ICAI & ICAEW released report on Automation in Finance functions

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) on 16th September 2020, with each others collaboration, launched a research report on the topic “How technology can change the efficiency landscape may it be finance function for the accountancy profession or any operational aspect of the organisation”. 

This report is a joint piece of work that reflects the expertise and knowledge from both professional bodies and demonstrates the close collaboration and partnership which both the professional bodies enjoy

This combined study of both bodies offers a plethora of benefits in the long run concerning the increasing technological advancements and automation made by society:

• As to how the automation of the functions will result in increased productivity.
• Newer age Technology used by global companies that can be adopted by corporate to automate finance
• With the increased productivity and automation achievement of further growth and reduction in redundant activities.
• Reskilling requirements of human capital due to automation/technology adoption. It is expected that the above benefits, in turn, reflects the increased improvement in the overall productivity of the economy, and thereby helping in “Atmanirbharta through Automation” in the corporate finance functions and thereby help India’s achieving target of becoming US $ 5 trillion economy.

Also, the report shares the practical experience of:

• Adoption of automation technologies by some leading finance functions /operations in the UK and India.
• Highlights how automation helps finance to work more efficiently, deliver high quality, timely data to the business and spend more time on analysis and higher-value tasks.
• range of insights about the successful use of automation technologies, including the need for finance to take ownership of changes, the importance of agile methods and the close connection between automation and process improvements.

CA. Atul Kumar Gupta, President, ICAI says, “ Technology is changing by leaps and bounds and transforming the world around us. The accountancy profession is no exception and with the introduction of Artificial Intelligence, Robotic Process Automation, Blockchain Technology, IOT among others it becomes imperative for all to be vigilant and respond to the technological innovations to continuously improve business operations. Automation raises particular concerns about the future of jobs, and the report emphasizes the importance of upskilling and training finance teams in a range of areas, including data and technology, in order to thrive in this new environment. Automation, in most of our research examples, was reshaping rather than replacing jobs.”

He also added, “Empowering staff to use automation technologies themselves, to generate ideas for automation, or to deliver more analytical tasks, was a key element of successful change. This was reinforced by the need for finance staff to have the right attitude, embrace change and be open to learning new skills. We are thankful to ICAEW for joining hands with ICAI and working jointly on this project.”

Mr. David Matthews, President, ICAEW said, “ ICAEW is delighted to collaborate with ICAI on this report. Technology is transforming our profession, and automation technologies, in particular, raise profound questions about the future role of chartered accountants. However, automation also creates tremendous opportunities and helps finance functions to deliver more value to their businesses. Professional bodies such as ours can and must play a key role in sharing the practical experience of using these technologies and thereby help our members to thrive in a digital world.”

“We would like to thank ICAI for their partnership on this project. We believe that such collaborations between chartered accountancy bodies demonstrate the value of international co-operation and knowledge-sharing and showcase the depth and breadth of our member’s experience. This project has also given us a unique opportunity to learn from major companies based both in India and the UK, and we look forward to further collaborations with ICAI in the future,” he added.

With Warm Regards,

CL Bureau.