Fostering expertise, trust and continuity
The June 2018 edition of Financial Management magazine featured instructive articles about the introduction of RPA at Flint Hills Resources (FHR), a subsidiary of Koch Industries.
While FHR could afford to bring in external expertise, they decided to engage and develop their own people to run the project in-house for very good reasons: expertise, trust and continuity. In short, an enlightened employer decided from the outset to engage and involve the finance people whose roles would be affected in the automation of routine finance processes.
This approach ensured the success of the project and provided important development opportunities for these people. Many have been empowered by the automation of routine activities, enabling them to spend more time applying their analytical skills and management accounting mindset–whether in finance roles or subsequent automation projects across the business. Furthermore, FHR now has the talent in-house to automate processes. Having fostered a culture that embraces change, it is better positioned for the next stage in automation.
FHR used a 'citizen developer' approach, asking employees to understand and use the tools to automate processes.
Scott Bender, CPA, CGMA, the director of automation and modernisation
Ref: ‘Empowering the human element in automation’, Jack Hagel, Financial Management magazine, June 2018
“Today, FHR uses optical character recognition (OCR) software coupled with its RPA software and other applications to automate the purchase to pay process.
When a vendor sends an invoice, the OCR software reads it and exports the data to an Excel table. The bot then pulls the information from Excel and enters it into the appropriate accounting system. The bots know which data go to the homegrown system, which go directly into Oracle, which go into IBM Maximo, and so on. If necessary invoice information, such as a purchase order number, is missing, then an error message is sent to an FHR employee, who in turn investigates the discrepancy. The processing time is about the same as before. But because the process is automated, employees have more time to focus on managing and reducing invoice discrepancies, forward-thinking financial analysis, or coming up with ways to make other processes more efficient through automation.” 'Empowering the Human Element in Automation' Jack Hagel, Financial Management magazine, June 2018
Accountants need to be alert to the potential for new technologies to transform business models. And they must understand how finance can take advantage of these technologies to automate much of what they currently do. This will enable them to contribute more to ensuring the success of their business, and themselves, in the digital age. RPA is not rocket science. It is a simple form of automation. But an appetite for learning and self-development is essential.
Through planning, budgeting and performance analysis, management accountants are well-placed to ensure resources are allocated to where the returns or prospects are best. The mindset, honed over many cycles of management and control, leaves management accountants well-placed to contribute to the Agile approach enabling solution development and implementation.
Automation threatens many roles but those who can adapt will survive and thrive. Nevertheless, continuing professional development will be more important than ever, as subject matter knowledge is perishable.
Fortunately, CIMA working with the AICPA through the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, is well-positioned to support members with the learning resources they need to ensure their employability and enhance their career prospects.
Automation threatens many roles but those who can adapt will survive and thrive.
