RPA for CPAs Series: Changes Underway

In the accounting field, there are many processes where the required tasks are repetitious and rules-based. The nature of the work provides many opportunities to employ RPA technology to reduce the amount of time people spend on basic data processing, allowing CPAs to work on more strategic and impactful decision making tasks. Accounts payable and accounts receivable (AP/AR) automation is an area where accounting departments are currently adopting RPA and seeing a high return on investment. RPA software is well-suited to processing the variety of forms used in AP/AR workflows.

Transforming the semi structured data on nonstandard forms used when working with many different vendors is a task in which RPA excels. Data captured from forms by RPA become standardized input to your enterprise accounting system. Other areas of early adoption often focus on the high-volume and manually intensive tasks that have measurable cost savings or provide timelier task execution. It is in these areas that management will see the value in RPA and commit to the investment. Accounting areas where leadership will want to invest include the following:

  • Compiling financial reports
  • Managing complex billing processes
  • Reconciling bank accounts
  • Detecting fraud
  • Tax compliance

As adoption of RPA grows, use of the technology will spread to areas where risk mitigation plays a larger role than just a cost savings return on investment (ROI). RPA use in financial controls and audits can improve financial oversight, but impact on company financials is hard to measure. This may be why implementation here tends to fall to the bottom of management’s priority list. Initial ROI calculations play an important role in the initial decision to begin adopting an RPA strategy. The first-year cost to establish an RPA program can be a deterrent due to licensing, development, and infrastructure expenses. Looking beyond year one, though, the rate of return improves greatly as maintenance costs will be significantly lower than year one’s development costs.

Enterprise software has an average expected lifetime of about six to eight years, so any developed RPAs can be expected to be in service for the same length of time. The real ROI for RPA comes when you implement automation across a number of processes. Increasing the number of automated processes allows for spreading out the fixed costs across multiple projects. In doing so, more automation projects become viable because of improved ROI calculated values. Once employees see and understand the power of RPA, they begin to see the use cases where automation can improve company performance.

This article is part of a series exploring how RPA technology can enhance a CPA’s work, past entries are listed below:

  1. RPA for CPA’s Series: Bringing on Bots to Enhance a CPA’s Work
  2. RPA for CPA’s Series: Advantages to Automation

How Can Schneider Downs Help?

The Schneider Downs Business Process Automation team is committed to assisting clients with the evaluation, adoption and implementation of robotic process automation technology. We work with our clients to evaluate use cases, develop cost-benefit analyses, implement process automation, and provide continuous support to the operation of your business automation processes. 

Learn more at www.schneiderdowns.com/RPA

This article is reprinted with permission from Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Ten Penn Center, 1801 Market Street, Suite 2400, Philadelphia, PA 19103. (215) 496-9272 ©2019. View the full article here.

You’ve heard our thoughts… We’d like to hear yours

The Schneider Downs Our Thoughts On blog exists to create a dialogue on issues that are important to organizations and individuals. While we enjoy sharing our ideas and insights, we’re especially interested in what you may have to say. If you have a question or a comment about this article – or any article from the Our Thoughts On blog – we hope you’ll share it with us. After all, a dialogue is an exchange of ideas, and we’d like to hear from you. Email us at [email protected].

Material discussed is meant for informational purposes only, and it is not to be construed as investment, tax, or legal advice. Please note that individual situations can vary. Therefore, this information should be relied upon when coordinated with individual professional advice.

© 2023 Schneider Downs. All rights-reserved. All content on this site is property of Schneider Downs unless otherwise noted and should not be used without written permission.

our thoughts on
President Biden Signs Executive Order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence
What You Missed at Dynamics Community Summit
Digital Transformation in the Construction Industry – Why So Much Hesitation?
Cybersecurity in the Construction Industry
Top New Features in Business Central 2023 Release Wave 2
7 Key Steps For a Smooth Transition from Dynamics GP to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
Register to receive our weekly newsletter with our most recent columns and insights.
Have a question? Ask us!

We’d love to hear from you. Drop us a note, and we’ll respond to you as quickly as possible.

Ask us
contact us
Pittsburgh

This site uses cookies to ensure that we give you the best user experience. Cookies assist in navigation, analyzing traffic and in our marketing efforts as described in our Privacy Policy.

×