SINGAPORE (Nov 12): The future is here and industry professionals can reap enormous benefits from adopting robotic process automation (RPA), says the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).
ACCA is encouraging its members to adopt RPA and embrace technology because these will change their roles, turning them into strategic business leaders who also possess the background and ability to understand the numbers better than most.
RPA is not a little robot weaving around malls or cleaning rooms and corridors in hotels or in assembly lines building cars. RPA is a software that can be easily programmed or instructed by end-users to perform high-volume, repeatable, rules-based tasks. A recently released report titled “Embracing Robotic Automation during the Evolution of Finance” by ACCA, KPMG and Chartered Accountants Australia New Zealand describes RPA as a program replicating “the actions of a human accessing multiple systems”. RPA cuts across the IT legacy landscape and helps connect the flow of data, the report adds. It automates the transfer of data within processes quickly and accurately.
“You can programme the software to perform exactly the steps a human being would perform,” says Jamie Lyon, director of professional insights, ACCA, who co-authored the report. “In a simple RPA, you would see the cursor moving around a screen and going into different systems [and] fields, moving information across and between programs. Since RPA is programmed, it doesn’t, generally, make errors. Unlike human beings, robots can programme 24/7. They don’t sleep, they don’t need holidays and they don’t go off sick,” he says.
There are a few types of RPA. Desktop RPA usually sits “on top of” existing applications and replicates the actions of a human at the user interface level. This means there is no need to change, replace or compromise existing enterprise applications for the software to work.
Enterprise RPA is where software is hosted on centralised servers in the cloud. These robots are a little bit cleverer than their desktop counterparts and can be programmed to perform more complex tasks.
Traditional RPA operates by integration into the system environment, which enables the transfer of data and information between applications. “With traditional RPA, you’re making permanent changes to the underlying system. They are more expensive, take longer and require dedicated, specialised IT capability,” Lyon says.
Often, RPA sits on top of enterprise-wide systems (EWS) such as SAP, Oracle, MYOB or Xero. Xero offers affordable EWS to SMEs and SMPs (small and medium audit/accounting practices). For instance, an accountant in an SMP is likely to install the Xero platform in his client’s finance department, overlaid with RPA. The accountant can then view his client’s numbers in real time in the client’s Xero platform, and can thus provide prompt advice.
Being agile, modular and able to work on legacy systems, RPA can play an important role for SMEs and SMPs, especially those that cannot afford EWS.
Opportunity for Singapore
Singapore has some way to go before it catches up with other developed economies in RPA. According to a survey for the “Embracing Robotic Automation” report, the RPA adoption rate by companies in Singapore is 50%, compared with 58% in Canada, 61% in the UK, 65% in Ireland and 74% in the US.
Reuter Chua, head of ACCA Singapore, says Singapore can step up and play a bigger role. “Labour resources are one of the key challenges here for many businesses, and therefore RPA can play a very useful role.”
At present, though, the main adopters of RPA in Singapore are banks, MNCs and big corporates. For MNCs, the rate of adoption is high because of the need for standardisation and interoperability in the business hubs they have a presence in.
“We haven’t seen mainstream SMEs and SMPs take this big step forward. We’ve seen some successes; some tried and didn’t succeed, for various reasons, of which cost is one,” Chua says.
The cost of implementing RPA is likely to fall, as technology is readily available and affordable on the cloud, making it easier for adoption by SMEs and SMPs. In addition, the government is motivating businesses to upskill and automate on their journey towards industry 4.0.
“Data is available, cloud is affordable and the technology can benefit small business. If we can demonstrate how SMEs and SMPs can use RPA to help their clients, and how SMEs and SMPs can expand into the region, Singapore can play an important role in helping the region automate,” Chua says. “And, with Singapore SMPs engaging clients around the region and exposing them to RPA, Singapore can operate as a regional thought leader and demonstrate the benefits of adopting RPA.”
Cost is, of course, a concern. Some RPA software may still not be affordable to SMEs and SMPs, notes Joseph Alfred, head of policy and technical at ACCA Singapore. Workfusion RPA is free, though. “ACCA is working with AI Singapore to enable [lower-cost] RPA in SMPs,” Alfred says. Getting students to code, for instance, brings down the cost. With these initiatives, the cost of implementing RPA should fall, he adds.
SMP consolidation?
Automation could well lead to further consolidation of the approximately 700 SMPs in Singapore. “We have a high proportion of SMPs that operate as sole proprietors,” Alfred suggests.
If some sole proprietors consolidate to become a five-partner firm, say, they will be able to provide a wider spectrum of services, become more agile and be more responsive to customer needs. The expanded firm can offer audit, tax, secretarial, incorporation, regionalisation and other advisory services, all under one roof. It is a value-add to the client, Alfred observes.
The big four — PwC, KPMG, EY and Deloitte — have multiple roles, including consultancy and advisory. “SMPs could look at them and follow what they are doing; that spells the future for the accountancy profession,” Alfred says.
The rise of the gig economy could provide a boost to the growth of SMPs and the employment of independent professional accountants and lawyers. Looking ahead, it can be envisaged that lawyers and accountants in SMPs could increasingly offer their services over a digital platform, to a wide variety of clients who tap into the platform, Alfred suggests. Whatever the case, small businesses have the potential to change radically if they adopt technology, Alfred says.
RPA to change accountancy profession
Initially, though, the concern with RPA, like other forms of automation, is that it could cause job losses. Lyon does not share this concern but firmly believes RPA will leave accountancy and finance professionals with more time to do more interesting work.
“We don’t see RPA as a particular threat to the profession. We see it as an opportunity, in the sense that it will free up accountants and finance professionals from performing more mundane work,” he says. “Accountants’ roles will continue to change, just like how the roles for most professions are changing with technology.”
As accountants and finance managers free themselves of mundane tasks, they are likely to be able to use technology for a more holistic view of their companies. They could monitor cash flow, funding and risk management. Accountants would be able to move into an advisory role and identify a business’ profitable lines, and which products and markets to go into.
“Those in the finance department, when freed from mundane tasks, for instance, could come out and start talking to other departments about products, markets, and the risks and rewards of going into a new market,” Alfred says. “RPA will have a very positive spin-off. It is pushing accountants to become business partners. They are not losing their job; they have the opportunity to go to the next step.”
Chua says, “Accountants will speak beyond profit and loss, which is how they are represented today. Tomorrow, it will be about resource allocation, timing, risk controls. They will be using big data, and RPA will be helping them automate, so they will come to those observations easily. It’s every accountant’s dream to get more insights from data.
“In the end, it won’t be about technology but innovation for new and better business. Accountants will be strategic business leaders, and they will continue to speak the language of business tomorrow. They will read the reports on paper and spreadsheets today, but they will be pulling out data from systems tomorrow. They will be interpreting and maximising data and information for their stakeholders, and will continue to play a key role in business.”
ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) is the global body for professional accountants, offering business-relevant, first-choice qualifications to people of application, ability and ambition around the world who seek a rewarding career in accountancy, finance and management.
ACCA is currently introducing major innovations to its flagship qualification to ensure its current and future members continue to be the most valued, up-to-date and sought-after accountancy professionals globally.
