Have you made artificial intelligence (AI) part of your company’s finance function yet?
AI is one of the hottest topics this year, and a top focus for CFOs in 2026. While consumers might be increasingly sceptical of AI, finance leaders tend to embrace the features and benefits. According to a survey of finance leaders by accounting software firm Consero Global, only 3% of leaders describe themselves as “skeptical” about the payoffs of adopting AI. In fact, respondents revealed that 75% of their AI investments are already paying off. With that perspective in mind, it’s no wonder that AI adoption in the finance function is rapidly increasing.
As AI adoption continues to grow, many finance teams are beginning to reap its benefits, particularly in how it supports decision-making and FP&A. However, fragmented workflows and incomplete data are holding many companies back from seeing the full benefits of AI. For AI tools to work well, you need to feed them timely, accurate, and complete data. That’s hard to come by when your financial processes are mired in manual tasks or haven’t been fully digitized. Streamlining financial processes with Business Process Automation (BPA) software improves your finance processes and lays the groundwork for more successful AI use.
Where AI is Strong and Weak
Two recent surveys of finance leaders show that there’s a gap “between where finance leaders are seeing gains [from AI adoption] and where accounting teams are still experiencing friction” (“New surveys show AI gains are uneven across finance,” CFO.com). Companies that have adopted AI for planning, forecasting, and decision-making tend to see good ROI. When used well, AI can improve speed, accuracy, and quality of Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A).
AI works best with structured data and a defined process. For companies struggling with inefficient workflows at the accounting level, integrating AI won’t yield as much ROI. Top issues identified by accountants in this survey include “workflows have too many steps” (75% of responders), “lack automation for routine tasks” (63%), “switching tools is a barrier” (61%), and “we’re effective but not efficient” (57%). Use BPA to fix these issues, and your AI efforts will yield better results.
How BPA Provides Solutions
BPA software is designed to automate and streamline business processes. It is a powerful tool for standardizing financial processes and implementing improvements across a company. When you choose a cloud-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model for your BPA, you’ll have a centralized software platform that updates in real time and synchronizes across different locations, while employees are traveling, and for those working from home.
Streamlined Workflows
With BPA software, you can customize the settings to create workflows tailored to your company. The software automatically applies your custom tolerances, policies, and controls to help streamline and standardize business processes. It helps you create workflows without extra steps and also speeds up processing.
Automate Routine Tasks
Automation takes over routine, repetitive tasks such as data entry, matching invoices with purchase orders, creating an audit trail, and checking for errors or discrepancies. BPA software can accomplish routine tasks more quickly than humans can, and with fewer errors. By automating routine tasks, you’ll free up a lot of time for employees so they can focus on other tasks that a computer can’t do.
End-To-End Integration
When you’re switching between different software tools, conflicts between the systems and the time it takes to move between them can cause problems for your finance team. Programs from different software providers don’t always work together. For example, file formats don’t transfer correctly or something glitches when trying to share information between programs. Implementing end-to-end financial processing automation from a single BPA supplier eliminates those issues. And if you pick one like NextProcess that can also integrate with your existing ERP, that’s even better.
Efficient and Effective
Many finance departments can effectively complete their tasks, but are not optimized for efficiency. Take the month-end close, for example. According to the Ledge 2025 Month-End Close Benchmark Survey, 50% of companies still take more than 6+ days to complete month-end close, and only 18% can close in 1-3 days. What makes those 18% of companies more efficient? They’re leveraging modern technology to speed up financial processing while still maintaining data accuracy.
A Strong Foundation with NextProcess
Though digital technology has been widely adopted in many companies’ finance processes, there are still functionality gaps. Outdated programs, software conflicts, low levels of automation, and other issues make processes inefficient, even though many finance teams still manage to make them work.
Companies that will see a good return on investment for AI implementation are those that have laid a solid groundwork. Strong financial governance, reliable data, clearly defined processes, and smooth software integration provide essential foundations for leveraging AI tools effectively in the finance function. Many BPA systems, including NextProcess, even include machine learning (a type of AI) to enhance functionality.
If you’re looking to improve company finances from the ground up in preparation for effective AI implementation, NextProcess can help. We offer a true end-to-end solution by integrating CapEx/Budgeting, Procurement, and Accounts Payable software modules that work together seamlessly to provide real financial management solutions for mid-market and larger businesses. Our software also integrates seamlessly with existing ERPs. As a SaaS company, we handle all software updates for you. This keeps your BPA solution on the cutting edge of new technology and cybersecurity updates.
Your company’s needs are unique, so your software demo should be as well. Contact us today to share your current process, ERP stack, and process automation goals. We’ll set up a free, interactive demo tailored to your needs so you can see how our solutions work in real-time, ask questions, and see if our solutions fit your needs.
