october2021 - 5
FEATURE
The State of Automation in Finance
By Mary Girsch-Bock
A NEW SURVEY highlights some of the challenges businesses
have faced as a result of the pandemic and what
changes may help businesses adapt to a new remote
working model.
COVID-19 IMPACT ON
BUSINESSES WORLDWIDE
The
State of Automation in Finance
survey found that as a result of the
COVID-19 pandemic, digital transformation
has been accelerated,
with many businesses forced to
make changes in order to continue
operating. Other key findings
include:
* 44% of businesses said that the
COVID-19 pandemic had significant
impact on their ability to process
invoices, with smaller businesses
seeing an even larger impact.
* 50% of business leaders estimated
that it will take at least a year to
recover from the effects of the
pandemic, with some respondents
unsure if recovery will ever happen.
* 76% of accounting and finance leaders
have stated that COVID-19 has
accelerated the digital transformation
of the accounts payable process.
Additional key findings in the
U.S. include:
* 49% of financial leaders in the
U.S. were concerned or extremely
concerned about cash flow during
the COVID-19 pandemic.
* 25% of U.S. businesses consider
having better control over day-today
financial processes a priority
post-COVID.
THE CURRENT STATE OF
AUTOMATION
Though 76% of businesses have
stated that COVID-19 has accelerated
the digitization of the entire
accounts payable process, results
from the survey indicate that few
have made the change.
* Only 18% of finance departments
have adopted fully automated
invoice processing.
* Only 23% of companies state that
they are fully prepared to implement
electronic invoicing.
* Using their current A/P processing
system, 66% of companies require
more than one business day to
manage all of their vendor invoices.
According to the survey, A/P
departments spend around 32 hours
a month managing vendor invoices,
while 11% of companies currently
can spend upwards of 100 hours
managing vendor invoices each
month.
CURRENT CHALLENGES
As the survey shows, too many businesses,
large and small, continue to
rely on manual accounts payable
processes, with more than 20% of
businesses still using Microsoft
Excel spreadsheets to process A/P.
Manual systems also create other
problems for businesses.
* Time-consuming processes - 35%
of accounting and finances leaders
stated that time-consuming
processes were the biggest problem
that they face when managing
accounts payable.
* Late payments - Late payments can
damage credit and impact vendor
relationships. However, more than
40% of businesses say that the
main reason for late payments is
the inability to adequately validate
invoices timely.
* Administrative errors - Administrative
errors such as incorrect
http://www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com
october2021
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of october2021
From the Editor: 2FA, MFA, GWTP
The State of Automation in Finance
Automation Solves Payroll Headaches
What is Human Capital Management?
The 2021 "40 Under 40" and "20 Under 40"
Marketing Your Firm: How to Create a Lead-Generating YouTube Channel
From the Trenches: Client Experience for Today: Leveraging Payroll
The Leadership Advisor: The Great Resignation: How to Keep Employees Happy and Prevent Burnout
The Labor Law Advisor: Wage and Hour Audits May Be Coming
The Millennial Advisor: Go For It!
The Staffing & HR Advisor: Hiring Remotely? Here's What You Need to Know
Will the 2022 Tax Filing Season Be Normal?
5 Covid Impacts on Internal Audit that Are Here to Stay
Bridging the Gap: Marketing for the Modern Accounting Firm
october2021 - 1
october2021 - 2
october2021 - 3
october2021 - From the Editor: 2FA, MFA, GWTP
october2021 - The State of Automation in Finance
october2021 - Automation Solves Payroll Headaches
october2021 - What is Human Capital Management?
october2021 - The 2021 "40 Under 40" and "20 Under 40"
october2021 - 9
october2021 - 10
october2021 - Marketing Your Firm: How to Create a Lead-Generating YouTube Channel
october2021 - From the Trenches: Client Experience for Today: Leveraging Payroll
october2021 - 13
october2021 - 14
october2021 - The Leadership Advisor: The Great Resignation: How to Keep Employees Happy and Prevent Burnout
october2021 - The Labor Law Advisor: Wage and Hour Audits May Be Coming
october2021 - The Millennial Advisor: Go For It!
october2021 - The Staffing & HR Advisor: Hiring Remotely? Here's What You Need to Know
october2021 - Will the 2022 Tax Filing Season Be Normal?
october2021 - 20
october2021 - 21
october2021 - 5 Covid Impacts on Internal Audit that Are Here to Stay
october2021 - Bridging the Gap: Marketing for the Modern Accounting Firm
october2021 - 24
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