Manual processing, duplicate data entry and fragile Excel workbooks don’t just waste time – they delay decision-making and make month-end a grind.

In this webinar, “How to Automate Manual Processes in the Finance Function with AccountsIQ”, Business Development Manager Taylor walks through how AccountsIQ helps finance teams:

• Reduce manual input across AP, AR, journals and bank reconciliation
• Standardise processes across single or multi-entity organisations
• Deliver faster, richer reporting to management and stakeholders

You’ll see how AccountsIQ bridges the gap between entry-level systems (like Xero, Sage 50, QuickBooks) and heavyweight ERPs (like NetSuite, SAP, Oracle, Workday) – giving you mid-market power without ERP complexity or cost.

1. Who AccountsIQ is for

Taylor starts by positioning AccountsIQ (AIQ) as a cloud-only finance platform:

• In market since 2008, cloud-native from day one (no old on-prem roots)
• Serving 20,000+ users in 60+ countries
• Designed specifically for the mid-market:
  • Too complex / fast-growing for entry-level systems
  • But not ready to take on a full ERP’s price tag and 6–12 month implementation

You’ll hear why many new clients come from:

• Sage 50 / Xero / QuickBooks
• Older legacy on-prem solutions no longer supported
• Groups struggling with multi-entity and multi-currency consolidation in spreadsheets

2. Why clients choose AccountsIQ

The webinar highlights several recurring reasons finance teams switch:

• Automation first: minimising manual data entry and repetitive processing
• Business intelligence & analysis:
  • 3-tier chart of accounts (Category → Subcategory → GL)
  • Up to 6 analysis dimensions (departments, projects, regions, funds, etc.)
  • BI codes that let you slice and dice results across dimensions
• Simplified reporting: 250+ standard reports, plus dashboards and OData feeds
• Multi-entity consolidation: including multi-currency, with group-level reporting
• Open API & integrations: connect CRMs, donor/billing platforms, payment gateways, etc.
• Service & support:
  • All implementation, support and account management done in-house
  • Typical implementation: 4–6 weeks, not months
  • Average support response ~27 minutes, from a real person

3. Onboarding: what implementation actually looks like

A big barrier to changing finance systems is fear of implementation. Taylor breaks down AccountsIQ’s approach:

• Senior implementer assigned with experience in your sector
• Discovery & design:
  • Review and redesign chart of accounts
  • Define analysis structure (dimensions / BI codes)
  • Configure tax, bank, and core processes
• Build everything in a sandbox environment first:
  • Test real processes end-to-end before go-live
  • Train users without touching live data
• Training & enablement:
  • Online Academy with 40+ hours of modular, CPD-certified training
  • 1:1 or small-group training sessions on your processes
  • In-product QHub on every screen (help articles, videos, FAQs, ticketing)
• Go-live planning aligned to your timeline, not a fixed template
• Hand-holding through first month-end by your implementer
• Then you transition to:
  • Support team
  • Named Customer Success / Account Manager (you can book time directly from within the app)

4. Automating the General Ledger: structure, budgets and journals

The demo then moves into an individual entity to show automation in day-to-day finance.

GL Explorer
A quick-view screen giving you:

• Instant P&L, Balance Sheet or Trial Balance
• 3-tier chart of accounts:
  • Category (e.g. Direct Costs)
  • Subcategory (e.g. Cost of Sales)
  • GL codes underneath
• Click-through drilldown from balances to transaction level

Budgets & reforecasts

• Upload budgets from Excel templates generated by AccountsIQ
• Also maintain revised / reforecast budgets (monthly, quarterly, project-based, etc.)
• Report against original and revised budgets in the same view

Journal automation

• Journal importer from Excel for bulk entries
• Automation for recurring technical journals:
  • Revenue and cost accruals
  • Prepayments
  • Deferred income / revenue spreading
• Configure once (e.g. “spread over 12 months”), then auto-post each period – “set and forget”

5. Automating AP and supplier processes

One of the biggest sources of manual work in finance is Accounts Payable. AccountsIQ streamlines it end-to-end:

Supplier setup

• Import all existing suppliers during onboarding
• Store:
  • Currency, bank details, addresses, emails
  • Default GL and VAT codes
  • Credit terms
• Attach documents (contracts, pricing agreements) using the paperclip anywhere in the system

Purchase orders & approvals

• Raise purchase orders natively in AccountsIQ (no add-ons required)
• Configure approval workflows based on:
  • Supplier
  • Value
  • Analysis code (e.g. department, project)
• Route POs to heads of department or other approvers before committing spend

AP Inbox & OCR

• Each company gets a unique AP email address
• Forward invoices or set mail rules so supplier PDFs land directly in AccountsIQ
• OCR reads the invoice and prepopulates key fields (supplier, date, amount, etc.)
• If there’s no PO, save and send into the approval workflow

Auto-matching to POs

• If an invoice matches an approved PO exactly, the system can move it straight to auto-approved state
• No need to manually re-check line by line

Approvals (inside the app, via email, or mobile)

• Finance users often approve from the AP screens with full visibility
• Non-finance approvers (e.g. managers, directors) can:
  • Approve/reject from a rich email with key invoice info and the PDF attached
  • Add notes explaining rejections/amendments
  • Use the mobile app to approve on the go

All approvals sync back into AccountsIQ automatically – no manual status updates.

Bulk payment runs

To reduce manual banking:

• Choose the bank account you’re paying from
• Filter which suppliers/invoices you want to include
• Optionally send the whole payment run for approval (even if each invoice is already approved)
• Generate a BACS (or equivalent) file – 40+ formats supported depending on bank
• Upload to your banking portal; the bank executes payments in bulk
• AccountsIQ can auto-email remittances to suppliers using stored email addresses

6. Bank feeds and auto-reconciliation

The banking module further cuts down manual work:

• Connect to ~12,500 banks globally
• Bank feeds update up to four times per day for near real-time data
• When new feeds arrive:
  • Red: the system has never seen this pattern – you choose where to post
  • Orange: suggested posting (machine-learned) for you to confirm/edit
  • Green: recognised and auto-reconciled
• Use Match All to clear confirmed green items in one click

Corporate credit cards can be set up as dummy bank accounts, bringing transactions into the same auto-reconciliation process.

7. Automating AR and integrations with your front-office systems

On the sales side, AccountsIQ supports both native processes and deep integrations.

Integrations (via open API)

For many clients, key automation comes from connecting:

• CRMs: e.g. Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics
• Billing/donor/payment platforms: e.g. Stripe, PayPal, subscription billing tools

Typical flows:

• When an opportunity reaches a certain stage in the CRM, AccountsIQ can automatically:
  • Create the customer record
  • Create the invoice (with correct GL and BI coding)
• When payment hits the bank (via bank feeds), AccountsIQ can:
  • Mark the invoice as paid
  • Optionally send a status update back to the CRM

This eliminates manual re-keying and keeps finance and front-office in sync.

In-system AR

If you don’t integrate:

• Create quotes → orders → deliveries → invoices all inside AccountsIQ
• Use multiple invoice templates (branding, terms, bank details) for different customer types
• Set up recurring invoices:
  • Flag as recurring and choose frequency (weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually)
  • System reminds you when they’re due; generate and email with a couple of clicks

8. Fixed assets and automated depreciation

Bring your fixed asset register out of Excel and into the finance system:

• Define asset classes (e.g. IT, vehicles, leasehold improvements)
• Create as many individual assets as needed under each class
• Store:
  • Invoice links
  • Insurance details
  • Maintenance / lease info
• Run depreciation at period end:
  • Choose straight line or reducing balance
  • Set percentage per class
  • Click Post Depreciation to generate all journals automatically

9. Reporting, BI and group consolidation

Ultimately, all automation should feed better, faster reporting.

Report manager & BI codes

• 250+ standard reports with multiple variants and filters
• Example: P&L with up to 12 comparative columns, such as:
  • Current year-to-date actual vs budget, with variance
  • Revised budget
  • Last year’s actual vs last year’s budget
• Export to Excel, Word, PowerPoint, PDF as required

Using BI codes (dimensions), you can run:

• P&L by BI code:
  • Compare regions, departments, product lines or projects side by side
  • See overall totals vs budget, plus monthly breakdowns
• Budgets can be loaded at dimension level, so you still have meaningful budget vs actual at department/project level

External reporting tools

Because AccountsIQ sits on Microsoft Azure, it supports:

• OData connections to Excel and Power BI
• Build your own reports and dashboards in those tools, but keep them live-linked to AccountsIQ
• Ideal when you want:
  • Department heads or non-finance users to view a specific report
  • Without giving them a full AccountsIQ login
  • And without finance needing to refresh spreadsheets manually

You can also email reports directly from AccountsIQ, adding context and attachments on the way.

Group consolidation

For multi-entity groups:

• Define a Consolidation entity separate from trading entities
• Use the Consolidation Manager to:
  • Group entities into sub-consols (e.g. by region)
  • Set ownership percentages (for partial ownership)
  • Push consistent FX rates across entities
• Run consolidation with a single click:
  • System rolls up results and budgets
  • Same GL Explorer view as at entity level
  • Drill from group totals down to entity-level transactions without switching companies

10. New user interface & dashboards

Taylor finishes by previewing the new UI and dashboard experience:

• Cleaner, more modern look with a left-hand navigation bar
• Ability to favourite frequently used pages, reports and dashboards for quick access
• New BI dashboards:
  • P&L dashboards with filters for period, comparison (budget/last year), and analysis codes
  • Working capital dashboards (current assets vs liabilities, key ratios)
  • AP and AR dashboards:
    • Top suppliers / customers
    • Overdue amounts
    • Approvals and commitments
• Designed for both finance and non-finance stakeholders:
  • CEOs, COOs, heads of department can see performance visually without wading through complex reports

Upcoming enhancements (mentioned in the webinar timeline):

• Import of non-financial KPIs (e.g. occupancy rates, headcount, volumes) to overlay with financial data
• A built-in report builder so you can design custom reports/dashboards directly inside AccountsIQ

Who is this webinar for?
Finance managers, controllers, CFOs and accountants who feel they’ve outgrown entry-level accounting systems, or are stuck with manual processes and heavy Excel use, and want to see how a mid-market cloud system can automate their work.

What types of processes can AccountsIQ automate?
AccountsIQ can automate:

• Invoice capture (AP Inbox + OCR)
• PO and invoice approvals (including via email and mobile app)
• Recurring sales invoices
• Accruals, prepayments, deferred income journals
• Bank reconciliation via bank feeds and machine-learned rules
• Bulk supplier payments via bank files
• Depreciation journals
• Group consolidations and many reporting workflows

How long does it take to implement?
Typical implementation is 4–6 weeks, depending on complexity and availability, with flexibility to go faster or slower if your situation requires it.

Can it handle multi-entity and multi-currency?
Yes. AccountsIQ supports:

• Multiple entities in one environment
• Different base currencies per entity
• Multi-currency consolidation, including pushing FX rate tables and handling group-level reports in a chosen currency.

Do we have to give everyone full system access to see reports?
No. You can:

• Email reports directly from AccountsIQ
• Use OData links to Excel or Power BI so non-finance staff can view live reports there
• Use dashboards for visual summaries
• Control access granularly with user profiles and permissions, down to report level.

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