Many businesses are now operating at an inflection point, given the convergence of staffing pressures, increased client engagement, and the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. As automation and AI-driven tools rapidly transform traditional workflows, the opportunity to streamline finance operations through technology is greater than ever. However, it is important to do so with a focus on maximizing ROI and to avoid common pitfalls.

There are many high-impact, low-lift improvements that can drive meaningful ROI without breaking the bank, by reducing time spent on error-prone manual tasks, improving data integrity and profit margins, and freeing up staff to focus on maximizing innovation and continuous improvement.

To operationalize high-impact automation, focus on the following five areas:

1. Spend and expense management
2. Bookkeeping
3. Reporting
4. FP&A
5. Client communication

1. Spend and expense management: Invoice processing and payment scheduling

Challenge: Manual entry of vendor invoices and payment coordination create bottlenecks for finance teams, especially given vast differences in workflows across departments, entities and cost centers.

AI win: Use AI-enabled software solutions to analyze invoice details from source data, categorize and post expenses automatically, match against POs, enable multiple levels of approval, and schedule payments based on cash flow forecasts.

Result: Significantly reduced manual workload, fewer errors, and better visibility into short-term obligations.

2. Bookkeeping: Smart transaction categorization

Challenge: Staff spend hours categorizing transactions from banks and credit cards, especially when they occur across different geographies and business units.

AI win: Leverage AI-enabled bookkeeping tools which utilize machine learning to learn specific categorization rules based on historical, global and localized data. These tools continuously improve with user feedback, provide clear indications on confidence levels, flag anomalies, and enable staff to focus on exception management and review of new or unusual transactions.

Result: Reduced manual work and greater accuracy in categorization, especially if your business has a high volume of transactions.

3. Reporting: Auto-generated monthly reporting with commentary

Challenge: If you are compiling monthly financial statements manually, it often means that variance-specific commentary is added late in the cycle.

AI win: Use AI report generation tools to automate management or investor packages, board decks, and draft tailored commentary based on variances, trends, and KPIs. These tools pull data directly from the accounting system, third party systems such as payroll, and prior history to recommend insights and explain variances.

Result: Faster turnaround times and higher-quality reporting that allow CxOs to spend their valuable prep time analyzing the data, not preparing or formatting it.

4. FP&A: AI- assisted forecasting and scenario modeling 

Challenge: Ultimately, your organization needs to plan for what’s ahead, particularly during periods of disruption or economic uncertainty, versus constantly trying to keep up with what already happened. Yet, forecasting and modeling remain a time-consuming luxury reserved for those with dedicated FP&A staff.

AI win: Implement AI-enhanced forecasting tools and excel-based automation add-ons that can handle complex inputs, run financial models and generate scenario analysis with simple ways to input changes, and manipulate outcomes and recommended actions based on financial results.

Result: This allows you to obtain forward-looking insights with less prep time, enhancing your team’s role as strategic collaborators driving towards the overall goals of the organization.

5. Communication: Smart email triage and drafting

Challenge: Email overflow slows down your team and distracts you from higher-value work.

AI win: Use embedded inbox-based AI features to prioritize messages, suggest responses, and draft templated replies based on tone and context. These tools can even detect time-sensitive requests or client frustration and flag them for faster resolution.

Result: Reduced communication lag and fewer missed follow-ups, ultimately leading to improved focus and clarity to pour back into solving problems and working on the core organization objectives.

Unlock quick AI wins with 5 simple steps

Consider this simplified, five-step roadmap that your team can use to unlock value quickly while gaining confidence with each small, yet mighty, success story.

Step 1: Conduct a workflow audit. Map core processes across your organization’s lifecycle, as well as individually across each of business units. Highlight repetitive or highly manual tasks, data bottlenecks, and human error risks. This helps target automation efforts where they will have the greatest impact.

Step 2: Identify AI-adjacent tools you already own. Most businesses already have access to Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, cloud accounting platforms, and/or collaboration software with embedded AI capabilities. Begin by maximizing the potential of your company’s existing assets and evaluating the functionalities of your primary solutions, as many of these are likely to feature integrated AI capabilities.

Step 3: Before jumping in, define and pilot short-term strategies. Start out simply by using the data from Step 1 to define the short-term problem statement, then assess the ability of the existing tools from Step 2 to solve those issues. Flag any problems that existing tools cannot solve and define the system’s requirements for solving those issues before rolling out to your team.

Step 4: Involve your team. Operational success depends on the trust of team members. Everyone should feel engaged in the adoption process, from problem definition to solution selection to change management. Identify initiative and system specific champions, recognizing that not everyone has to be a transformative part of the evolution to be a valuable part of the team. 

Step 5: Build a realistic strategy, tailored to your goals and industry. The gold standard that many businesses are trying to achieve is real-time close – not weekly, not monthly, but real-time, perpetually updated and “closed” books. However, it is crucial to recognize that once the AI journey begins, it can take time before that is achieved. 

Step 6: Rethink ROI. Do not limit ROI to the cost reductions associated with AI implementation. Consider the opportunity cost of not applying AI, as well as the benefits gained when you do. Measure value in team capacity reclaimed, improved accuracy, competitive gains, access to new insights, and the many ways in which it will increase profitability. 

Common pitfalls to avoid with AI adoption 

Even with low-lift goals, implementation missteps can derail progres and compromise outcomes. Watch out for these four common risk areas:

1. Over-automating without oversight. Automation should reduce effort, not introduce blind spots. Implement review steps to catch categorization errors or misallocated numbers. 

2. Ignoring the human element. Teams must remember that AI is not a replacement for professional judgment. Have a process for human review to interpret nuance and make final calls when context matters.

3. Neglecting governance and security. To work effectively, AI tools must have access to sensitive financial data, which means measures must be taken to meticulously protect that data. Protect your organization and employees by establishing proper due diligence and risk review up front, as well as ongoing controls around permission settings, data encryption, and compliance with organization-wide policies.

4. Not seeking professional guidance. For many teams, AI seems out of reach or perhaps only rolled out in pockets throughout the organization. Enlist the help of qualified professionals to assess and guide the overall strategy of the organization in archiving seamless integration of automation initiatives that are interconnected and synchronized appropriately.

Future wins: Taking a long-term approach to AI adoption 

Businesses that deploy AI judiciously, focusing on simplicity and alignment with organizational goals stand to transform not just how they work, but how they grow. As AI becomes more embedded into accounting and finance workflows, embracing automation selectively and strategically will allow you to achieve higher levels of efficiency and profitability and ultimately position you to outperform your peers.

Contact our team to learn more or start planning your AI