The unseen burden: Why your “automated” journal entry process is still manual

More than half of the typical month-end close depends on journal entries. But for most finance and accounting teams, “automation” still means entering numbers into Excel templates, attaching supporting documents and emailing approvals because manual work is hidden behind a polished user interface.

It doesn’t have to be this way though. Finance Automation by Redwood eliminates manual journal entries entirely. It integrates with your ERP systems, orchestrates every step in the journal entry process and removes human intervention from data sourcing, transformation, validation and posting.

For example, Forvia is a global automotive supplier operating in more than 40 countries, and this organization uses the platform to automate over 80% of its monthly journal entries. In turn, Forvia reduces risk, saves time and accelerates its financial close. But that level of control and consistency is only possible when automation starts at the source, not after the work is already done.

The root issue: Manual work is still baked into journal entries

Some financial close or point solutions focus on the end result, like validating journal entries, routing for approval and posting to the ERP, but overlook the labor-intensive steps that come before it. Accounting and finance teams still run reports, collect feedback and shape financial data in spreadsheets, even when using journal entry automation software. That’s not automation. It’s reformatting manual labor.

Manual work repackaged in spreadsheets

Even with modern tools, manual journal entries persist. Finance and accounting teams use prefilled templates to enter data. They send approval requests through email. They track accruals, allocations and intercompany transactions in separate spreadsheets. Each task happens outside the main system. This slows down the financial reporting and accounting processes and makes it harder to catch mistakes. The workflow lacks speed, accuracy and real-time oversight. 

Finance Automation eliminates these handoffs. It sources data directly from ERP, procurement and other systems, applies rules automatically and generates audit-ready journal entries without copy-and-paste work or manual review.

Where automation falls short

Take the open purchase order (PO) accrual process, for example. Most financial close or point solutions automate the final three steps:

• Review and group
• Create journal entries
• Post journal entries

But the first four steps — the ones that are the most time-consuming — remain manual:

• Run the open PO report
• Group by requester
• Email each requester
• Capture feedback

These tasks demand manual data entry, offline collaboration and ad hoc spreadsheets. That’s where human error, bottlenecks and discrepancies build up, and it’s also where Finance Automation applies full orchestration, not just automation.

Why fragmented tools don’t solve the problem

Those financial close and point solutions tend to automate in silos by focusing on a few repetitive tasks but missing the full picture. This creates more work, not less.

Manual data entry: A hidden time drain

Even with accounting software, teams copy data from multiple systems into templates. Each adjustment introduces risk and adds hours to the close.

Siloed tools: Islands of automation

Bolt-on or partial solutions don’t connect across systems. Teams must step in and do the work by hand. They reconcile large volumes of financial records one by one. They also handle approval steps across disconnected systems. This makes the process slow and disorganized. Each manual task increases the chance of a delay or mistake.

Limited control: No end-to-end visibility

Teams can’t see the entire workflow from start to finish. They also can’t track postings as they happen, nor can they confirm that policies are followed. Real-time dashboards are not possible without a full system connection. There’s no system-wide view of exceptions, delays or statuses.

The better approach: True automation from start to finish

Finance Automation is an end-to-end finance automation solution built for the full record-to-report (R2R) cycle. It removes manual steps entirely and connects people, data and systems into one orchestrated flow.

What gets automated:

• Data extraction from ERP, procurement and CRM systems
• Calculations and transformation of raw inputs into structured journal entries
• Validation and approvals through system-managed workflows instead of emails
• Posting of journal entries in real time to the general ledger
• Archiving and audit trails for compliance and transparency

Whether it’s recurring automatic journal entries, intercompany adjustments or high-volume allocations, every journal entry follows a repeatable, controlled process with no offline handoffs or shadow systems.

What finance and account teams gain in return

By eliminating the burden of manual intervention, teams can redirect their time toward financial planning, forecasting and insight-driven decision-making.

With Finance Automation, your organization can save valuable time by:

• Automating journal entries across entities, business units and functions
• Cutting days off the financial close
• Increasing speed and consistency with real-time processing and visibility
• Reducing risk with built-in internal controls and validation
• Replacing email loops with system-driven approval workflows

True automation doesn’t start with a spreadsheet

If your team is still relying on manual processes, like journal entry creation and approval routing, you’re not truly automating. You’re just working harder to do the same work.

Finance Automation transforms that model. It streamlines and optimizes the entire process, enforces consistency and removes the unseen burden behind the scenes.

Download the journal entries buyer’s guide to evaluate what true automation looks like. When you’re ready to leave the manual tasks behind, schedule a demo to see how Finance Automation works from start to finish.