Accounts payable automation market report: trends and opportunities
The way businesses manage accounts payable is evolving rapidly. As businesses face continued economic uncertainty and the need to do more with less, they increasingly turn to innovative accounts payable automation software to save money, optimize cash flow, and improve financial efficiency. But with so many competing accounts payable automation solutions flooding the marketplace, finding the right fit for your business can be challenging. The key to making the right investment and optimizing your AP operations is staying informed about the latest market trends in AP automation.
We can help. As the only AP automation platform built by AP professionals for AP professionals and the industry leader for customer satisfaction, Stampli has a unique understanding of the AP automation sector as it’s the only AP platform that’s centered on AP. We help over 67,000 active AP users process, verify, approve, and pay over $70 billion in vendor invoices every year.
In this article, we’ll explore the factors driving the growth of the accounts payable automation market. Our market analysis digs into customer reviews, market research, and industry reports to provide data-based insights you can use to make informed investment decisions.
Let’s jump in.
Financial automation optimizes AP processes
According to a 2023 survey of finance leaders and professionals conducted by Stampli and Probolsky Research, 17.7% of businesses have fully automated their AP processes. Of the remainder, 62.5% have partially automated their AP processes but still rely on manual tasks like invoice entry, 13.7% use mostly manual processes and minimal automation, and 6% are entirely manual.
AP automation software reduces errors and improves efficiency
In the same survey, businesses reported the benefits they see from using accounts payable automation technologies. The top benefit was reducing errors, missed payments, and double payments, tied with faster approvals and payments. The next benefits were better visibility into invoice status, better reporting and forecasting, and reduced labor requirements. These results show that businesses understand the efficiencies they can achieve using automated accounts payable systems.
Perceived challenges: software costs and a steep learning curve
Businesses also reported the barriers they face or have faced to automating their AP systems. The top barrier was the cost of the AP software or system, followed by staff knowledge and capabilities, data security, the cost and complexity of ERP integrations, and company resistance to new technologies.
These challenges reveal that although the benefits of AP automation are well-known, some companies still don’t have all the information they need to make an informed decision about implementing an AP solution. For example, Stampli provides resources to help you estimate the real cost of AP automation so you can compare the cost of each AP solution against the potential direct and indirect cost savings and efficiency gains from implementing it.
AI is transforming accounts payable processing
AI continues to be an evolutionary force in business. Deloitte’s State of Generative AI in the Enterprise Q1 2024 report reveals that 91% of companies surveyed said they expect their productivity to increase due to generative AI. One-third (31%) of business leaders expected substantial transformation within one year, and half (48%) expected it in one to three years.
Most finance leaders are investing or plan to invest in advanced automation solutions in the near future. According to Deloitte’s Q4 2023 CFO Signals report, 80% of CFOs say they will embed automation and digital technologies in their finance operations in 2024. The data suggests that a significant percentage plan to invest in AI-powered technologies. For instance, the Stampli and Probolsky Research report says that 85% of finance leaders are interested in the potential of AI-powered automation in their accounts payable function, with half (51%) saying they are “very interested.”
AI improves processing accuracy and finance system efficiency
According to the Stampli and Probolsky report, most respondents say that improving invoice processing accuracy is the primary benefit they’ve realized from AI-powered AP automation applications. The other top benefits were better fraud detection, cutting costs, and improving processing speeds and financial system efficiency.
Businesses also reported that they are still trying to quantify the benefits of implementing AI-powered AP automation. According to Deloitte’s Q1 2024 CFO Signals report, 40% of companies are looking at workforce impact and productivity, 29% at cost savings and expense reduction, and 16% at ROI and growth indicators. Almost a third of companies said they are uncertain of the benefits of AI or aren’t currently measuring them.
Stampli customers say they have realized real efficiency gains from implementing AI-powered AP automation in their businesses. “The best aspect of Stampli is its seamless automation of the accounts payable process,” says one Stampli user. “The intelligent invoice processing and approval workflows have significantly streamlined our operations, saving time and reducing manual errors.”
Perceived barriers to AI adoption: Data security and human oversight
Some businesses are still hesitant to implement AI-based technologies. Part of the challenge is many companies are still learning about artificial intelligence solutions and the impact they could have on their businesses.
The Stampli and Probolsky survey ranked privacy and data security as the top perceived challenges to AI adoption. This result reflects the general public’s concerns about how well AI systems will protect sensitive personal information. It also reflects finance leaders’ more specific concerns about whether AI-based financial automation systems would be vulnerable to attack or data leaks.
Just under half of all respondents identified a lack of human oversight as another major concern, revealing fears about AI systems “hallucinating” and creating corrupt data or potentially making damaging autonomous decisions. Finally, businesses expressed concerns about AI systems replacing AP jobs and a potentially steep learning curve for AP staff to learn how to use AI-powered technologies.
Despite these concerns, many businesses are still enthusiastic about implementing AI-powered accounts payable automation systems, especially if those systems contain safeguards such as human oversight of AI decisions. According to the Stampli and Probolsky survey, 63% of finance leaders said they’d be less hesitant to use AI-powered AP automation solutions if the AI’s decisions had to be first approved by a human.
In Deloitte’s State of Generative AI in the Enterprise Q1 2024 report, businesses reported their level of preparedness for implementing AI technologies. Most businesses (78%) said their technology infrastructure was moderately to very highly prepared, but just over half said their risk and governance policies and procedures (59%) and talent (59%) were prepared.
To facilitate the transition to AI-based technologies, businesses can assess their current preparedness and develop and implement best practices for integrating AI-powered AP automation into their business operations. In the State of Generative AI report, Deloitte says that some of the surveyed businesses were already implementing safeguards to manage the risks of AI technology.
Stampli: AP automation with AI at the core
Many financial automation platforms approach AI superficially. They deploy off-the-shelf AI chatbots or AI functionality at the margins of their business and then issue press releases saying they’re AI-powered.
Stampli has been built around AI since day one. When Stampli was founded in 2015, it was the only financial automation solutions specialized in accounts payable. Even fewer had AI on their radar. Only Stampli has kept AI at the core as it evolved into a comprehensive financial automation platform, covering payments, credit cards, vendor engagement, and more.
As the only AP automation solution built by AP professionals for AP professionals, Stampli understands that the true impact of AI lies at the heart of AP workflows. Stampli’s AI co-pilot, Billy the Bot, serves as a designated coworker within your Accounts Payable department. Billy is seamlessly integrated into every step of Stampli’s processes, fully automating the accounts payable workflow. It clearly signals to AP teams where its influence extends, delivering a robust suite of capabilities that significantly enhances productivity and optimizes efficiency.
Stampli designed Billy around two key principles:
Principle #1: Keep humans in control
Stampli doesn’t automate human judgment. AP team members can review and validate the AI’s decisions. Stampli places a little Billy icon next to each field the team member needs to review, reinforcing the fact that humans are always in control.
Principle #2: Make the AI relatable
Billy has a name and a face to help users see AI as a “who” rather than a “what.” This turns AI from something faceless and threatening into a colleague who can be trusted to automate the manual work and free people up for more valuable activity.
And customers love Billy! “Stampli: the best A/P software I’ve ever used,” says one staff accountant. “My finance team knows how much I love Stampli because I sing its praises so often. I’m an A/P team of one in a fast growing startup. We recently outgrew our old system and needed to look for something affordable and scalable that would interrupt our day-to-day operations as little as possible. That’s when we found Stampli. It’s incredibly easy to use, allows me to keep up with A/P on my own thanks to my buddy Billy the Bot.”
“Stampli’s incorporation of machine learning or A.I. (with Billy the Bot) has saved our team a lot of manual labor,” said an AP manager. “We were previously coding all invoices manually, which included selecting the vendor information, invoice dates, and GL coding. Billy is like an added employee to our team! We also have an incredible amount of reporting for our AP department that wasn’t available through our last program.”
Fraud is becoming more widespread and sophisticated
In February 2024, fraudsters used deepfake images and voices to defraud British engineering firm Arup for $25 million. The fraudsters impersonated Arup’s CFO and other employees and fooled a finance employee into sending them the money.
Fraud is on the rise. According to the 2024 AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey Report. 80% of organizations were victims of payment fraud attacks or attempts in 2023, a 15% increase over the previous year. One-third of the victims were unable to recover their lost funds.
Fraud attacks like business email compromise (BEC) are becoming more sophisticated as fraudsters take advantage of AI and other technologies. According to Statista, 68% of all BEC cases worldwide were luring attacks similar to the attack on Arup. In these sophisticated attacks, fraudsters pose as employees, vendors, or other trusted individuals. They use fake emails to fool AP employees into sending them money, providing access to systems, or taking other actions to compromise their business.
Over half (58.2%) of all BEC attacks worldwide are attempts to steal employee credentials such as passwords, PINs, or login details to gain access to business systems. The remainder are response-based attacks (40.5%), where employees are fooled into sending money or taking other actions, and malware delivery attacks (1.3%), where employees are fooled into installing malicious software like viruses or ransomware.
In 2023, total losses from BEC attacks in the US were approximately $3 billion.
Automation protects against fraud
According to Statista, 38% of companies worldwide reported that a lack of automation was their biggest obstacle in preventing and responding to BEC and other fraud attacks. Other obstacles included a lack of staff knowledge, security tools, and visibility into financial transactions.
AI-powered AP automation systems like Stampli are your first line of defense against payment fraud. They provide several levels of protection against fraud attacks, including:
- Fraud detection: AI-powered platforms can detect the subtle signs of fraud that human inspectors might miss. When the system detects something suspicious, it flags the transaction for further inspection.
- Centralized invoice processing: AP platforms like Stampli centralize all communications, documents, and actions on one platform, significantly reducing the risk of BEC attacks.
- User role enforcement: AP automation platforms enforce separation of duties so no one employee can authorize major transactions. Set user roles also prevent fraudsters from impersonating approvers or senior managers.
- Automatic approval routing: AP systems route invoices to the correct approver, protecting your business from unauthorized approvals. Leading platforms like Stampli let you set approval policies to ensure high-value transactions are routed to senior management for approval.
- Audit trail: AP automation systems like Stampli log every action, communication, and transaction, making it much simpler to detect and prevent fraudulent activity.
Stampli provides complete visibility and control over your AP processes and helps protect your business from fraud. One customer says Stampli “helps provide transparency and tracking for invoice routing.” They continued to describe how Stampli protects their businesses against fraud: “Ease of routing invoices to various colleagues and defining what level of approval you need. Good security settings (SSO, two factor authentication, etc.) Ability to support various departments with separate but connected invoice environments, and “Organizing approval processes for vendor invoices – providing historical records for who approved what for tracking.”
ERP Integration is still a challenge
In its 2024 report, Accounting’s Reluctant AI Revolution, Accounting Today’s parent, Arizent, reported that more than one-third of accountants felt that integrating AI tools with their existing ERP or accounting software will be difficult. Another third were unsure of how difficult integration would be. Only 27% felt integration would be easy.
Stampli is the only AP automation platform that offers seamless, no-code integration with over 70 ERPs. Its pre-built integrations can be implemented in days, not weeks, with no changes to existing processes and no need for ERP rework.
“We were up and running within weeks of signing our contract,” said one Stampli customer. “We integrate with NetSuite and that works perfectly (and our implementation specialist was very knowledgable and fixed a problem that no other 3rd party integration was able to)…Our invoice approval process has become faster AND more valuable (approvers actually see the invoice when approving).”
Onboarding and ease of use are paramount
Upgrading AI technical skills in AP departments is a main priority for finance leaders. In Deloitte’s Q1 2024 CFO Signals report, a majority of CFOs said improving AI skills (65%) and AI fluency (53%) were their primary concerns in enabling their finance team to use AI technology effectively.
Improving AI skills is important, but it’s only half the battle. Many ERPs and AP automation platforms are unnecessarily complex. They force users to learn complicated procedures and navigate multiple menus — negating any efficiency gain from using the software.
Designed for how AP teams work
Stampli is designed for how real AP teams work. “What I appreciate most about the Stampli system is its user-friendliness,” says one AP professional. “It allows for seamless access to invoices from various vendors, with the added convenience of always having these invoices available on NetSuite, simplifying the process of searching for information. The automation feature is particularly impressive, as it eliminates the need to manually review all invoices—Stampli takes care of this, which is fantastic! Additionally, the ability to write comments, request information, and obtain approvals from one or more individuals enhances the collaborative and efficient nature of the system.”
Key market players in accounts payable automation
There are hundreds of players operating in the accounts payable automation industry, making selecting the right provider challenging. Fortunately, software rating sites list the top solutions based on user reviews.
Here are the top five AP automation solutions according to G2, GetApp, and TrustRadius:
G2 Grid Leaders for AP automation
- BILL AR/AP: Financial automation for small businesses
- Sage Intacct: ERP with available AP automation features
- Stampli: AI-powered AP automation
- Airbase: Spend management with AP features
- SAP Concur: Spend and travel expense management with AP features
GetApp Category Leaders for Accounts Payable
- Eleven: Cloud accounting software for small businesses
- Ramp: Expenses and spend management with AP features
- Stampli
- Procurement Express: Procurement management with AP features
- Patriot Accounting: Accounting software for small businesses
TrustRadius Top Rated Products – Accounts Payable
- Square 9 Softworks: Document management with AP features
- Sage Intacct
- MIP Fund Accounting: Fund accounting automation for nonprofit organizations
- Webexpenses: Expense management with AP features
- Stampli
Stampli: The fastest and smartest AP automation platform
Other financial automation solutions have added AP functionality just to capture your payment fees. Only Stampli is designed for AP departments first — it’s the easiest and most powerful way to automate your AP processes.
Why is Stampli different?
AI to help humans
Billy the Bot, Stampli’s AI assistant, is your AP copilot. It learns and understands your cost accounting rules and works alongside your AP team to drive major productivity gains.
Implement without changing your processes
Stampli’s pre-built ERP integrations support all native functionality — no need to re-work your ERP or change your accounting processes and policies.
Onboarding and support from real accounts payable experts
Stampli’s team members have AP and ERP backgrounds. They understand your needs and challenges.
Choose a finance platform for the future
Stampli innovates years ahead of the industry. It adapts as your business evolves, with the flexibility and power to handle new AP policies, new people, ERP updates and migrations, and even M&A.
Ready to take the first step to better accounts payable? Meet with a Stampli AP expert to get started.
