How mid-size enterprises can find the best accounts payable automation software

As a finance leader in a mid-size enterprise, you’re likely all too familiar with the growing pressure of rising invoice volumes, increasing compliance complexity, and the threat of fraud, all while managing a team wearing many hats. 

While some companies hesitate to invest in automation without a clear ROI, others are taking proactive steps toward digitalization. If your organization is at the point where AP automation has been given both priority and budget, congratulations. That’s a major milestone. 

At the same time, we understand that the path forward isn't always straightforward. Navigating vendor promises, internal buy-in, and integration concerns can be overwhelming. That’s why we created this guide: to support you through the process of selecting the best accounts payable automation software, one that fits your needs today and scales with your business tomorrow. 

With dozens of providers offering AI-driven features, sleek dashboards, and “seamless integration,” how do you know which one truly aligns with your business? 

This step-by-step guide is designed for AP Managers and finance leaders, offering 10 practical steps to help you confidently evaluate and select an AP automation solution that delivers real value and supports sustainable growth. 

10 Steps to choosing the best accounts payable automation software for your mid-size business

Step 1: Define your AP process challenges

Before evaluating software features or booking vendor demos, it’s essential to take a clear-eyed look at your current AP process. 

Mid-size enterprises often face a unique set of challenges, situated between the complexity of large corporations and the resource constraints of smaller businesses. Internal limitations and external regulatory demands both play a role, making AP automation not just a convenience but a necessity. 

Here are some of the most common pain points we see: 

• Fragmented invoice formats: Invoices arrive via email, paper, PDFs, XML, and more, making standardization nearly impossible without automation. 

• Supplier diversity: Vendors operate across regions, sending invoices in different languages, currencies, and formats. 

• No dedicated AP team: Teams often juggle multiple finance roles, leaving little time for strategic improvements. 

• Outdated technology: Legacy systems may lack integration capabilities, automation features, or intuitive interfaces. 

• E-invoicing mandates: Staying compliant with evolving regulations requires constant monitoring and adaptation. 

• VAT complexity: Navigating VAT across multiple jurisdictions increases legal and administrative workload. 

• Archiving and audit pressures: Legal requirements for storing and retrieving invoices demand robust digital infrastructure. 

• Limited invoice visibility: Without real-time tracking, forecasting cash outflows becomes a guessing game. 

• Missed early payment discounts: Manual approvals often delay processing, costing the business valuable supplier incentives. 

• Duplicate or late payments: Inaccurate data matching can result in overpayments and strained supplier relationships. 

• Siloed data: When AP information is scattered across emails and spreadsheets, transparency and collaboration suffer. 

• Lack of analytics: Many teams lack tools to measure cycle times, identify bottlenecks, or track vendor performance. 

• Scaling barriers: Without data insights, it’s difficult to optimize payment terms or scale operations effectively. 

• Manual, error-prone approvals: A lack of proper controls increases the risk of fraud and payment errors. 

• Phishing and invoice fraud: Limited security systems can leave mid-size firms exposed to increasingly sophisticated threats. 

• Weak audit trails: Without digital tracking, proving compliance or investigating discrepancies becomes a challenge. 

• Increasing external expectations: Suppliers and stakeholders now expect faster payments, real-time visibility, and digital maturity.

Mapping your entire AP process flow, from invoice ingestion to posting, can help pinpoint where delays occur, which steps are manual, and where compliance risks lie. Engage your AP clerks and approvers early in the process; they know where time is lost and frustration peaks. Their insights are essential for defining your software requirements and building a business case grounded in real-world needs, a critical step toward selecting the best accounts payable automation software for your organization. 

Step 2: Identify the business outcomes you want

AP automation isn’t just about digitizing paper; it's about transforming how finance works. To get the most value, it’s critical to define what success looks like for your organization. 

Start by identifying the outcomes that matter most to your business. What are you trying to achieve? 

• Faster processing: Cut invoice processing time from weeks to days, or even hours. 

• Greater accuracy: Eliminate manual data entry to minimize errors and reduce invoice exceptions. 

• Real-time visibility: Gain better insight into payment status, approval workflows, and cash flow. 

• Stronger vendor relationships: Make timely payments to build trust and benefit from early payment discounts. 

• Effortless compliance: Stay audit-ready and meet legal requirements without stress. 

By aligning automation efforts with clear, strategic goals, you ensure that you’re not just adopting technology, you’re driving measurable, business-critical outcomes.

Step 3: Separate must-have features from nice-to-haves

When selecting AP automation software, distinguishing must-have features from nice-to-haves is essential, especially for mid-sized enterprises working within tight budgets and ambitious timelines. 

Why? Because this clarity ensures that your investment delivers real value, accelerates onboarding, and supports long-term scalability. Starting with too many “bells and whistles” can overwhelm users and delay adoption. Instead, focus on setting a strong operational foundation. Enhancements can always be introduced later as your processes mature.

Step 4: Prioritize seamless integration with your ERP

A powerful AP automation platform that doesn’t integrate well with your ERP is like an electric car without a charging cable, technically impressive, but practically useless. 

To truly streamline your AP process, seamless integration with your ERP system is non-negotiable. Whether you use SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics, or another platform, ensure that the AP solution connects effortlessly with your existing tech stack. 

Here’s what to ask vendors: 

• Does the solution offer native integration or pre-built connectors for your ERP? This minimizes implementation time and complexity. 

• Are the APIs well-documented, reliable, and secure? Robust APIs are critical for real-time data flow and long-term system health. 

• Is the integration future-proof? Make sure the software supports your current ERP version and will adapt to future upgrades without major disruptions. 

A smooth integration eliminates the need for manual data entry, reduces errors, and ensures your AP team works efficiently without duplication. 

Cevinio, for example, supports deep, real-time integrations with leading ERP systems, ensuring invoices, payments, and approvals are always in sync without manual imports or risky workarounds.

Step 5: Evaluate user-friendliness

Even the most advanced AP automation platform can fall short if your team finds it clunky, confusing, or time-consuming to use. User adoption is the cornerstone of realizing ROI, and it all begins with selecting a solution your team is eager (not forced) to adopt. Look for: 

• Intuitive user interface: The platform should feel familiar and easy to navigate, no steep learning curves or long hours of training required. 

• Role-based dashboards: Tailored views for AP clerks, approvers, and finance managers ensure everyone sees what’s relevant to their role, nothing more, nothing less. 

• Streamlined training and onboarding: Look for quality resources, efficient online training, and responsive support that get users up to speed fast and confidently. 

When a platform is simple to adopt, your team embraces it more quickly, and your investment starts paying off sooner. High adoption not only improves efficiency but also boosts team morale, reduces error rates, and supports a culture of continuous process improvement.

Step 6: Check compliance and security features

Your AP automation software will handle highly sensitive financial and supplier data. It must comply with both industry standards and regional or global regulations, especially if you're operating in complex regulatory environments like the EU. 

When evaluating vendors, security and compliance should never be afterthoughts. They’re foundational to risk mitigation and business continuity. Key capabilities to look for: 

Robust audit trails and role-based access control:
Ensure you can track every action taken and control who has access to what, critical for both transparency and fraud prevention. 

Support for country-specific e-invoice standards:
Especially in countries like Germany, look for native support for formats such as XRechnung and ZUGFeRD to stay compliant with local mandates. 

Global standards compliance:
Check for adherence to widely recognized certifications such as: 

• GDPR for data protection in the EU 

• ISO 27001 for information security management 

• SOC 1 & SOC 2 for service organization controls around financial reporting and data handling

Data residency options:
If you operate in the EU or other regions with strict data sovereignty laws, make sure the provider can host your data in-region.

Step 7: The right technology partner matters

When selecting AP automation software, you’re not just buying a product, you’re entering a long-term partnership that can shape your financial operations for years to come. That’s why choosing a provider who understands your needs and grows with your business is just as important as the features they offer. 

Here’s what to evaluate beyond the tech itself: 

• Experience with mid-size enterprises and your industry: Look for a provider that understands the nuances of your business size, structure, and sector-specific challenges. 

• Proof of delivery through demos and pilots: Don’t settle for generic demos. Ask vendors to simulate your actual workflows, so you can see how their solution performs in your real-world scenarios. 

• Dedicated support and account management: Ensure the vendor offers ongoing, accessible support, not just during implementation but throughout the partnership. A named account manager can be a game-changer. 

• Product evolution and customer feedback loop: Ask how often the platform is updated and whether customer feedback influences the roadmap. A responsive partner signals long-term alignment. 

Ultimately, the right partner will feel like an extension of your team, committed to helping you optimize processes, solve challenges, and achieve strategic outcomes.

Step 8: Think in terms of total cost of ownership (TCO)

AP automation should drive savings, not surprises. While automation typically reduces costs over time, it's crucial to look beyond the license fee and understand the total cost of ownership. Hidden fees can undermine ROI if not identified early. 

Before signing a contract, ask vendors the right questions: 

• Are integrations or customizations charged separately? 

• How is support priced? 

• Are software upgrades included in the plan? 

Don’t just focus on the lowest upfront cost. A slightly higher investment in a well-integrated, user-friendly platform can deliver significant long-term returns, through faster processing, fewer errors, improved compliance, and better vendor relationships.

Step 9: Involve your stakeholders early

AP automation isn’t just a finance project; it’s an organization-wide initiative. Success hinges on cross-functional alignment, from implementation to everyday operations. Involving the right people early ensures smoother adoption, faster ROI, and stronger long-term outcomes. Core stakeholders to involve: 

• Finance: As the primary users and owners of the AP process, finance teams define requirements and drive daily execution. 

• Procurement: AP depends on accurate purchase orders, vendor data, contract terms, and areas owned by procurement. 

• IT: Critical for ERP integration, data security, scalability, and long-term system maintenance. 

• Leadership: Their support is essential for budget approval, change management, and aligning automation with broader business goals.

Step 10: Test it with your own invoices

Before locking into a multi-year contract, request a Proof of Concept (PoC) with real invoices, real users, and real scenarios. A PoC helps validate vendor claims and builds confidence before making a larger investment.

Here’s how to make the most of your pilot: 

• Test with real data: Run a small but representative volume of live invoices through the system. This reveals how the platform performs under real conditions, not just demo environments. 

• Assess core metrics: Evaluate processing speed, accuracy, error handling, and ease of use. Is the interface intuitive? Are approval flows working as expected? 

• Collect team feedback: Engage your AP clerks and approvers. Their firsthand experience will uncover friction points or usability issues you might otherwise overlook. 

• Verify integration: Confirm that data flows seamlessly between the AP solution and your ERP.

Your path to the best accounts payable automation software starts here

Choosing the right AP invoice automation software is about more than ticking boxes, it’s about empowering your finance team to move faster, more accurately, and with greater control. 

At Cevinio, we help mid-size enterprises simplify their AP operations with powerful automation that integrates seamlessly with your ERP, supports compliance across markets, and scales as you grow. 

Start with your challenges, define your goals, and involve your people. Take the time to test solutions that offer the right features, intuitive user experience, and responsive support. We’re here to guide you through that journey to the best accounts payable automation software for your business.

Because when done right, AP automation isn’t just an efficiency upgrade; it’s a strategic asset for finance transformation.