Why Friction Can be A Good Thing in Finance Operations

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 reason.
However, somewhere along the way, “remove friction” became the sole objective. This creates its own set of challenges because sometimes friction exists for a reason. It creates a pause before money is committed, forces a decision to be checked, or makes sure the right person has seen the right information before something moves forward.

The challenge is not removing every step. It is knowing which steps are helping and which ones are just getting in the way.

The Difference Between Useful Friction and Wasteful Friction

Wasteful friction is the kind everyone recognises; logging into three systems to complete one task, re-entering the same information twice, waiting for an approval that has been sitting in someone’s inbox for a week, or chasing documents that should already be attached. It is this kind of friction that does not create control, it instead creates workarounds.

Useful friction feels different, it creates a moment of control at the right point in the process. A budget can be checked before a purchase is made, an approval can take place before spend is committed, or a supplier policy reminder can land before someone buys from the wrong place. Research discussed by Harvard Business Review suggests that while unnecessary friction creates frustration and inefficiency, the right kind of friction can improve decision-making and prevent rushed choices (Harvard Business Review, 2024).

Why Too Little Friction Creates Risk

A process that is too easy can create its own problems. One-click buying might feel efficient, but inside an organisation it can also make spend harder to control. If people can buy what they want before finance or budget holders have visibility, the process becomes reactive very quickly. The invoice arrives later, the decision has already been made and the money has already been committed. This is where finance teams lose control, not because people are being careless, but because the process gives them no reason to pause.

Gartner’s research into digital workplace design highlights the importance of reducing unnecessary digital friction while maintaining the controls needed for effective governance (Gartner, 2024).

Why People Bypass Processes

People usually bypass processes for practical reasons. The system is too slow or complex, the approval route is unclear, or the process does not match how they actually work. So they find another way. That might mean emailing a request directly to finance, or buying on a company card and sorting it out later, using a spreadsheet because it feels quicker than logging into the system. Better workflow design and automation can reduce repetitive tasks and improve employee adoption of business processes (Deloitte, 2024). The issue is rarely that people dislike control. More often, they dislike unnecessary effort.

Good Process Design Keeps the Right Friction

A well-designed process should not feel like an obstacle course. The right person should get notified automatically. The approver should have the context they need. The decision should be quick. The record should be stored without anyone needing to chase it later. That is still friction, but it is useful friction.

It gives the organisation control without making the user feel blocked.

In purchasing and accounts payable, this matters a lot. You do not want people waiting days to buy something simple. But you also do not want purchases happening with no visibility, no approval trail, and no connection to the eventual invoice. Good process design sits between those two extremes.

Where Finance Feels the Impact

Finance usually sees the consequences first and not the inaction. An invoice arriving with no purchase order, or a supplier being used outside of policy, a missing approval. Someone asks why a budget looks wrong when the spend was already committed weeks ago. It’s by this point that finance are left fixing the issues rather than preventing them. It is is what happens when a process has too much wasteful friction in the wrong places and not enough useful friction where decisions are actually made. The goal is not to make purchasing harder. It is to make the right path easier than the workaround.

The Real Goal Is Better Decisions

Friction should earn its place. If it creates visibility, accountability, or better decision-making, and it has value. If it only creates delay, duplication, or frustration with no visible benefit, then it needs to go. It’s the balance organisations need to strive to achieve: fast processes are useful and controlled processes are necessary. The best ones manage to do both.

References
Deloitte (2024) AI-Powered Employee Experience: How Organisations Can Improve Workflows and Productivity. Available at: https://www.deloitte.com/uk/en/services/consulting/blogs/2024/ai-powered-employee-experience.html (Accessed: 19 May 2026).

Gartner (2024) Challenges and Benefits of the Digital Workplace. Available at: https://www.gartner.com/en/infrastructure-and-it-operations-leaders/topics/digital-workplace (Accessed: 19 May 2026).

Harvard Business Review (2024) How to Reduce the Friction That Hurts You and Harness the Friction That Helps. Available at: https://hbr.org/podcast/2024/01/how-to-reduce-the-friction-that-hurts-you-and-harness-the-friction-that-helps (Accessed: 19 May 2026).