Quick Answer
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) in finance and accounting takes rule-based rework off the team: Gartner estimates RPA can save a finance department with 40 full-time accounting staff about 25,000 hours a year of avoidable rework caused by human error. The clearest documented deployment is in invoice processing, where Certas Energy reports processing variable supplier invoices 93% faster.
- Invoice processing: Certas Energy, a UK fuel distributor, paired OCR with an SS&C Blue Prism digital worker that matches invoices against goods-received notes, cutting the time per invoice from up to 30 minutes to about one minute.
- Journal entries: high-volume, rule-based postings are a natural second candidate, because they bottleneck month-end close.
- Late payments: automated reminders, approval routing and deadline tracking stop invoices from going stale in someone's inbox.
The Hidden Cost of Manual Finance Operations
According to Gartner, a finance department with 40 full-time accounting staff can lose 25,000 hours a year to avoidable rework caused by human errors (Gartner, October 2019). RPA (Robotic Process Automation) removes much of this waste.
Case Study #1: Certas Energy – 93% Faster Invoice Processing
Company Profile
Certas Energy is a major UK fuel distributor with a large volume of supplier invoices whose quantities vary slightly in transit.
The Challenge
Manual invoice processing was slow and error-prone. The accounts payable team spent excessive time on data entry, validation, and exception handling. Processing delays strained supplier relationships.
The RPA Solution
Certas combined OCR (Optical Character Recognition) with an SS&C Blue Prism digital worker that extracts invoice data, matches it against the goods-received note within the expected in-transit variance, and completes the reconciliation (SS&C Blue Prism case study).
Results
| Metric | Before RPA | After RPA |
|---|---|---|
| Time per invoice | Up to 30 minutes | About 1 minute |
| Processing of variable, complex invoices | Manual | 93% faster |
Other Finance Processes Where RPA Pays
Journal entries
Recurring entries built from source-system data are generated, validated and posted by rule, which takes the month-end bottleneck off the team. Exceptions go to a person with the context to resolve them.
Late vendor payments
A bot tracks due dates, sends reminders and escalations, routes approvals and processes approved payments on schedule, so late-payment penalties stop being a surprise.
Tax reconciliation
The bot gathers data from multiple systems, performs the calculations, flags discrepancies and drafts the reconciliation report for review.
Best Finance Processes for RPA Automation
High ROI Processes
- ✓ Invoice processing (AP)
- ✓ Payment reconciliation
- ✓ Journal entries
- ✓ Financial reporting
- ✓ Tax compliance
- ✓ Expense management
How to Measure the Gain
- Minutes per invoice or entry, before and after
- Exception rate and who handles exceptions
- Days to close the month
- Penalties and missed discounts
ROI Timeline: What to Expect
Typical RPA Finance Implementation
Industry Insight
"The best thing about robotic process automation is that you will see a return on investment almost right away. Considering the relatively easy setup - robots don't physically integrate with your information systems - it looks like low-hanging fruit." - Industry Expert
Why Finance Teams Love RPA
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Less Stressful Peak Periods: "We're trying to remove the peaks from employees. With robots, they have more normal work hours during month-end."
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Higher-Value Work: Staff spend less time fixing mistakes and more time on analysis and strategic tasks.
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Better Data Quality: Automated processes produce accurate, consistent data with full audit trails.
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Improved Compliance: Robots apply the same rules every time, reducing compliance risks.
Ready to Automate Your Finance Operations?
Get a free assessment of your finance processes and see how much time RPA could save your team
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Further reading
Frequently asked questions
AI Solutions14 min2025-12-03
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