Impact of Business Process Automation in 2025

Did you know that automation can reduce labor costs and manual processing by 10-50%? The impact of business process automation is impressive and wide-reaching. In this article, we are going to answer the big and burning question as to why automation is important in business. 

Coming Up

What is Business Process Automation (BPA)?

First things first, what is business process automation exactly? 

Business process automation (BPA) can be best understood by breaking down the term into its pieces. A business process is a set of tasks or actions that work towards achieving a business goal. Business processes tend to involve various people and/or departments to fulfill. 

Automation is the act of utilizing computer systems, or software, to execute the tasks, thereby diminishing or totally eliminating the need for manual intervention. 

Given that business processes run across departments and involve many people, business process automation connects enterprise systems to complete processes from start to finish. 

Business process automation streamlines workflows within an organization, leading to increased efficiency, improved collaboration and compliance, and better accuracy. 

Many companies are implementing financial automation software to connect systems, centralize data, and automate entire critical processes. Rather than finance teams having to spend time performing manual work, the financial automation software takes care of it with utmost accuracy. In turn, finance professionals can spend more time on strategic and high-level tasks that require human thought. 

How Do BPA, RPA and BPM Compare?

If you’re on the journey of implementing automation or interested in how to achieve enhanced efficiency, you’ve likely come across these terms: business process automation (BPA), robotic process automation (RPA), and business process management (BPM). 

Let’s break down what differentiates these acronyms from one another:

• BPA: Business process automation automated processes from start-to-finish, even those that move through different departments.
• RPA: Robotic process automation uses bots to mimic human actions to complete basic tasks. These tasks are rule-based and structured in action, so the system can be trained to move through the steps just like a human would. ‍
• BPM: Business process management takes a broad look at an organization’s inner workings to apply ways to optimize business processes through analytics, measurement, and ultimately, the implementation of automation. 

Which Business Processes Can I Automate?

Business processes are not all created equally, and that’s because they all work to serve their respective purpose. So, what kind of business processes are best suited to reap the benefits of business process automation?

The best candidates for automation include processes that have these characteristics:

• Highly repetitive 
• Rules-based 
• Require many people 
• Data-heavy 
• Time-sensitive 

Can you think of one of your business’ departments that have many processes that fit this bill? Consider your finance team. 

Finance automation software like Solvexia can quickly prove to be a game changer for your team as they can automate key finance functions like: reconciliation, rebate management, expense management, reporting, and more. The benefits are astounding, including the ability to scale, connect systems, prevent errors, and remove key person dependencies. The time savings are massive, and they lead to cost savings and reduced risk, as well. 

What are Examples of Business Process Automation?

Finance functions aren’t the only types of processes that sense the impact of business process automation. Here are a few more examples that illustrate the broad application and benefits of automation of processes. 

1. Employee Onboarding

Businesses can automate employee onboarding to reduce the load on their HR department. Process automation for this include: automating welcome emails, scheduling orientation, and processing the large amount of paperwork involved. 

2. Accounts Payable

Keeping strong relationships with vendors rely on paying what’s owed on time.

Finance automation software can help streamline accounts payable processes by routing time-sensitive invoices to be approved, comparing purchase orders with invoices, and even achieving process standardization (to boost compliance and security). 

3. Sales Automation

Sales teams have a lot to keep up with and must make sure nothing slips through the cracks, especially when building relationships. Automation can prove to be helpful in key processes like customer onboarding and communication. Plus, automation software prevents the risk of data silos. 

What are the Benefits of Business Process Automation?

The impact of business process automation can be quantified in many ways, including financially and even through the satisfaction employees feel when they have more time to focus on high-level and value-add responsibilities (as opposed to tedious, mundane, and repetitive tasks). 

Take a look at these common benefits of business process automation: 

1. Saved Time

One of the most noticeable and advantageous benefits of using business process automation has got to be the time savings. 

Rather than spending hours on manual tasks and data entry, employees are able to streamline workflows. In return, they can allocate valuable hours to high-level and strategic responsibilities instead. 

2. Improved Efficiency

Machines can manage multiple tasks at once, without sacrificing accuracy. Business process automation leads to increased efficiency, which often results in greater profits. 

3. Greater Standardization

Given that most people work in their own nuanced ways, it can be challenging to standardize processes. However, standardized processes help to improve compliance and better measure output. Business process automation makes standardization standard. 

4. Reduced Mistakes

Regardless of how detail-oriented and careful an employee may be, manual work results in manual errors. 

Automation reduces, and in some cases, even completely precludes mistakes from occurring. This is especially pivotal in data-heavy environments, like the reality in which finance departments operate. 

5. Stronger Compliance

Business process automation tools are designed with top-tier security measures like encryption and access controls. 

As such, businesses can remain confident that their data is protected and able to adhere to regulations. For example, a finance automation tool like Solvexia provides audit trails and version history, plus improved accuracy which helps reduce risk and adhere to standards and regulations more easily. 

6. Better Scalability

Business growth depends on the ability to scale processes, but manual processes are hard to scale. It requires human resources and capital. With business process automation, scalability is inherent. Machines can function faster than humans and multitask, which means it’s possible to increase the workload as needed. 

To exemplify, if you are a business that handles a high volume of transactions and uses multiple payment providers (i.e. Worldpay, eBay, Stripe, etc.) financial automation software, like Solvexia, can connect all of these systems and perform reconciliation in minutes rather than days. 

This means that your business can continue to grow without having to add to your headcount. On top of it all, Solvexia provides real-time insights and advanced analytics to empower better decision-making. 

What are the Different Types of Business Process Automation?

Business process automation encompasses a range of options across the spectrum of automation. Depending on your needs, you can find solutions that fit the bill, including those for:

1. Task automation

The simplest form of automation is task automation, which leverages software or bots to fulfill simple, manual tasks like: sending emails, updating statuses, or generating documents.

2. Workflow automation

Workflow automation is the next step up, which executes a series of tasks. Workflows are sequences of tasks that move between people or departments. Workflow automation follows triggers and then takes the next subsequent action to move the tasks along their pipeline. 

3. Process automation

Process automation completes processes from start to finish, which may include individual tasks or complex workflows. Process automation reduces bottlenecks, delivers consistency, and improves efficiency. 

For example, the month-end close process requires multiple to-do’s, involving reconciliation for one, which is a time-consuming process. Automation software like Solvexia automates the entire reconciliation process: collecting data, performing transaction matching, providing alerts, and generating documents so that your finance department can perform month end in a few hours instead of days. 

4. Intelligent automation

At the top of the automation pyramid sits intelligent automation- the combination of business process automation with artificial intelligence (AI), natural language processing (NLP) and data analytics. For processes that require decision-making capabilities, intelligent automation delivers the solution. 

How to Implement Business Process Automation Effectively?

To successfully realize the impact of business process automation, there has to be a plan of action for implementation. 

Consider these best practices: 

• Choose processes wisely: Identify repetitive and rules-based processes first, especially those that occur in high volume. 
• Optimize processes: Before automating, be sure to assess your current processes and remove any redundancies or inefficiencies. At the same time, it helps to standardize processes. 
• Involve people: Involve team members and key stakeholders. Ensure they are aware of the benefits of business process automation so that their goals are aligned and there is adequate buy-in to use the new technologies. 
• Be selective: When considering automation software, take time to research and find exactly what your business needs. Automation software like Solvexia checks all the big requirements like: ease of use, scalability, cost effectiveness, and security. 

How to Overcome Challenges in BPA Implementation?

To overcome challenges in business process automation implementation, you must first be aware of what the hurdles may be. 

Let’s take a look at common concerns and learn how to prepare to overcome them:

1. Unclear Strategy

You may be rightfully eager to automate, but without a clear strategy and goal, you’ll run into roadblocks. To reduce this risk, be sure to identify pain posts and determine key performance indicators (KPIs) to assess how automation is impacting your business. 

2. Legacy Systems

If you’re working with legacy systems, it’s best to find an automation software that is compatible with them so that you can still make use of connected data. Solvexia connects with legacy systems. 

3. Employee Resistance

Employees may fear that automation software will replace their jobs. However, with proper change management and communication, it’s possible to showcase the advantages that come along with automation. 

In fact, many employees feel more satisfied with their jobs when they have to spend less time handling menial tasks and have more time to put towards creative responsibilities that require human thought. 

How Does Business Process Automation Software Work?

Business process automation software streamlines workflows through a series of steps, which does include adequate attention to set up. 

Here’s how it works:

1. Identify Processes

First, it is up to you and your team to determine which processes to automate. As mentioned, the best processes for automation are those that are repetitive, rule-based and data-heavy.

2. Connect Systems

Connect your business processes with your existing tech stack to create a centralized repository of data and information.

3. Implement Automation

When you find the right solution for your business’ needs, you can set up automation on a small scale to test it out. If automation is working as you’d have hoped, you can expand its use cases. 

4. Monitor and Improve

Continuously monitor your automation software’s outcomes. If needed, adjust as you go. 

Closing Thoughts

With the grand and positive impact of business process automation, it’s no wonder why 66% of businesses are testing automation solutions for at least one business process. 

If you’re looking for a finance automation software that can connect with legacy systems, improve accuracy and process completion speed by 100x, and perform complex functions, we invite you to request a demo from financial automation solutions like Solvexia.