Financial Automation: Why the resistance?
“Often, the greater our ignorance about something, the greater our resistance to change.” ~ Marc Bekoff. In a previous article, we introduced you to financial automation. We highlighted some key advantages and briefly touched on practical applications for automating back-office financial tasks. Yet, despite its considerable benefits, there has still been resistance to financial automation. Today we will explore why that may be.
Overview of Financial Automation
In a report by Gartner: “Automation Can Save Finance Departments 25,000 Hours of Avoidable Work Annually.” According to McKinsey, you can fully automate 42 per cent of financial activities and mostly automate a further 19 per cent. PwC estimates that financial automation and behavioural change can reduce between 30 – 40% of time spent on financial operations.
The statistics above highlight a competitive advantage; however, many organisations have still expressed resistance to financial automation.
Here are 5 reasons why resistance to financial automation exist:
- The impact of AI on employment. This isn’t an irrational position, given the rise of globalisation and robots. However, this is not representative of every industry. According to a report by the World Economic Forum, by 2025: “97 million new roles may emerge that are more adapted to the new division of labour between humans, machines and algorithms.”
- Corporate culture and behaviour. Our cognitive biases shape our attitude toward change. Verywell Mind has defined cognitive biases as: “a systematic error in thinking that occurs when people are processing and interpreting information in the world around them and affects the decisions and judgments that they make.” Our interpretation of data is influenced by our cognitive biases. This is why, when presented with facts, some people may cavalierly dismiss them. Rather than being open to learning new information, we may rely on previously held assumptions. As a result, these misguided assumptions inhibit any openness to adopting new technology.
- Learning Challenges. Embracing new technologies is daunting for some people. A common pain point is learning how to use the latest software and tools. This can present itself with many challenges such as time constraints and level of difficulty. In addition, this can be further exacerbated with a poorly designed UI/UX of the automation software.
- Resources. Limited resources can place financial constraints on firms wanting to invest in financial process automation. While this is true, the return on investment outways the initial cost.
- Security. We understand that dealing with the financial records of companies may make organisations vulnerable to data exposure and financial risk. Entrusting software with robust systems, comprehensive firewalls, and military-grade encryption as standard can significantly alleviate financial risk.
Fennech in Motion
Fennech’s approach, in apropos to the above, understood these concerns before creating F³. Above all, we have developed a technology that increases productivity. We have fostered a corporate culture that embraces change and openness to new ideas driving innovation and growth. Our platform can scale as your organisation expands. We adopt an easy to use interface that integrates smoothly within your existing IT stack and framework. Ongoing training and support ensure that the skills needed are covered in less time, thus making learning a breeze. All your financial data is stored on our robust, highly secure and enterprise-level strength data lake. This ensures you peace of mind that the integrity of your data remains intact and safe. This approach culminates in a credo every CFO wants to hear:
Effortless. Intelligent. Scalable. Secure.
