For most organizations, accounts payable (AP) processing is a tedious, error-prone, and paper-based task that consumes valuable time. Despite the availability of advanced AP automation solutions, “Just 11% of companies indicated that they have completely automated their payment disbursements,” according to the 2024 AP Automation Readiness Survey Report sponsored by Deluxe and powered by Strategic Treasurer.*

The first edition of this survey report explored the perspectives of 118 treasury and finance professionals from companies of all sizes and industries on various aspects of AP and its automation. Here are the key findings:

Top three pain points in payment disbursements

Three-quarters of respondents (75%) cited manual processes as their leading pain point. This challenge was the most frequently reported pain point across company sizes, affecting 73% of mid-market firms, 72% of small companies, and 78% of large enterprises.

Source: 2024 AP Automation Readiness Survey Report

Protecting against fraud ranked as the second most significant challenge, with 56% of all companies highlighting it as a concern. However, the impact varied by company size—only 47% of small firms identified fraud as a major issue, compared to 56% of mid-market companies and 65% of large enterprises, revealing a 9-percentage-point difference between each category.

Fraud prevention is an increasing concern for larger companies, with the pain level rising in proportion to company size. As per the 2024 AP Automation Readiness Survey Report, "The larger the company, the greater the pain of fraud."

Adding or changing vendor payment information ranked third, with 53% of all firms pointing to it as a key pain point. The challenge was significantly more pronounced among larger enterprises, with 63% reporting difficulties—nearly 1.5 times the rate of smaller firms, where only 43% flagged it as a concern. Mid-market organizations fell in between, with 51% experiencing similar challenges.

Account validation tops the list of security concerns for all companies

Across all firms, account validation emerges as the foremost security concern in supplier payments, with 70% of respondents identifying it as a critical issue. This is followed by business email compromise (BEC) and spoofing at 53%, and deepfakes at 42%.

Source: 2024 AP Automation Readiness Survey Report

While the ranking of security concerns remains consistent across company sizes, the level of apprehension varies, with larger enterprises exhibiting a significantly higher degree of unease. In fact, each of the top three risks shows a gap of at least 10 percentage points between company sizes, with larger firms expressing greater concern. The most striking difference is seen in BEC/spoofing, where large companies report a 24-point higher level of concern than smaller firms.

In summary, AP automation provides numerous benefits, including optimized working capital management, enhanced cash flow forecasting accuracy, reduced errors, and significant cost savings. Additionally, it improves operational efficiency and plays a critical role in fraud prevention and risk mitigation.

Moreover, AP automation equips companies and their treasury teams with the tools to better navigate economic uncertainty marked by inflation and supply chain challenges. It also strengthens supplier relationships by ensuring timely payments.

To help corporate treasurers better understand the AP industry’s pain points, priorities, and key drivers—so they can derive the wide-ranging benefits of AP automation—we recommend that treasury professionals review and take advantage of the 2024 AP Automation Readiness Survey Report.

 

⃰ Disclosure: Strategic Treasurer owns CTMfile.