Accounts payable teams are stretched thin. More invoices. More suppliers and stakeholders. More approvers, documentation, and regulations to track. And fewer people and less time to handle any of it. Departments across all finance functions are turning to vendor invoice management software, AP software, and, increasingly, AI agents to automate routine manual invoice tasks. That frees up human headcount to focus on higher-value, more strategic work.
But starting an invoice automation journey can be daunting, and even teams that have already automated pieces of the process often find they’ve stalled short of full automation. As invoices start piling up and business units clamor to add suppliers and projects daily, finding time to automate, or finish automating, can feel impossible.
With so much to do and so little time, it’s no wonder that only 7% of AP departments are fully automated, according to Tipalti’s Global Finance Outlook accounts payable research. The numbers explain why. 57% of AP professionals cite manual data entry as their top challenge. 53% say that the challenge creates downstream approval delays, all adding up to 11 hours a week of wasted time for the average AP professional. That’s largely because most teams are still stuck in the middle of their automation journey. They’ve automated a piece or two, such as OCR-based data capture, but still rely on manual work to fill in the gaps.
If you haven’t automated yet or have only automated parts of the process, it simply doesn’t have to be this way.
Invoice automation, powered by AI, can help move the needle on productivity and efficiency quickly. The stakes are only getting higher. Cash is king, and suppliers remember who pays on time and who doesn’t. Regulations keep raising the bar on international compliance and auditing. And global growth brings currency and tax complexity that manual processes weren’t built to handle. Automating invoice processing isn’t optional anymore. It’s critical. The sooner you start or finish your automation journey, the sooner you break the cycle of inefficiency and frustration.
Today, the payoff isn’t theoretical: AP teams that have closed this gap are already seeing what’s possible. With invoice automation, consumer audio brand JLab boosted productivity by 68% and managed 35% more invoices without adding headcount. Before, they were manually entering bills into their ERP and chasing approvals over email. Another company, with just two people on the AP team, was manually processing hundreds of invoices and international royalty payments each week, straining resources and risking errors. After adopting agentic AI invoice automation, they accelerated AP close times and absorbed their growing invoice volume without adding headcount.
What to Look for in a Partner
These results are within reach, but they start with the right partner. Whether you’re just getting started or already have some automation in place, here’s what to look for as you evaluate vendor invoice management software. None of this is a nice-to-have. It’s the difference between “one-off automation” and joining the 7% who are fully there.
1. AI that does the work
First, prioritize AI that does the work, not just assists with it. That means true AI, not just rules-based automation, since AI is what catches the edge cases that rules-based systems miss. A leading solution should use AI for invoice capture, format matching, and auto-coding, including support for custom fields such as department, location, tax, and expense accounts. That’s the exact work behind the 57% data-entry stat. Increasingly, AI agents take this further, matching invoices to POs and receipts, flagging exceptions, and routing approvals autonomously. They escalate only the cases that truly need a human decision, directly targeting the 53% of teams whose approvals stall downstream of manual entry.
2. Removing friction with suppliers
Second, look for a partner that removes friction with your suppliers. Supplier portals and e-invoicing support replace the archaic email chains that slow down every invoice. Ideally, that support is compatible with global networks like Peppol. Automated, proactive supplier communications matter just as much, so suppliers know what’s happening, when, and why. Suppliers remember who pays on time and who doesn’t, and automation helps protect that relationship.
3. Built-in visibility and control
Third, look for built-in visibility and control. That starts with unified invoices and payment processing, individually or in batches. You want the option to hold payments when needed, for better cash management or to resolve open supplier issues. Efficient solutions use AI to flag duplicate invoices and signs of fraud before payment goes out, adding another layer of control. It also means implementing real-time reconciliation directly into your ERP, eliminating the need to consolidate data across multiple spreadsheets or accounting systems. You want clear audit trails for transparency and compliance, built automatically rather than assembled after the fact.
The Real Return
Together, these priorities are what separate the AP teams still stuck with manual invoice management from the 7% who’ve reached full automation. Now is the time to close that gap. Not just to save 11 hours a week, but because of what happens next. The AP teams that get there first won’t just move faster. They’ll be the ones suppliers want to work with. They’ll be the ones finance leadership points to when asked how the team is scaling without additional headcount. And they’ll be the ones spending their time on decisions that actually move the needle, not data entry. That’s the real fix.
About the Author
Manish Vrishaketu is the Chief Customer and Operating Officer at Tipalti, where he has helped customers transform their finance departments with maximum business impact and minimum hassle for more than 10 years.
