FIC
talking tech
Insight from data is the ROI Automated financial services programmes allow CFOs to provide stronger strategic insights for the business.
T
BY JANE STEINACKER
he days of manual Excel spreadsheets and scanning expense claim forms are coming to an end as Robotic Process Automation (RPA) frees up a financial division’s time to get to the real work.
“By automating menial tasks, CFOs can turn their team into business partners for the company, as opposed to spreadsheet experts,” said Josh May, principal consultant at Finance Indaba Conversation sponsor Blackline. The company is a provider of cloud software that automates and controls financial close and accounting processes and was referred to as a case study at this year’s Finance Indaba Conversations, Following global tech trends in finance. Aneshree Naidoo, CFO at law firm Webber Wentzel, is once again implementing Blackline at the firm she recently joined after implementing the automated accounting software at Deloitte South Africa. “For many years we have been hearing about the danger of legacy systems that either no
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longer suit the business, where contract maintenance contracts have come to an end or where the system is no longer supported,” she said, adding that companies need to understand that having a strong financial accounting system that can be integrated with an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is, “a number one priority”. And it isn’t just Aneshree who believes that effective and efficient systems are a priority. Analyst house Gartner said that an ERP system is the fourth top priority for businesses, she said. A good system that automates menial processes and reporting is one that eliminates errors and allows a business to quickly identify where figures don’t align – and are then able to take appropriate action. “Finance is not the coolest department in the company – there’s a lot of transactional work,” said Catalin Lupu, the global VP for procurement and real estate at UiPath – Robotic Process Automation. “We are human beings, we get tired, we make mistakes.” By eliminating human error and freeing up time, the
