When sales start to slow and costs keep climbing, the natural instinct is to tighten the belt. In the dealership world, that often means stretching the same back office team across even more responsibilities with fewer resources.
But what if the real opportunity isn't just cutting costs? What if it's about eliminating the right inefficiencies?
That’s exactly what more dealerships are discovering as they double down on AP automation. Not as a shiny upgrade, but as a survival move.
Let’s talk numbers. According to ACT Research, U.S. Class 8 net orders totaled just 8,200 units in April 2025 which is a 48% year-over-year drop. Fleet buyers are holding back, freight demand has softened, and high interest rates continue to suppress both consumer and commercial appetite for big-ticket purchases.
On the other side of the ledger, operating costs show no sign of easing. A report from ATRI reveals that the average marginal cost per mile hit a record $2.25 in 2022. And while fuel prices have inched down, the same can’t be said for labor, insurance, and parts. Parts pricing alone has jumped 15–20%, driven by tariffs and global trade instability.
For dealerships, absorbing these costs isn't as simple as tweaking prices. Many operate under strict OEM programs and financing rules that limit flexibility. Extended inventory hold times, rising floorplan interest, and pricier customer financing only turn up the pressure.
That pressure hits the back office too. Controllers, AP managers, and procurement directors are tasked with processing more invoices, managing tighter cash flow, and keeping vendor relationships intact, all while dealing with shrinking margins and aging systems. Efficiency isn’t a luxury. It’s the margin-saving advantage dealerships need to stay ahead.
Dealerships are no strangers to paperwork. From reconciling vendor invoices for tires, parts, and preventative maintenance work, to chasing down signatures for engine rebuilds and warranty reimbursements, the back office often runs on stacks of paper, handwritten approvals, and email chains that go nowhere.
If it takes your AP team 10–15 minutes to key in, code, route, and follow up on a single invoice manually, you’re not alone. According to IOFM, the average cost to manually process an invoice is $15.97, with a processing time of 10.9 days. Compare that to just $2.42 and 3.6 days when automated.
Multiply that by the hundreds or thousands of invoices your team handles each month, parts orders, outside repairs, fuel transactions, even HVAC maintenance at the service bays, and you start to see where your margin is leaking.
And it’s not just about direct costs. Manual AP processes slow down everything around them. Delayed invoice approvals stall PO matching, throw off month-end close timelines, and create friction with vendors who are tired of waiting on payments. It also makes it harder to reconcile with OEM incentive programs or manage credit holds with parts suppliers, both of which directly impact service throughput and revenue.
Add in the missed early-payment discounts, late fees, and duplicate vendor entries that slip through the cracks, and the “cost of doing nothing” in AP starts to look pretty expensive.
Now imagine this: your parts manager urgently needs brake components for a customer’s Class 8 truck. But the vendor invoice sits in someone’s inbox for three days, then takes another two to get approved and entered. Meanwhile, the customer’s truck sits idle, costing them $500 a day in lost revenue. That delay doesn’t just hurt their bottom line, it risks losing their trust.
And when things go sideways? It’s the back office, not sales, that has to clean it up. AP automation doesn't just save time; it protects relationships, preserves cash, and creates accountability.
This isn’t just about saving keystrokes. It’s about giving your team the ability to see what’s coming and react fast.
In a tightening market, cash flow is king. If your AP team can’t get invoices into the system quickly, your Controller can’t forecast accurately. If vendor payments are delayed, parts orders stall, and your service department starts burning time waiting for inventory.
Modern AP automation platforms help solve this by creating a central hub for all invoice activity:
Speed isn’t just about convenience, it’s about control. In dealership finance, where timing is everything and margins are razor-thin, gaining even one extra day to make a payment or apply a credit can make a measurable impact.
The result? More control. Fewer surprises. Better decisions.
The economic pressure doesn’t stop at interest rates and orders, it extends across borders. In May 2024, the U.S. announced increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and vehicle components. While primarily aimed at the EV market, this shift underscores broader trade tensions that could ripple across parts pricing and availability, especially for dealerships sourcing components globally.
When parts invoices start showing 7–10% price increases, your team needs the ability to track cost fluctuations and vendor trends without manually reviewing PDFs or spreadsheets. AP automation makes that kind of real-time insight possible, so you can adjust POs, escalate exceptions, and re-forecast before surprises hit your bottom line.
And tariffs aren’t the only wildcard. A resurgence in protectionist trade policies, labor disputes, or natural disasters can all create price shocks and delays that impact your dealership’s financial health.
Being prepared isn’t just good practice. It’s a competitive edge.
Here’s another fact worth calling out: people are tired.
A growing shortage of accountants is hitting back offices hard, especially in industries like dealerships. More than 300,000 U.S. accountants and auditors have left their jobs in the past few years, leading to recruitment struggles across the finance function. Dealerships are feeling the chain reaction too, not just in finding CPAs, but in keeping AP clerks, office managers, and title processors from burning out under paper-heavy, repetitive work. Many U.S. accounting firms have begun turning to international talent to fill the gap.
The result? Overworked teams, errors, and burnout.
Automation doesn’t eliminate roles; it elevates them into more strategic positions. It frees your team from low-value data entry and lets them focus on vendor communication and more strategic support for the business.
Let’s not forget the last mile of the AP process, actually getting vendors paid.
Many dealerships still issue checks. Lots of checks. But check fraud is booming. The AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey found that checks were the payment method most impacted by fraud in 2023, with 63% of organizations reporting check fraud attempts.
Electronic payments like ACH or virtual cards not only reduce risk, but they also create opportunities for rebates, better vendor relationships, and automated reconciliation. And when integrated directly into your AP platform, they save your team time and headaches.
Security, speed, and simplicity — all in one payment.
What we’re seeing across dealerships isn’t just a tech upgrade. It’s a shift in how work gets done. A way of working that’s leaner, faster, and more resilient, built to withstand whatever the economy throws next.
Whether it’s reconciling core credits with large vehicle manufacturers, managing fleet maintenance contracts with outside service providers, or trying to stay compliant with a DMS that doesn’t play nice with third-party software, dealership back office teams need tools that work with them, not against them.
Automation is no longer optional. It’s the lever that smart dealerships are pulling to keep their operations moving when everything else feels stuck in neutral.
Dealership finance teams are stepping up to bigger challenges with fewer resources. From tighter margins to supply chain chaos and staffing gaps, the old way of doing things just isn’t cutting it anymore.
That’s why more teams are looking beyond quick fixes and asking bigger questions about their entire tech stack. When disconnected tools create more friction than flexibility, it’s time to rethink the foundation.
onPhase helps dealerships automate the painful, paper-heavy processes that slow your team down. From invoice capture and approval workflows to integrated payments and document management, our platform streamlines finance operations so your team can focus on what moves your business forward.
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