6 Impactful Use Cases of Robotic Process Automation in Finance and Accounting

Introduction to Robotic Process Automation (RPA) in Finance and Accounting

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a technology that leverages software robots to automate repetitive, manual tasks with rule-based algorithms. These bots mimic human actions, offering consistent and efficient performance without the need for breaks or downtime. 

In recent years, RPA has gained popularity among finance and accounting professionals due to its ability to automate repetitive, time-consuming tasks that are prone to errors. By utilizing RPA tools, finance teams can reduce the risk of manual errors, improve data accuracy, and free up time for more strategic work.

RPA tools can be used to automate complete processes as well as certain parts of complicated processes, making them more affordable and easy to implement. Automating mundane finance tasks such as account book entries, invoice data capture, cash reconciliation, and reporting helps save man-hours and improve productivity.

4 Key Benefits of Implementing RPA in Finance and Accounting Processes

RPA is easy-to-implement, affordably priced, and offers quick wins that help you show a higher return on your investment. It also helps improve efficiency, reduce errors, and drive employees to focus on more higher-value strategic tasks.

Here’s a quick representation of what an organization stands to gain by implementing RPA technology-based solutions.

6 Use Cases of RPA in Finance and Accounting

RPA has become a powerful tool for finance and accounting teams to increase efficiency, reduce errors, and free up valuable time for more strategic work. Let’s explore some of the key use cases of RPA in finance and accounting and how they can help organizations achieve their goals.

1. Invoicing management: 

Preparing and sending invoices and matching the payments is time-consuming and tedious. It is also a very repetitive task that requires executives to follow the same pattern every time to complete the job.

Using RPA automates this process and frees up employees’ time. RPA tools use rule-based algorithms to automate invoice generation and delivery via emails, accounts payable portals, or accounting software such as Quickbooks and Xero. The bot also extracts the required invoices from an email or folder, reads necessary information, and updates it in the ERP system. Tools such as HighRadius’ Integrated Receivables platform offers a comprehensive solution for managing the entire invoicing process, from invoice creation to payment reconciliation.

2. Collections management: 

The collections process starts with dunning and ends with receiving the payment. It is often a complex process that requires you to send multiple emails to customers, check remittance details, and update the balance payment or credit amounts.

You can use RPA bots to automatically send emails to the customers based on predetermined rules to remind them of upcoming payments or missing remittance data. It also aggregates remittance data from different sources including customer portals, emails, etc.

3. Reconciliation and auditing:

Accounting teams and finance departments spend a lot of time reconciling purchase orders and payments with invoices and bank statements.

With RPA bots, you save time and eliminate the risk of human error by automatically importing and categorizing transactions. They also validate the data and copy it to other records as needed. You can also use RPA bots for audits, to match employee details, assess risks, and validate financial records.

4. Financial reporting and compliance management: 

You have to be up-to-date with all regulatory compliance requirements to avoid unnecessary fines and penalties. You’ll need to send periodic reports to the respective regulatory bodies, run audits on your data and systems, and track discrepancies in your processes.

You can program RPA robots to meet all of these requirements, with a low (often zero!) error rate, greater coverage, and minimum human intervention. RPA tools aggregate data from multiple sources to improve financial and regulatory reporting efficiency. This makes financial reporting a lot easier as it eliminates the need for manual collection and aggregation of data. HighRadius’ platform also offers a comprehensive solution for managing compliance with regulations and internal policies.

5. Credit risk management: 

One of the leading causes of high bad debts is indiscriminate credit limits awarded to clients without proper checks. Accounts receivable executives may be hard-pressed for time or may not have the required data to study clients’ credit risk profiles.

You can use an RPA bot to log into your credit checking program as soon as a new prospect is added to your customer management system. It can then find relevant data such as the customer’s credit risk score, agency ratings from sources such as Dun & Bradstreet(D&B), Yahoo, etc., and store this information in a single repository. RPA bots complete the whole process in just a few minutes, which would otherwise take a lot of time if done manually.

6. Customer onboarding: 

Customer onboarding is a lengthy and expensive process and sometimes may take months. This leaves both your executives and clients exhausted and exasperated. The longer it takes to onboard a customer, the higher the chances of the customer defecting.

Leverage RPA solutions to make customer onboarding faster by automating processes such as collection and validation of client data, use of predefined email templates for credit acceptance or denial, etc.

Next Step: Shortlist RPA Solutions that Fit your Finance Needs

Implementing RPA in finance and accounting processes can bring significant benefits to any organization, regardless of size or industry. By automating repetitive and time-consuming tasks, RPA frees up valuable time for finance teams to focus on higher-value functions such as strategy planning and M&A.

Moreover, RPA can be the first step in an organization’s journey towards adopting Artificial Intelligence (AI). While RPA tools excel at automating processes, AI in finance can help organizations to solve unstructured problems and make more informed decisions. By leveraging RPA and AI together, organizations can achieve even greater efficiency gains and drive innovation in their finance and accounting processes.

If you’re considering implementing RPA and AI-based solutions for your finance process, HighRadius’ Integrated Receivables platform offers dedicated modules for automating invoicing, collections, reconciliation, credit risk management, and deductions. Our customers have seen significant efficiency gains through the automation of their order-to-cash processes, and we would be happy to discuss how RPA and AI can help your organization achieve similar results.

By partnering with HighRadius, organizations can leverage the power of RPA and AI to drive innovation and achieve even greater efficiency gains in their finance and accounting processes. Don’t wait any longer to reap the benefits of RPA in your organization – schedule a time to talk with us today!

FAQs on RPA in Finance and Accounting:

1. How can RPA be used in accounting and finance?

RPA can be used in accounting and finance to automate repetitive and time-consuming tasks such as data entry, invoice processing, financial reporting, and collections management. RPA tools use rule-based algorithms to mimic human actions and automate these tasks, freeing up valuable time for finance professionals to focus on more strategic work.

2. What is the impact of RPA in finance & accounting?

By automating repetitive and time-consuming tasks, RPA helps to increase efficiency, reduce errors, and free up valuable time for finance professionals to focus on more strategic work. Additionally, RPA can help organizations to streamline their workflows, improve compliance with regulations and internal policies, and reduce the risk of bad debts.