In the world of accounting, manual processes are notorious for being time-consuming. Tasks that could be completed in seconds might take hours or even days to complete without automated accounting systems. The manual process is also subject to human error, causing delays, frustration, and additional expenses.
Traditional manual processes rely on spreadsheets for core financial operations, such as
- Accounts payable
- Payroll
- Tax compliance
- Data management
Various accounting processes can be significantly sped up by automation, reducing overhead and human error. This article describes accounting process automation (APA), including its benefits and how cloud-based solutions can bring new levels of speed, accuracy, and security to your accounting operations.
Automate These Processes Instantly
Automating your accounting processes can happen differently for businesses. Some organisations will choose to automate many processes all at once. While others take a more systematic approach, automating one task at a time based on priorities. We have listed below five processes which can be automated immediately, or as your business is ready.
1. Accounts Payable
This automated accounting function streamlines payment methods. Accounting teams can track invoice due dates and pay vendor invoices on time. APA also flags any invoices that the system considers suspicious or problematic, reducing the risk of fraudulent invoices.
2. Manual Payroll
Manual entry is time-consuming, especially for companies with limited accounting resources. As the business grows and the demands of the accounting team increase, automating the payroll process can ensure that employees are paid on time and that overworked teams do not lose important forms.
3. Month-end Financial Close
Each month-end is usually a stressful time for your finance team. Accountants are under increasing pressure to close the month-end close as quickly as possible, which inevitably leads to questions about the validity of month-end close results and a rushed process. Automating month-end closes largely alleviates this pressure on data speed and accuracy, allowing accounting teams to deliver results faster without sacrificing quality.
4. Sales Orders
Creating sales orders ensures that customer orders are processed on time and shipped at the correct price. Automation software enables companies to consistently meet customer expectations by coding every step of the sales order process.
Benefits of Automated Accounting Processes
Automating the accounting process makes accounting faster, easier and more accurate. This more efficient technique provides many benefits to the company and its customers, all of which can sweeten an organisation’s bottom line. Let’s delve into the benefits of APA and its features.
Save Time
Saving time is one of the main drivers of automation. Bank reconciliations, quarterly reporting and other tasks are often time-consuming and error-prone processes that require finance professionals to review and copy large amounts of data from multiple systems. With APA, accounting data is automatically verified and transferred between systems, so finance teams don’t have to spend too much time on tedious tasks.
Lower Operational Costs
Automated accounting processes are faster and require less human intervention. It is economical in almost every way.
Better Data Quality and Integrity
Manual data entry often leads to common errors as business and accounting requirements grow. This is another reason why automation can be a valuable tool. APA enables finance teams to capture, move and update thousands of data points simultaneously, reducing the risk of losing or compromising that data.
Improved Data Access
APA automates data entry and storage on a centralised software platform. Instead of digging through spreadsheets or paper to find essential documents, accountants can enter search terms into the APA solution and find the files they’re looking for in seconds.
Ensure Compliance and Governance
APA software automatically completes tax returns, creates financial statements and updates tax documents following local legal requirements and tax rates. The software not only simplifies the process but also ensures the accuracy and consistency of the process.
Read about how legacy ERP systems hold back your business, and the three BPM tools your business needs in 2023.
Take Advantage of Automation with Oracle NetSuite and IKONS DIGITAL
Businesses ready to transition from spreadsheets or core software to a fully integrated and automated platform can use NetSuite cloud accounting software to provide a full accounting solution, centralising data and making it accessible to all business stakeholders.
As a result, accounting teams invest less time in manual data entry and repetitive tasks and instead make quicker, more informed business decisions thanks to a more comprehensive view of accounting data.
Automated accounting systems improve productivity and streamline the numerous crucial tasks that accounting teams handle, allowing them to complete their work more quickly and with higher levels of accuracy. For a long time, manual accounting procedures required a lot of labour and added time and expense for businesses. All sizes of businesses can get over this barrier thanks to APA.
Read more about how Oracle NetSuite can improve your financial management as a whole.
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