Jonas Sveistrup Søgaard

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Journal article · 2023

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Implementation Case Studies in Accounting: A Beginning to End Perspective

Chanyuan (Abigail) Zhang, Hussein Issa, Andrea M. Rozario & Jonas Sveistrup Søgaard

Published in Accounting Horizons, 37(1), 193–217

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Summary

Robotic process automation uses software robots to do the rule-based work people otherwise do at a keyboard: copying data between systems, reconciling, posting. It is quick to deploy, which tempts finance functions to chase a fast return — sometimes at the expense of a sustainable solution. Industry estimates suggest 30 to 50 percent of first RPA projects fail.

We followed a mature implementation in the finance unit of a large Danish telecommunications company from the first decision to the long-term effects, observed from inside the project and backed by internal documents and six interviews covering every role in the programme. The company's robot factory took a process from overview to released bot in seven to ten weeks and had 67 bots running in finance by early 2022. We then compared it with an early-stage audit bot at a US accounting firm.

Five themes came out of the cases, each with practical takeaways for organisations bringing robots into accounting work.

Explainer

Key findings

  • Workforce: no net job cuts at the Danish headquarters, but around 100 roles in an outsourced unit in India disappeared as work came back in-house through automation. Routine, low-skill tasks are hit hardest; skilled staff were mainly freed up.
  • IT governance: a central Center of Excellence began as a help and became a bottleneck. Moving responsibility to local business units cut bot turnaround from months to days — at the cost of documentation and controls.
  • Privacy and sustainability: a mis-programmed bot exposed customer data, and controls followed only afterwards. Bots also break when the systems they click through change, making RPA a quick fix unless processes are redesigned too.
  • Success: neither firm saw the expected efficiency gains at its core, yet both valued the qualitative benefits — happier employees, satisfied customers, better process quality — so success needs both kinds of measure.

How to cite

Zhang, C., Issa, H., Rozario, A. M., & Søgaard, J. S. (2023). Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Implementation Case Studies in Accounting: A Beginning to End Perspective. Accounting Horizons, 37(1), 193–217. https://doi.org/10.2308/HORIZONS-2021-084