill the same duties in less time. For instance, RPA can easily fill out a tax report, but if the tax form changes; its rules must be reprogrammed. Adopting AI to read a tax form and change RPA rules depending on its discoveries will give a whole new path to accounting automation.

Streamline your accounts payable:

Risk management is the process of identification, analysis, and acceptance or mitigation of uncertainty in investment decisions. Financial planning is the analysis of a company’s current cash flows, its targets and market dynamics to plan future financial decisions. RPA bots can scan through contracts and purchase orders and use natural language processing to extract key information such as discounts, rebates and penalty clauses. The bots can then compare this information with information from HPE’s ERP systems on the actuals to identify the gaps and highlight discrepancies. As an example, HPE’s contract compliance team is using RPA to help automate many processes involved in ensuring adherence to vendor contracts.

This can consume valuable time when logging in and out of various systems. Once poor data enters the system, it spreads rapidly across multiple repositories. This may necessitate significant data cleaning and correction work downstream. There is always a need to hire a new team member to help manage the workload in case transaction volume gets to a certain point.

RPA Use Cases in the Banking and Financial Sectors

Norfolk County Council relies on RPA to give them back 133 hours that would have been spent on manually processing employee payroll. The challenge is that companies in this industry are always short on time and short on budget. If your industry isn’t listed but you want to know how RPA can improve efficiency in your company, get in rpa in finance and accounting touch here. What companies need is to approach the implementation process wisely, with thoughtful analysis and evaluation. Based on the earlier outlined use cases of RPA in banks, you can get an idea of your own stellar case study. Correlate those examples with your company and estimate the investment vs. gains that RPA will bring.