The Effects of Finance Automation on Jobs in India

Effects of Finance Automation

Automation in Indian industry is becoming more prevalent, and the need for automation is spreading like wildfire. India is known to harbor the back offices of several leading businesses globally, especially for maintaining records, regulatory compliance, accounts, and IT services. It is no surprise that as technology strengthens its hold in all business sectors, it is likely to change the way several businesses operate. While companies around the world already have integrated automation, the Automation industry in India is speedily picking up its pace too. In simple words, to automate is to replace humans with bots or machines to perform mundane, repetitive tasks and higher-order tasks with increased efficiency, productivity, reliability, and minimal human intervention.

This explanation highlights why there is a need for automation. The finance industry, undoubtedly, is one of the most impacted industries in India due to automation. It includes fintech, banking, insurance, investments, and others. It has transformed the role of finance as a department, pushing it to level up from professionals to partners. ABB Limited, Siemens, Larsen & Toubro, Honeywell India are a few of the top automation companies in India. Whereas, ABB, Gridbots, Tata Consultancy Services, Sastra Robotics are the best robotic companies in India. As a result, it has also paved way for automation in software industry.

Areas where automation has a long-lasting impact

• Payables and Receivables

There is no doubt that efficient accounts payable and accounts receivable systems will have a rippling effect. Though these two are opposite functions, no one is more important than the other. Automation makes these processes more efficient, quicker, and free of error. It has allowed organizations to get their work done in a small frame of time and tap the fullest of the potentials of their employees. Besides, why would you want your employees to spend their time doing mundane tasks when they can actually be involved in higher-order operations like analysis, critical thinking, development, and planning?

• Analysis and Report Preparation

Before businesses were introduced to the possible wonders of technology, analysis and report-making were dreadful tasks. Automation has happily replaced the long hours spent on spreadsheets, copy-pasting data, and applying formulas to discover patterns. But this is not where it stops. Without making sense of these numbers, they will only be a few digits put together in a sequence. Meaningless. With automation in the picture, organizations can prepare these reports in real-time, as many times as they want. On top of this, they can also uncover how and why.

• Reconciliation

Although tallying every entry in the bank statements with the general ledger to ensure that all the dues and payments were made and received, respectively, is mundane and time-consuming, it is also crucial. Using high-end technology to perform these tasks will save you time and alert you of discrepancies (if any) in seconds or even milliseconds.

• Salary Dues

Nobody appreciates receiving their salaries late. Besides, calculating the due means making several calculations like attendance, leaves, bonuses (if any), reimbursements, etc. What’s more, it has to be every month. But an automated payroll software has made it easier and time-saving. It requires the employees to clock in and clock out. And at the end of the monthly cycle, it calculates the time automatically while considering all the other factors. Besides, the system has also helped HR communicate and coordinate with the finance department better. It is important to note that the points mentioned above constitute the lower level of the finance role pyramid. Automation in these areas has fostered growth, increased efficiency, and improved the outcomes of the higher-order tasks.

Impact on India

Technology can be complex to understand and work alongside. With automation in the Indian industry, the difference between tech and non-tech is grey. Automation industries in India are pushing employees to upskill and learn how to use softwares to make their work easy and enhance their performances. Man has given birth to machines, technologies, and software. It is not and cannot be the other way round. While most people believe that advanced technology will eat away jobs, this is so not true. But if this is not true, then what is? The truth is that in the coming years, we can find job descriptions that require professions to be proactive, tech-savvy, and highly skilled. Organizations will look to hire people who can brainstorm and contribute as partners. Consequently, skills like critical thinking, decision making, judgment, and analysis will become more valuable.

Statistics, Studies, and Survey

A survey on senior IT decision makers in the financial services industry revealed that almost 65% of them plan to use machine learning to analyze unstructured data in the next 1-2 years. Another study by Ernst and Young India (EY) reveals that because of automation, companies in India will experience a significant boost, and the economy is predicted to reach the US $5 trillion by early 2024. Research presented at IAMAI's India Digital Summit 2020 concludes that the adoption of automation technology on a large scale will result in new jobs over the coming years. According to reports by Statista, in 2023, the overall transaction value of the fintech market in India will reach an estimate of USD 137.8 billion. Globally, it is estimated to reach USD 9.82 trillion.

What Can We Conclude?

The sooner we accept the fact that automation is taking over, the better. It is inevitable and is only going to grow multi-folds. But here is what it can do for you if you are an employee - give you time to breathe and to make better use of resources at your expense rather than spending your valuable time performing repetitive, rule-based tasks. As a result, it will help companies become more efficient, prompt, data-driven and enhance important factors such as customer experience. Automation does look dreamy, and it is. However, to keep up with it, the company and its employees will need to level up their skills.