Interview with: Michael McRoberts –
Co-Founding Director & George
Skillin - Co-Founding Director,
Chartertech Pty Ltd
CFOs are struggling to find skilled
finance professionals while dealing with
challenges on the cost side and
additional environmental, social and
governance (ESG) reporting require-
ments, but Robotic Process Automation
(RPA) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) can
improve many finance processes and
challenges, according to Michael
McRoberts and George Skillin, Co-
Founding Directors at Chartertech Pty
Ltd.
Chartertech Pty Ltd is a sponsor
company at the marcus evans CFO
Summit 2023.
What is challenging CFOs in
Australia today? How could RPA and
AI be part of the solution?
Skillin: It is getting more and more
difficult for CFOs to find skilled finance
professionals. It is a very competitive
market, and they are struggling to
attract and retain good accountants,
systems professionals and operations
professionals. Automating repeatable
transactions that don’t need to be
processed by people anymore, would
lower overheads in a time of high
inflation.
Businesses are also challenged with
aligning cost structures to revenue and
desired profitability. Extended planning
and analysis (xP&A) is the future
approach to address antiquated
planning and analytics. CFOs can make
use of AI tools to make better informed
financial and business decisions.
Thirdly, CFOs are now expected to take
a lead with ESG reporting requirements
for external and internal stakeholders,
and compliance requirements imposed
by accounting bodies and government
for environmental reporting.
McRoberts: RPA enables organisations
and CFOs to augment their skill sets
with digital workers who can do the
work more efficiently. Removing high
value add tasks traditionally undertaken
by paid employees, and having them
done by a robotic worker does not
devalue the work humans can do. It
enables people to do higher value add
work, by removing routine tasks from
their workload. It means qualified
accountants and finance professionals
can focus their time on what can add
strategic value to their function, instead
of wasting their time on mundane tasks.
With labour costs going up, this must
become a priority.
What are the gaps in the finance
function?
McRoberts: The biggest area of focus is
business-focused analytics, the ability to
leverage data sets in enterprise
resource planning (ERP) and corporate
platforms, and to continuously convert
that to more strategic and financial
information. That is an ongoing journey
for CFOs.
We position ourselves as a chartered
accounting firm that does technology.
We take that finance skillset and overlay
operations and technologies to drive
better management and operational
information. CFOs are always trying to
do that to the best of their ability.
How do your solutions stand out
from others?
Skillin: We are not just an RPA service
provider. We have a CFO advisory
practice that includes people in very
senior levels who understand finance
and governance. We have systems
integration teams who deal specifically
with ERP platforms that CFOs use. And
automation professionals who can focus
on an end-to-end outcome rather than
just a specific technology aligned to our
service offering.
What risks and opportunities should
CFOs prepare their organisations
for?
McRoberts: Retention of talent is going
to be key for CFOs. In terms of
technology advancements, we are
seeing application risks to security
environments that continue to change
over time, making them difficult to deal
with from a threat perspective. From a
governance perspective we are seeing
increased calls for more corporate
accountability. A lot of that can have
valuable input from the CFO function.
In terms of opportunities, the better use
of technology can create excitement in
finance professionals and the desire to
expand their existing financial skill sets
into other areas. Many people enjoy
building processes that can improve
their personal and organisational
performance.
We are starting to see more use of large-
scale data science platforms with
machine learning and AI infused
technologies, which can crunch larger
amounts of data and draw more
powerful information. The tools we have
as accountants are becoming more
powerful. So we have started seeing
many opportunities with these
technologies.
Any final words of advice?
McRoberts: It is important to play and
experiment with new and emerging
technologies. They do not have to be
large-scale experiments. Work with a
data science professional to develop a
better pattern of analysing information
with more advanced platforms and
statistical techniques. CFOs have the
ability to shape organisations and if they
choose to engage with technology even
in a small way, the finance team can
use those experiences to better the
profession.
With labour
costs going up,
this must become
a priority
The Role that RPA and AI Can Play in the Finance Function

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About Chartertech Pty Ltd
Chartertech is a dynamic Canberra-based advisory and consulting firm established in early 2017. We are a registered Chartered
Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ) organisation. Our team of more than 140 consultants, accountants and technical
experts has extensive experience working with Australian government departments and agencies, as well as non-government
organisations. Chartertech’s team of consultants operate across six capital cities, with corporate offices in Canberra, Sydney,
Melbourne, Brisbane, and Hobart.
www.chartertech.com.au
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