The UK is home to a flourishing business community, but tech adoption among these businesses is still surprisingly low. For instance, only 54% of UK businesses can make payments remotely, with many still weighed down by manual, paper-based processes. The price of this is considerable: manual processing of an invoice can cost up to £10 in labour, and this outdated mode of transacting leaves businesses vulnerable to both human error and fraud.
Failing to evolve could be even more costly this year, given the challenging business outlook. Here are the five unavoidable trends facing finance departments:
- Economic uncertainty – This will likely persist throughout 2024 given the cost-of-living crisis, sustained high interest rates and slowly declining inflation.
- Greater focus on data – Against this backdrop, companies will be under greater pressure to extract as much value from AP data as possible, to ensure they stay one step ahead.
- Flexible working is here to stay – Hybrid arrangements pose logistical challenges for businesses, which must ensure they can accommodate them over the long term.
- Accounts Payable as a career launchpad – AP now offers a fantastic opportunity for those keen to have a career in finance departments, intensifying competition for top talent.
- Customer experience becomes business critical – With a challenging economy and competition intensifying, protecting customer relationships will become even more vital.
Forward-thinking finance directors and CFOs are already digitally transforming their AP functions, and failing to evolve is no longer an option even for the laggards. For those businesses that want to be successful in 2024 and beyond, digital transformation is the only option. To navigate these trends, manual processes must be fully replaced with technology – to improve efficiency, minimise errors and enhance security.
To see firsthand how Quadient Accounts Payable transforms your AP processes, contact our team today for a demo.