As we step into 2025, many CFOs and finance teams are setting new goals to modernize their accounts payable (AP) operations. Transforming AP processes can lead to improved accuracy, reduced costs, and stronger vendor relationships. Here are five key accounts payable New Year resolutions for 2025 to ensure your organization’s financial success:
1. Eliminate Paper-Based Processes
Why?
Manual, paper-based AP processes pose significant challenges. They are time-consuming, prone to human error, and result in late payments that damage vendor relationships. Additionally, paper invoices are costly to store and difficult to manage during compliance audits, creating inefficiencies that strain resources.
How SoftCoAP Helps:
SoftCoAP eliminates paper handling through AI-powered technology, which automates invoice capture and data extraction. By reducing manual data entry errors, organizations save both time and money. JJ Foodservice, for instance, switched from manually processing 100,000 invoices annually to a fully automated process resulting in “faster invoice processing times” and “automatically matching line items”.
2. Enhance Visibility and Reporting
Why?
A lack of real-time visibility into AP processes creates challenges for CFOs and CEOs. It obstructs insights into cash flow, outstanding liabilities, and vendor payment schedules, making strategic decision-making difficult. This lack of transparency can result in financial mismanagement and missed business opportunities. A McKinsey study highlights that real-time data analytics can improve financial forecasting accuracy by up to 60%, enhancing strategic decision-making.
How SoftCoAP Helps:
SoftCoAP provides real-time dashboards and analytics that empower CFOs to monitor AP performance, track invoice statuses, and manage cash flow effectively. Logitech, for example, achieves 83% touch-free invoice processing, with invoice data immediately available to the operations team for review. Watch global finance transformation lead Aisling Connolly explain the process.
3. Strengthen Fraud Prevention and Compliance
Why?
Fraud risks and compliance issues are major challenges in manual AP processes. Duplicate invoices, unauthorized approvals, and lack of proper audit trails increase exposure to fraud and regulatory penalties. Organizations with disjointed processes struggle to maintain compliance, risking financial and reputational harm. Research by PwC indicates that 47% of companies report experiencing fraud, with ineffective controls in manual systems being a key factor.
How SoftCoAP Helps:
SoftCoAP incorporates advanced fraud prevention tools, including duplicate invoice detection and automated approval workflows. These features mitigate risks while ensuring compliance with tax and audit standards. R.J. O’Brien successfully enabled a centralized, globalized invoice process, facilitating cross-training and support among regional teams.
4. Accelerate Invoice Approvals
Why?
Slow, manual approval workflows create bottlenecks in the AP process. This often leads to late payments, missed early payment discounts, and strained supplier relationships. Delayed approvals can disrupt operations and tarnish vendor trust, ultimately affecting business continuity. A study by Ardent Partners found that 37% of companies cited delays in invoice approvals as a critical challenge impacting their AP efficiency.
How SoftCoAP Helps:
SoftCoAP accelerates invoice approvals with automated workflows that route invoices to the appropriate approvers based on predefined rules. This ensures timely payments and strengthens supplier relationships. Superdry increased touchless processing rates from 5% to 80% by leveraging SoftCoAP’s automation capabilities.
5. Reduce Operational Costs
Why?
Manual AP processes are expensive due to high labor, paper, printing, and storage costs. As businesses grow, scaling these outdated processes becomes unsustainable, leading to inefficiencies and inflated expenses that burden operational budgets. Gartner reports that organizations implementing AP automation can reduce processing costs by up to 81% compared to manual processes.
How SoftCoAP Helps:
SoftCoAP significantly reduces operational costs by automating AP processes, improving accuracy, and enabling businesses to scale without additional headcount. The Finnish Government reduced processing costs by 80%, contributing to annual savings of €15m.
Why Choose SoftCoAP for 2025?
SoftCoAP is purpose-built to revolutionize accounts payable operations. Its AI-driven automation capabilities minimize manual intervention, enhance operational efficiency, and deliver measurable ROI. Trusted by organizations like Primark, Superdry, and Logitech, SoftCoAP integrates seamlessly with existing ERP systems, making it the perfect solution for AP transformation in 2025.
Take the First Step Towards AP Transformation
Don’t let outdated processes hold your business back. Contact SoftCo today to discover how SoftCoAP can help your organization achieve its accounts payable New Year resolutions for 2025 and beyond.
