It’s 2025. And let’s be honest—manual, labor-intensive accounting processes are officially outdated. If repetitive accounting work can be automated and isn’t, your team is likely spending valuable time on tasks that software can complete faster, more accurately, and with far less risk.
That’s the promise of accounting automation: streamline recurring processes, reduce human error, and free finance teams to focus on strategic, value-driven work. Instead of spending hours entering data, accountants can spend time analyzing results, forecasting performance, and guiding better business decisions.
If you’re still easing into 2025—or into automation itself—now is the time to take a closer look at how accounting automation delivers measurable ROI today and sets your business up for long-term success.
What Is Accounting Automation?
Accounting automation is the use of technology and software to automate traditionally manual, repetitive accounting tasks. These include data entry, reconciliations, invoicing, revenue recognition, and reporting.
The goal is simple: faster processes, fewer errors, and more reliable financial data.
With accounting automation in place, businesses can:
Avoid cash flow surprises
Automation provides real-time visibility into cash flow so finance leaders always know what’s coming in, what’s going out, and when.
Save time and reduce costs
By eliminating manual data entry, accounting teams complete work faster, reduce operational costs, and scale more efficiently as the business grows.
Access deeper financial insights
Automated systems organize data consistently and make it easier to analyze trends, variances, and forecasts with confidence.
Enable professional growth
When repetitive work is automated, accountants gain time for higher-value analysis, strategic planning, and professional development (and yes—actual coffee breaks).
How NetSuite Automates Accounting Workflows
For organizations using NetSuite, accounting automation is already built into the platform. NetSuite automates key workflows across the accounting lifecycle.
General Ledger Automation
- Depreciation, amortization, and allocations
Automatically record expenses and allocate them to the correct cost centers. - Revenue recognition
Apply standard or custom revenue rules and recognize revenue automatically based on contract schedules. - Journal entries
Use rules-based transaction matching and auto-posting to reduce manual journal entry work.
Accounts Payable Automation
- Purchase controls
Automate three-way matching and approval workflows to verify deliveries before payment. - Vendor bill creation
Automatically generate bills from purchase orders to avoid duplicate entry. - Recurring charges
Schedule utilities, subscriptions, and recurring expenses for automatic processing or approval.
Accounts Receivable Automation
- Invoice creation
Convert sales orders into invoices automatically—no rekeying required. - Subscription billing
Support tiered, volume-based, consumption-based, promotional, and fixed pricing models. - Billing schedules
Create and deliver invoices automatically using flexible, rules-based schedules. - Collections and reminders
Send automatic payment reminders and dunning letters. - Payment processing
Process customer payments without managing multiple payment platforms. - Invoice consolidation
Combine multiple invoices into a single customer invoice when needed.
Close Management Automation
- Bank reconciliation
Automatically create missing entries and reconcile transactions using nightly bank downloads. - Transaction matching
Match customer payments to invoices and flag discrepancies automatically. - Intercompany transactions
Link sales and purchase orders instantly and automate netting for easier reconciliation. - Financial consolidation
Automate subsidiary consolidation while ensuring compliance with accounting and tax standards, accelerating the close process.
Where Accounting Automation Can Go Further
NetSuite’s built-in automation dramatically reduces manual accounting work, but reporting often remains a bottleneck.
Many teams export saved searches and then manually manipulate data in Excel for financial reporting, forecasting, or executive dashboards. While automation frees up time, manual reporting steps can quickly reintroduce inefficiencies and risk.
That’s where extending automation beyond the ERP makes a difference.
Extending Accounting Automation with Excel Integration
ExtendInsights by CloudExtend takes NetSuite automation further by integrating NetSuite directly with Excel and turning spreadsheets into a fully automated reporting layer.
With ExtendInsights, teams can:
- Pull multiple NetSuite saved searches into a single Excel workbook automatically
- Populate standardized report templates with live NetSuite data
- Eliminate manual exports and copy-paste workflows
- Use Excel’s full feature set, including pivot tables, charts, macros, and formulas
- Combine NetSuite data with other sources for broader financial analysis
Always-Up-to-Date Reporting
ExtendInsights allows reports to refresh:
- On a schedule (daily, weekly, monthly)
- On demand with a single click
This ensures financial reports are always current, all without manual intervention.
Why Accounting Automation Pays Off in 2025
In 2025, accounting automation is no longer a nice-to-have, it’s a competitive advantage. Businesses that automate:
- Close their books faster
- Reduce financial risk
- Improve forecasting accuracy
- Scale without adding headcount
- Enable finance teams to operate strategically
When ERP automation and Excel automation work together, finance teams gain speed and flexibility without sacrificing accuracy.
Get More from Your Accounting Automation
NetSuite provides a powerful foundation for accounting automation. ExtendInsights builds on that foundation by automating reporting, analytics, and data refresh directly in Excel.
If you’re ready to maximize the ROI of your accounting automation strategy, it’s time to see what’s possible.
Try ExtendInsights FREE for two weeks and experience fully automated, always-accurate financial reporting.