Process Automation

Process automation does not start with digitization, but ends with it

You can read everywhere that there is a great potential for change and the associated improvement of processes through digitization. Reduction of resources, faster data processing, lower error rate - so why hesitate? There are a lot of arguments speaking in favor of it!

New tools are introduced quickly and there are high expectations that everything will be faster and better. But exactly here is the catch. Since this one-sided view of process automation is too short-sighted. The automation of basic processes in the finance sector involves far more than the implementation of software and hardware.

Usually it is useless digitizing the exisitng process one-to-one. It's almost like a symptom being worked on in order to become better (= faster). However, not only a single process step, but always the entire end-to-end process should be considered. The Purchase-to-Pay process is also not a purely accounting process, but begins in strategic purchasing and ends with payment to the supplier. To optimize this process, for example, it is not sufficient to automate the payment run. Master data management must be clearly regulated, the master data structure must be defined and harmonized company-wide, and the approval process for an order must be standardized. Only then the process can be automated at all.

Process transparency as key to optimization

In the past, extensive process surveys and expert workshops were organized to create the necessary transparency. The results were usually sobering, as it was never possible for employees from different locations to survey all variants. Nowadays, there are tools that support process recording and visualization: Process Mining. The process mining technology makes it possible to create transparency more easily and, above all, completely. The idea behind this technology is that all IT-supported processes leave digital footprints in the systems. This information must be processed and visualized so that it can be put into context for discussion. This results in an almost complete transparency of all process steps, including the modules and transactions used by the system.

Standardization of financial processes

Industrialization has shown us how: only standardization and harmonization can raise efficiency potentials! So why shouldn't it work in accounting or controlling also? Why is the wheel reinvented in every single company and why is every exception considered so important? Processes can only be automated if upstream and downstream process steps are standardized.

On the basis of the transparency gained in the previous step, a company-wide standard must be defined. Either by comparison to best-practice processes customary in the industry, or by logical business thinking. You can only locate untapped potential if you know the professional challenges of a process and the technical possibilities of automation. Often these potentials lie in a reorganization of the process or a more consistent use of the existing systems. Regardless of the solution approach, standardization of upstream and downstream process steps is the key to success. For example, you can optimize very few processes without standardized master data management, since they will always have coordination loops and interface problems. That's why the potentials must always be analyzed end-to-end rather than only be related to a single process step.

To further optimize the process, individual process steps should then be analyzed to determine whether they are redundant, inefficient, or can be automated.

Many of the processes can be automated via the existing systems and on-board resources as soon as they are standardized. Using the Purchase-to-Pay process as an example, we have illustrated this procedure.

RPA (robotic process automation) as contingency plan
The use of robots should only be selected as the last option. Whenever the process cannot be made more efficient even by optimizing the process flow with the existing systems, RPA should be considered. The robot automatically carries out the steps that humans themselves would take. Only 24/7/365 and probably a little faster.

A robot is a useful addition to process optimization under the following conditions:

• Data is available on different IT systems
• Man acts as interface between the IT systems
• Automation of traditional IT systems (ERP) leads to complex implementations & high costs
• Manual execution of numerous repetitive & rule-based tasks

RPA is currently used most frequently in the finance department and in the HR department. RPA can be viewed as a cross-application macro. Open e-mail, open Excel attachment, read data, open SAP transaction, enter data, save booking, close Excel and SAP. It is easy to see that RPA does not improve the process itself; it is only automated. It can therefore be said that RPA is always the right choice if a process cannot be fully automated in the ERP system. Therefore, this should not be used as the first but as the last option for process optimization.

We help you to find out what automation potential your processes have in the financial sector and how you can successfully implement the process automation project.

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