Streamlining Finance: How Journaling Automation Transformed Month-End Operations - Case Study

For one organization, a leading FTSE infrastructure organisation, the manual journaling process had become a significant operational bottleneck. Financial data was uploaded from Excel into Oracle with these journals forming a core input to the company’s profit and loss statements and balance sheets. However, a range of varying impacting inefficiencies in the process were taking a toll.

The Problem: Complexity in a Decentralized System

The workload was uneven, with a familiar 80:20 pattern, with 80% of the work clustered around month-end or the first few days of the month. Closing books every month meant that accounting had to be completed in a 7–8-day window.

The work was distributed among 20 members of staff with no single point of contact. Therefore, the company had to implement a lot of controls, which created unnecessary steps in the process. The lack of automation consumed valuable time and resources and introduced higher chances of human error, leading to rework and delays.

The Solution: Automation by Design

By understanding the end outcome, Cevitr introduced a streamlined solution designed to do more with less. The team began by eliminating unnecessary manual steps and implementing validation tools that ensured data integrity at the source. This meant only clean, verified data was uploaded into Oracle, drastically cutting down error rates and reducing the need for repetitive corrections.

Crucially, the transformation wasn’t just about the technology—it was also about people. Over 4–5 months, the implementation process included comprehensive change management to support teams in adapting to the new system.

The Results: From Manual to Seamless

The impact of automation was immediate and impressive:

• Monthly journal volume surged from 600 to 1,000 entries.
• Jo, now handles uploads overnight from Monday to Friday, ensuring the system keeps moving even when people aren’t.
• Improved Accuracy & Speed: With fewer errors and cleaner data, the finance team experienced faster month-end closures and greater confidence in reporting.

• Ensures 100% traceability for the business by implementing a feedback loop from Jo to the business stakeholders, which eliminates guesswork and simplifies error handling.

Conclusion: A Future-Ready Finance Function

The automation of journal uploads didn’t just optimize a process—it helped the finance team reclaim their time, reduce manual workloads, and focus on higher-value tasks as well as providing more meaningful work for staff. By leveraging automation thoughtfully, Cevitr empowered this organization to meet their financial deadlines with less stress and greater accuracy. If you’d like to speak to us about automating workflows, you can book a call with us to learn more about how Cevitr can help your business.