Where to start with finance automation before H2: prioritize these workflows

For many finance teams, the second half of the year is when things start to get more complex. That pressure makes it harder to move fast without losing control. 

Transaction volume increases, budgets shift and reporting expectations tighten as organizations begin planning for year-end. Manual workflows make it harder to keep up. Tasks that were manageable earlier in the year can start to create delays and inconsistencies as activity picks up.

As a result, small inefficiencies can start to compound, making it harder for finance teams to stay on top of day-to-day operations.

Automation in finance helps teams keep pace without adding headcount. By focusing on the areas that create the most friction, finance leaders can streamline operations and stay ahead of increasing complexity.

7 finance workflows to automate before H2

Finance workflow automation doesn’t need to happen all at once. But certain workflows create more friction than others when they remain manual.

As organizations approach the second half of the year, prioritizing the workflows that impact accuracy, control and speed can help finance teams run a predictable close with greater confidence.

Receipt collection and expense documentation

Manual receipt collection is one of the most persistent sources of administrative work for finance teams.

Employees often forget to submit receipts until days or weeks after transactions occur. Finance teams must then track down missing receipts and manually match them to transactions. This slows reconciliation and creates gaps in expense records.

When organizations automate expense tracking, documentation can be captured immediately and linked directly to the corresponding transaction. Receipts are submitted closer to the time of purchase and are attached to the corresponding expense.

Key benefits:

• Eliminate manual receipt chasing 
• Standardize expense documentation
• Strengthen audit trails

Expense categorization and GL coding

Accurate expense categorization is essential for reliable financial reporting, but it often becomes a manual and time-consuming process.

Finance teams frequently review transactions one by one to assign them to the appropriate general ledger accounts. As transaction volume grows, manual coding can introduce errors and slow reconciliation.

With automated expense categorization, transactions can be coded using preprogrammed rules and historical patterns. Instead of reviewing every transaction manually, finance teams can focus their attention on exceptions and unusual activity.

Key benefits:

• Apply consistent GL codes across transactions
• Reduce manual review during expense categorization
• Flag unusual or misclassified transactions faster

Spend approval workflows

In many organizations, expense approvals still happen through email threads or messaging platforms.

Managers review requests manually, and finance teams must follow up to confirm whether purchases were approved. These informal processes can slow purchasing decisions and make it difficult to maintain a clear record of who authorized spending.

Automated approval workflows route spending requests to the appropriate approvers based on predefined rules such as department, cardholder or dollar amount. Approvals are documented automatically, creating a consistent approval trail for finance teams.

Key benefits:

• Reduce delays caused by manual approval processes
• Ensure spending follows established approval policies
• Strengthen oversight of company spending

Spend policy enforcement

Expense policies are only effective when they can be enforced consistently.

Finance teams frequently discover policy violations only after transactions have already occurred. As a result, teams must investigate out-of-policy purchases, correct expense reports or follow up with employees about spending guidelines.

With automated policy enforcement, organizations can define rules around spending limits, merchant categories and allowable transaction conditions. Transactions that fall outside those rules can be flagged or declined automatically.

Key benefits:

• Maintain consistent company-wide spending controls
• Reduce manual review of transactions for policy compliance
• Minimize rework caused by out-of-policy purchases

Vendor payments and subscriptions

Vendor payments and recurring subscriptions often lack clear ownership and visibility as organizations grow.

Expenses are often spread across shared cards, making it unclear who is responsible for each vendor relationship. As the number of vendors increases, this lack of ownership can lead to duplicate tools, unnecessary subscriptions or missed opportunities to manage costs.

Automated vendor payment workflows assign payments to specific vendors or teams. This creates clearer ownership and makes it easier to track and manage vendor spending over time.

Key benefits:

• Improve visibility into vendor and subscription spending
• Assign clear ownership for vendor-related expenses
• Reduce unnecessary or duplicate subscriptions

Employee reimbursements

Employee reimbursement processes often require multiple steps, including collecting receipts, completing forms and waiting for approvals. This leads to back-and-forth between employees and finance teams. Reimbursement requests may sit in queues, delaying payment and adding administrative work on both sides.

When organizations automate reimbursements, employees can submit expenses digitally and attach receipts directly to their requests. Reimbursements can be reviewed, approved and processed within a single system, reducing delays and manual follow-up.

Key benefits:

• Simplify expense submission for employees
• Shorten reimbursement processing timelines
• Improve visibility into reimbursement status

Accounting system synchronization

Many finance teams still manually upload transaction data from expense systems to accounting software. This involves exporting data, reformatting it and re-entering it into another system. These manual steps take time and increase the risk of errors.

Automated data syncing sends transaction data directly between systems without manual intervention. Expense data and supporting documentation stay aligned across platforms, reducing the need for duplicate data entry.

Key benefits:

• Eliminate manual data transfer between systems
• Maintain consistent financial data across systems
• Accelerate reconciliation and close processes

How PEX automates finance workflows

PEX helps finance teams automate the workflows that create the most friction, from the moment a transaction happens through reconciliation. With PEX, finance teams can:

• Capture and match receipts automatically
  Cardholders can submit receipts at the time of purchase via text, email or mobile app, with receipt-to-transaction matching that reduces manual follow-up. In The Total Economic Impact™ conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of PEX, finance teams saved an average of 20 hours per month per accounts payable FTE on receipt handling, while employees spent less time managing documentation.
  
  For example, Eastshore Alliance reduced the time spent managing receipts and expense documentation by 10 hours per month after implementing PEX, helping their team stay on top of expense tracking.
• Automate expense categorization and coding
  Transactions are categorized using pre-programmed rules and historical patterns, with tools like AutoTagger supporting consistent GL coding. This reduces manual review and saves an average of 2.92 minutes per transaction, based on PEX customer survey data. 
• Streamline approval workflows
  Automated approval workflows route spending requests to the appropriate approvers based on a predefined hierarchy. This creates a clear approval trail and eliminates the need for manual follow-up. In the same TEI study mentioned above, one interviewed organization was able to replace work equivalent to nearly one full-time role by automating approval and review processes.

• Enforce spending policies
  Built-in spend controls allow teams to set limits, restrict merchant categories and define where and how funds can be used. This helps prevent out-of-policy transactions before they occur and reduces the need for after-the-fact corrections. According to PEX customer survey data, 60% of PEX customers reported saving money using spend controls.
• Manage vendor payments and subscriptions with greater control
  PEX card options like physical, virtual and prepaid cards, can be assigned to specific vendors or use cases. This increases financial control, improves visibility into recurring spend and reduces the risk of duplicate charges.
• Simplify reimbursements and reduce processing time
  Employees can submit expenses in the PEX platform and attach receipts directly to each request, keeping documentation in one place. Finance teams can review, approve and process reimbursements within the same system, increasing processing speed and employee satisfaction.
• Keep financial data aligned across systems
  PEX integrates with 50+ accounting systems, allowing transaction data and documentation to flow directly into financial records. This eliminates the need to export, upload and reformat data across systems.

Getting ahead of H2 with finance automation

The second half of the year doesn’t require a full transformation. But it does require clarity on where manual work is slowing things down.

By focusing on the workflows that have the greatest impact on how finance teams operate day to day, organizations can enter H2 with stronger processes already in place. That makes it easier to manage increased activity and maintain control.

Book a demo to see how PEX helps finance teams automate the workflows that matter most and get ready for H2 with confidence.