Accounts payable (AP) departments are distinctly well-suited for automation-backed digital transformation. Manual AP operations are some of the most expensive and inefficient for a company to maintain. It takes nearly 20 days and 15 phases for an invoice to pass through a complete, validated manual workflow. AP automated technologies bring that timeline down to three days and can save the organization as much as $10 per invoice.

1. Digital Transformation
AP Automation reduces invoice processing costs.
Esker is a global leader in
AI-driven document process
automation software, providing
customers with AI-driven tools for
optimizing purchase-to-pay (P2P)
and order-to-cash (O2C) cycles.
Founded in 1985, Esker now
operates in North America, Latin
America, Europe and Asia Pacific
and has helped over 11,000 companies around the world improve efficiency, visibility
and cost savings associated with processing and exchanging information.
Automating
manual
processes
Improving
processes
Managing
time/
productivity
Securing
approval to
pay invoices
Leading and
motivating
staff
Reducing
paper
Making
on-time
payments
Efficiency is AP’s biggest challenge. Top concerns:
The digital transformation market is projected to grow from
$290 billion in 2018 to $665 billion by 2023 at an annual
growth rate of 18 percent over five years, with investment
in AI and cloud-deployed technologies forecasted to
be the biggest beneficiaries.
https://which-50.com/digital-transformation-market-will-grow-us665b-by-2025/
Digital Transformation is taking enterprises by storm, transforming processes,
procedures and execution of data-driven, machine-processed actions.
Accounts payable (AP) departments are
distinctly well-suited for automation-backed
digital transformation. Manual AP operations
are some of the most expensive and inefficient
for a company to maintain. It takes nearly
20 days and 15 phases for an invoice to pass
through a complete, validated manual workflow.
AP automated technologies bring that
timeline down to three days and can save the
organization as much as $10 per invoice.
https://www.cfo.com/expense-management/2018/02/metric-month-accounts-payable-cost/
Most organizations are still forced to
process paper invoices as part of their
AP process, increasing operating costs
and inhibiting productivity. What’s more,
invoices received via email, fax, EDI/
XML or supplier portals often require
manual intervention to be processed.
Many businesses lack automation for AP and require manual data entry to
process vendor invoices. 86% of SMEs, 57% of enterprises and 22% of mid-market
businesses still use manual processes.
The global AP software market was valued at around $988 million
in 2018 and is expected to reach approximately $1,567 million in 2025,
at a CAGR of slightly above 6.8% between 2019 and 2025.*
* https://www.globenewswire.com/news-releas e/2019/03/20/1757668/0/en/Global-Accounts-Payable-Software-Market-Will-Reach-USD-1-567-Million-by-2025-Zion-Market-Research.html
62% of organizations
surveyed by the Aberdeen
Group identified
eliminating complex
and/or risky processes
among the top priorities
for digital transformation
According to the Aberdeen
Group, best-in-class
organizations achieved an
18% improvement in
the cycle time of key
business processes
over the past 12 months
70% of CFOs expect
to increase
investments in digital
transformation by more
than 20% at the end of
Q1 2020, according to a
black book survey
2018
2023
$290B
$665B
18%
Invoices
reveived via:
■ Email
■ Paper
■ Supplier
portal/web
■ EDI/XML
■ Fax
2%
39%
37%
12%
10%
Level Research report - 2019 Payables Insight Report, provided by Esker
SMEs
Enterprises
Mid-market
86%
57%
22%
Addressing these pain points requires a change in the
AP processing workflow, essentially creating a touchless
environment that introduces automation. Accounts
payable automation reduces costs and addresses
primary pain points while offering several benefits.
Level Research report - 2019 Payables Insight Report, provided by Esker
Improvements from AP Automation
Reduction of paper invoice volume
Quicker approval of invoices
Improved visibility into unpaid invoices
Lower overall AP processing costs
Increased employee productivity
Increased capture of early payment discounts
Reduction in late-payment penalties and interest
Better compliance with regulatory requirements
Improved supplier relationships
47%
47%
40%
37%
34%
21%
20%
15%
13%
Organizations bound to manual AP processes are
challenged by multiple pain points that hamper
efficiency and increase costs.
Level Research report - 2019 Payables Insight Report, provided by Esker
Survey Reported AP Processing Pain Points
Manual data
entry and
inefficient
processes
Manual
routing of
invoices for
approval
Lost or
missing
invoices
Majority
of invoices
received
in paper
format
Lack of
visibility
into
outstanding
liabilities
High
number of
discrepancies
and
exceptions
Inability
to approve
invoices
in time to
capture
discounts
Decentralized
AP
processes
71%
61%
42%
37%
29% 29%
18%
14%
The Practical Advantages of
Digital Transformation
in the Accounts
Payable Space
Awareness of the value AP
automation tools can bring
to businesses is growing
quickly and is in high
demand. Many organizations
are applying the concepts of
digital transformation with
automation and are choosing
cloud-based platforms to
speed up adoption and
improve integration.
62% 18% 70%
13%
12%
6% 6% 6%
5% 5%
$15
$12
$9
$6
$3
0
CostPerInvoice
Level of automation
Low Limited Moderate Significant High
IOFM 2019 Benchmarking Measuring AP Performance report, data provided by Esker
$4.02
$7.37
$5.56
$13.09
$8.33
www.esker.com
For more informationon Esker’s
automation sulitions, head to