Australia (Commonwealth)_Centurion-year-old Australian audit, tax, and consulting firm, RSM Australia, is demonstrating that age is just a number. The company is resolutely focused on the future, leveraging automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies to improve the work experience for its employees and deliver exceptional service to its clients.
A Commitment to a More Engaging Work Environment
RSM Australia’s foray into automation stemmed from a desire to create a more fulfilling work experience for its over 1,800 employees. The firm aimed to free up valuable time by implementing smarter and more efficient work practices. This, in turn, would allow employees to focus on more strategic tasks and achieve a better work-life balance.
To shape its technology strategy, RSM conducted employee town hall meetings and workshops facilitated by Gartner. “We embraced a firm-wide approach to innovation,” explains Paul Joseph, RSM Australia’s Chief Digital Officer. “Every team member, from interns to executives, had a voice in shaping the strategy. It was all about co-creating the technological evolution we’re embarking on.”
Interestingly, 32% of the initial project ideas generated during employee engagement workshops centered on robotic process automation (RPA). Joseph adds that RSM’s clients also expect the firm to leverage the right technology platforms to maximize internal efficiency, ultimately leading to better service delivery.
Aligning with Evolving Expectations
According to Joseph, graduates entering the workforce today have a baseline expectation that employers will be adept at utilizing technology. Graduates joining RSM in February 2024 have likely been exposed to AI tools like ChatGPT for over a year, and this timeframe will only continue to shrink for future cohorts. “They come to RSM on day one expecting a sophisticated level of technology adoption,” says Joseph. “They don’t want to be burdened by mundane and repetitive tasks.”
Choosing the Right Tools for the Job
RSM initially adopted a single RPA platform, but progress wasn’t as swift as desired. This led the firm to make a strategic decision to “fail fast” and switch to UiPath, a business automation and AI platform designed for business transformation.
UiPath is now seamlessly integrated into RSM’s entire ecosystem, encompassing APIs, business systems, infrastructure, document and content management systems, and even online data gathering forms. “The entire ecosystem functions cohesively,” Joseph remarks.
Real-World Applications of Automation
RSM has successfully implemented automation across various business functions. Let’s explore some key examples:
Enhanced Client Onboarding: Automation now plays a vital role in RSM’s conflict checking process, a critical step during client onboarding. It streamlines analysis, eliminates tedious procedural tasks, and manages risk by ensuring a dedicated onboarding process.
Automated Tax Filing: Automating client tax return filing and communication with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has significantly improved efficiency. This frees up valuable time for staff, allowing them to focus on higher-level client service activities that leverage their cognitive skills.
A Digital Workforce for Data Enrichment: RSM has utilized its “digital worker” as a labor source for data enrichment projects. An RPA engineer programmed the digital worker, which then ran 24/7 for weeks, seamlessly handling the workload even during the engineer’s absence.
Measurable Benefits
The adoption of automation across RSM’s multigenerational workforce has been faster than anticipated. The firm has quantified the positive impact of UiPath automation, highlighting benefits such as:
Increased Efficiency: RSM saved AUD $350,000 (USD $230,000) in the first year of automation implementation. These savings grew to AUD $4.2 million (USD $2.8 million) in the second year, and the company is on track to achieve total savings of AUD $6 million (USD $3.9 million) for the current program year.
Cost Savings: In the first quarter of 2024, RSM calculated that automation saved approximately 6,500 work hours across the firm, translating to a bottom-line benefit of AUD $1 million (USD $661,000) based on a conservative charge-out rate.
Employee Satisfaction: Automation empowers RSM to offer graduates essential tools, skill sets, and training aligned with the evolving workplace. For senior employees, intuitive automation handles back-end processes, providing them with deeper data insights and facilitating faster, more convenient analysis.
Building a Strong Foundation for Automation
Several key factors contributed to RSM’s successful automation implementation:
Standardization and Structure: The firm’s decade-old enterprise document and content management systems provided the necessary standardization to support the RPA rollout. This standardized approach facilitated the codification of workflows and eliminated potential complexities.
