Automation Should Solve a Process Problem
Finance teams often begin automation discussions with a technology question:
Which tool should we use?
The better starting point is:
Which process should change?
Five Useful Tests
1. Is It Repetitive?
Activities performed frequently provide more opportunity for automation value.
2. Is It Rules-Based?
Processes with clear treatment rules are easier to automate reliably.
3. Is the Volume Meaningful?
Automation should address enough recurring effort to justify implementation and maintenance.
4. Is the Process Error-Prone?
Automation can be useful where manual processing creates recurring matching, validation or transcription errors.
5. Can Automation Improve Control?
Good automation can improve:
- Validation
- Approval
- Traceability
- Exception identification
- Audit trails
Standardise Before Automating
If five employees perform the same process five different ways, technology will struggle to create consistency.
First determine the desired process.
Then automate it.
Integrate Before Replacing
A fragmented process does not always require a new ERP or accounting platform.
The answer may be:
- Integration
- Workflow
- Automated validation
- Reporting
- A small supporting application
Our technology approach follows the same order: process first, platform second.
Keep Exceptions Visible
Finance processes contain exceptions.
Automation should not merely hide them.
Automation Is Not the Objective
The objective is a finance process that is:
- Easier to operate
- Easier to review
- More visible
- Better controlled
- More scalable
Automation is one way to achieve that.