Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing how chief financial officers (CFOs) do business. According to a Gartner 2024 survey, 58% of finance functions now use AI in their operations. The survey indicates AI is being used for:
- Intelligent process automation to enhance information processing
- Anomaly and error detection for large datasets such as internal claims, expenses and invoices
- Analytics for better financial forecasts and results analysis
- Operational assistance regarding human-judgment-based decisions
Well-prepared CFOs are using enterprise resource planning (ERP) processes and financial management software, like Sage solutions, to make business decisions. Sage Ai is a solution designed to transform financial operations through automation, intelligent data processing and predictive analytics. It integrates with various ERP and Sage solutions (i.e., Sage Intacct and Sage X3).
Why Use ERP Systems To Automate Processes?
The goal of any automation is to move from being manual to being strategic by reducing the effort required to move information within the organization.
Unfortunately, for many CFOs, much of the information coming into their organization is found in unstructured data, such as PDFs, email and messy spreadsheets. While some of the data may be in a digital format, getting the information from one system to another without automation requires manual, repetitive processes including data entry, reconciliations and exception management.
Business and finance process automation reduces errors and improves accuracy. More accuracy helps cut costs and save time. This type of automation is a great step for CFOs looking to accelerate their digital transformation journey.
AI takes automation to a whole new level with even greater efficiency, improved accuracy, scalability and enhanced decision-making.
Benefits of Sage Ai and Sage Intacct
Sage Intacct is a cloud-native accounting and financial management platform designed to help organizations automate core finance functions, gain real-time visibility into performance and scale efficiently. Sage Ai, integrated with Sage Intacct, takes the software to an even higher level in multiple areas.
Accounts Payable Automation
This refers to the use of technology, often powered by AI and machine learning, to digitize and streamline the entire accounts payable (AP) process. Organizations that implement AP automation typically reduce manual accounting tasks, cut labor costs and minimize the need for additional headcount as transaction volumes grow. AP automation also reduces human error by enforcing standardized workflows, which enhances data integrity and supports regulatory compliance.
Predictive Analytics and Intelligent Automation
Predictive analytics is a branch of advanced analytics that uses historical data, statistical modeling, data mining and machine learning to forecast future outcomes. It helps organizations identify patterns, trends, risks and opportunities. Sage Ai uses anomaly detection algorithms to continuously monitor transactional data, identifying deviations from normal patterns such as duplicate payments, unusual vendor activity and potential fraud indicators.
Sage Ai’s predictive analytics capabilities also extend to cash flow forecasting, seasonal trend analysis, revenue recovery and streamlining financial close and reporting.
Enhanced Reporting and Insights
Sage Ai transforms traditional financial reporting into a dynamic, real-time decision-making tool in the areas of:
- Multi-dimensional Reporting: Sage Intacct enables slicing and dicing of financial data across dimensions like department, location, customer and product. This allows users to explore data interactively and uncover trends instantly.
- Real-time Dashboards: Users can monitor performance metrics live, with customizable dashboards that visualize key performance indicators (KPIs), forecasts and budget variances.
- Outlier Detection: Sage Ai scans thousands of general ledger transactions per minute to flag anomalies. This continuous audit capability helps prevent errors before they occur.
- Automated Documentation: Sage Ai generates audit trails and regulatory documentation automatically, which can reduce compliance costs while improving documentation quality.
Example Use Cases of Sage Ai and Sage Intacct for a High-volume Payment Processor
Let’s say that you’re a CFO of an organization that needs to process a high volume of customer reimbursements or vendor payments. Here’s how Sage Ai embedded in Sage Intacct can automate and optimize essential steps in your workflow:
Step 1: Invoice Ingestion
Using AI-powered AP automation, Sage Intacct can automatically ingest invoices or payment requests from your customers. Then, the system uses intelligent data extraction to read and classify invoice details, including vendor name, amount, due date and payment terms.
Step 2: Duplicate Detection and Validation
Sage Ai flags potential duplicates and errors in real time. This ensures that your customers aren’t paid twice and that all payment requests are valid and compliant with your internal policies.
Step 3: Approval Workflow Automation
The Sage Intacct platform routes payment requests through a customizable approval workflow, notifying the appropriate team members and logging all actions for audit purposes. When integrated with Sage Ai, it learns from past approvals to suggest routing paths and flag anomalies.
Step 4: Payment Execution
Once approved, Sage Intacct initiates payment via integrated banking systems or third-party platforms. You can schedule payments, track status and reconcile transactions automatically.
Step 5: Reporting and Insights
Sage Ai provides real-time dashboards showing payment volumes, processing times and cash flow impact. This helps your finance team optimize working capital and garner insights to better forecast future payment needs.
AI’s Impact on Industries
Many industries can benefit from the power of AI. For example, in a McKinsey study based on 24 industrial companies, results show that AI can cut indirect costs by as much as 15% to 20% in 12 to 18 months.
While not part of the McKinsey study, Sage X3 integrated with AI can enable organizational cost savings by aligning finance and operations through predictive analytics that deliver a unified 360-degree view of sales, inventory and customer data.
Another example is how Sage Intacct can leverage AI in the life sciences industry in areas of:
- Regulatory Compliance: Sage Intacct offers built-in audit trails, robust controls and HIPAA-compliant cloud architecture.
- Project and Grant Tracking: Life sciences firms often manage complex funding structures. Sage Intacct supports multi-entity and global consolidations, enabling real-time tracking of grants.
Sage Intacct, enhanced with AI, can even address challenges faced by nonprofits, such as:
- Grant, Fund and Donor Accounting: Sage Intacct automates complex fund tracking and grant management, providing compliance and transparency across multiple funding streams.
- Real-time Dashboards: Nonprofits gain instant visibility into key metrics, such as program efficiency, donor contributions and grant utilization.
Starting Your Sage Ai Journey
Ready to elevate your ERP and financial management systems with Sage solutions? At Cherry Bekaert, our experienced Digital Advisory professionals guide you in selecting the right Sage product tailored to your organization’s needs, delivering a seamless implementation across your enterprise. The result? Your finance team can shift focus from chasing variances to driving strategic growth. Let’s connect to explore how we can help.
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