In this presentation, you will learn what issues other companies like yours are facing in the AP invoice process, and what strategies and practices companies are using today to overcome common challenges.

1. Accounts Payable Trends 2017: The Process and
Technology of AP Invoice
August 30, 2017

2. Webinar Notes
• Today’s event will be recorded and all attendees will be kept in listen-
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3. Presentation Agenda
Introduction
Chapter 1 - Landscape of Today
Chapter 2 - The Costs of AP Invoice Processing
Chapter 3 - The Timelines of Processing and Reimbursement
Chapter 4 - Pressures within AP Invoicing
Chapter 5 - Pitfalls of Out of Date Processes
Chapter 6 - Goals for AP Invoice Processing
Chapter 7 - Use of Automation
Wrap Up
Q & A

4. Today’s Speaker
Brief bio and speaker description.
Name
Title and Company

5. About Certify
• Industry-leading, first fully automated travel and
expense management system
• 64 languages, 140+ currencies, clients in 80 countries
• #1 highest rated expense management software for
user satisfaction on G2 Crowd
• PC Magazine Editors’ Choice for best expense
management software of 2016
• Processing nearly 40 million expenses and receipts
valued at $50 billion in 2016

6. Introduction

7. Study Introduction
Certify has surveyed more than 300 AP staffers to reveal the top benchmarks, technologies and trends
for 2017. In this presentation, you will learn what issues other companies are facing in the invoice
process and what strategies and technologies these companies are using to overcome these challenges.

8. Study Demographics
302 Total
(All based within AP
department)
91%
(Work for companies with
annual revenue exceeding
$5 million)
Respondents
Revenue
United States
(All based within the U.S.)
92%
(Work for companies that
process over $100,000 worth of
AP invoices per year)
Location
Invoice Value

9. Landscape of Today

10. Landscape of Today
• Paper
• Fax
• Email
• PDF
• ERS
• EDI/XML, PO-Flip
• eInvoice
• Business Rules
• Validation
• Matching
• Workflow
• Approval
• Alerts
• Disputes
• Check, ACH, Wire
• Commercial Cards
• Payment Networks
• Supplier Discounts
• Supply Chain Finance
Receive Process Pay
Ardent Partners - 2017

11. Landscape of Today
7%
15%
11%
21%
46%
Technologies Used Today
Automated Invoice
Solution
Manual Paper-based
Process
Supplier Self-service
Portals
ERP System
Accounting Software

12. Landscape of Today
The pitfalls of a manual process:
Increased processing cost
Longer processing times
Use of valuable employee time
Higher potential for human error
Increased risk of fraudulent or repeat payments
15%
of respondents use
a manual process
These companies require AP
staffers to rinse and repeat
the entire process for every
single invoice.

13. Automation can reduce
processing costs 60-80% when
compared to manual and paper-
based processes.
Ardent Partners 2015

14. The Costs of AP Invoice Processing

15. The Costs of AP Invoice Processing
Cost to Process a
Single Invoice
$2 - $5 per report 29%
$6 - $10 per report 21%
$11 - $15 per report 14%
$16 or more per report 9%
7%
15%
31%
30%
17%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40%
10,000 to 20,000
5,001 to 10,000
1,001 to 5,000
501 to 1,000
500 or Fewer
Volume of Invoices Processed
(Per Month)

16. 21% of companies spend
anywhere from $6 to $10 to
process a single report. At 5,000
reports per month, that will cost
$30,000 to $50,000 per month,
or upwards of $600,000 per year.
Certify AP Trends and Benchmarks Survey 2017

17. The Costs of AP Invoice Processing
On top of the actual
processing cost of
the report you must
also factor in:
The headcount needed
to process invoices
Lost productivity from
using employees
Additional materials
and storage needs

18. The Timelines of Processing and Reimbursement

19. The Timelines of Processing and Reimbursement
46%
28%
14%
6%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
Under 5 days 10 to 15 days 15 to 30 days 30 days or more
Time to Process a Single Invoice

20. The Timelines of Processing and Reimbursement
Why are longer processing
times problematic for
organizations?
Backlog of
past invoices
Strained vendor
relationships
Rectifying
cash flow
Missing out on early
payment discounts

21. According to Ardent studies, best
in class performers will process a
single invoice within 3.5 days
while the majority of companies
will take 12 days to process a
single invoice.
Ardent State of ePayables 2017

22. Pressures with AP Invoicing

23. Pressures with AP Invoicing
The top pressures in AP invoice
processing include:
• Need for real time availability of data
• High cost associated with invoice
processing
• High percentage of exceptions
• Losing/difficulty finding paper invoices
• Missing out on vendor discounts
Top Priorities for AP Invoicing
31%
32%
35%
51%
63%
Extend payment terms/optimize
DPO
Improve
collaboration/communication
with procurement
Improve reporting and analytics
Need to better link P2P
processes and systems
Recuce invoice-processing costs
Ardent Partners - 2017

24. The pressure to reduce invoice
processing costs is being felt by
AP staffers. 63% indicate that
reducing processing costs is their
top priority for 2017.
Ardent State of ePayables 2017

25. Pitfalls of Out of Date Processes

26. Pitfalls of Out of Date Processes
The top pressure that AP staffers are facing is the lack of real time data. But what about
a complete lack of data? What kind of problems can this create for an organization?
27%
Do not track invoice
processing costs
6%
Do not track
processing times
There is a segment of
organizations that do not
track certain statistics within
the AP invoice process:

27. Pitfalls of Out of Date Processes
The top pressures in AP invoice processing
include:
• The cost of processing reports
• Heavy use of AP staff to build and manage reports
• Delayed processing that harms vendor relationships
• Expenses tied to postage, shipping and storage
• Higher potential for fraud within company

28. Without the aid of automation, a
single expense report can take
upwards of 23 minutes to
complete. Furthermore, 22% of
reports contain errors which
requires an additional 15 to 22
minutes to correct.
Expense Reporting Around the World: Practices, Pain Points, and Productivity,
GBTA, 2015

29. Goals for AP Invoice Processing

30. Goals for AP Invoice Processing
We now know the pressures and pitfalls of AP invoice processing, but what about
the goals of AP staffers for their process?
7%
13%
19%
26%
34%
Improving Supplier Relationship
Receiving Early Payment Discounts
Reduce Invoice Processing Costs
Efficiently Managing Large Invoice Volume
Faster Processing Times
Goals for AP Invoice Processing
Ardent Partners - 2017

31. Expediting the expense report
process is the #1 goal for AP
invoice processing. Effectively
managing a large volume of
reports and data is also another
top goal for AP staffers.
Certify AP Trends and Benchmarks Survey 2017

32. 88%
84%
73%
70%
61%
47%
61% 61%
34%
54%
28%
22%
Standardized AP
process across
the enterprise
Two or three-
way matching
capabilities
Ability to
process invoices
straight-through
Ability to
automatically
route invoices
for approval
Ability to match
invoices to
contracts or
payment plans
Ability to
measure key AP
metrics
Best-in-Class All Others
Goals for AP Invoice Processing
• AP staffers want to
be able to process
invoices faster and
handle a greater
volume of invoices
with more ease.
• To achieve these
goals, a streamlined
process or solution
will be necessary.
• Vendor portals,
sluggish ERP or
software options and
manual processes
will limit the
company’s ability to
process invoices
quickly and
effectively.
Core AP Capabilities
Ardent Partners - 2017

33. Use of Automation

34. Use of Automation
While automation is one of the lesser used technologies in the market, it is key in assisting with
some of the more troublesome processes such as:
79%
67%
61% 61%
50%
44%
41%
69%
41%
49% 51%
20%
23%
27%
Document
imaging and
scanning
eInvoicing Automated
routing and
approval
workflow
Automated data
capture and
extraction (e.g.,
OCR)
Self-sercice
supplier portal
Complete
Procure-to-Pay
solution
Business or
payment
network
Best-in-Class All Others
Ardent Partners - 2017

35. Use of Automation
33%
44%
49%
58%
Supplier portal
Automated workflow routing and approval
ACH direct deposit payments
Invoice imaging/Electronic document scanning
Current Uses for Automation

36. 51% of companies use ePayables
solutions for the data capture
and extraction capabilities. 46%
and 45% use it for the
ePayments and eInvoicing
capabilities, respectively.
Ardent State of ePayables 2017

37. What can automation help with in the AP invoice
process in your organization?

38. Wrap Up
While there is still a wide range of variance in within processing strategies, there is a
push among users to adopt technologies to assist in AP invoice processing. The rise of
automation and software solutions to manage the process will see the use of vendor
side portals and manual processes continue to erode.

39. Questions?