There was a time when a late invoice felt like the exception, a one-off, a supplier having a bad month. That is no longer true. In 2026, being paid late is closer to the default. New data shows 92% of invoices are now paid after their due date, up from 87% just a few...

We Usually Treat Friction Like the Enemy Most organisations spend a lot of time trying to remove friction, by creating fewer clicks, faster approvals, less waiting and simpler systems. Of course, this makes sense, nobody wants a process that slows people down for no...

Every company has two systems. The official one, and the one people actually use. The official process usually lives inside policies, workflows, and software. The real process lives in inboxes, spreadsheets, Teams chats, browser bookmarks, and “can you just do this...

Why Budgeting Still Feels Hard Budgeting has never really been simple. Most finance teams know how it goes. Spreadsheets everywhere, different versions floating around, numbers that don’t quite line up, and budget holders who are slow to respond. Not because they...

"Doing more with less" used to sound temporary. A short-term response to budget cuts, hiring freezes, or economic uncertainty. Something to get through before things returned to normal. For many finance teams, that moment never came. It’s no longer a phase, it’s the...

Late payments have been a long-standing issue in the UK, but the government has made it clear that change is coming. New powers to investigate poor payment practices, potential fines for repeat offenders, and a proposed 60-day cap on payment terms for large...

Approving purchases or invoices through email feels like a tried and trusted process for most businesses. A request is sent, someone replies with “approved,” and the process moves forward. It seems simple. It seems quick. And for smaller teams, it often works well...

Recalling my earliest career moments as an inside sales rep for an AP automation provider, I am reminded of the hundreds of phone calls I made to AP teams, which essentially resulted in an audible shrug, followed by, “If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.” In some...

We hear it all the time. “We know we need to automate, but we just don’t have the time right now.” It’s a fair reaction. When your finance team is knee-deep in invoices, approvals, coding corrections, and supplier emails, finding time to step back and fix the process...