Ripple effects of finance transformation: 7 real-world stories

Finance isn’t what it used to be, and that’s not a bad thing. The old way of working, which looked like drowning in spreadsheets and manually pushing transactions through sluggish systems, isn’t sustainable.

The modern-day C-suite demands faster close cycles, real-time data and airtight compliance. Regulators want transparency. Employees expect meaningful, high-value work. And there’s something that can offer all of these: automation.

Finance automation technologies fundamentally shift efficiency, accuracy and strategic decision-making. Those taking automation seriously instead of merely digitizing old processes are the ones pulling ahead.

Let’s take a look at how seven companies in various industries took key steps in building their automation fabrics using Finance Automation by Redwood and what you can take away from their experiences.

Allianz: Precision in policy and claims processing

Allianz, a global leader in insurance, faced a familiar industry challenge: complex policy management and slow claims processing. Manual processes were affecting their response time, frustrating customers and creating compliance risks.

By automating policy issuance, renewals and claims workflows, Allianz transformed its back-office efficiency. Claims processing times dropped, data accuracy improved and customer satisfaction soared.

Lessons learned

In insurance, speed and accuracy determine profitability. Slow claims processing is inefficient, of course, but more significantly, it erodes customer trust. Allianz’s success proves that automation is no longer a competitive advantage but a necessity. If you’re still relying on manual management of key financial processes, you’re inviting inefficiencies that could directly impact your customer retention.

Read the full story for more insights.

Arla: A smarter approach to financial closing

Arla Foods, an international dairy cooperative, struggled with fragmented financial processes that dragged out period-end closing. 

Automating 73% of its reconciliations cut the close process by four days. At the same time, the team enabled monthly reconciliation and settlement of energy taxes, which made their finances more predictable and significantly improved cash flow.

The Head of Finance Program Office noted Finance Automation’s user-friendliness and “solid SAP integration” as standout factors in their success.

Lessons learned

Finance teams fuel your business agility. If they’re forced to spend excess time on manual close processes, they’ll inadvertently get in the way of decision-making. It’s an unnecessary financial risk you’re taking at the end of every period. Arla’s transformation demonstrates how freeing it can be to apply the power of automation.

Read the full story and get inspired to review your team’s manual efforts.

Energy Transfer: Thousands of hours of untapped productivity

As a Fortune 500 energy company that engages in frequent M&A, Energy Transfer is understandably concerned about efficiency. Bank reconciliations and compliance processes had become overwhelming, and the company’s Accounting team was spending 80% of its time “wrestling with data” and just 20% analyzing and using that data.

Automation delivered an incredible 45,000-hour annual recovery by streamlining journal entries and reconciliations. Energy Transfer also improved capital project settlements and SAP user access provisioning for more secure and smooth operations.

Lessons learned

What could your finance team do with 45,000 reclaimed hours? With this transformation, Energy Transfer proved that automation is an enabler. Manual reconciliation is a waste of high-value talent.

Read the full story to see the additional soft savings the company attained.

Forvia: Strengthening controls

Forvia, a global automotive parts supplier, needed stronger financial controls, lower costs and greater efficiency. It had one Shared Services team handling record-to-report (R2R) and three other mission-critical business processes and needed to simplify its 20-step journal entry process to take some burden off this team.

By automating 80% of journal entries, Forvia eliminated silos across regions and countries and developed a straightforward audit trail.

Its Global Finance Transformation Director called Redwood Software’s solution “a robust, high-performance, secure, stable and scalable platform for end-to-end process automation.”

Lessons learned

In industries with razor-thin margins, finance leaders can be intimidated by the prospect of automation and the major changes it brings. But Forvia’s story underscores that automation in these instances can make processes truly bulletproof — in other words, it’s worth overcoming the worry rather than staying stagnant. 

Read the full story to learn why Forvia sees Finance Automation as its “ERP’s best friend.”

Genentech: Enabling lifesaving innovation

A leader in biotechnology, Genentech faced an uphill battle in managing research data and regulatory submissions. After experiencing frustrations with other popular tools, the team realized Redwood offered a more unified, end-to-end approach.

Genentech cut close times by 50%. Automation helped the company collect and analyze clinical trial data more efficiently. Plus, it streamlined regulatory approvals and improved collaboration across R&D teams, getting lifesaving treatments to market faster.

Lessons learned

For companies at the forefront of innovation, automation is a catalyst for accelerating R&D. Automating data-intensive tasks can help you focus (or refocus) on your company’s mission.

Read the full story to see why this investment also improved employee retention.

Jabil: Manufacturing efficiency via automated R2R

Jabil is a global manufacturing giant that faced the consequences of a lack of standardization and R2R process consistency. Across its nine global sites, the company spent 240,000 hours per year on the close process alone.

Jabil created a dedicated Finance Digital Transformation team to remedy this problem. With automation, they reduced reporting errors and improved real-time financial insights. Their finance function now operates at the speed of the business.

Lessons learned

Every manual touchpoint in financial processes is a potential error waiting to happen. Jabil’s move to automation highlights a critical reality: Finance teams should focus on analysis and not fixing preventable mistakes.

Read the full story and learn how to follow suit by automating your record-to-report processes.

Siemens: Scaling across global operations

Siemens Global Business Services (GBS), which operates in many industries, launched a massive internal digital transformation program called SHERPA X. Making financial processes more efficient and reducing the risk inherent in service provider dependencies was a priority.

The company implemented Finance Automation for journal entry management, close orchestration, fixed asset management and intercompany transactions. In 2024, they created an in-house Center of Excellence (CoE) and rolled out the account reconciliation module, which became part of their corporate standard. It reduced manual R2R tasks from 1,000 to just 30. With 70 entities approved and planning to go live in 2025, Siemens is building automation into the foundation of its finance strategy.

Lessons learned

Siemens’ approach highlights the fact that automation is never a one-off project. They’re demonstrating how to scale automation across complex, global finance operations while delivering massive efficiency gains. What does that say about your company’s ability to do the same?

Watch the webinar to hear the story straight from the CFO at Siemens.

Write your transformation story 

These companies didn’t just automate a few tasks. They rewrote how their finance functions operate. And they’re not alone. The shift to finance automation is happening across every industry, and if you wait, you’ll have to scramble to catch up.

What’s stopping you from joining them today? If it’s fear of change, disruption or making the wrong choice, know that doing nothing is the biggest risk of all.

Explore what could be possible if you’re willing: Read our free guide to achieving the touchless close.