Finance automation

Finance workflows cleaned up without weakening control.

Optillium works with controllers, FP&A, and shared services to improve AP intake, invoice approvals, reconciliations, close status, and reporting workflows while keeping audit evidence visible.

Ledger, policy, and data workshops in week oneFirst AP or close workflow scoped before buildEvidence packs and controls delivered alongside code

Where this fits

Best for finance teams that need speed and control at the same time.

Close, AP, cash, reporting, and planning workflows are prioritised based on cycle time pressure and control complexity.

Automation logic is tied directly to approval policies, evidence requirements, and segregation of duties.

The resulting workflow is clear enough for CFO review and defensible enough for audit and compliance teams.

This service is especially useful when spreadsheet and inbox finance work is scaling faster than headcount, or when leaders need a cleaner way to prove control coverage.

Week-one workflow map

Finance, operations, and audit teams define the source documents, policies, approvals, and reports involved.

Scoped finance release

We build one AP, close, or reporting workflow with evidence packs, status views, and clear ownership.

Controls by default

Every milestone includes security, compliance, and change checkpoints so audit teams stay comfortable.

Adoption supported

Runbooks, training, and transition support keep controllers, FP&A, and shared services aligned.

Capabilities

What gets designed, built, and handed over.

Each engagement ties the workflow, software surface, integration points, review steps, and team handoff together so the first release is usable.

Close and reporting automation

Automate reconciliations, variance commentary, and management reporting with controller review.

  • Multi-entity reconciliations with exception handling
  • Variance narratives drafted and routed for approval
  • Close dashboards showing status and ownership
  • Evidence packs ready for internal and external audit

Cash flow and spend intelligence

Give finance leaders forward-looking visibility across cash, working capital, and discretionary spend.

  • Daily cash forecasts with scenario modelling
  • Spend classification with anomaly detection
  • Alerts to budget owners for threshold breaches
  • Executive-ready summaries in Slack or email

Policy and controls automation

Encode approval policies, delegation of authority, and segregation of duties into every workflow.

  • Dynamic approval routing based on risk and amount
  • Segregation of duties checks before posting
  • Retention, redaction, and masking for sensitive data
  • Audit-friendly logs with evidence attachments

Finance data integration

Integrate ERP, CPM, and data platforms while keeping finance, IT, and security aligned.

  • Connectors for SAP, Oracle, NetSuite, Workday, and Coupa
  • Lakehouse and data warehouse integrations
  • Versioned prompts and modelling with approval workflow
  • Monitoring for drift, quality, and access violations
Delivery scenarios

A few of the ways this service shows up in real operating environments.

Delivery packet

Month-end close automation

1

Ingest subledger, ERP, and bank data with validation

2

Auto-match transactions and flag exceptions

3

Draft variance commentary for controller approval

Example delivery pattern

Month-end close automation

Automate reconciliations, variance analysis, and reporting with finance controllers in the loop.

  1. 1Ingest subledger, ERP, and bank data with validation
  2. 2Auto-match transactions and flag exceptions
  3. 3Draft variance commentary for controller approval
  4. 4Compile evidence packs and status dashboards
  5. 5Distribute executive summaries and track sign-off

Outcome

Shorter close cycles with audit-ready documentation and approvals preserved at every step.

Delivery packet

Invoice-to-pay orchestration

1

Normalise invoices from email, portals, and EDI

2

Extract vendor, GL, cost centre, and tax details

3

Route approvals with policy and risk checks

Example delivery pattern

Invoice-to-pay orchestration

A finance delivery team streamlines AP from intake to posting with policy enforcement and visibility.

  1. 1Normalise invoices from email, portals, and EDI
  2. 2Extract vendor, GL, cost centre, and tax details
  3. 3Route approvals with policy and risk checks
  4. 4Post to ERP and trigger payment workflows
  5. 5Alert stakeholders and update cash forecasts

Outcome

Higher first-pass yield, fewer late fees, and transparent policy enforcement across entities.

Delivery packet

Rolling forecast copilot

1

Connect ERP actuals, pipeline, and market data

2

Generate baseline and scenario forecasts

3

Highlight variances and driver sensitivity

Example delivery pattern

Rolling forecast copilot

Blend historical data and driver-based assumptions into forward-looking FP&A deliverables.

  1. 1Connect ERP actuals, pipeline, and market data
  2. 2Generate baseline and scenario forecasts
  3. 3Highlight variances and driver sensitivity
  4. 4Draft CFO-ready commentary and visualisations
  5. 5Package decks and send to budget owners

Outcome

Finance teams move from spreadsheet consolidation toward insight-driven forecasting with clear ownership.

Engagement models

Start with the level of support the team actually needs.

Pilot

Model

Focused sprint that delivers one finance workflow with evidence packs and team enablement.

  • Discovery with finance, audit, and IT
  • Workflow build, instrumentation, and evidence packs
  • Launch support with training and change materials

Scale

Model

Multi-workflow support to expand automation across close, spend, and planning workflows.

  • Prioritised backlog and steering cadence
  • Multi-workflow delivery team with shared dashboards
  • Quarterly compliance and change reviews

Managed

Model

Optillium operates the automations, handling monitoring, enhancements, and stakeholder reporting.

  • Month-end coverage and incident response
  • Model and workflow optimisation
  • Executive-ready metrics each quarter

Related resource

Finance Automation Guardrails

Read the controls and evidence packs finance teams should define before automating AP, close, or reporting work.

FAQ

Questions that usually come up before the first working session.

Least-privilege access, encryption, masking, audit logs, and documented controls are embedded into the delivery plan. Security and compliance checkpoints run alongside build work.
We regularly integrate SAP, Oracle, NetSuite, Workday, Coupa, BlackLine, Anaplan, Snowflake, and adjacent data platforms. Custom adapters are built when needed.
Controllers, FP&A leads, shared services, IT integration owners, and security or compliance partners usually join the initial workshops and steering cadence.
We baseline cycle time, manual effort, quality, and policy exceptions up front, then track hours returned, control adherence, and forecast or reporting improvements after launch.
Next step

Ready to take one finance workflow out of spreadsheet limbo?

We’ll review the data sources, policy constraints, and operational handoffs, then outline a delivery plan that finance, IT, and audit can all sign off on.