Process automation in the financial sector

RPA governance - this is how you anchor RPA in your organization. An efficient financial organization is increasingly becoming a decisive competitive factor for companies. High process quality and the ability to react quickly are now essential, especially in accounting and controlling. Finance departments can often only meet the increased requirements in the age of digital transformation with the targeted implementation of new software.

Due to heterogeneous system landscapes and system discontinuities, the use of ERP systems, interfaces and other workflow solutions (such as DMS and BPMS) are not always technically possible or cost-effective. In these cases, the use of robotic process automation can be a flexible and quickly amortizing solution.

Robotic process automation (RPA) in accounting and controlling

RPA software imitates human interaction with the systems involved. The use of software selection is particularly promising in cases where standardized and rule-based activities require a high level of manual effort in accounting and controlling, but an integrated software solution is not feasible for technical or economic reasons. Robot-controlled process automation overcomes system discontinuities quickly and error-free. In companies and finance departments with heterogeneous system landscapes, RPA can help to reduce process durations and manual errors.

Typical application examples for process automation with the help of RPA in the financial sector include travel expense reports, the purchase to pay (P2P) process or master data systems, as well as complex, recurring processes such as monthly stock valuation. If there are no interfaces in the system landscape, standardized data inputs are transferred from the bot to the respective target system, where they are available for further process steps.

Process automation with the help of RPA rarely works 1:1 with the existing process. A competent process redesign is often necessary, with which data inputs are structured and standardized, the target process is aligned with important connections to other areas of the company and compliance-relevant process steps are set up for automation. Understanding the financial process as well as systems and data structures is crucial for the success of technology-supported automation of business processes.

A professional analysis of the financial organization, for example via a finance assessment, helps to take a holistic view of automation and digitalization potential and to derive the right technical and organizational measures. Technology can already be used during the analysis of the process landscape: Process mining software enables the quantitative and visual screening of accounting and controlling processes.

WTS Advisory supports you in the planning and implementation of automation projects for business processes in the financial sector. The software implementation of the RPA software will be performed in collaboration with our technology partners.

Strategic sourcing and the benefits of RPA

The implementation of RPA in the finance department can also be accompanied by an analysis of the current sourcing strategy for transactional activities. Thanks to the resulting cost benefits, robot-controlled process automation opens up the possibility of relocating processes that were previously often outsourced offshore back to the company headquarters and the domestic finance department. Bundling several shared service centers at a central point (also nearshore) is another possible scenario for increasing efficiency. RPA can therefore be used to establish new shared service center structures with a high degree of automation.

Keeping an eye on the digital future of finance

The use of RPA software cannot replace holistic measures towards a digital transformation of the finance department. End-to-end process automation succeeds above all with a future-oriented technological focus and a harmonized system landscape within the finance department. The implementation of robotic process automation must therefore be integrated into the CFO's digital roadmap in order to enable the technology-supported automation of complex business processes in the long term. Other possible applications of workflow automation should also be considered. As experts for IT project management, whether defining a corresponding roadmap or implementing individual measures, we can provide you with holistic support for the financial transformation of your finance department.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you are interested or have any questions.