The percentage of organizations that have implemented AP technology has increased during the past three years, indicating that most businesses see the benefits of automation. However, the percentage of companies identifying themselves as highly automated is still small.
In benchmarking surveys, The Accounts Payable Network routinely asks participants to indicate the level of automation they have achieved. TAPN first asked the question in a December 2008 study on invoices processed per FTE.
According to the results, 10 percent of organizations reported they had no AP automation technology in place. Meanwhile, 46 percent said their technology level was low, 32 percent reported it as medium, and just 12 percent said they had a high level of technology.
TAPN asked this same question to participants earlier this year as part of a metrics and benchmarking practices survey. The 2011 survey showed that 14 percent of organizations are highly automated, while 44 percent are medium, and 35 percent are low. Just 6 percent of organizations have no automation in place.
The use of automation in accounts payable has increased across the board between 2008 and 2011. There is a clear shift in the number of organizations with medium and low automation. Nearly 10 percent fewer organizations have low automation, while approximately 10 percent more have medium.
Most of the growth is in the low and medium automation levels, which should be expected. Organizations that are automating for the first time are unlikely to become 100 percent automated overnight.
While these numbers are promising and show a continued embracing of AP technology, it’s surprising that the number of highly-automated organizations isn’t higher. When broken down by company size, organizations with 10,000 plus employees are the most automated. Thirty-two percent of them say their automation levels are high. One-third is impressive, but one would hope a majority of large companies would automate.
Automating is one of the best ways to reduce costs in AP. With many businesses interested in cost savings, one would expect more organizations to have either a high or medium level of automation. Similarly, there aren’t many single automation technologies implemented by a majority of organizations.
TAPN’s 2009 Key AP Benchmarks Survey reveals that 60 percent of organizations have implemented a purchasing card. Other than that, there is no single tool implemented by more than 50 percent of participants. Just 38 percent have implemented automated workflow, while only 10 percent have electronic invoicing in place.
When added together, TAPN’s benchmark data shows that overall automation is on the rise, but that not many organizations have fully automated. Of organizations that have, there is a wide range of technologies that they choose to roll out. While a majority of organizations are on the right track, there is still plenty of room for improvement.
