Topic
What invoice processing actually costs, how to benchmark it, and where the money goes.
AP cost and benchmarks
A vendor offering 2/10 net 30 prices 20 days of waiting at 2%. That is their number for payment speed. Your AP team pays for the same wait in phone calls.
AP cost and benchmarks
Most AP cost-per-invoice numbers are built to sell software. Here is the arithmetic with the assumptions visible, including the lines vendors leave off the slide.
AP cost and benchmarks
If your AP tool bills per page, you pay for every certificate of insurance, every multi-page statement, and every document a vendor attached to be helpful. Here is the arithmetic.
AP cost and benchmarks
A 2/10 net 30 discount is a 36% annualized return on paying early. Most portfolios cannot take it, because approval takes longer than ten days.
AP cost and benchmarks
The same invoice arrives by email and gets re-sent on a statement. Both get paid. Getting the money back takes a vendor's cooperation you may not have.
AP cost and benchmarks
The benchmarks say 1,000 to 2,000 a month. That range is useless without knowing the document mix, because exceptions cost 2.5x a clean invoice.