Maud Avevor, a recent graduate of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology with a BSc in Actuarial Science, is championing the transformation of finance back-office operations through intelligent automation.

With a solid grounding in quantitative analysis and risk assessment, Avevor is encouraging organisations to move away from manual, error-prone processes towards automated systems that enhance financial controls and ensure audit readiness.

The finance back office has long been dominated by repetitive, labour-intensive tasks. Invoice processing, transaction categorisation, reconciliations, and report generation consume significant time while exposing organisations to human error and audit findings.

Avevor argues that such approaches are increasingly unsustainable in a regulatory landscape characterised by rising compliance expectations and intensified audit scrutiny.

"Organisations are spending enormous resources on manual processes that should be automated," the new graduate explains in an interview with news reporters after her graduation over the weekend.

"Every manual step is a potential point of failure. Every spreadsheet-based workflow introduces risk. Finance teams are often overwhelmed by routine administrative work, when their focus should be on analysis and strategic insight. Automation builds a finance function capable of withstanding rigorous audit scrutiny."

Avevor’s actuarial science background offers a distinct perspective on risk and control. The discipline emphasises quantifying uncertainty and establishing robust frameworks to manage exposure—principles directly applicable to financial operations.

Where manual processes create inconsistencies and audit risk, automated systems provide standardised workflows with built-in controls and comprehensive audit trails.

She advocates for a targeted approach to back-office transformation. Instead of replacing legacy systems wholesale, Avevor advises organisations to prioritise high-impact, error-prone processes for automation. Invoice processing, for example, is an ideal starting point.

Automation can extract invoice data, validate it against purchase orders, categorise expenses accurately, and flag exceptions—minimising human intervention while maintaining complete documentation for auditors.

"Automated processes create accountability," Avevor notes. "When tasks are performed through standardised systems with clear logic and full logging, auditors can track exactly what happened, when, and why. That transparency significantly strengthens an organisation’s audit position. By contrast, manual processes often result in inconsistencies, incomplete documentation, and unanswered questions."

Reconciliations represent another area where automation delivers substantial benefits. Monthly bank reconciliations, intercompany account reconciliations, and accrual reconciliations are traditionally labour-intensive and error-prone.

Intelligent automation manages these systematically, flagging discrepancies and resolving routine differences automatically, while escalating complex issues for human review.

Avevor’s message is clear: automation is essential infrastructure for modern finance functions. Organisations investing in automated back-office processes are not only reducing errors and accelerating close cycles but also strengthening compliance and freeing finance professionals to focus on higher-value activities, building a competitive edge in the process.