Accounting Automation: Everything You Need To Know 

Do you want your accountants to spend the lion’s share of their time performing routine tasks by hand? For most accounting firms, the answer is a strong “no.” It’s inefficient, expensive, and can even harm the client experience if processes are slow or inaccurate. Fortunately, modern accounting automation technology can help. Today’s AI-infused tools excel in pattern recognition, calculation, and other procedural tasks, enabling accountants to reduce the time spent on repetitive operations. 

Automation technology means that accounting firms can keep pace with the fast and wide-ranging changes that have occurred in both business and the accounting industry in the last 5-10 years.  

In fact, automation technology is good news for accounting firms because it means that repetitive, tedious and ineffective tasks such as chasing invoices from your clients, manual data entry and bank statement reconciliation, are replaced with more accurate and faster ways to do things.  

This means we can run our accounting firms in more efficient, effective and profitable ways, while also keeping pace with the ever-increasing demands of the modern market.  

In this blog, we’ll take a look at what accounting automation is, its benefits for your clients, the right way to go about automating accounting processes, as well as some of the best tools on the market for accounting automation. Then we’ll take a peek at some software that makes integrating all these automations easy, and can help you run your firm in the most productive, profitable and efficient way possible.  

What is accounting automation? 

Accounting automation is the process of replacing manual accounting tasks with software-based solutions. Instead of handling repetitive. manual tasks, businesses can use specialized software to streamline things. The goal? To save time, reduce human error, and make financial management more efficient. 

Accounting automation tools are designed to take care of a variety of tasks that would normally require hours of manual effort. These tools are highly effective in handling everything from routine bookkeeping to complex financial processes. A few examples include managing accounts payable and receivable, running payroll, handling expense tracking, and even completing end-of-month financial reports. With automation, these processes run in the background, leaving you and your team free to focus on higher-value work.  

Benefits of accounting process automation 

Before we look at the best tools and practices for accounting automation, let's take an in-depth dive into the benefits that automated accounting processes can offer. 

Save time  

The first is that automating accounting processes in a firm saves time because the data will no longer need to be inputted manually. This time can then be spent on other mission-critical tasks and free up employees from boring and repetitive work.   

Save money  

Less time to complete a task means fewer resources will be expended. This can result in cost savings on accounts where the accounting is automated.  

Eliminate human error  

Human error is a very real problem in the accounting sector that automation effectively eliminates. This means your data will always be much more accurate and reliable than if it was entered manually.  

Speed up deliverables and reporting 

Automation makes reports as easy as clicking a button, with all the data and analysis for deliverables and financial reporting on hand whenever you need it.  

Improve customer experience  

Faster, more accurate accounting means an improved customer experience, so accounting automation can help you keep your customers happy.  

Provide better information for decision making  

In the age of data-driven decisions, having the accounting data and analytics at your fingertips can help you ensure your customers stay better informed and make decisions based on facts rather than guesswork.  

Accounting automation best practices and tools 

When automating accounting processes for firm clients, it's important to follow best practices and choose the right tools for your accounting firm's needs. Here are some steps you can take to do just that. 

Stage 1: Evaluate your current manual accounting processes  

Start by mapping out all routine accounting tasks your team handles regularly, such as payroll, invoice tracking, or reconciliations. Pay special attention to processes that are repetitive, time-consuming, or prone to errors. Then, involve your team to pinpoint pain points or inefficiencies in their daily workflows.  

Consider the volume and complexity of each task and whether accounting automation software could streamline it.  

Stage 2: Consider your current accounting systems  

Remember that the more unified your accounting systems (and can be), the easier and more efficient the service you will be able to provide to clients. With that in mind, choosing specialized automated accounting software is a great option for centralizing operations.  

Prioritize automated accounting software that integrate easily with your existing systems and offer scalability as your firm grows. 

Stage 3: Assign responsibility for process automation to a particular person  

Yes, automating an accounting process removes the need for manual human work. However, it is still crucial that you have someone who has overall responsibility for each process. This is because automation is based on the directions that humans set out, and this can lead to problems if not done accurately. The good news is that if you have someone in charge of overseeing the process, they will be able to spot issues and resolve them quickly, ensuring efficiency.  

Stage  4: Create and document current workflows 

Before you can automate any accounting processes, you need to be clear on what the manual versions of them are. This means you need to write out every stage of the process you are working on. Once it's written down completely, now is the time to assess its efficacy in its current form. Can you do things like cutting, adding or moving stages to a new position to make it simpler, faster, and more efficient? Then, once you have the most efficient process possible, you can begin the automation phase.  

Stage 5: Automate Accounting Processes  

Automating accounting processes becomes simpler when you break them into three parts: 

1. Trigger - The event that starts the process, like receiving an invoice. 

2. Action(s) - Steps to complete the process, such as notifying the right person for payment approval, followed by automated payment processing. 

3. Outcome - The desired result, like timely and accurate invoice payment with updated records. 

Accounting software smooths this process by detecting triggers (e.g., new invoices), executing pre-set actions, and ensuring accurate outcomes. These tools manage multiple workflows simultaneously, reducing manual effort, errors, and delays. 

Stage 6: Test, Evaluate, and Refine  

Automation isn’t a one-time setup. It’s vital to test and improve workflows continuously. Accounting software helps by providing analytics and performance insights, pinpointing inefficiencies such as delays in approvals. You can then tweak your automation rules to eliminate bottlenecks. 

Scalable and adaptable accounting software ensures your workflows evolve with your business needs. Over time, these refinements boost efficiency, cut costs, and improve your overall accounting operations. 

Using accounting software, you can streamline your processes and create a foundation for long-term financial management success. 

Choose IRIS Firm Management for your accounting automation needs  

IRIS Firm Management is a dedicated accounting practice management software solution for accounting professionals and CPAs, designed to support firms of all sizes. Our accounting automation software technology provides a single source of data and a real-time overview of performance, presented in an intuitive dashboard format. 

You can think of IRIS Firm Management Firm Practice as a "multi-tool" accounting software provider. It automates a wide variety of accounting workflows, freeing you from routine tasks and allowing you to spend more time on delivering value to clients. 

IRIS Firm Management helps your accounting firm run more efficiently 

IRIS's accounting automation software helps you effectively run your business with client management features, time tracking, accurate billing and more.  

That means no more cobbling together information from different systems or difficulties unlocking insights, such as resources and activity. Instead, you can quickly and easily access all the data you need and manage all your client processes from a single place, making IRIS Firm Management your one-stop solution for managing a successful practice.