The Benefits of Automating Accounting Workflows: A Complete Guide

Introduction

Automation in accounting and finance is taking root. Many organizations are keen on optimizing their workflows, cutting costs, and providing excellent services to their clients. Automating accounting processes enables companies to achieve these three goals. We discuss in detail the procedure of automating accounting workflows and the benefits of using automated accounting technology in an accounting department. 

What is Accounting Automation? 

Automating accounting processes is the procedure of adopting software to handle some accounting tasks. An automated accounting system handles simple and repetitive tasks like payroll processing, accounts payable, procurement, and invoicing. 

Organizations use automated accounting systems to optimize internal workflows, save time, and improve productivity. The software helps accountants collaborate on projects within the finance department and share relevant data with other departments in an organization. 

Why you should automate an Accounting Department 

There are many reasons to automate accounting procedures in your organization. The bottom line is that an organization decides to use an automated accounting system for efficiency. Here are some of the major reasons for automating accounting workflows. 

Saving Time 

One of the benefits of accounting automation is that it enables staff to save time. Accounting processes are tedious and require many man-hours. Furthermore, most of the processes, like bookkeeping, are repetitive. 

Automating accounting processes like bookkeeping and payroll management helps the accounting department reduce the time it takes to complete these steps. 

Enhanced Security 

Automation in accounting and finance helps organizations secure data effectively. The accounting process produces a lot of sensitive data. The data is about the organization and clients. Storing such important data on computers and hard drives may be risky. The data may easily get damaged or lost. 

Data automation in accounting is a good way of securing information. Automated accounting technology comes with access to the cloud. Cloud storage is more secure than conventional methods of storing data. Also, you can include additional security features to maintain the integrity of the data. 

Reducing Errors 

Bookkeepers and accountants may make errors. These accounting errors may arise from multiple sources like wrong entries in books or missing figures. Errors in accounting can cause the accountants to produce financial reports that do not show the real state of the company. 

Using an automated accounting system can help you avoid accounting errors that are common when humans do all the accounting tasks. An automated accounting system will help the accountants to automate bookkeeping and other related workflows. 

Optimizing Workflows 

Companies automate accounting processes to optimize workflows and improve productivity. This is one of the major advantages of automated accounting systems. When you automate bookkeeping and other processes in the accounting department, your staff will complete procedures quickly and with minimal errors. 

Moreover, automating accounting workflows means that the staff will have ample time to perform complex tasks of analysis. Automation in accounting helps accountants to collaborate and share data quickly. Therefore, the staff in the accounting department will work effectively after automating accounting workflows. 

The Procedure of Automating Accounting Processes 

Automating accounting processes is a complex project for organizations. When you decide to automate accounting and related procedures, you expect good results. The results of adopting automation in accounting include more efficiency and productivity in the accounting department. Accountants and finance professionals need to consider many things before they adopt accounting process automation. 

Choose the activities to automate

The first step in automating accounting processes is to choose the specific tasks you would wish to automate. Typically, when an organization decides to automate accounting, they focus on simple and repetitive tasks. The following are some of the tasks in the accounting department that are good candidates for accounting firm automation. 

Procurement 

Procurement processes produce a lot of data. The information is about the companies that supply goods and services to your organization and internal procedures of sourcing and paying for the supplies. Moreover, some of the procurement activities require the input of other departments in an organization such as finance. 

Using a fully automated accounting system can streamline procurement procedures. When you automate accounting, the accountants will find it easy to manage the details of your suppliers, forecast procurement demands, and document all information accurately. Therefore, data automation accounting can help streamline the procurement processes. 

Auditing

Organizations face a major challenge when they need to provide documentation during audits. The auditors may request information that a business owner may consider very sensitive. Moreover, the auditors may need a lot of records to complete the audits. Companies that do not store their records in an orderly and systematic way may struggle to fulfill such requests from their auditors. 

Automation in accounting, finance, and auditing solves the problems that organizations using manual accounting methods face during audits. A good automated accounting system will intuitively share documents that are relevant to the auditing process. Also, such a system will organize all data and have it ready for sharing with auditors. 

Expenditure 

Automating accounting processes should include the procedures for managing accounts payable. Businesses that still rely on manual accounting do not process invoices early enough. Incidentally, some creditors give their clients discounts for early payments of invoices. Therefore, if the invoicing procedures of an organization are not efficient, the company misses out on such discounts. 

Accounting workflow automation can solve these problems instantly. When you automate accounting, the accountants will find it easy to manage and process incoming invoices. The organization will pay its suppliers on time and avoid possible errors that may occur during the invoicing process. 

Choose the perfect software 

Selecting the software for automating accounting processes in your organization is a critical decision. If an organization obtains digital accounting automation software that does not meet its needs, it may incur losses. Thus, it is important to consider the software when thinking about how to automate accounting processes. 

Functionality 

Go for software that has many functionalities and can meet your specific needs to automate accounting procedures. Good software for automating accounting processes comes with features such as good storage capacity, security, and integrations. 

Basil Practice Management for Accountants, CPAs, and Tax Professionals is a client cloud collaboration software with much functionality. This software is ideal for automating accounting workflows because of its affordability, efficiency, and simplicity. 

Simplicity 

When automating accounting processes in your organization, go for software that is easy to use. You may not want to incur further expenses of training staff on how to use the automated accounting system. Furthermore, if you have good software that is easy to use, the staff will automate bookkeeping and other workflows efficiently. Basil is also user friendly and simple to use to make your daily accounting work more efficient. Try Basil for 15 days free, plus a personalized demo with a product expert that will meet your unique business goals. 

Evaluate progress 

You need to measure the impact of automation on accounting processes in the organization. Determine if the organization is benefiting from the advantages of automated accounting systems. If this is not the case, find out why the organization is not experiencing the benefits of accounting automation. 

Accounting Automation and Customer Experience 

Automation in the accounting industry has a big impact on the experience of the clients. Clients would like to work with companies that are efficient, transparent, and accountable. An automated accounting system can enable your organization to be transparent, efficient, and accountable to the clients. For example, such a system stores the data of the clients securely. Individuals nowadays are concerned about the safety of their data. Therefore, the cloud-storage capabilities of accounting automation software can boost your image as a transparent and reliable organization. 

Will Automation of Accounting Replace Accountants?

One of the most common questions among accounting and finance professionals is whether automating accounting processes will render them useless. The answer to this question is simple: automation: automation of the accounting process will not replace accountants. The main impact of automation in the accounting industry is that it will improve productivity. When organizations automate bookkeeping and other procedures, they give their accounts ample time to tackle complex analysis of the data. Therefore, automating accounting workflows benefits accountants. 

Conclusion 

Automating accounting processes can help your organization cut costs, improve customer experience, and increase productivity. When you automate accounting and related workflows, the staff in the accounting and finance department will have ample time to carry out complex tasks that need humans. Before you implement an automated accounting system, consider the features of the software. Ensure that the software has the right functionalities automating accounting workflows.