RSM Australia, a prominent audit, tax, and consulting firm, has embraced automation and AI technologies in recent years to enhance the experience of both its employees and customers. By implementing UiPath, RSM Australia has achieved significant efficiency gains and cost savings, as well as engaging its multigenerational workforce in more fulfilling work.
The firm initially pursued automation to create better experiences for its employees, allowing them to focus on more fulfilling tasks and achieve a better work-life balance. By adopting a whole-of-firm approach and involving all members of the team in shaping the strategy, RSM Australia ensured that technology evolution became a central aspect of its journey.
Graduates entering RSM Australia now expect a sophisticated level of technology adoption within the business to avoid mundane and repetitive tasks. As a result, RSM chose UiPath as its robotic process automation platform after initially struggling with another solution, allowing the firm to integrate automation into various processes across the organization.
Automation has already been applied to several use cases at RSM Australia, including conflict checking during client onboarding, the filing of client tax returns and communications with tax authorities, and time-consuming data enrichment projects. These implementations have resulted in efficiency gains, cost savings, jobs growth, and increased employee satisfaction.
RSM Australia benefited from automation by saving AUD $350,000 in the first year, which increased to AUD $4.2 million in the second year and is projected to reach AUD $6 million in the current year. Furthermore, the firm saved approximately 6,500 hours of work worth AUD $1 million in the last quarter alone. Automation has also enabled RSM Australia to better equip graduates and provide older generations with deeper data insights and analysis.
Implementing automation was facilitated by the standardization and structure provided by the firm’s enterprise document management and content management systems implemented a decade ago. The application of Six Sigma methodologies ensured efficient processes were automated, while process design documentation served as a foundation for developers. Measuring success and demonstrating credibility were crucial in gaining buy-in for further automation.
In the future, RSM Australia believes the combination of automation and AI will be powerful, with automation acting as the “muscles” and AI as the “brains.” The firm has initiated a citizen development program, allowing employees to create innovative AI-driven tools for immediate application in their roles. Moreover, RSM Australia aims to leverage automation to save time and gain insights by using AI models for document analysis. This approach will enable the firm to stay ahead of changing regulations and emerging requirements faced by Australian organizations.
