How automated processes increase visibility and reduce costs

An enterprise spends a significant portion of its revenues on salaries every month, leading to a limited budget for other expenses. With tight budgets, unnecessary additional expenses on redundant tasks or duplicated work become major liabilities.

Business is affected by multiple factors that lead to an undesirable increase in costs. Manual invoice processing costs significantly more than automated processing, creating substantial opportunities for savings through digital transformation.

Many businesses still don't use workflow automation tools, whilst others have begun transforming with the help of automation to streamline their financial operations.

Automation, as the name suggests, lets you do away with certain manual processes altogether. It unburdens employees from manual data entry, approval bottlenecks, and errors, and reduces the amount of cross-checking and editing you need to do.

As a result, you can expect faster processes with increased visibility for AR and AP management, amongst other benefits.

Let's highlight the importance of automation with key advantages, plus practical guidance for implementing automated accounts payable workflows.

How to automate accounts payable workflows: 6 essential steps

Automating accounts payable isn't just about buying software – it's about redesigning your entire invoice-to-payment process for maximum efficiency. Here's how to get started:

1. Map your current AP process and identify bottlenecks

Before automating anything, document exactly how invoices flow through your business today. Track each step from invoice receipt to payment execution, measuring time spent and identifying where delays occur. This baseline helps you prioritise which automation features will deliver the biggest impact.

2. Digitise invoice capture with OCR technology

Replace manual data entry by implementing optical character recognition (OCR) technology that automatically extracts invoice data from PDFs, scans, and emails. Modern systems learn from your coding patterns over time, suggesting appropriate general ledger codes and routing decisions.

3. Automate invoice matching and validation

Set up automated 2-way or 3-way matching to verify invoices against purchase orders and delivery receipts. This catches discrepancies early and prevents duplicate payments whilst ensuring you only pay for goods and services actually received.

4. Configure approval workflows and policy enforcement

Build rule-based approval routing that sends invoices to the right approvers based on amount, vendor, or department. Automated workflows eliminate email approval chains and provide clear audit trails whilst enforcing your spending policies consistently.

5. Integrate with your existing accounting systems

Connect your AP automation directly to your ERP or accounting platform so invoice data, approvals, and payments sync automatically. This eliminates double data entry and keeps your financial records accurate in real-time.

6. Enable automated payment scheduling and execution

Once invoices are approved, automate payment scheduling based on due dates and cash flow strategies. Support multiple payment methods including BACS, virtual cards, and international transfers whilst capturing early payment discounts.

Key benefits of AP automation

Once you've implemented these foundational steps, the advantages become clear across your entire finance operation. Here are the five most significant benefits you'll experience:

1. Increase accountability with automated approval workflows

Today's workplaces are evolving fast. Completing tasks quickly yet responsibly and adjusting on the fly can help you maintain your team's momentum.

Automated approval workflows make this far easier by creating clear, trackable processes for invoice approvals. Instead of invoices sitting in email inboxes or on desks, automation routes them to the right approvers automatically based on predefined rules like spending thresholds, vendor types, or department budgets.

This transparency eliminates the "where is my invoice?" question and creates accountability at every step. Managers can see exactly which invoices are pending, who's responsible for approval, and how long each step takes. Real-time dashboards provide insights into team performance and help identify bottlenecks before they become problems.

Automated workflows also enforce segregation of duties – ensuring no single person can create, approve, and pay the same invoice, which strengthens internal controls and reduces fraud risk.

With Spendesk's configurable approval workflows, you can set spending limits, require multiple approvers for large purchases, and automatically escalate overdue approvals – turning accountability from a manual oversight task into a systematic advantage.

2. Free up employee time and resources

Manual processes consume a huge amount of time and energy. They lead to more people-power, more resources, and sometimes even more physical workspace.

For example, if you rely on paper receipt storage (rather than e-receipts), you can quickly end up with a small room full of documents.

And then there are the human resources. A team of accountants will often need to manually conduct AR & AP processes in a business. Manual processing requires significant staffing, plus physical workspace, computers, stationery, utilities, and more.

On the other hand, automated AP systems let you easily capture invoices, process approvals, and execute payments through a single dashboard. It eliminates the need for extra employees dedicated to manual data entry. You may just need one person to manage the entire system and vendor communication.

3. Save time and increase productivity

Research shows that employees believe they could save significant hours annually through automation. That represents weeks of freed-up time that could be redirected to strategic work.

Which is actually a conservative estimate! Spendesk users, for example, save substantial time each month by automating the expense process.

This is why business leaders are increasingly adopting workforce automation technology, with many believing that automation can be easily utilised in their industry.

Without it, employees are forced to invest what should be productive time in redundant manual processes. These are the same hours that could have been invested in analysis, sales, production or strategising.

They're happy to avoid mind-numbing monotony – and happiness is great for morale. And they're more productive simply because they're doing more productive work.

4. Enhance visibility over data

For a business, it's important to understand the exact flow of their cash. A positive incoming flow of cash is a reflector of a healthy business. And excessive outgoing of cash can reflect turbulence or mismanagement inside the business.

Which is all fairly simple and obvious.

Modern automation tools give finance teams far better visibility over operational spend and other key metrics. When these processes are handled through software, data is always up to date and available when you need it.

You no longer need to wait until the end of the month to see what's been spent. You have a dashboard with all the information waiting for you. You also tend to have better quality data, as we'll see in the next section.

And this real-time data leads to better decision-making. Without good numbers available, you're simply giving your best guess. But automation helps the company forecast its future based on things like money spent, expected accounts receivable and payable, and plenty more.

5. Improve quality with consistency and fraud prevention

The excitement to do a new job is always high. But, doing the same task over and over again makes a task mundane. And with boredom come mistakes.

In fact, even when people are happy and motivated to do a job, there are still typically false moves along the way. "Human error" is a phrase for a reason.

But automation tools don't get bored, and are built to execute tasks repeatedly, without any deviation along the way. So you can improve the quality of your data and reports simply by leaving the repetitive work to the machines.

Beyond consistency, automated AP systems also provide robust fraud prevention capabilities. They automatically flag duplicate invoices, verify vendor bank details, and monitor for unusual payment patterns that could indicate fraudulent activity. Built-in compliance features ensure your processes meet regulatory requirements whilst maintaining complete audit trails.

Key features to look for in AP automation software

When evaluating AP automation solutions, prioritise platforms that offer:

• Intelligent invoice capture: OCR technology that learns your coding patterns and suggests appropriate GL codes automatically

• Configurable approval workflows: Rule-based routing that adapts to your organisational structure and spending policies

• Multi-way invoice matching: Automated verification against purchase orders and receipts to prevent overpayments

• Real-time integration: Seamless connectivity with your existing ERP, accounting, and banking systems

• Mobile accessibility: Apps that let approvers handle invoices on the go and employees submit expenses instantly

• Comprehensive reporting: Dashboards that provide real-time visibility into spending patterns, cash flow, and vendor performance

• Security and compliance: Built-in fraud detection, audit trails, and compliance with standards like PCI-DSS and GDPR

The right AP automation platform doesn't just digitise your existing process – it transforms how your finance team works, giving you the control and visibility needed to make smarter spending decisions whilst reducing manual overhead.

Measuring AP automation ROI and success

To justify your AP automation investment and track ongoing performance, monitor these key metrics:

Cost metrics:

• Cost per invoice processed (target significant reduction vs. manual processing)

• Staff time saved per month (Spendesk customers report substantial time savings)

• Early payment discount capture rate

Efficiency metrics:

• Invoice processing cycle time (from receipt to payment)

• Approval bottleneck identification and resolution

• Exception rate (invoices requiring manual intervention)

Quality metrics:

• Data accuracy improvements

• Duplicate payment prevention

• Vendor satisfaction and relationship strength

Regular monitoring of these KPIs ensures your automation continues delivering value and identifies opportunities for further optimisation. Most finance teams see measurable improvements within the first few months of implementation.

Conclusion

Automation becomes more normal by the hour. But it's nothing new. Factories and software have always incorporated automation to increase production, and this has helped economies grow and flourish.

As an organisation, good automation means custom software that's able to streamline time tracking, expense management, invoice approval, workflow management, staff management and more. Customisation and automation together create processes that are compatible with the existing workflow of the organisation, yet take away the strain and increase visibility.

We vouch for automation. It's reliable, convenient and super-efficient.

Frequently asked questions about AP automation

How long does it take to implement AP automation?
Most businesses can implement basic AP automation within weeks, with advanced features rolled out over a few months. The timeline depends on your current process complexity and integration requirements.

Will AP automation work with our existing accounting system?
Yes, modern AP automation platforms integrate with virtually all major ERP and accounting systems including NetSuite, SAP, Sage, QuickBooks, and Xero through secure API connections.

What's the difference between 2-way and 3-way invoice matching?
2-way matching compares invoices against purchase orders, whilst 3-way matching adds delivery receipts for complete verification. Most businesses start with 2-way matching and upgrade as needed.

How much can we expect to save with AP automation?
Organisations typically see significant reductions in invoice processing costs, plus substantial time savings per finance team member each month. Spendesk customers report major savings on invoice processing costs.

Do vendors need to change how they send invoices? No, AP automation systems can handle invoices in multiple formats – paper scans, email PDFs, and electronic submissions – through a single intake process.