Accounts payable (AP) and procure-to-pay (p2p) processes are at the core of any business's finance and accounting, and supply chain management operations. Together, they create an end-to-end framework for managing how goods and services are requested, purchased, received, invoiced, and paid, making them critical to business success. In a traditional AP model, these steps often operate in silos, leading to delays, manual errors, and limited visibility. As a result, the p2p in accounts payable is complex, touching many parts of your business, and is often prone to inefficiencies and bottlenecks that can influence your business outcomes. A P2P-enabled AP approach, however, connects procurement and accounts payable into a unified workflow, leveraging automation and next-gen technologies to identify and resolve issues early. Future-ready p2p solutions, however, leverage automation and next-gen technology solutions to identify and resolve these issues so you can make your P2P accounts payable AP process faster, more accurate and more efficient, which, in turn, can help you improve your bottom line.
Factors driving accounts payable automation
Automating the p2p process in accounts payable is an integral step of the digital transformation journey of any business as it is an integral function for every company. Traditional AP practices—often manual, paper-heavy, and disconnected from procurement—create delays, inaccuracies, and limited visibility across the procure-to-pay lifecycle. And since automation has answered many common p2p challenges, the accounts payable automation market is growing at a CAGR of 12.6%, from $3.8billion in 202 to $6.17 billion in 2025 and reaching $11.17 billion by 2030.
Some of the most common reasons driving demand for accounts payable p2p automation include:
- Increasing prevalence of digital payments.
- Increasing need for accessible and faster AP and p2p processes.
- Increasing need to reduce paper invoices in the face of growing business.
- Increasing volume of AP and p2p transactions.
- Increase the necessity of fraud detection and prevention mechanisms.
And other factors contributing to the growing popularity of AP automation and future-ready p2p solutions include:
- Remote and hybrid working environments.
- Need for better visibility and transparency in AP processes.
- Increasing expectations of real-time AP insights to drive strategic decisions.
- Expectations for error-free and efficient p2p processes in accounts payable.
Additionally, businesses are now prioritizing end-to-end integration between procurement and accounts payable to eliminate silos, improve three-way matching, and strengthen compliance. This shift toward a P2P-enabled AP model highlights why modern organizations are adopting future-ready automation to streamline workflows, reduce risk, and enhance decision-making across the entire procure-to-pay cycle.
Automating p2p accounts payable p2p process
If you are investing in automating your procure-to-pay process accounts payable , some future-ready solutions you can get access to include:
- Purchase request management
- Vendor on-boarding management
- Purchase order creation
- Invoice management
- Vendor portal management
- Contract lifecycle management
- Payment processing
- Master data management
The focus of each of these solutions is on eliminating manual processing, reducing processing times, promoting visibility and transparency, facilitating coordination and improving the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the p2p process in accounts payable. Additionally, incorporating automated three-way matching, configurable approval routes, and real-time supplier communication helps reduce errors, prevent bottlenecks, and enhance compliance across the entire workflow.
Additionally, easy accessibility, centralised data management, insight-based decision support and easy integration with your existing systems allow you to leverage the next-gen technologies to transform your AP and p2p processes to make them more efficient, cost-effective, error-free and future-ready. This unified P2P-enabled AP approach ensures smoother payment execution, faster cycle times, and stronger supplier relationships.
Benefits of efficient p2p in accounts payable
An efficient p2p accounts payable process in has many benefits including:
- Better supplier relationships fostered through on-time payments and transparent accounts payable p2p processes.
- Full visibility of cash flow and financial commitments through internal controls, visibility and insights across the end-to-end procure-to-pay accounts payable cycle.
- Fraud prevention via strict invoice matching, multiple review points and stringent screening protocols.
- Increased efficiency with centralised procurement, supply chain and accounts payable processes to avoid information silos or human errors.
- Cost saving through faster invoice processing to save time, better spend management and accurate demand forecasting.
- Streamlined P2P and AP processes for faster processing and quick response to supply chain disruptions.
- Predictive modelling can help you identify potential opportunities and pressure points for more efficient risk management and mitigation.
And investing in future-ready procure-to-pay solutions gives you further benefits of automation that can help you:
- KPI tracking for granular visibility into performance and to identify improvement areas.
- Insight-driven decisions powered by process mining, data analytics and intelligent dashboards.
- Root-cause analysis to uncover recurring issues and correct inefficiencies within AP and P2P workflows.
- Support for continuous process optimisation through simulations that compare potential outcomes and recommend the best course of action.
By leveraging next-generation P2P technologies, organisations can drive significant cost savings, strengthen compliance, and improve business value through proactive, insight-driven decision-making across the P2P lifecycle in accounts payable.
For organisations on the digital transformation journey, agility is key in responding to a rapidly changing technology and business landscape. A robust, future-ready P2P-enabled AP model empowers businesses to sense, learn, respond, and evolve with agility, creating a connected ecosystem that continuously adapts to market needs. Infosys’ Live Enterprise framework enables this transformation by delivering automated decision-making at scale, real-time insights, and intuitive user experiences—helping enterprises achieve hyper-productivity and long-term operational excellence.
How can Infosys BPM help with P2P in accounts payable?
Infosys BPM Accounts Payable on Cloud (APOC) is a SaaS platform that can help you leverage the next-gen technologies to digitally transform your accounts payable and procure-to-pay processes. With deep domain expertise, APOC offers a single layer of engagement for all your invoice processing needs, ensuring enhanced stakeholder experience via improved efficiency, effectiveness and real-time insights.
By unifying the entire p2p accounts payable process—from invoice capture to matching, routing, approval workflows and payment execution—APOC eliminates manual effort and strengthens process accuracy. With Infosys BPM APOC offerings like end-to-end AP workflow, self-service supplier portal and AP cockpit, you can save up to 90% of the time, free up your resources, achieve faster ROI and improve OCR accuracy and turn your invoice processing into a profit centre.
FAQ
P2P in accounts payable refers to integrating procurement and AP into one end-to-end workflow—from requisition to payment. It ensures better control, visibility, and accuracy across all purchasing and invoice activities.
The P2P AP process includes requisition creation, PO issuance, goods receipt, invoice capture and validation, three-way matching, approval workflow, and payment execution. Each step ensures smooth processing and error-free completion.
Automating AP within P2P reduces manual workloads, accelerates invoice processing, and improves compliance. It also increases visibility, minimizes errors, and enhances supplier relationships through faster, transparent payments.
Three-way matching compares the PO, goods receipt, and invoice to ensure accuracy before payment. This eliminates discrepancies, reduces fraud risk, and prevents overpayments or duplicate payments.
