6 real-life Business Process Automation examples for Finance

6 real-life Business Process Automation examples for Finance

Automation works very well in finance because the work is often repetitive and data-heavy, but every improvement has to preserve controls, reconciliations, approvals, and an auditable trail.

The current examples in invoicing, SOP generation, and administrative productivity show that finance automation creates the most value when it removes manual processing and documentation burden while making the function faster, more standardised, and more reliable at close, reporting, and payment time.

Industry

Sector

EY's Machine Learning to Identify Fraudulent Journal Entries

EY has significantly advanced its audit capabilities through the EY Helix GL Anomaly Detector (GLAD), a patented machine learning tool designed to identify fraudulent or anomalous journal entries within massive datasets. By shifting from traditional manual sampling to scanning 100% of a client's general ledger, EY enables its auditors to focus on high-risk deviations, drastically improving audit accuracy and efficiency across its global network.

Use Case
Detecting anomalous and potentially fraudulent journal entries
Tools
EY Helix GL Anomaly Detector (GLAD)
Input
Client general ledger (GL) journal entry data, including databases containing hundreds of millions of entries
Process
Machine learning algorithms scan 100% of the journal entry population to flag entries that deviate from expected patterns, presenting high-risk anomalies to auditors for manual evaluation
Output
50% reduction in manual documentation reviews and a 30% reduction in average audit time
Outcome
Processed 415+ billion lines of financial data annually; deployed to 75,000+ professionals across 150+ countries
Accounting, Audit and Tax
Finance

Deloitte's Chatbot for Streamlining Auditing

Deloitte has revolutionized its audit processes by deploying DARTbot, a generative AI chatbot that provides professionals with real-time, human-like answers to complex accounting and auditing questions. By layering advanced LLMs over their proprietary research platform, the firm has successfully transitioned its staff from manual documentation searches to high-level evaluative tasks, significantly enhancing the speed and quality of audit engagements.

Use Case
Real-time answers to accounting and auditing standards questions
Tools
DARTbot
Input
Accounting standards literature, auditing guidance, firm knowledge base, and natural language queries from audit professionals
Process
The AI parses extensive professional standards documentation to provide direct, conversational responses to user queries, replacing manual topical research
Output
Rapid access to standards guidance and the redirection of professional time toward evaluating objectivity, skepticism, and bias
Outcome
Scaled to ~18,000 U.S. professionals who save hours in every audit
Accounting, Audit and Tax
Finance

Microsoft's Streamlined Product Launches

Microsoft has implemented Finance Launch AI, a conversational tool that centralises decades of institutional knowledge to automate the extraction of financial requirements for new product introductions. By shifting from manual document searching to AI-driven synthesis, the company has halved the lead time required to move from product conception to financial readiness.

Use Case
Streamlining Product Launches
Tools
Internal Tools
Input
A vast knowledge library of proprietary historical data in multiple formats, including Excel, Word, PDF, PowerPoint, emails, and Visio diagrams.
Process
The system utilises RAG to search through thousands of legacy pages to identify similar previous product launches and highlight key stakeholders. It automatically drafts initial finance requirements and identifies unmet regulatory or operational criteria by comparing new proposals against historical benchmarks.
Output
Comprehensive data insights, drafted finance requirement documents, and pre-launch specifications alongside post-implementation report summaries.
Outcome
Achieved a 50% reduction in the time required to gather finance requirements, shortening the process from 6–8 weeks to just 3–4 weeks. The tool has formalised institutional knowledge for over 100 employees, enabling them to query complex process documents in seconds.
IT Services and System Integration
Finance

Komatsu's Automated Invoice Processing

Komatsu Australia, the local arm of the global construction and mining equipment manufacturer, used Microsoft Power Automate and AI Builder to build a Robotic Process Automation solution for invoice fixing. Going from licence purchase to a production RPA solution in just four weeks, the automation saved 300 hours per year on invoicing for a single supplier and is being expanded to cover all suppliers.

Use Case
Automated invoice processing and correction using RPA to eliminate manual data entry and fix supplier invoices across legacy systems
Tools
Microsoft Power Automate
Input
Supplier invoices requiring manual correction due to errors or format mismatches in legacy systems
Process
Power Automate Desktop flows combined with AI Builder automatically detect, process, and correct invoice data across Windows and web applications without human intervention
Output
Corrected, validated invoices ready for approval and payment processing, with errors resolved automatically
Outcome
Saved 300 hours per year for a single supplier and achieved full production deployment within 4 weeks of licence purchase.
Discrete Manufacturing
Finance

Workforce Automation at BCI Using Microsoft 365 Copilot

British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI), one of Canada's largest institutional investors, deployed Microsoft 365 Copilot to automate manual, repetitive tasks across finance, HR, and operations. The program resulted in over 2,300 person-hours saved, a 10–20% productivity boost for 84% of users, and a month of processing time recovered on a single HR survey analysis.

Use Case
Employee productivity automation and administrative task reduction
Tools
Microsoft 365 Copilot
Input
Meeting recordings, employee survey responses, financial documents, emails, and calendar data stored across Microsoft 365 applications
Process
Microsoft 365 Copilot automatically generates meeting notes and summaries, analyzes employee survey comments to extract themes and action items, streamlines internal audit report writing, and automates repetitive administrative workflows across 22 deployed solutions
Output
Auto-generated meeting notes, summarized survey insights, faster audit reports, and reduced manual task burden across technology, finance, and HR teams
Outcome
84% of Copilot users reported 10–20% productivity gains; 2,300+ person-hours saved; internal audit report writing time reduced by 30%; one month of processing time saved on analysis of 8,000 HR survey comments; employee job satisfaction increased by 68%
Retail and SME Banking
Finance

SOP Documentation Automation at Eaton Using Microsoft 365 Copilot

Eaton, a global power management company, used Microsoft 365 Copilot to automate the creation of standard operating procedures (SOPs) during a major accounting centralisation programme. The finance team needed to document 9,000 SOPs within a strict timeline; Copilot reduced SOP creation time by 83%, from over an hour each to just 10 minutes.

Use Case
Finance process documentation and SOP creation automation
Tools
Microsoft 365 Copilot
Input
Existing process knowledge held by finance team members, prior SOP drafts, and internal organisational data accessible via Microsoft 365
Process
Finance staff use Microsoft 365 Copilot to generate initial SOP drafts by prompting the tool with process descriptions. Copilot draws on internal documents and Microsoft Graph data to produce structured, formatted SOPs ready for review. Copilot for Service is additionally used to surface CRM insights and speed up customer support response times.
Output
Over 1,000 completed SOP documents generated with AI assistance; faster customer service response times via CRM-integrated Copilot for Service
Outcome
SOP creation time dropped from over 60 minutes to 10 minutes per document (83% reduction); more than 650 hours saved across the SOP programme; customer service response times projected to fall by 20%; finance teams freed to focus on strategic work rather than manual documentation
Discrete Manufacturing
Finance
Operations
See all 60 Business Process Automation examples