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As I worked in finance, I was constantly seeking ways to improve productivity and reduce time on repetitive tasks. Here are a few of the ways I implemented GPT to streamline our processes and save substantial time.

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1. Automating Freelancer Payment Emails

One of our junior accountants used to spend 4-6 hours each week emailing over 100 freelancers with their payment details. Each email required manual entry of payment information, invoice details, and approval verifications. I introduced GPT into the process, allowing the accountant to upload an Excel file containing all necessary details for each freelancer. GPT quickly generated personalized email drafts, which then be sent without the manual copy-and-paste process. This automation freed up 3-5 hours weekly, saving around 200 hours per year—time that the accountant could now spend on more valuable tasks.

2. Enhancing Budget Forecasting with GenAI

Budget forecasting traditionally involved reviewing past data and making educated guesses for future projections—a process often influenced by subjective bias. I saw an opportunity to improve the accuracy and efficiency of this task by using GPT to handle a three-year dataset of transaction-level sales and expense data. GPT analyzed the data, removed any outliers, identified trends, and generated predictive forecasts. After GPT’s estimates, we would review the numbers with each department. This data-driven approach not only improved forecast reliability but also provided more objective numbers that increased our team’s confidence in the projections.

3. Streamlining Receipt Processing for a CPA

In consulting with a local CPA, I noticed that his team was spending around 60 hours monthly manually entering data from client receipts into Excel. This manual task was prone to error and inefficiency, so we implemented GPT to automate it. By uploading photos of the receipts, GPT extracted and organized the details into an Excel sheet, categorizing expenses and reducing errors. GPT could even generate expense reports directly, saving the team 45 hours each month—a time savings of over 540 hours per year that allowed the team to focus more on strategic work.

4. Improving Finance Team Presentations with GPT

Presenting financial performance to non-financial executives had been a challenge due to the often complex, technical nature of our slides. When we began using GPT to summarize key financial insights, we saw a major shift in engagement. GPT allowed us to create concise, clear summaries tailored for non-financial stakeholders, significantly improving presentation quality. While the time saved wasn’t enormous, the increase in presentation clarity and accessibility helped the finance team communicate more effectively with our executive team.

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These experiences underscored for me how powerful GPT can be in enhancing efficiency, reducing time on routine tasks, and improving the quality of finance outputs. By thoughtfully integrating AI into our workflows, we not only saved time but also elevated the standard of our work.

Do you have any other automation tips for finance teams? Let me know in the comments—I’d love to hear more ways to make finance tasks faster and more effective!These experiences underscored for me how powerful GPT can be in enhancing efficiency, reducing time on routine tasks, and improving the quality of finance outputs. By thoughtfully integrating AI into our workflows, we not only saved time but also elevated the standard of our work.

Do you have any other automation tips for finance teams? Let me know in the comments—I’d love to hear more ways to make finance tasks faster and more effective!