Special Report
The State of AP Maturity 2026
Closing the gaps between partial and unified automation. Discover what today’s finance teams are getting right and the challenges they still face.
The Challenge Facing Independent Retailers
89% of organizations still rely on a risky blend of partial automation and manual work.
“Good enough” isn’t good enough anymore. For retailers managing thousands of invoices, a fragmented approach to Accounts Payable creates disconnected systems, inconsistent processes, and dangerous data silos.
With half of finance teams processing over 5,000 invoices a month, manual data entry and disjointed software open the door to serious profit leakage and operational inefficiency.
Why Partial Automation Fails
The Top Frustrations with Current AP Processes
- 48%struggle with manual data entry.
- 39%experience delays because teams do not follow the correct AP processes.
- 38%are overwhelmed by invoices arriving in multiple, fragmented formats.
- 36%lack integration with their organization’s other systems.
Automation Spotlight
Prime Steak Concepts processes 4,000 invoices monthly. After switching to unified AP automation, the team spends less time manually handling invoices and more time on high-level growth initiatives.
Inside the Report
The data finance leaders need to see to protect margins and eliminate manual errors.
38%
Of organizations take 5 or more days just to process a single invoice.
41%
Have experienced invoice fraud or overpayment in the last year.
52%
Of organizations spend 11 hours or more each week running reports.
99.5%
Header-level capture accuracy achieved with AI-powered AP automation.