Welcome to automation implementation. What is it and why is it important?
- Imagine having every invoice automatically captured and coded for you
- Imagine having data effortlessly extracted from all your invoices
- Imagine billing errors and usage outliers identified and tagged before becoming an issue or nuisance
No imagination is necessary, because all these innovations exist and are here to stay.
Automation implementation across finance capably breaks down old silos, but requires ongoing cooperation and understanding from Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable to be successful.
This is true regardless of whether your organization operates these functions as two separate departments, as a blended P2P group, or as part of a shared services department.
With finance process automation, it is possible to:
- Automate operations
- Enhance business processes
- Streamline workflow
- Reduce or eliminate low-value tasks
- Improve visibility
- Enhance business efficiency
- Ensure compliance with regulatory requirements
- Enjoy access to automated support
- Standardize business rules
The ultimate aim is to boost efficiency across organizational ranks.
Why is staff efficiency an important goal?
According to Accenture’s Finance 2020 report, automation will eliminate up to 40% of the transactional accounting tasks that the finance function currently handles today.
The report states that when about half of all work is automated, businesses are able to free up team resources and enhance business value through decisional support, predictive analytics and performance management.
BOOM… efficiency delivered!
It is no secret that trends for 2020 point to or include a measure of automation. Vital for shaping the finance function of the future, automation ultimately ensures enhanced quality and improves efficiency by eliminating the countless hours spent by employees manually collecting data.
Today’s intelligent technologies continue to alter how businesses operate their finance function. As the relentless creep of new technology replaces old technology, systems are becoming better, faster and smarter.
BizTech.com writes that automation – a trend to watch this year – will take over increasingly more financial services going forward. When you automate your organization’s operating infrastructure, you change everything. Indeed, by simplifying and automating your business processes, you help reduce costs and increase productivity.
As humans, we continually quest for more time which always seems to be in short supply. We also find simple an attractive option in almost all instances given the complexities of modern-day life.
It is true that people regularly struggle with change. However, over the longer term, change begets progress which spawns success. Change therefore represents the necessary catalyst for growing a business.
Does more technology mean fewer jobs?
Not necessarily. Yes, job responsibilities will change as people, businesses and brands seek out growth and progress in an ever evolving marketplace. However, you must not overlook the fact that new technology associated with automation will lead to the creation of an abundance of new jobs.
The following statistics demonstrate the anticipated impact of technology on jobs in 2020 and beyond. Viewed by some segments of the workforce as scary, these often feared consequences actually boast a positive flip side. It is all a matter of perspective!
- Total human task hours will drop by 13% between now and 2022.
- Total operational industrial robot jobs are currently increasing by 14% annually.
- Job loss to automation statistics suggest that 71% of total task hours are currently completed by humans, compared with 29% by machines.
- The study predicts that if current trends continue, in just four years, the task hour ratio will shift to 58% by humans and 42% by machines.
HOWEVER…
therefore, afterward
- Some 33% of all new jobs created in the United States relate to occupations that either did not exist or barely existed 25 years ago.
- Historical data on jobs replaced by automation shows that innovation does not necessarily exert a negative impact on either productivity or job numbers.
- In fact, most years since 1929 have witnessed gains in both productivity and employment.
Although workers in various sectors continue to view the age of robotics and artificial intelligence as catastrophic in terms of jobs lost to automation, this new era – now upon us – remains ripe with incredible opportunities for improving lives across society.
Given the multiplicity of unknown factors at play, transformations owing to technological advancement tend to be perceived as extremely intimidating. The integration of data across systems for use by multiple users and the implementation of paperless processes nonetheless represent the shape of things to come. Indeed, these two trends will continue to gain traction as business professionals increasingly recognize the benefits of leading edge technology, especially for boosting organizational productivity.
The year 2020 is expected to be about hyperautomation, which involves taking automation to the next level: integrating processes across organizations, developing an organization-wide vision and strategy for automation, and implementing change management to ensure that the benefits of automation are realized.
There is a reason why we use the term ‘solutions’ to describe the automation options on offer at Integrim. For once you replace paper with digital documents, you immediately enjoy the added benefits of quick, efficient document search, access, management and processing capability.
How can you help YOUR business become more efficient in 2020?
- Automate new account openings
- Set up a digital mailroom
- Automate operational reporting and compliance
- Automate financial data transactions and reporting
- Institute unstructured document data extraction and analysis
Why do you need automation? Because automation…
- Slashes invoice turnaround time by half
- Provides easy access to requisite data
- Improves data accuracy
- Frees up system memory
- Ensures regulatory compliance
- Makes better use of company time
- Is user-friendly
Looking forward through to 2025, cloud-based enterprise resource planning, automation and cognitive innovation will continue apace, creating opportunities intended to radically simplify processes and free up human resources.
Consider Integrim’s SenSaas! which provides an end-to-end, on-premise or cloud-based automation solution for implementation across all financial process chains to facilitate ongoing improvements and spur company growth.
Automation solutions and decision intelligence tools are altering how businesses operate. They are here and happening as we write, hence the importance of embracing digital transformation NOW.
INTEGRIM can help your organization reduce costs, increase productivity and boost efficiency by simplifying and automating your business processes.
