Excerpt from the eBook
Unifying IT and Finance: Embracing Intelligent Apps for Corporate Finance
The Rise of Intelligent Apps
In today’s competitive financial landscape, internal and external stakeholders must constantly collaborate, securely handle diverse sets of structured and unstructured data, and work to boost the efficacy of processes to meet business objectives. The demands have never been more intense, and the need for efficiency is at an all-time high.
This need is especially true for accounting and finance departments.
With so many demands impacting financial organizations today, it is clear basic technologies such as OCR or RPA are not enough of an acceptable solution to solve the multi-tiered, complex requests back-office accounting and finance operations handle daily. But the proliferation of solutions that claim to have artificial intelligence may be overwhelming, and an already overburdened finance team does not have the time to figure out how to get their automation journey started.
To make it simpler for the finance team, the best bet for a quick and successful automation journey is to find a solution that is built using Intelligent Applications.
To make it simpler for the finance team, the best bet for a quick and successful automation journey is to find a solution that is built using Intelligent Applications.
“Intelligent Apps,” as often labeled, are an emerging set of next-gen technologies coming together to allow incredible advancements in the automation of business and process functions.
Accounts receivable and accounts payable teams will find specialized products built with Intelligent Apps to address the automation needs of the finance office specifically. Often overlooked in automation, finance teams employing Intelligent Apps would quickly inject automation to increase productivity, effectiveness, and accuracy, providing the ability to reduce workloads instantly while also improving cash performance and auditing. Flexible and scaleable, Intelligent Apps scale to match the growing needs of the finance department and the organization as a whole.
To qualify as an Intelligent App, the technology must use artificial intelligence and machine learning to deliver improved decision-making. It must provide contextual functionality, be built to implement and sustain “no code / low code” maintenance, act as a “co-pilot” for finance teams, and employ extensibility to expand, grow, and flex to deliver across various functional areas. Intelligent Apps are made up of the following technologies:
Natural Language Technology - NLG, NLU, NLP
Natural language technologies are computer programs that mimic humans’ abilities to process, understand, and create language. Natural language processing (NLP) is the ability of a computer program to understand human language, allowing computers to read text and interpret language as humans do. Natural language understanding (NLU) is the computer’s ability to derive meaning and intent from text and identify actions to take. Natural language generation (NLG) means the computer creates conversational and relevant text, similar to how a human would generate a response.
For all these functions, NLT uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to process real-world input and make sense of it, recommending action and generating a human-like response.
AI and ML
Artificial Intelligence uses computer systems to simulate human intelligence and behavior. At the same time, Machine Learning is the application of AI algorithms to learn from data and make predictions or decisions. With machine learning, input data, along with the output, is fed into the model during the learning phase, and it works out a program without being explicitly programmed.
Computer Vision + OCR
Computer Vision is the science of teaching a computer to interpret and understand the contents of an image or video. OCR (Optical Character Recognition) is a specific type technology used to recognize and extract text from images. OCR is the baseline of the data extraction, with Computer Vision adding the next layer of extraction, providing context and relevance from both text and pictures.
Enhanced RPA
Enhanced Robotic Process Automation (RPA) automates complex business processes and tasks which humans traditionally perform. Enhanced RPA uses
AI and ML to increase the accuracy and efficiency of automation processes. AI-augmented RPA captures data, performs actions, and hands off to humans using workflows, escalating when intervention is needed.
Automating Repetitive AR Tasks with Intelligent Apps
Responding to requests for documentation, sending invoice copies and reminders, researching account status, and following up on outstanding balances—all of these routine, repetitive tasks for the AR department not only drag down morale but also derail focus from more meaningful activities. It is no wonder 45% of finance and accounting practitioners feel repetitive work is a massive drain on the organization.
That’s where AR automation comes in.
Advanced AR automation powered by Intelligent Apps uses AI-Powered software platforms to automate the accounts receivable department’s repetitive, manual processes and tasks, augmenting workflows and enhancing engagement to save time, reduce costs, and prevent errors.
Enterprises that adopt AR automation instantly reap the benefits, seeing an immediate 75% workload reduction, thanks to eliminating tedious, error-prone manual tasks.
Enterprises that adopt AR automation instantly reap the benefits, seeing an immediate 75% workload reduction, thanks to eliminating tedious, error-prone manual tasks. This reduction helps to improve employee retention as teams now concentrate on more meaningful and rewarding work.
Automation also increases the productivity and efficiency of the finance and accounting departments by up to 60%. For most companies, scalable and flexible software lessens the need to hire more professionals to respond to ever-growing business demands or seasonal fluctuations.
AR automation also improves your department’s capital and cash performance. Once implemented, an automated AR platform reduces days sales outstanding (DSO) by up to 15%. Cash performance is also improved with acute visibility derived from more robust reporting and analytics. In fact, studies show that past-due AR is reduced by 10-15%, and bad-debt write-off is reduced by 35%.
AR automation platforms also help to improve auditing by reducing the chances of human error and by automatically capturing notes, actions, and outcomes.
A significant benefit to adopting AR automation is improving customer satisfaction, as automated technology responds within minutes to help clients 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Another significant benefit to adopting AR automation is improving customer satisfaction, as automated technology responds within minutes to help clients 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Predictably, AR automation is an excellent solution for AR departments interested in reducing errors, eliminating repetitive tasks, and delivering higher-quality services.
But automation isn’t only for Accounts Receivable departments. Accounts Payable could also reap significant benefits from intelligent apps.
The Case for Intelligent Apps in Accounts Payable
Advanced AP automation powered by Intelligent Apps uses AI, ML, and NLT to automate and streamline how accounts payable / procurement processes are monitored, executed, and handled. AP automation solutions automate responses, streamline payments, prioritize AP team performance, and handle inbox inquiries. Similar to the advantages of adapting AR automation tools into financial workflows, adopting AP automation into your organization brings myriad benefits.
First and foremost, finance teams experience a workload reduction in the AP department by up to 80%, and a 75%+ reduction in the manual, process-oriented tasks that drag down AP department morale and consume valuable hours. AP automation tools also drastically improve accuracy and auditing, as the risk of human errors made during repetitive, tedious tasks shrinks.
Finance teams experience a workload reduction in the AP department by up to 80%, and a 75%+ reduction in the manual, process-oriented tasks.
Reducing fraud by up to 50% is also possible with AP automation tools, as real-time insights into invoices, purchase orders, approvals, and payments keep department
team members updated. Similarly, maintaining 100% compliance with vendor tax records is easier with AP automation, as non-compliance issues are immediately spotted and then course-corrected. Advanced tech learns over time, monitors vendor behavior, and helps to identify anomalies and fraud, escalating to humans as needed.
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