Sandor Bathory, VP Robotic Process Automation Services, BP3
Robotic process automation (RPA) has long been a commodity in today’s enterprises. Coming in at a valuation of $2,322.9m in 2022, the market is still expected to grow at a CAGR of 39.9% from 2023 to 2030. Today, RPA is being implemented in almost every industry to change the way we work, including the finance sector. The industry is awash with manual, time-consuming tasks that are ideally suited for automation technologies.
However, to derive many of its benefits, strong leadership needs to take responsibility for its implementation, and ensure any project fulfils the efficiency need without negating the very customer it serves.
Matching RPA to Financial Processes
RPA provides a plethora of advantages to most financial organisations. Processes automated using RPA technologies are completed consistently and without error or fatigue due to extreme repetition. By automating the repetitive, tedious tasks that employees spend much of their time completing, it unleashes their potential to address higher-value and more meaningful work for both the employee and the organisation.
A prime example in finance departments is the processing of invoices. In the largest organisations, these can number in the tens of thousands, leaving finance staff with the headache of inputting multiple sets of data for payments to suppliers and customers. RPA, combined with other supporting technologies such as intelligent document processing (IDP), can automatically extract relevant data from a variety of sources, whilst consistently learning the nuances between suppliers and vendors invoices.
An additional key benefit with RPA is that it eliminates human processing errors, helping maintain compliance within a range of regulatory and governance requirements which affects most Finance Authority-based organisations.
The technology also helps to create manpower efficiencies. Take for example an accounting firm that needs to bring on temporary hires to handle busy periods, such as the end of the tax year. Rather than pay a premium for specialist staff, RPA can take responsibility for such tasks.
Best Practice Implementation
The result of a successful RPA implementation is shown by qualitative and quantitative improvements against process metrics as well as linkage of those improvements to organisational goals. However, such projects can go wrong without the proper buy-in at the top level, planning and consideration. A common error made is relying too heavily on the IT professionals to implement an RPA program without direct business partnership to help guide the solutions to solve the challenges they are facing. The RPA technology implementation team understands the tool capability, but the finance leaders and teams understand the issues they’re facing that are preventing them from meeting their obligations or goals.
The C-suite may also fear the lack of skills or understanding of RPA technologies among their current employee base. However, unlike numerous software applications, RPA can be leveraged by those without a specialist knowledge of coding. Many of the RPA tools today allow for a managed and controlled method of enabling business users, citizen developers, to take advantage of the power of RPA. With specific roles, permissions, actions and functions governed by the RPA technology implementation team, the citizen developers can build automations that meet all your organisation standards and guidelines.
In addition, RPA platforms can be implemented to meet your organisation standards around information and data security as well as oversight to what the citizen developers are implementing and what systems they interface with to negate any process risk.
Democratising Development
With RPA so accessible to a range of workers, this is the opportunity for the C-suite to encourage skill development and grow the talents of employees. A staggering 90% of finance organisations are experiencing skills shortages, which is affecting productivity and growth. Employees in the sector have the chance to take ownership of RPA projects and devise solutions that can streamline their work. Initial input from a team of external experts can help hesitant employers and employees to embrace the technology and understand how automation can make a difference to their working day.
Beyond this initial uplift to existing employees, RPA knowledge can be passed on to new talent coming into the sector, creating a true automation centre of excellence. Following successful implementation, C-level execs also need to consider how this has impacted different roles and implement training to take on new responsibilities as the mundane tasks become automated.
Driving Continued Success
Financial organisations must explore the ways in which time-poor employees can make better use of their day and provide value. RPA is the answer. This technology automates the mundane tasks and empowers workers to devote their time to higher level projects, while ensuring compliance and reducing costs.
However, to make it happen, the C-suite needs to encourage open communication between departments to understand where challenges lie, make use of external expertise to get projects off the ground, and work with employees to build their automation development skills.
