Finance leaders at scaling companies face a challenge when calculating the return on investment for accounts payable automation. Their CFOs want a defensible number to justify the investment, but the current accounts payable process is often a mix of manual steps, legacy tools, and informal knowledge.

This makes it difficult to determine the baseline cost of the current process, which is necessary to prove savings from automation. A useful approach to calculating ROI involves working with imperfect data and using a framework that includes conservative assumptions and stress tests.

Further details on calculating accounts payable automation ROI are available, including a framework that can produce a defensible range of savings.