Robotic Desktop Automation in Business Process Outsourcing

4 March 2021

Robotic Process Automation, or RPA, is a software technology enabling the automation of tasks in business processes. It is based on software robots, the so-called bots or Artificial Intelligence. RPA bots can be attended, unattended or partly attended.

Robotic Desktop Automation, or RDA, is a class of software that is used for automating tasks performed by a worker on a single workstation. The robot performing the tasks can, if necessary, hand over control to the person supervising the workstation so that he or she can make a decision requiring experience and intelligence.

In the case of Rödl & Partner, the number of workstations corresponds to the number of employees, the number of processes – to the number of employees multiplied by the number of clients, each of which is different. RPA technology can be compared to a heavy and very expensive combine harvester, which is of no use for mowing a city lawn. And this is where RDA comes into play.

What tools we use

As our firm uses Microsoft software and tools, Microsoft Excel environment is the best and most efficient tool for BPO services, i.e. financial and payroll accounting. For simple data transformations Power Query is sufficient for us. However, for more complex processes that require constant control, mapping and reconciling of accounts and filling of values based on dynamically changing data, we use the so-called macros or Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). Macros are a "full-fledged" programming language for Excel and other Office programs that can take control of any Windows-based devices (even your mouse and keyboard) and perform your tasks for you.

Automation in practice – international clients

In 2020, we developed two extensive, partially user-attended applications for an international client who rents electric scooters in many European cities. User actions are limited to pointing to source files in folders. The applications perform highly complex accounting operations on over 50,000 invoices and produce a flawless accounting report that can be processed, uploaded to a local transactional system (e.g. Axapta) or emailed in less than 10 minutes. As a result, the accounting department in Portugal that commissioned the project gained much more than just time. As part of the same process, an application was developed for the same client in Paris, which was not as extensive, but equally time-saving and fault-free. Another added value was increased international cooperation with this client.

COVID-19

Is VBA useful in combating coronavirus? In our Rödl & Partner office in Kiev, employees are required to prepare daily reports about people they had contact with in the office in order to prevent any possible spread of coronavirus – with VBA, such reports are generated much quicker. Our colleague says: “This is very important for those who work in the office more than once a week. We expect that the app will soon reach 35-45 users. We estimate that the app will speed up the process by about 90% and we will realistically save 11 hours a week, or 44 hours a month, which we will be able to spend on other tasks. The accountants and attorneys in Ukraine often have urgent tasks to do, and the saved time is very important to us.”

Client in automation

Engaging the client in creating automation processes can bring many advantages. Such collaboration (conference calls, Agile methodology sprints) enables us to create an end-to-end product together, save time and strengthen relationships with the client.

Advantages of process automation

RDA is perfect for achieving specific objectives quickly. It is much more cost-effective than RPA robots that require constant and costly maintenance by external companies.

The advantages that RDA offers are self-evident:

• saved time;
• stress reduction;
• more effective communication;
• streamlined processes.