The State of ePayables 2025: AP’s Unfinished Journey

For two decades, Ardent Partners’ annual State of ePayables report has chronicled the evolution of AP from a tactical back-office function into a strategic asset. Ardent Partners' 20th annual report is sponsored by Bottomline and highlights how leading AP teams are using automation, data, and AI to drive efficiency, resilience, and value.

Key Insights from the Report:

• 56% of AP teams see themselves as having strategic importance to the business
   
• Delayed approvals (49%) and high invoice exceptions (48%) remain key barriers to efficient processing
   
• Deploying ePayables solutions (46%) and improving data analytics (44%) are viewed as essential for 2025
   
• Leading AP teams process invoices 79% faster and at 79% lower cost than peers
   
• While only 44% of teams use AI today, over 75% expect to adopt it in some fashion within 12 months

Why This Matters

Accounts payable teams are no longer just about processing invoices and payments. The function now plays a critical role in:

• Cash management: AP uses real-time visibility to help make strategic disbursement decisions.
   
• Supplier relationships: Offering faster onboarding, better communication, and compliance with global e-invoicing mandates strengthens critical business partnerships.
   
• Business Intelligence: Teams are leveraging data to inform enterprise-wide decisions and detect fraud.

The Power of Automation

While this evolution is encouraging, there are still areas in which AP must target improvement. Despite progress, only 51% of invoices are submitted electronically. Paper-based processes continue to slow down AP teams. Ardent’s research shows that automating invoice approval workflows, data capture, and ePayments can reduce processing costs by up to 80%.

Explore the full report or see how Paymode can transform your AP.