In manufacturing plants, call centers and many other workplaces, automation is the standard. However, when it comes to corporate accounting departments, automation is still the exception.
It is not from lack of interest. Most companies — especially those prone to payments innovation — believe automating their B2B operations can provide a host of benefits. In fact, 84 percent of them said B2B automation can reduce errors, 81 percent said it can reduce their costs and 70 percent said it can reduce the drain on employee resources, to name just a few.
Moreover, among all the ways businesses’ can improve their B2B payments, accounts payable (AP) automation stands out as one of the most promising and popular innovations on the market. More than one quarter of businesses have already implemented some form of AP automation, whether it be invoice approval workflow software, cloud services, internet-based invoice and receipt submission, or otherwise.
Yet, even with so much to gain, 59 percent of businesses have yet to implement any form of AP automation. This means many companies are not making full use of available technology to optimize their B2B payments, leaving tremendous opportunity for market growth.
However, the question is: How well are modern businesses poised to take advantage of this opportunity? Will they be able to capitalize on it by investing in accounts payable automation going forward? Are there market factors preventing them from using automation 
to maximize their B2B potential?
The B2B Payments Automation Innovation Playbook, a collaboration between PYMNTS and Mastercard, provides an overview of the demand for payables automation in the B2B payments market. We collected survey response data from nearly 400 financial decision-makers in more than 12 industries to gauge the market demand for AP automation, and assess what factors are motivating or inhibiting companies’ decisions to automate their B2B operations.
To learn more about the state of modern B2B automation, download the report.
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