AP Control Panel: Accounts Payable is a window to working capital

How helpful is AP automation when it comes to providing key financial insights? 

Because most of the cash flowing out of an organization moves through accounts payable, it’s a logical assumption that AP would have access to deep business intelligence on working capital. To explore this, the recent AP Control Panel, created in partnership between Hyland and the Institute of Finance & Management, asked respondents to rate their insight into key metrics like accruals, discounts, spend and DPO.

The hypothesis was that more extensive automation—the kind that facilitates straight-through invoice processing without manual handling—would make it easier for organizations to capture this key data. While the results showed that more automation does in fact provide better insight into working capital issues, is it enough?