How to automate accounting tasks

Accounting automation can greatly reduce the time your team spends on manual tasks, saving resources and freeing them to focus on more valuable work.

However, software adoption is often surprisingly challenging. According to Gartner, only 48% of digital initiatives meet or exceed their business outcome goals.

This guide will show you how to automate accounting tasks successfully and overcome the most common hurdles along the way.

Step 1 – Map your current accounting processes and workflows

Before you make any changes to your accounting function, take the time to make a detailed map of its present form. This lays an important foundation for the initial planning that will guide every decision you make in your automation journey.

For example, a detailed outline of your existing processes and workflows is necessary for tactics like gap analysis. This involves comparing your current state to your desired future state and identifying the most significant opportunities for improvement.

To start, gather any existing documentation that outlines your accounting procedures, such as process manuals or departmental guides. These often provide a structured overview and a convenient place to begin your review.

Next, meet with your key accounting leaders and department heads. They’ll have hands-on knowledge of daily workflows and will be able to provide valuable insights into your team’s most notable pain points, which should be ripe for automation.

In addition, getting these stakeholders involved early can help encourage them to buy into the process. Failing to include them early increases the likelihood that they’ll reject your chosen solution in favor of the processes they’re comfortable with.

If you don’t already use project management tools to outline workflows, consider using automated process mapping software to make things easier. These tools can help you visualize complex processes more clearly.

Step 2 – Identify which accounting tasks to automate

Automating your accounting function from top to bottom is usually implausible. For most businesses, some level of human involvement is still necessary. As a result, the next step in your accounting automation journey should be to pick specific aspects to target.

Consider starting with the low-hanging fruit: repetitive tasks that require minimal critical judgment but extensive manual work. These are often the simplest to automate because they follow consistent patterns and involve organized data.

They also tend to provide a strong return, freeing your team to spend the time saved on more valuable tasks. For context, QuickBooks found that businesses spend an average of 25 hours per week on manual data entry and reconciliation tasks.

Some common examples of this kind of accounting work include:

• Expense tracking
• Invoice data entry
• Bank reconciliations
• Recurring journal entries

Once you’ve secured the easy wins, consider looking for the more complex bottlenecks in your current accounting workflows. These tend to be areas where a lot of manual work and some level of critical analysis is required.

This makes them trickier to automate but often more rewarding. For example, that might include processes like budget vs. actual analysis, cash flow forecasting, or key performance indicator (KPI) analysis.

To find these tasks, review the map of your current accounting workflows and ask your team where they spend the most time and encounter the most errors. If available, you can also review time-tracking data directly to help reveal inefficiencies.

Step 3 – Choose the right automated accounting software

Accounting automation software has become incredibly powerful, especially with recent developments in artificial intelligence (AI). However, the market has become crowded with options that vary significantly in functionality.

Here are some tips to help you find the right software for your business:

• Get suggestions from your network: If you don’t know where to start, ask trusted peers from your industry for recommendations. Their experiences can help you narrow down the list and identify tools that have worked well for companies similar to yours.
• Prioritize your selected tasks: When you review a potential solution, start by checking whether it can automate the specific accounting processes you identified in the previous step. This is an efficient way to weed out options and helps ensure you end up with something that meets your unique needs.
• Take customer reviews into account: Online reviews can provide valuable insight into the typical user’s experience, especially when it comes to customer support. Just make sure to take each one with a grain of salt. Look for consistent patterns in feedback rather than isolated complaints.
• Take advantage of free demos: You never know if software will work for you or your team until you try it yourself. Fortunately, many vendors offer free trial periods or personalized walkthroughs that let you experience the user interface first-hand before committing.

If you’re looking for an accounting solution that leverages AI to the fullest, try Zeni. 

In addition to automated bookkeeping, our platform includes KPI dashboards that surface financial insights in real time and AI agents that streamline everything from financial analysis to vendor payments.

Step 4 – Integrate automation tools with existing systems

Once you have a shortlist of strong software options, the next step is to make sure they can integrate smoothly with your existing tech stack. These connections help you avoid manual data transfers, which often result in errors and inefficiencies.

Ideally, your chosen accounting software will connect directly with your current systems, such as your Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platform, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool, and payment processors. 

More popular solutions are more likely to support direct connections, making integrations faster and more reliable.

Fortunately, if direct connections aren’t available, there are usually workarounds. For example, tools like Zapier act as bridges between different applications, enabling automation even when native integrations don’t exist. 

These platforms allow you to create custom accounting workflow automation without complex coding.

That said, if your financial systems are highly complex, more advanced solutions may be more suitable. For example, you can consider dedicated middleware or Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS), which can help you scale integrations more easily.

Keep in mind, technical integrations can be one of the most complex parts of the automation journey. Specialized expertise is often necessary to avoid disruptions during implementation and maintain system stability afterward.

If your in-house team lacks expertise or you have a particularly challenging setup, consider outsourcing the responsibility to integration experts. They can help ensure a smooth transition and reduce the risk of costly downtime.

Step 5 – Set up an automated workflow for each accounting task

Once you’ve integrated your new software, it’s time to set up the automated workflows that will replace your old processes. This is where you’ll start to see the return on your investment, as former bottlenecks and inefficiencies become more streamlined.

In most cases, it’s best to start small and gradually transition to the new workflows. For example, you might begin with automating invoice processing before moving on to more complex tasks. 

This gives your team time to adjust and can help you address any issues that arise early on.

Rushing the transition can confuse your employees and increase the likelihood of resistance. You also risk disrupting your daily financial operations, which can quickly negate the efficiency gains you were looking for in the first place.

Taking your time also allows you to create clear documentation outlining your updated processes. This can be a valuable reference for you and your team in the future, helping them understand the new system and providing guidance if problems arise.

Thanks to the power of AI, Zeni is capable of streamlining a wide range of accounting workflows. For example, in addition to data entry and reconciliation, the basic platform can automate accounts payable and employee reimbursement workflows.

Our AI accounting agent unlocks even more financial reporting automation strategies, with advanced capabilities like recurring flux analysis and journal entry scheduling.

Step 6 – Train your accounting team on automated processes

Teaching your accounting team about your newly automated processes is essential for a successful transition. 

Unfortunately, the practice is frequently underemphasized. In fact, one study by Gartner found that only 32% of leaders globally get employees to adopt changes in a healthy way.

The stakes are often higher than you might expect. If your team members don’t learn how to use the new software, they’re likely to revert to the manual processes they’re already comfortable using.

In addition to undermining the efficiency gains you were looking for, this wastes the resources you invested in adopting the new system. 

In the worst-case scenario, the new software goes entirely unused—something that costs businesses an average of $3,000 per month.

Being proactive about training is one of the best ways to mitigate this risk. Don’t just offer a two-day bootcamp and call it quits. In most cases, that will leave your team woefully unprepared.

Instead, engage your team early by introducing training sessions before the new workflows go live. This helps prepare them for the upcoming change, increasing the likelihood they’ll embrace the new way of doing things.

Training shouldn’t end once the new system goes live either. Regular refresher sessions and ongoing support can address any issues that come up after implementation. 

They also encourage continuous learning, helping ensure your team fully leverages the accounting automation tool over time.

Step 7 – Monitor and optimize your automated accounting system

Accounting process automation isn’t something you set and forget, especially for the first couple of years after adoption. Regular monitoring is necessary to ensure your new system delivers the value you’re looking for.

Consider scheduling regular review meetings with your accounting leaders, such as every month or quarter. 

These provide an opportunity to discuss performance and course-correct as needed. Tracking a few key metrics can help you measure the impact of automation and spot areas for improvement.

Even beyond this initial phase, it’s important to continually watch for opportunities to optimize your system. For example, your company’s growth may introduce new complexities or workflows that can benefit from automation.

Automation tools themselves are also evolving rapidly. Many vendors regularly release new features that can improve efficiency or expand capabilities. 

Keeping up with these helps ensure you don’t miss out on innovations that could automate accounting processes further.

For the best results, foster a culture of continuous improvement within your accounting department. Encouraging your team to share challenges and suggest refinements will help you maintain a dynamic system that evolves as your business grows.

Common accounting tasks that should be automated

As we discussed above, the accounting tasks that are best suited for automation tend to be repetitive and time-consuming but relatively straightforward. These often involve significant data entry, making them vulnerable to human error.

Some of the most common examples include:

• Expense management
• Transaction categorization
• Invoice data entry and processing
• Bank account reconciliations
• Recurring journal entries
• AP and reimbursement approvals
• Financial report generation
• Cash flow forecasting
• Budget vs. actual comparisons

Zeni can automate these routine tasks and many more. Our AI-powered platform categorizes transactions in real time, ensuring the financial statements are always accurate and up-to-date.

Account reconciliations and journal entries are similarly streamlined, reducing errors and saving hours of work. Meanwhile, employee reimbursement and AP automation tools handle the bulk of cash flow management.

From Zeni’s integrated dashboard, users can also view personalized KPI calculations and other financial insights that update automatically. 

Even approval workflows for reimbursements and vendor payments are fully automated, speeding up processing times and improving cash flow management.

Beyond these core functions, Zeni’s AI agents offer more flexible automation capabilities. They can intelligently respond to requests in plain language, allowing you to create customized workflows that automate an even wider variety of accounting tasks.

Challenges and how to overcome them

Automating accounting processes can be highly beneficial, but it’s not without its challenges. As discussed previously, one of the most common issues is resistance to change from your accounting team.

Employees who are used to their manual accounting tasks may be reluctant to adopt new technology, even if it makes things more efficient. 

Overcoming this typically requires early involvement of key stakeholders to encourage buy-in and ongoing training to build confidence and familiarity.

Integration issues are another common challenge. Automated accounting systems typically need to connect with multiple other platforms, and ensuring seamless data flow between these systems can be technically demanding.

Choosing software with the right integration capabilities from the start is often the best way to prevent this from becoming a problem. That said, seeking expert assistance when necessary can also help mitigate the risk.

It’s also important to take a gradual approach to implementation. This gives your team time to adapt, reduces the risk of costly downtime, and makes it easier to address issues as they arise.

Even after you clear these initial hurdles, keep in mind that your accounting system requires ongoing maintenance. 

Check in with accounting leaders regularly to address any inefficiencies or innovations that may arise as both your business and the technology evolve.

Ready to eliminate manual work and automate your accounting processes? Schedule a free demo of Zeni today to learn how it can transform your finance function.