AI and RPA are, and will continue to be, a major challenge for the world of tomorrow, particularly within Finance Accounting SSCs (Shared Services Centres). In this article, we will try to understand the role of RPA within Finance Accounting SSCs.
What is an Accounting Finance SSC?
The Finance Accounting SSC (Shared Service Centre) is one of the main organisational responses by large companies to the challenges of optimising and improving the efficiency of the Finance function.
The Accounting Finance SSC, like any socio-professional classification, primarily aims to organise and categorise the various jobs and professions related to accounting in order to facilitate sociological analyses, demographic studies, statistical surveys and other types of research.
Here are some of the objectives:
- Cost reductions through economies of scale
- Limiting the cost of deploying new systems and processes
- Harmonising systems, practices and processes by pooling technologies, infrastructures and data.
- And more…
Why do we talk about RPA for Finance Accounting SSCs?
In accounting, many tasks, such as data entry and reconciliation, are often tedious and repetitive, making them ideal candidates for automation. At a time when accounting departments are looking to streamline their processes and reduce costs, RPA represents an attractive opportunity.
This trend is particularly pronounced in the Shared Services Centres (SSCs) of large companies, which must deliver added value to the entities they serve. Isabelle Moreau confirms that the use of robots is widespread across all SSCs. In addition, entrusting a service to an SSC requires a precise description of that service, which makes them particularly well suited to automation.
What are the benefits of RPA in Finance Accounting SSC shared services centres?
- Full or partial automation of processes.
As soon as there is standardisation, RPA makes it possible to automate low-value tasks. This approach is generally deployed for reimbursement requests, invoice or payment processing, updates or basic database checks.
- Improved team productivity
By performing large-scale tasks 24/7, companies can plan organisational streamlining.
- Greater accuracy and quality of operations
Thanks to RPA, the risk of human error decreases, which facilitates the evolution of models (robots adapt more easily to new processes).
The challenges of implementing RPA in Finance shared services centres
Despite its many advantages, implementing RPA in shared services centres remains partial and presents a few major challenges:
- First, the transition may require significant changes to current financial processes (harmonisation, standardisation, etc.) and existing systems (data upgrades, functional changes, interface adaptations, etc.), which can lead to substantial, unforeseen implementation costs.
- Change management and training employees to work with RPA day to day are essential aspects that can represent cultural (acculturation) and organisational challenges (“Will I keep my job?”).
- Data security and regulatory compliance are also major concerns when integrating RPA, as robots must have appropriate access while ensuring a certain level of security.
Best practices for implementing RPA in Finance shared services centres
Companies wishing to implement RPA in their Finance shared services centres can refer to several key elements for successful integration:
- Commitment and support from management are essential to successfully deliver the transformation.
- It is important to carefully select the process(es) to automate (S2P / OTC / R2R). Upstream, tasks must be standardised, repetitive and rule-based to be eligible for automation.
- Selecting an RPA solution and defining an implementation strategy aligned with the company’s objectives.
- Setting up a dedicated cross-functional team focused on automation can also maximise RPA implementation.
- It is crucial to put in place monitoring and evaluation indicators to measure the impact of automation and make adjustments as needed. Process Mining solutions can support this monitoring.
- Integrating, deploying and governing robots requires particular attention to ensure the quality and reliability of automated operations.
- Training and continuous skills development for employees in order to facilitate collaboration with robots.
Althéa to support you
Applying RPA in Finance shared services centres offers valuable opportunities to improve large-scale operational efficiency, service quality and customer satisfaction. However, it is crucial to genuinely take potential challenges into account and follow best practices for successful integration.
By applying these recommendations, shared services centres can fully leverage the potential of RPA to drive long-term growth and operational efficiency.
Althéa is a management consulting firm with more than 250 consultants with triple expertise: consulting methodology, IT solutions business.
In 2023, we achieved €28 million in revenue.
We support our clients in their transformation projects across HR, Finance, Procurement, and Supply Chain, from defining the transformation roadmap to the operational deployment of projects.
To address the challenges of applying RPA in shared services centres, Althéa can support you.
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