Latest insights from AP Automation provider highlight critical priorities and challenges in finance departments
Leading Accounts Payable (AP) automation solution provider, Yooz, announced the release of its fourth annual State of Automation in Finance report. Surveying 1,550 finance and accounting decision-makers across the USA, UK, France, Spain, South Africa, Switzerland, Belgium, UAE and Luxembourg, the report examines the evolving challenges and opportunities within finance departments.
“The emphasis on improving productivity and obtaining better information to facilitate informed decision-making demonstrates a clear commitment to elevating the strategic role of the finance department within the business.”
This year’s findings emphasize the widening gap between finance leaders’ aspirations for digital transformation and the actual implementation progress, highlighting the need for advanced AP automation to address these disparities. Modern businesses need to prioritize the adoption of AI and machine learning to enhance data accuracy and operational efficiency, while also tackling pressing challenges like cybersecurity and e-invoicing readiness.
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Notable statistics from the 2024 State of Automation in Finance Report include:
- Increasing the use of technology (38%), enhancing productivity of existing headcount (33%), and optimizing cash flow (31%) are the top priorities for US businesses in 2024. However, only 29% of finance decision-makers consider their organizations advanced in terms of digital transformation progress.
- The top technology investments for finance departments in 2024 are financial analytics (39%), cybersecurity to reduce fraud risk (31%), and workflow automation (28%).
- Communication (44%), problem-solving (42%), and leadership skills (39%) are deemed the most important skills for finance leaders and CFOs in 2024.
- Nearly half (41%) of US finance leaders see increased productivity as the key advantage of AP automation. The average vendor invoice approval time in the US is 27.05 hours, with a processing cost of $15.40 per invoice.
“After several years of reactive measures, our 2024 annual research confirms that finance decision-makers are now proactively looking to deliver business value,” said Laurent Charpentier, CEO of Yooz. “The emphasis on improving productivity and obtaining better information to facilitate informed decision-making demonstrates a clear commitment to elevating the strategic role of the finance department within the business.”
The report highlights a growing emphasis on the integration of AP automation with ERP systems, as well as the adoption of AI and machine learning to enhance data accuracy and operational efficiency. Despite the evident benefits, the pace of automation adoption remains slow, with only 28% of finance decision-makers categorizing their organizations as advanced in digital transformation.
Additional key findings from the US audience include:
- Only 22% of US organizations report being fully prepared for e-invoicing in 2024.
- The primary objectives for automating the AP process are reducing errors (37%), improving financial control and forecast accuracy (33%), and reducing costs (32%).
- The most important factors when evaluating automated AP solutions are fast implementation and minimal training requirements (31%), powerful and accurate data extraction (29%), and user-friendly platforms (28%).
“Organizations leveraging Yooz AP automation have gained unmatched benefits thanks to our existing AI technologies and will be perfectly placed to explore emerging and fast-developing innovations from our AI labs,” Charpentier continued. “Embracing this technology in finance departments will see productivity soar with nearly instantaneous invoice processing and validation, alongside access to both real-time and historical data. Finance decision-makers who do not shy away from the evolution of AI in their departments will be in a prime position to make informed decisions quickly and add real corporate value.”
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