Complete accounting workflow automation guide [2025]

Streamlined processes

Manual data entry is slow. Approvals get stuck. Documents pile up. But automation changes everything by executing tasks instantly and consistently. 

Bank account reconciliations that took days can now take minutes to complete. Plus, centralizing automated workflows in your enterprise resource planning platform (ERP) keeps things moving smoothly without bottlenecks or delays, keeping your accounting operations running efficiently.

Reduced operating costs

Every manual process comes with costs, like more staff hours, more errors, more corrections needed. Automation cuts these costs dramatically by handling routine tasks with minimal human intervention. 

This means your team spends less time on data entry and more time on analysis. And with fewer errors to fix, you'll see immediate savings in operational costs.

Better data quality and access

Clean data drives better decisions. Automation eliminates manual entry errors and maintains consistency. This gives your team instant access to accurate, real-time financial data. No more hunting through spreadsheets or waiting for updates. Instead, you can get clear, reliable information when you need it.

Stronger business relationships

Late payments strain vendor relationships, and missing documents frustrate stakeholders. Automation fixes these pain points by ensuring timely, accurate processing. Vendors get paid on schedule, stakeholders receive prompt responses, and your team builds trust through reliable, consistent service.

Improved compliance

Accurate documentation is vital to ensure compliance with accounting standards. Automation delivers this by maintaining consistent workflows and detailed audit trails. With the right automation solutions, you can ensure every transaction follows proper controls and approval paths, documentation stays organized and accessible, and when auditors come calling, you'll have everything they need at your fingertips.

Employee upskilling

Learning new automation tools takes time, but a proactive approach can speed up the transition. Without proper guidance, the learning curve can stretch from weeks to months, and productivity may dip as employees adjust.

However, with the right support—such as hands-on onboarding with accounting experts—your team can confidently adopt automation tools and start delivering value faster. To get your team up to speed quickly, choose a solution with structured implementation and a robust knowledge base. 

Poorly adapted workflows

You can't just automate broken processes, but many companies make the mistake of applying automation to inefficient workflows. This only accelerates errors instead of solving them. For example, an invoice approval process with unnecessary steps will still cause delays, even with automation. 

The solution is simple: optimize your workflows first, then automate. Start by identifying bottlenecks, eliminating redundant steps, and standardizing processes. Test and refine the workflow manually before introducing automation to ensure it runs smoothly. This approach ensures automation actually improves your processes instead of magnifying existing problems.

Resistance to change

Change is hard, especially when it comes to established accounting processes. Employees worry about job security, managers fear losing control, and leadership questions the ROI. These concerns are natural, and they can be easily addressed with education. 

Start with clear communication about automation’s benefits, which can help you gain leadership support and create a structured transition plan. Provide training, address concerns early, and highlight how automation reduces tedious tasks rather than replacing jobs. 

When teams see how automation simplifies their work and improves efficiency, resistance decreases, and adoption accelerates.

1. Analyze and document current accounting workflows and processes

Map every workflow in your accounting operations, from daily tasks to month-end close. Which processes eat up the most time? Where do errors happen? 

Look for manual data entry, repeated approvals, and email-based processes that slow your team down. Plus, note who handles each task and how long each step takes. A detailed workflow map will show you exactly where automation can make the biggest impact.

2. Evaluate your current technologies and determine your needs

Take stock of your existing software stack. Are your systems talking to each other? Can they support automation? Make a list of gaps and pain points in your current setup. For example, if bank reconciliations take days instead of hours, you'll want automation tools with smart matching capabilities. 

And remember—any new software must work smoothly with your ERP system to avoid creating new bottlenecks.

Netgain’s NetSuite-native products simplify every task for accountants in a centralized system, automating your close process, cash reconciliations, lease accounting, and asset management. Additionally, we offer tools to integrate your e-commerce platform, email inbox, and other platforms with your ERP. 

3. Implement accounting workflow automation

Set up your automation tools to align with your optimized workflows for maximum efficiency. Try these best practices to streamline implementation:

• Define clear rules for common tasks like invoice routing, payment scheduling, and report generation to eliminate manual bottlenecks.
• Automate invoice approvals by setting up triggers based on amount, vendor, or department to ensure the right approvers are notified instantly.
• Streamline month-end close with automated task schedules, reminders, and approval workflows to keep everything on track.
• Improve reporting accuracy by scheduling automated financial reports.

By offloading these routine tasks to automation, your team can focus on high-value work like financial analysis, forecasting, and strategic planning.

4. Test workflow output

Run your automated workflows in a test environment before going live. Check the results of each automated process, from journal entries to reconciliations. Are calculations correct? Do approvals flow properly? 

Get feedback from your team on what's working and what needs adjustment. A thorough testing phase will catch issues early and build confidence in the new system. Once everything checks out, roll out automation across your accounting operations.

Schedule generation

Creating amortization and depreciation schedules shouldn’t be a time-consuming task. With automation, you can instantly modify schedules when underlying data changes. With the right tools, you can generate schedules like monthly fixed asset depreciation in seconds—no spreadsheets required. 

Journal entries

Manual journal entries waste time and introduce errors, but automation changes that. With automation, you can ensure that recurring entries like accruals post automatically on schedule. Plus, smart rules flag unusual transactions for review, so your team can focus on analysis instead of data entry.

Transaction matching

Bank reconciliations are faster with automated reconciliation software. The software matches transactions between bank statements and your general ledger, so you don’t have to spend hours doing this manually. Any mismatches are flagged instantly, helping you resolve issues quickly. This ensures accurate, up-to-date reconciliation without the manual hassle.

Month-end close

Month-end close doesn't have to be chaotic. Automating month-end close streamlines every step, including:

• Amortizations: Posts expenses automatically based on your schedule
• Accruals: Creates and reverses entries with minimal intervention
• Flux analysis: Compares monthly balances, highlighting variances

Having the right tools on hand and helping your team build the right mindset can help you streamline month-end close. If you want to optimize your close process and add strategic value to your organization, download Netgain’s free definitive guide to modernizing month-end close.

Procurement

Purchase orders (POs) and approvals flow smoothly with an automation solution like punchout procurement. When you place an order, the system creates a PO and sends it for approval. No more missed deadlines or strained vendor relationships—just consistent, accurate processing from order to payment.

Report generation

Stop spending hours building reports manually. Automation pulls data from all your systems and generates accurate reports in seconds. This ensures you can always access accurate data that is formatted correctly and ready when you need it.

Compliance

Meeting regulatory requirements like lease accounting standards is simpler with automation. The right software can maintain accurate audit trails, keep your historical data in one place, and validate data against compliance rules. This means audit requests are easier to handle with organized, easily accessible documentation.

Approvals

Manual approvals often cause bottlenecks, slowing down workflows and delaying important tasks. With automation, approval requests are routed to the right people instantly, while notifications keep everything on track. Built-in escalations ensure timely approvals, preventing delays and keeping processes running smoothly.

Plus, automated approvals maintain proper controls. Every action is tracked and documented. Whether you're creating assets from invoices or reviewing expense reports, the system enforces your rules consistently.

What is the best accounting workflow automation tool?

The right tool integrates seamlessly with your tech stack and simplifies daily tasks. Look for features like: 

• Real-time data syncing 
• Pre-built workflow templates 
• Built-in compliance monitoring 
• Clear audit trails 
• User-friendly dashboards 
• Responsive support

Scalability is also key—your automation solution should handle growing transaction volumes and complex processes without disruption.

Netgain is the ultimate solution for organizations seeking to streamline accounting workflows. With Netgain, you can achieve significant improvements in efficiency, accuracy, and overall productivity, enabling your team to focus on strategic initiatives rather than repetitive tasks.

What is the future of accounting process automation?

AI accounting software is expanding automation beyond basic rules and workflows. New capabilities include:

• Predictive analytics for cash flow planning
• Automatic anomaly detection
• Smart recommendations for process improvements
• Real-time reporting and insights

Cloud platforms now enable remote teams to collaborate seamlessly on financial tasks, and improved integrations mean your accounting system talks directly to your CRM, procurement tools, and logistics software.

The next big shift in accounting process automation will be hyper-automation, which combines robotic process automation (RPA), AI, and machine learning (ML) to automate entire process chains. 

How is AI used in accounting?

AI helps accountants by making accounting faster and more accurate. It handles complex tasks that once required hours of manual work and provides:

• Pattern recognition for fraud detection
• Automated data extraction from documents
• Smart matching for bank reconciliations
• Expense categorization
• Revenue forecasting

Natural language processing (NLP) turns unstructured data into usable information. AI can read invoices, contracts, and receipts, then extract the data you need. No manual entry required.

And while automation handles the routine work, AI analyzes your financial data to spot trends and predict outcomes. Teams get clear insights without spending hours in spreadsheets, freeing up more time for strategic planning and reducing the burden of manual tasks.

Netgain leverages AI to streamline business operations by automating data extraction and analysis. NetLease’s AI capabilities enable lease abstraction from contracts, NetAsset offers fixed asset creation from transitions, and NetClose offers flux analysis explanations using ChatGPT.

Learn how Netgain’s AI tools can help you focus on growth and innovation.