Global Opportunities and Failures in AP Exposed in New Report

Within the increasingly integrated Procure-to-Pay process, Accounts Payable is well recognized for the enormous opportunities it presents to drive efficiencies. In a brand-new report, APEX Analytix shares the results of a comprehensive survey it carried out within the global finance community earlier this year. The report, titled 2015 Financial Leaders Benchmarking Report provides useful insights, benchmarks and analysis from Accounts Payable, Procure-to-Pay, and Shared Services. The report clearly redefines best-in-class AP operations as characterized by high levels of touchless invoice processing, electronic invoice submissions and payments, and use of supplier portals. Within supplier portals, what is notably on the rise, in fact, is a self-serve capability that allows suppliers to manage basic transactions and updates through these portals. More than half of top-performing organizations are today operating supplier portals. Some of the more interesting functionalities emerging include scoring mechanisms reflecting the likelihood of a supplier to take a discount, integrated discount marketing, and bi-directional discount promotions [buyer to supplier, and supplier to buyer]. [inlinead] "Clearly, the direction of supplier portals is following closely the convenience we, as consumers, find in banking portals and business to consumer shopping sites" the report states. However with nearly 50% of supplier portals not permitting invoices to be submitted, more than half not permitting supplier registration, and over 80% not supporting dynamic discounting and such, what's clear is that not all portals are created equal. But while the report highlights the correlation between automation targeting "touchless" and upper quartile performance, in truth, it also shows that there are still more "bad" performers then "good" performers. The danger with touchless is that if not partnered with a strong controls mechanism, companies expose themselves to increased rates of noncompliance. In other words, automating mistakes just makes it easier to make more mistakes [like overpayments]. However what's really interesting in this report is the huge list of opportunities exposed that still remain largely untapped. These include a failure to address payment control practices, sub-optimal organizational structure and leadership, overlooking supplier discounts, a proliferation of payment terms and conditions, failed compliance, and unacceptable and unmanaged levels of risk. Download the report here or below for all the details, including tips on getting more out of your cash management practices and benchmarking risk management. With an average of 5% of annual revenue loss to fraud each year, AP represents not just on obvious risk opportunity that needs to be staunched, but also the last defense in pushing back.

Global Opportunities and Failures in AP Exposed in New Report

To continue reading this story get free access

Finance & Accounting Events

The Rise of Strategic AP: How AI and AP Data are Unlocking New Value for Global Finance Shared Services

Your Contracts Said One Thing. Your Invoices Say Another. Let's Fix That.

Powering the Future of Indirect Tax: Connected Compliance, Driven by Intelligence

Benchmarking Your Shared Services Center: Where Do You Really Stand on Overpayments?

Getting Ahead of Spain’s E-Invoicing Deadlines: Practical Steps for O2C and P2P Leaders

From Invoice to Pay: Orchestrating the Next Generation of Finance Automation

Follow Us

Latest Webinars

Real Results. Real Fast. How to Build a World Class Finance Organization in 9 Months

From 5% to 74% Touchless: How Motion LP Transformed AP Through Automation and Process Improvement

Beyond the Plateau: Automating the Last 20% of AP Without Losing Control

Recommended

The Red Thread of Compliance: Untangling the Complexity of Global Invoice Compli...

Unlocking the Intelligence Hidden in Accounts Payable

The Future of Order-to-Cash and E-Invoicing Market Report 2026

How Colgate Modernized AP Fraud Prevention with Trustmi

Why Is Intercompany Accounting So Hard to Fix–and What Actually Works?

The Agentic Advantage: Transforming Accounts Payable into a Strategic Value Engi...

A Practical Guide to AI for Finance Leaders: Unlock Intelligent Accounts Receiva...

The Financial Blindside: When Internal Reporting Tells Only Half the Story

Closing the AP Fraud Gap: Responding to AI-Enabled Risk

Germany’s E-Invoicing Deadline Is Approaching. Is Your Organization Ready?

From Friction to Flow: What Today’s B2B Buyers Really Want in Payments

Designing the Future R2R Operating Model: From Fragmented Processes to Intellige...

FIND CONTENT BY TYPE

SSON COMMUNITY

ADVERTISE WITH US

JOIN THE SSON COMMUNITY

Global Opportunities and Failures in AP Exposed in New Report

To continue reading this story get free access

Finance & Accounting Events

Follow Us

Subscribe to our Free Newsletter

Latest Webinars

Recommended

FIND CONTENT BY TYPE

SSON COMMUNITY

ADVERTISE WITH US

JOIN THE SSON COMMUNITY