Robotic Process Automation Risk Management: Points to Consider

Robotic process automation (RPA) provides organizations numerous benefits in achieving efficiency and effectiveness, but not without risks. Without proper management, the risks posed by RPA may outweigh its intended benefits. RPA risk management has received little attention in prior accounting research and in practice. We discuss risks and control considerations important to achieving the return on RPA investment and maintaining the integrity of the automated processes. We substantiate our discussion by interviewing RPA and risk professionals. Our interviewees suggest that RPA risk management provides incremental value in addition to risk management of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, that the skillset needed for RPA risk management may be missing among risk professionals, and that existing risk and control frameworks need to evolve for RPA risk management. Our discussion stimulates future research and helps organizations as they begin to consider RPA risk management.