SAP IRPA Software Bots for Accounting & Finance

SAP Intelligent Robotic Process Automation (SAP IRPA) for SAP S/4HANA ERP Solution has emerged as one of the most exciting technologies. It has successfully captured the attention of the business world looking to optimize workforce productivity.

In fact, several manufacturing businesses have already begun to pivot towards implementing SAP IRPA to assemble everything from cars to tiny spare parts.

Now, SAP IRPA is augmenting operations across business processes like Accounting & Finance as well. SAP IRPA Software bots augment employee productivity by automating specific rules and action sequences.

You can automate Financial & Accounting business processes that typically require employees to perform repetitive & tedious tasks. Not only that, SAP IRPA has also proven to be useful in specific business processes which are repetitive in nature.

The most effective uses for SAP IRPA are related to the heart of the business – Financial & Accounting Business Processes showing a significant ROI in a relatively short span of time.

Using SAP IRPA in accounting & finance use cases, companies can now automatically audit financial statements and speed up the rate at which accounts receivable and payable tasks are completed.

In this article, SAP IRPA Experts at VC ERP Consulting, the best SAP Gold Partner in India, talk about the growing importance of SAP IRPA in Financial & Accounting business processes with relevant use cases.

Automate Finance & Accounting with SAP IRPA

Traditionally, automation has taken over multiple workflows within organizations but accounting and finance has always been manual. Number game has always been in human hands either due to lack of appropriate solutions or out of organizational uneasiness about placing essential tasks in the hands of bots.

RPA does not replace your human workforce but it takes their speed and productivity to the next level – augmenting their existing capability using software bots – to further process high volume of transactions in a matter of minutes from days. SAP IRPA takes this to the next level.

Using SAP IRPA, employees have complete control over accounting and the right combination of rules and configurations ensure that there is always a human present to double-check potential exceptions.

Development of new tools and increasing commercial awareness has given rise to automation and new SAP IRPA use cases in finance & accounting are emerging over the recent years. These new use cases are leading to optimized business costs, boost in employee morale and increased employee productivity.

Let’s explore some of the most common uses for RPA in these areas that make SAP IRPA a worthwhile investment.

Top 5 SAP IRPA Use Cases for Accounting & Finance that make it a Worthwhile Investment

Handling Accounting & Finance of any organization often means there is a huge amount of tedious and repetitive work – work that can be done easily with the help of automation through RPA.

Let’s explore the Top 5 Use Cases of SAP IRPA for Accounting & Finance that augments employee productivity.

Automate Intercompany Accounts Reconciliation

SAP IRPA Software Bots

Extract open AP/AR items from SAP S/4HANA for Intercompany BPs to an excel file
Perform reconciliation by checking if amounts outstanding matches to the same AR/AP invoice
Determine whether AR invoices that cannot be matched are result of being cleared by AP or not yet taken by AP
Consolidate the invoices into separate files by company code with reconciliation status
Email each company code file to the respective Finance Business Units for action
Consolidate the outstanding amounts across intercompany into a matrix for reporting
Distribute the matrix and invoices for company codes to responsible reporting accountants

Profit & Loss Statement Reporting

SAP IRPA Software Bots

Collect data from varying reports across systems
Compile data into the P&L Report (weekly, monthly, quarterly etc..)

SAP S/4HANA Users automatically receive P&L report from the Bot and check for any exceptions

Account Payable Process Automation

SAP IRPA Bots check format of supplier invoices in inbox and loads them
Machine Learning classifies GR/IR posting mismatch and recommends next steps
System Alerts about changes of the processor and the GR/IR item details

SAP IRPA Software Bots

Create supplier down payment requests and post journal entry
Automatically replies to supplier invoice status requests
Check the completeness of supplier master data to avoid errors on payment proposal run

Cash Position Reporting

SAP IRPA Software Bots

Download bank statements from different bank websites every few hours
Consolidate data on cash positions and prepare a report
Send cash position reports to all stakeholders

Exchange Rate Look-up & System Updates

SAP IRPA Software Bots

Download latest currency exchange rate from approved websites e.g. Xe.com
Upload exchange rates into systems based on defined rule
Send confirmation to stakeholders with exceptions if any

Benefits of Implementing SAP IRPA For Accounting & Finance

“Work smarter, not harder” – SAP IRPA is designed to boost employee productivity and employee job satisfaction
Minimize human errors, reduce delays and optimize business costs
Accuracy is essential – SAP IRPA ensures accuracy in procedures at every step
Grow your automation footprint in the future by deploying SAP IRPA that provides a framework for technologies as they grow and mature