By Sharon Nouh, CEO & Founder, ProSpend
The accounts payable operate as we all know it’s disappearing. Superior Synthetic Intelligence (AI) and automation are reshaping what AP groups do, how CFOs view their obligations, and the place your entire occupation is headed.
In our new report, Cease the AP Leak, we requested Australian finance leaders about the way forward for accounts payable and the function of CFOs in driving change. Their responses reveal a operate within the midst of radical transformation.
Conventional accounts payable is gradual, error-prone, resource-intensive, and open to fraud. Trendy automation eliminates these dangers, however recognising the issue is just step one.
For finance leaders, the query is straightforward: who leads this transformation? The CFOs we spoke to in our report had been clear that driving automation and course of enchancment was a CFO accountability.
“Automation is a part of the CFO function now. If you happen to’re not eradicating friction from monetary processes, you’re limiting your capability to ship on technique. The bottom line is framing automation as an enabler, not a distraction,” says Morgan Wilson, Founder and Director of Brisbane-based agency Creditte.
Lou Krstevski, Principal and CFO of Sydney-based monetary companies agency BAC Consulting & Advisory, means that automation needs to be embedded on the highest strategic stage.
“As an organisation you could embed automation as a part of the company technique. This then turns into a significant strategic KPI and a part of your function because the CFO when driving strategic change. Automation shouldn’t be an addition to the company technique, it must be a key driver,” he says.
Traits and Predictions for Accounts Payable in 2026
If conventional AP is fading and CFOs are steering the change, understanding the place it’s headed is important.
The shift from handbook processing to AI-driven automation is already underway, reshaping how finance groups function day after day.
In our report, we recognized six rising traits which are shaping this new period of accounts payable. These traits sign a elementary shift in how AP operates, what it delivers and the worth it brings to finance.
Superior OCR and AI algorithms now extract bill information and match POs robotically, with minimal human enter. AP groups will step in solely when wanted, dramatically dashing up processing cycles.Finance leaders are embracing embedded cost capabilities inside AP platforms. As a substitute of separate banking portals, funds are initiated and executed proper contained in the AP workflow, eliminating errors and delays whereas guaranteeing on-time vendor funds.Trendy AP techniques will present real-time dashboards and prompt analytics from payables information. CFOs will get up-to-the-minute visibility into outflows, approval bottlenecks and funds impacts, enabling proactive choices.Main platforms now lock down provider financial institution particulars with multi-step verification and audit trails. Any change to vendor cost data triggers alerts and approvals, guaranteeing payouts solely go to verified accounts.Powered by machine studying, next-gen AP instruments analyse patterns to flag dangers earlier than they materialise. Programs proactively warn of duplicate billing, suspicious costs or compliance points, making AP an early warning system fairly than only a processor.CFOs are adopting unified platforms that mix expense administration, AP automation, buying and funds in a single system. This consolidation shatters silos and supplies prompt visibility and management over enterprise spend.
The transformation of accounts payable is already in movement. The hole between these embracing change and people resisting it is going to solely widen.
CFOs who make automation a strategic precedence and put together their groups for a data-driven, exception-led future will keep forward.
Learn the total report, Cease the AP Leak, to find out how main Australian CFOs are implementing automation and what outcomes they’re seeing.
