Accounts payable metrics that show where your AP team really stands
If you run or fund an AP operation, you are probably being asked two questions at once. How much does it cost us to pay a supplier invoice, and are we doing better or worse than other companies? Internal reports can't answer the second question. You need outside accounts payable metrics that are current, clearly defined and drawn from teams like yours.
Ardent Partners' Accounts Payable Metrics That Matter in 2025 gives you that reference point. Andrew Bartolini, Ardent's founder and chief research officer, wrote the eBook. It compiles the most widely used AP benchmarks from the firm's latest State of ePayables research, a survey of AP, finance and procurement professionals at small, midsize and large companies across several regions.
It's written for AP managers, controllers, finance directors and CFOs who need to set targets, defend a budget or make the case for automation. It also helps anyone who has to explain to leadership why invoices sit in queues for days.
AP benchmarks for 2025: cost, speed, exceptions and touchless processing
The core of the report is a set of performance benchmarks covering the measures AP leaders track most closely. You'll find industry averages for invoice processing cost, invoice processing time, invoice exception rate, touchless invoice processing and the share of staff time spent answering supplier inquiries. Each benchmark comes with Ardent's view on why it matters and what pushes it up or down.
Then comes the comparison most readers want. Ardent separates Best-in-Class AP organizations, the top performers on cost and cycle time, from everyone else. It then shows how wide the gap is on each measure. Seeing the two groups side by side makes it much easier to judge whether your own numbers are a problem and how much room you have to improve.
The format is quick to read. Each metric gets its own page, with a headline figure and a short explanation. You can pull the numbers you need for a budget review or a planning session without working through a long report.
Beyond the headline metrics, the eBook covers:
- Adoption rates for core ePayables tools, from e-invoicing and B2B payments to complete procure-to-pay suites
- How fully AP teams have automated tasks such as approvals, supplier onboarding and early payment discount capture
- The priorities and challenges AP leaders report for 2025, including a notable shift in what now tops the list
- How AP connects to treasury and cash management, and how often CFOs sign off on AP's annual plan
- How many AP teams work from a strategic plan and set clear performance targets for the department and individual staff
Where AI in accounts payable is starting to pay off
AI gets serious attention without the hype. The report captures how AP and procure-to-pay professionals expect AI to affect their work this year and estimates how widely it is already in use. It then describes four practical use cases: invoice capture and data extraction, smarter approval routing, fraud prevention, and real-time reporting on cash flow, vendor performance and spending.
The report is also candid about the obstacles, from data security and privacy to training and change management. It explains why companies that already have basic AP automation in place stand to gain the most. Ardent's prediction that "AI FOMO" will push automation laggards to invest this year is useful context if you're building a business case for new tools.
Download the 2025 AP metrics report
Use the full eBook to benchmark your team, set realistic targets for the year ahead and show leadership, with independent data, what Best-in-Class performance looks like. You'll get every benchmark figure, the Best-in-Class comparisons, the automation and adoption charts, the 2025 priorities and challenges data, and the AI use cases. Fill out the form to download your copy.