AP Bottlenecks: Why They Demand Executive Attention

When Routine Delays Become Strategic Risks 

Every finance team has them: small issues that feel like 'just part of the job.' A missing PO number. An invoice sitting in someone's inbox. A late approval that pushes a payment into next week. Individually, they barely register. But stack them together, and they reveal something more serious: cash flow constraints, frustrated vendors, audit concerns, and leadership operating without the full picture. 

Accounts payable bottlenecks signal deeper risks and hidden costs but leadership rarely sees them that way. The challenge isn't just fixing the problems; it's translating daily frustrations into the strategic language executives understand. Without that translation, small inefficiencies never make it onto the executive agenda. 

The Hidden Costs Behind Daily Bottlenecks 

Manual AP processes cost companies more than just time. The average cost to process a manual invoice is $12 compared to roughly $3 for automated processing. For many teams, re-keying invoice data, tracking approvals through email, and reconciling mismatched POs remain the norm. This slows down cycle times, increases errors, and pulls finance teams away from more strategic work. 

These hidden costs show up in multiple ways: 

• Cycle time and accuracy. In manual environments, invoices often take up to two weeks to move from receipt to payment. Each day that passes ties up working capital and makes forecasting less reliable. Even a 1–2 percent error rate translates to dozens or hundreds of invoices requiring rework each month, compounding delays across the entire process. 
  
  
•  Fraud exposure. According to a 2025 survey, 79 percent of organizations were targeted by payments fraud in 2024, with 63 percent citing business email compromise (BEC) as the most common scheme. Checks remain especially vulnerable: 63 percent of companies reported check fraud, and despite this risk, 91 percent still use checks as a payment method. 
  
  
•  Employee strain. Finance professionals know how much time exceptions and manual tasks consume. For teams already under pressure to 'do more with less,' the toll extends beyond operations to morale. Every hour spent chasing approvals or fixing errors is an hour not spent on vendor strategy, planning, or analysis. 
  
  
•  Business credibility. Late or inaccurate payments don’t just hurt suppliers. They raise questions during audits and erode trust internally. Leadership expects visibility into spend and performance, but manual processes make that transparency difficult to deliver. 

What looks like a simple delay is often more than an inconvenience. It’s a drag on cash flow, a gap in controls, and missed opportunities to demonstrate strategic value. 

Proof From the Field: What Finance Teams Are Learning 

The issues aren’t theoretical. They’re happening across industries, and the risks are growing more visible. 

Fraud illustrates this clearly. With nearly eight in ten companies reporting attempted or actual fraud last year, the question isn't whether finance teams face exposure—it's whether they're equipped to detect and prevent it. The continued reliance on checks, despite being the most frequently exploited payment method, shows how operational habits can create strategic vulnerabilities. 

Leadership is aware of these risks, but it doesn’t always connect them to the day-to-day realities in AP. That’s where translation matters. A single delayed invoice may not grab a CFO’s attention. But framing it as part of a pattern that risks supplier trust, clouds cash forecasts, or exposes the company to fraud gets traction. 

This alignment is especially important because CFOs are already focused on data and insight. Gartner’s most recent survey of CFO priorities lists “metrics, analytics, and reporting” as a top area of focus for 2025. Leadership wants clarity. AP professionals are sitting on data that can provide it. Bridging that gap means AP teams need to translate what they’re experiencing into the language executives care about. 

Turning AP Pain Into Leadership Language 

AP teams feel the frustration daily: invoices move too slowly, exceptions pile up, approvals stall. But telling executives 'our process is too manual' rarely drives action. Framing those same pain points in terms of dollars, risks, and missed opportunities does. 

Here’s how to bridge that gap: 

• Measure what matters. Track average processing times, error rates, and cost per invoice. Translate “It takes too long” into “Our 12–14 day invoice cycle ties up nearly $2 million in working capital for every 100 invoices we process.” 
• Map the workflow. Show where invoices get stuck, whether in manual entry, exception handling, or multiple approval layers. A real example (“We had 40 invoices delayed five days last month because of missing PO matches”) makes the impact tangible. 
• Quantify the cost of status quo. Add up late fees, missed early-pay discounts, and labor hours spent on rework. Even conservative estimates grab attention. 
• Offer a before-and-after view. “If we cut cycle time in half, we save X hours a week and can capture Y in discounts.” Leadership responds to concrete possibilities. 
• Anchor in peer priorities. Connect your message to what executives are already focused on: data, visibility, and risk. Citing benchmarks or surveys from reputable sources like AFP, Deloitte, or Gartner strengthens the case. 

This kind of translation shifts the perception of AP. Instead of being seen as a team overwhelmed by tasks, it becomes a group identifying risks and surfacing opportunities leadership cares about. 

The Role of Automation: Solving What Hurts Most 

Leadership doesn’t want a pitch about “future-ready automation.” They want to know how the right tools fix the pain points they hear about from their teams and see in their numbers. 

• Data capture that stops rework before it starts. Instead of invoices bouncing back because of missing vendor info, smart capture can flag gaps the moment they arrive. That means fewer corrections downstream and fewer suppliers calling about delays. 

• Approvals that move without reminders. Automated routing ensures invoices don’t sit unseen in an inbox. Approvers get notifications, and if they don’t act, escalation rules keep the process moving. Weeks of waiting shrink to days. 

• Payments that follow policy every time. Automated scheduling helps finance avoid late fees, capture discounts, and apply consistent controls. That reliability builds trust with both leadership and suppliers. 

• Dashboards that give leadership what they ask for. CFOs want visibility into spend, risk, and performance. Real-time dashboards answer those questions without a reporting scramble at month end. 

These scenarios are happening today across finance departments. They represent the difference between AP being viewed as a bottleneck and AP being recognized as the function that protects cash, controls risk and strengthens supplier relationships. 

What Success Looks Like 

In AP, small delays create cascading consequences. A single late approval can trigger a chain reaction: 

• The payment goes out late. 
• The supplier grows frustrated and may withhold discounts. 
• Tension with the supplier leads to renegotiated terms. 
• Higher costs and tighter terms reduce cash flexibility. 

The reverse is also true. When processes run smoothly, each improvement compounds: 

• Approvals move faster. 
• Payments are accurate and on time. 
• Suppliers are more collaborative and extend favorable terms. 
• Finance gains more reliable forecasts and stronger cash positions. 

The difference isn’t just fewer headaches. It’s the ability to shift from firefighting to forward planning. Bottlenecks create costs that ripple outward. Streamlined processes create benefits that do the same. 

Building the Case That Sticks 

AP bottlenecks carry weight far beyond the department. Each delayed approval or missed exception signals lost efficiency, increased risk, and eroded trust. These issues affect cash flow, create fraud exposure, and strain supplier relationships making them business risks, not just operational frustrations. 

Automation addresses these root causes by reducing rework through smart capture, maintaining approval momentum through intelligent routing, ensuring payment consistency, and providing CFOs with real-time visibility. With the right tools, AP becomes more predictable, giving finance leaders the clarity to act with confidence. 

onPhase helps finance teams make this shift, transforming AP from a cost center into a strategic contributor that drives control and visibility. 

Ready to take the next step?  
Explore our guide, Building a Case for Automation, for practical strategies and tools to turn bottlenecks into business impact.