{"id":4059,"date":"2018-03-29T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-03-29T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/?p=4059"},"modified":"2025-01-24T13:47:32","modified_gmt":"2025-01-24T13:47:32","slug":"robot-manage-finances","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/robot-manage-finances\/","title":{"rendered":"Would you let a robot manage your business finances?"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"entry-header has-dark-background-color entry-header--has-illustration entry-header--has-illustration--generic\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-header__row row align-center\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col col-lg-7 col-xlg-6 entry-header__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"component component-single-header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-header__misc text--subtitle text--uppercase text--small\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/category\/money-matters\/\" class=\"entry-header__link\">Money Matters<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-title-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"entry-title\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tWould you let a robot manage your business finances?\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"entry-header__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"single-post-details container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"posted-on \"><time class=\"entry-date published\" datetime=\"2018-03-29T10:00:00+01:00\">29 March, 2018<\/time><\/span><span class=\"reading-time\"> min read<\/span>\n\t\t<button\n\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\tclass=\"social-share-button button button--icon button--secondary js-social-share-button\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-title=\"Would you let a robot manage your business finances?\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-url=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/robot-manage-finances\/\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-text=\"Please read this interesting article\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__share-label\">Share<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__copy-label\" hidden>Copy Link<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__copy-tooltip\" aria-hidden=\"true\" hidden>Copied<\/span>\n\t\t<\/button>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/header>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-author has-dark-background-color alignfull\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"co-authors\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-author-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"entry-author\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/author\/ashleyhindsmansage\/\">\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"40\" height=\"40\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/02\/Ashley-Thompson-350x350.jpg\" class=\"entry-author__image\" alt=\"Ashley Thompson\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/02\/Ashley-Thompson-350x350.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/02\/Ashley-Thompson.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 40px) 100vw, 40px\" \/>\t\t\t\t<span class=\"entry-author__name\">Ashley Thompson<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s already happening across the globe as more consumers warm up to the idea for their personal finance needs. As consumers continue to drive the trajectory of fintech with demands for more convenience and a better experience, more providers are teaming with tech firms to develop algorithms to automatically manage portfolios.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Is this a financial fad or the future of personal investing? How does this type of technology impact business finance and money management? Which is better \u2013 a human or a robot?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The answer to these questions is the same: it depends on your preference. The latest advancements are revolutionary in that they open a new world of options for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) at any accounting expertise level. Here\u2019s how.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-rise-of-the-robo-advisor\"><strong>The rise of the robo-advisor<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Investment automation is a more cost-efficient way to invest money because it replaces costly consulting hours with adjustable algorithms based on the customers\u2019 preferences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robo-advisor technology is catapulting the personal finance market, with peer-to-peer (P2P) money transfers trailing behind. The US market alone is set to increase 38% to $1.5 trillion by 2022, and currently holds 68% of the global market share. Meanwhile, Europe is the second largest with 11%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"single-cta gated-content\">\n\t<div class=\"single-cta__positioner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__wrapper has-dark-background-color\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"single-cta__title h3\">Is your business running you?<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>As your growing business gets more complex, are you seeing signs of stalling growth? Download this white paper to discover how automation and analytics can help you keep things moving.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"#gate-5b3a2024-974d-423d-9b9d-a2944466a848\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"single-cta__button button button--primary\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t>Get your free white paper<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1080\" height=\"810\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2019\/07\/Fracino_2019_200cloud_00278-1080x810.jpg\" class=\"single-cta__image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2019\/07\/Fracino_2019_200cloud_00278-1080x810.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 48em) 33vw, 100vw\" \/>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-use-of-a-robot-for-your-small-business\"><strong>Use of a robot for your small business <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Automation and machine-learning technology is spilling into the small business landscape as well. In our report <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/cp\/accounting\/#gate-1abed271-1222-4025-ba29-c8c0dbffe42c\">Tech-Savvy Businesses do it Better<\/a>, our research with IDC shows 57% of small business owners see digital transformation as an opportunity to improve efficiencies throughout the business, i.e. to differentiate from competitors and tackle general admin tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some trending examples of this: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/payroll-software\/\">payroll software<\/a> to manage paying your employees, intelligent customer relationship management (CRM) systems, and chatbots for your customer service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Additionally, our research shows that globally SMEs are looking to digitalise <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/sage-business-cloud\/accounting\/\">accounting<\/a> and money management (generating, processing, and accepting payments and invoices) admin tasks \u2013 specifically, those that are either juggled in-house or handled by an accountant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/ai-more-productive\/\">Artificial intelligence<\/a> and machine-learning technology has led to the creation of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/chatbots-ai-automate-powerful-results\/\">smart assistants and chatbots apps<\/a> that allow you to manage your finances through a <a href=\"https:\/\/hellopegg.io\/\">virtual assistant<\/a>. If you are a time and resource-strapped business, you can keep a real-time account of your expenses, track incoming payments, and automatically balance books through voice or text command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The more you interact with the chatbot the more intelligent it will become, adapting to how you work and providing you with recommendations tailored to your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>New electronic invoicing technology can help your business to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/5-tips-to-stop-late-payments-and-get-paid-faster\/\">get paid faster<\/a> and track invoice payments better. Machine learning alerts you when your customer receives, opens, and pays your invoice and automatically updates your stock items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-benefits-of-using-tech-when-managing-money\"><strong>Benefits of using tech when managing money<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>How clear is your firm\u2019s financial \u201cbig picture\u201d? How far in advance can you spot a change in cash flow? More than 50% of SMEs currently experience or expect to experience negative impacts on company investment, paying suppliers, and staff bonuses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because emerging technology uses your firm\u2019s automated data to generate predictions and analysis, you have the insights you need to make better, more informed financial decisions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Less time crunching numbers, more time applying them to your business\u2019s growth<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Identify potential cash shortages so you can contact your suppliers in advance<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Identify cash surpluses in advance to plan for ways to re-invest into your business, i.e. new equipment, more stock items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Thinking of digitising your money management process and saving yourself some time? Here are a few tips to help you specify what you need in a solution:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Identify the day-to-day tasks that are using up too much time or not delivering the right outcome. This could be manually updating data for paid invoices, tracking transaction history, or generating invoices. It\u2019s important that these features are a part of your solution offering to truly feel the benefits.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How would you want to interact with this technology? Are you or any of your staff already comfortable with the necessary mobile device and\/or app? How easy would it be to train users? Is it a plausible enough habit change to make your transition seamless? Consider if your potential solution is a sustainable and achievable option.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What are the customer-facing factors with each option? If you\u2019re looking to digitalise generating invoices, what does the customer experience entail and how easy is it to use? Are there additional bells and whistles like invoice customisation?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>This new technology for small businesses is taking off because it helps you get back to doing what you love: growing your business. With the right solution, you can manage your business finance necessities without losing focus of the other aspects of running a firm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Have you implemented digital technology within your small business already? Let us know how you are getting on in the comments below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"single-cta gated-content\">\n\t<div class=\"single-cta__positioner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__wrapper has-dark-background-color\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"single-cta__title h3\">The Art of Being Paid<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Chasing invoice payments doesn\u2019t have to be painful. Use this&nbsp;kit&nbsp;to answer a few questions about your customers so you understand their&nbsp;payment drivers, then read our advice on how to flex your style for each, calling techniques and much more.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"#gate-8810fa04-701e-460a-b37c-e767f5a74c18\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"single-cta__button button button--primary\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t>Get your guide<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1440\" height=\"810\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1261583718-1440x810.jpg\" class=\"single-cta__image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1261583718-1440x810.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 48em) 33vw, 100vw\" \/>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"single-cta\">\n\t<div class=\"single-cta__positioner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__wrapper has-dark-background-color\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"single-cta__title h3\">Subscribe to the Sage Advice newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Join more than 500,000 UK readers and get the best business admin strategies and tactics, as well as actionable advice to help your company thrive, in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"#gate-b1a63862-3fa0-4a5e-bb67-c76b88bbc6b8\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"single-cta__button button button--primary\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t>Subscribe now<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1440\" height=\"810\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1073797282-1-1440x810.jpg\" class=\"single-cta__image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1073797282-1-1440x810.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 48em) 33vw, 100vw\" \/>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s already happening across the globe as more consumers warm up to the idea for their personal finance needs. As consumers continue to drive the trajectory of fintech with demands for more convenience and a better experience, more providers are teaming with tech firms to develop algorithms to automatically manage portfolios. Is this a financial [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":281,"featured_media":3313,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sage_video":false,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,11],"tags":[24,25],"business_type":[4,3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[73,74],"imagine_tag":[91,109],"coauthors":[354],"class_list":["post-4059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-money-matters","category-technology-innovation","tag-cash-flow","tag-make-receive-payments","business_type-small-business","business_type-medium-sized-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-gb","author_name":"Ashley Thompson","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2017\/12\/GettyImages-536907925_super.jpg","imagine_tags":{"91":"Growing business","109":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice UK","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/281"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4059"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4059\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/3313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4059"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=4059"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=4059"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=4059"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=4059"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=4059"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=4059"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=4059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}