Practical Steps CFOs Can Take in 2025 to Leverage AI in Finance & Accounting

As we enter 2025, businesses face an outlook shaped by intensifying cost pressures, accelerating business cycles, increasing regulatory scrutiny, and a talent crunch. In this evolving landscape, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a powerful equalizer. Whether your organization is just starting with finance process automation or has already embarked on the journey, it’s never too late to leverage AI’s transformative potential. Starting now doesn’t mean you’re far behind—AI can help level the playing field and unlock unprecedented opportunities for finance teams.

CFOs can take practical steps to maximize AI’s impact and elevate their finance operations. Here’s how:

1. Automate High-Volume Tasks for Efficiency and Controls

The first step in adopting AI is to focus on automating high-volume, repetitive tasks that demand efficiency, accuracy, and speed. Technologies like AI-enhanced Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and advanced document understanding tools enable 24/7 processing, improve controls, and reduce errors.

Examples include:

• Automating Accounts Payable (A/P) and Accounts Receivable (A/R) processes
• Extracting data from invoices, receipts, and financial statements with AI-powered document understanding
• Generating financial reports in real-time, enabling faster turnaround and decision-making

By addressing these high-volume tasks, finance teams can allocate resources to strategic, high-value activities that drive business outcomes.

2. Build an AI-Enabled Finance Team

The next frontier is to empower finance teams with tools and skills to leverage low-code and AI-enabled automation effectively. No-code platforms with natural language processing (NLP) capabilities enable users to describe workflows in plain language, allowing AI to generate automated solutions seamlessly.

For example:

• A finance user can input, “Extract all emails with invoices, save the attachments, and update the invoice tracker in Excel,” and the platform will execute the task

By upskilling teams to use these technologies, CFOs can create a workforce adept at integrating AI into their daily tasks, enhancing productivity and innovation across the board.

3. Integrate Across Functions for Greater Collaboration

AI-driven automation should not operate in silos. CFOs need to ensure that finance teams collaborate closely with IT, operations, and other business units to create a cohesive ecosystem.

Integrating AI solutions across functions can:

• Improve data sharing and transparency
• Streamline end-to-end processes, such as order-to-cash and procure-to-pay
• Enable real-time insights that inform strategic decisions across the organization

Cross-functional collaboration ensures that AI investments deliver maximum value and align with organizational goals.

4. Align Technology with Business Strategy

Finally, CFOs must ensure that their AI initiatives align closely with broader business objectives.

This means:

• Identifying critical business outcomes, such as improved compliance, faster processing times, or enhanced forecasting accuracy
• Selecting AI solutions that support these outcomes and integrate seamlessly with existing systems
• Continuously monitoring and adapting technology deployments to stay aligned with evolving strategic priorities

By tying AI initiatives to clear business goals, CFOs can demonstrate tangible ROI and secure buy-in from stakeholders across the organization.

A Call to Action for CFOs

The time to act is now. AI offers an unparalleled opportunity to transform finance operations, regardless of where your organization is on its automation journey. By focusing on high-volume tasks, building an AI-enabled team, integrating across functions, and aligning technology with strategy, CFOs can unlock new levels of efficiency, accuracy, and control.

Ready to explore the possibilities? Contact us at [email protected] for a discussion.